Emergency-Communications

District Emergency Coordinator Frank O’Laughlin, WQ1O, writes on the Facebook Cape Code & Islands ARES page:

We had a good outing on Saturday for the nationwide Red Cross/Winlink exercise and our complimentary Cape Cod ARES exercise combined with the Eastern MA Section ARES. We used Winlink HF, VHF, NBEMS (HF,VHF), voice 60/75m. We had two field sites and many home stations. It was good to get back outside with our gennies and field gear. The day was a success overall. Soon we will be preparing for our Cape Cod ARES field summer exercise in August which will have multiple field teams and mobiles. My thanks to our field crews in Sandwich and Falmouth (under Henry, K1WCC ADEC). My kudos to our solo field operation in Chatham under field operator Shannon K1WIT. I appreciate all our home stations that participated as well including our section partners. It was tough to get through the day for me, but was worth every minute.

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Members:

During the month of May, we will have numerous ARES training topics as part of a virtual ARES workshop. The first presentation will be Thursday Evening 5/6/21 from 730-900 PM with an introduction of ARES/RACES and SKYWARN and a briefing on the upcoming Eastern Mass ARES exercise Saturday 5/8/21 from 1000 AM-1200 PM coincident with the National Red Cross exercise. Additional sessions will be done throughout the month of May. Complete details, including updates with Zoom details for upcoming workshop topics, can be seen at the following link: <https://ema.arrl.org/2021/05/01/eastern-massachusetts-ares-workshops-via-zoom-during-the-month-of-may-check-here-for-frequent-updates/>

As mentioned above, Eastern Massachusetts ARES will conduct an exercise (Operation Unify) coincident with the National Red Cross exercise on Saturday May 8th, 2021 from 1000 AM-1200 PM and all members who are available can participate. Details including an exercise document can be seen at the following link: <https://ema.arrl.org/2021/05/02/eastern-massachusetts-ares-exercise-operation-unify-coincident-with-national-red-cross-exercise-saturday-may-8th-2021-10-am-12-pm/>

Thanks for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo, KD1CY
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator

Connecticut SEC Mike Walters, W8ZY, writes:

As I have been announcing for the last few weeks this weekend, April 18, there will be no radio nets. Instead we will have a statewide virtual meeting. The meeting will run from 8 till 9 PM […] You do not have to have a camera on this call as I will be presenting. I hope to have a good turnout as we will be talking about a planned statewide drill similar to the SET in conjunction with the Red Cross.

Please plan to attend.

To: All New England Amateur Radio Operators

Starting this week, on April 7 and for the first week of every month going forward, US Army Auxiliary Radio System members will conduct nets on 60 meters channel 1 (5.3305 MHz) with the goal of exercising the mission of MARS to Amateur interoperation.

These Nets will start at 8pm local time on April 7, for one hour and will repeat on Friday April 9 and be run by MARS Stations in Region One. On April 8 and 10 at 8pm ET the nets will be run by MARS stations in Region 2 and 4, but also encourage Amateur Radio check ins.

In addition, on Thursday April 8, Friday April 9 and Saturday April 10, nets will be conducted at noon ET, with NCS in New England.

All amateur stations with 60 meter capability and the time are asked to check in and participate in these nets. The goal of these nets is to train MARS stations with Amateur Radio stations on 60 meter channels. Initially, these nets will just involve check ins, but over time, we will practice ICS-213 messages on these nets in both voice and digital methods. The nets will last 1 hour.

These Nets will repeat in the first week of each month.

If you have questions, please let me know.

Tom Kinahan

U.S. Army Military Auxiliary Radio System
Region One Director
tom.kinahan@verizon.net
 

Western Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator Bob Meneguzzo, K1YO, has announced plans to hold a section-wide Simulated Emergency Test (SET) early in May. Volunteers with HF and VHF capabilities are being sought. 

For full details, see <https://wma.arrl.org/blog/2021/03/13/western-massachusetts-ares-looking-for-help-in-simulated-emergency-test-set-exercises/>.

The Eastern MA Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) will conduct an exercise in conjunction with the Cape Cod ARES exercise Operation “Frozen Days” on February 6, 2021 from 10 AM to 12 Noon (setup to start at 830-9 AM where needed) to test its capability in establishing communications with stations inside and outside of the section. Operation “Frozen Days” will attempt to build upon the lessons learned from past operational exercises.

The exercise scenario involves a series of coastal storms battering Cape Cod and the Islands with winds over 90 MPH over several storms. Eventually, hundreds of thousands of people in Eastern Massachusetts are left without power due to this series of coastal storms. [Full story]