SKYWARN Newsletter #217

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Hello to all...

Welcome to New People to the SKYWARN Newsletter and Coordination Email List...

Email from May to Early June....

SKYWARN Activation Reports and Severe Weather Outbreak Report for July 2nd, 2004...

Change to Hartford-Tolland County SKYWARN Frequencies Effective 6/1/04....

Dr. Gray's Forecast is for Above Normal Hurricane Activity for 2004....

NWS Taunton SKYWARN Program to Support National Hurricane Center Liaison Efforts...

Echolink-IRLP SKYWARN/Hurricane Preparation Nets Every Tuesday and Saturday Evening....

Advanced Emergency Communications Workshop Press Release...

***Newsletter Issued 8/1/04.

Welcome to New People to the SKYWARN Newsletter and Coordination Email List...

A hearty welcome to new people that have been added to the SKYWARN Newsletter

and Coordination email list. The email list should keep you informed on

happenings in the SKYWARN program and should provide information on potential

SKYWARN Activations for the region.

Email from May to Early June....

If you have sent me an email requiring a response from May to Early June, please

resend the email. I have just revamped my computer systems with a new operating

system but have been unable to put import my old email. I appreciate everyone's

understanding in this matter.

SKYWARN Activation Reports and Severe Weather Outbreak Report for July 2nd, 2004...

SKYWARN Activation Reports and a Severe Weather Outbreak Report for July 2nd, 2004

will follow in the next SKYWARN Newsletter. Special thanks to all SKYWARN Spotters

and Coordinators who have assisted in what has been an active severe weather season

for 2004 in Southern New England.

Change to Hartford-Tolland County SKYWARN Frequencies Effective 6/1/04....

The following is a change to Hartford and Tolland County SKYWARN Nets that

was completed approximately one month ago. Here is the information per

Roger Jeanfaivre-K1PAI, Hartford and Tolland County SKYWARN Coordinator.

Starting June 1, 2004, weather and Skywarn nets, will be shifting to a

new primary repeater for Hartford and Tolland Counties.

Our new primary repeater will the 146.79 repeater in Vernon, CT, with

a minus offset and a PL of 82.5.

Weekly weather nets will be held on Thursday at 9PM except on the

second Thursday of each month, when we will operate the Soapstone

weather net at 9 PM on 147.000 which will also serve as our backup

repeater.

The new nets on 146.79, will be called the Northern CT Weather or

Skywarn Net.

The reason for the move is better coverage in Hartford and Tolland

counties, particulary to the south down towards New Britain,

Plainville, and other locations in southern Hartford County.

Also we'll have the ability to link to NWS Taunton by both

IRLP and RF means, where they can get reports in a timely fashion. It is

also hoped that we will be able to secure more volunteers to help with

NCS duties.

Please step up and help in running severe weather nets! If you

haven't run a net we are here to help you learn.

Sincerely,

Roger K1PAI, Skywarn Coordinator Hartford and Tolland Counties

Phil WX1CT, CT Skywarn D.E.C.

Dr. Gray's Forecast is for Above Normal Hurricane Activity for 2004....

Despite a quiet June for tropical activity, Dr. Gray's latest forecast calls

for an above normal hurricane season in the tropical Atlantic. Dr. Gray's

forecast calls for 14 named storms with 8 hurricanes and 3 intense hurricanes.

The following link has all of the outlooks issued by Dr. Gray for the 2004 season

and includes the latest outlook issued on May 28th of this year:

http://hurricane.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/

NWS Taunton SKYWARN Program to Support National Hurricane Center Liaison Efforts...

The NWS Taunton SKYWARN Program has been supporting Liaision efforts to the National

Hurricane Center over the past several months. Utilizing Voice Over IP systems such

as Echolink and IRLP, several coordinators and spotters have been checking into nets

that are held on a weekly basis. In addition, I have run net control for the weekly

nets in preparation to assist with liaison work for the National Hurricane Center if

a hurricane strikes anywhere in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Carribean Sea.

Echolink and IRLP make many things possible for hurricane liaison that would not

be possible otherwise. For example, several Amateurs from Australia are taking part

in these nets and are prepared to assume net control as needed. This provides excellent

coverage because Australia's daylight hours are during the overnight hours across the US

East Coast so it is much easier for Hams in Australia to run the net during that timeframe

then having an Amateur from the US stay up during that timeframe. With HF, it would be

difficult to have the propagation to support such activity.

Echolink and IRLP proved their worth during Hurricane Isabel by being a very reliable

means to get criteiria information to the National Hurricane Center. While some nodes

were knocked out during the hurricane, the majority of the nodes were knocked out due

to loss of power and not due to a loss of Internet connectivity. It is noted that some

of the nodes are at fortified locations with backup Internet connectivity as well as

backup power. At the same time, its noted that no mode of communication

(ie: Echolink/IRLP) can replace another viable mode of communications such as HF. It

is best to have both modes of communication open to you if possible.

A plan has been put together for supporting the National Hurricane Center and the

Echolink/IRLP (Voice Over IP-VoIP) effort. This plan includes the use of either home

stations, the NWS Taunton Ham Station (WX1BOX), the Southeast Massachusetts Amateur

Radio Association Station (W1AEC), or the town of Bridgewater EOC for such efforts when

requested by the Net Managers of Echolink and IRLP. This plan will be sent to the

net managers of Echolink and IRLP.

Also, keep in mind that the NWS Taunton SKYWARN program has been utilizing Echolink

and IRLP technology including IRLP reflectors, the New England Network which is

a combined system of Echolink and IRLP nodes, and individual IRLP/Echolink nodes

since 2002. It has transformed the way SKYWARN functions in the NWS Taunton County

Warning Area.

Further updates on the Echolink/IRLP efforts for the National Hurricane Center will

appear in later newsletters.

Echolink-IRLP SKYWARN/Hurricane Preparation Nets Every Saturday Evening....

Echolink-IRLP SKYWARN/Hurricane Preparation Nets are currently running every Saturday

Evening. Currently, a "cross-link" has been utilized to link Echolink

and IRLP together during these nets over the past few weeks. Here are details on the

net:

IRLP SKYWARN Net:

Every Saturday Evening at 8 PM EDT (0000z)

IRLP Node/Reflector: 9210

Echolink Node: wX-Talk

Computer users of the Echolink program can simply connect into the WX-Talk node. Those

that are using repeaters either on the IRLP or Echolink side can find a local node in

their area at the following sites:

http://www.echolink.org/links.asp

http://status.irlp.net/

For background information on Echolink and IRLP, please see the following links:

http://www.echolink.org/

http://status.irlp.net/

Advanced Emergency Communications Workshop Press Release...

There will be an Advanced Emergency Communications Workshop on Saturday

August 28th, 2004 from 9:00 AM-3:30 PM at the SEMARA (Southeast

Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association) Club House on 54 Donald Street in

South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. This session is being put on by the ARES

Section Staff, the SEMARA Club, and SEMARA Club Emergency Coordinator and Assistant

Emergency Coordinator, KD1CY-Rob Macedo and N1XRS-Tony Duarte. Also, W1EV-Scott Szala,

from the SEMARA Activities committee will be providing a lot of assistance

for this workshop.

This Advanced Emergency Communications Workshop will provide additional

background in advanced emergency communication topics that will build on our

general level emergency communications workshop course. Those who have not

attended our general level emergency communications workshop course may attend this

advanced workshop but must understand that many of the basic topics that are

covered in our general level course will not be covered in this specific workshop.

Please bring a HT to the workshop as it may be utilized during the workshop.

Topics for this advanced workshop include the following:

Emergency Communication Applications of Voice Over IP Technology

Amateur Radio Digital Communications and Applications for Emergency

Communications

How to Be a Participant and How to Be Net Control for a NTS Traffic Net

How to Deploy, Setup and Operate at an Existing EOC When Asked to Deploy

How to Deploy, Setup and Operate at a shelter or similar place of deployment

Please note that these topics may change slightly as we get closer to the

workshop date.

This training will also feature a special 90 minute lunch that will be

provided at no coerced cost to any Amateur who attends the session. The

lunch will be Scott Szala's "ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section" famous

Chicken Barbeque that was done at the general Emergency Communications Workshop last

year at SEMARA. Where the SEMARA Club has their own club-house, there will

be representatives from the club to give Amateurs a tour of the facility

and the club's plans moving forward. This will be especially good for those

from other areas that may attend this workshop as the SEMARA Club is a

signficant contributor to the ARRL Eastern Massachusetts section.

The Emergency Communications presentations will be given by other

Amateur Operators well versed in the topics listed above. The training

will be a worthwhile endeavor not just for emergency communicators

but for anyone who is an amateur radio operator, and wants to

learn more about the hobby.

Preregistration is required for this workshop so that the club can

assure enough food is provided so please decide as soon as possible

if you would like to attend this workshop.

Directions and a map to the SEMARA Club House:

http://www.semara.org/direct.htm

For any additional information and to preregister for the workshop,

please contact:

N1XRS, Tony Duarte by email TDDuarte@comcast.net

KD1CY, Rob Macedo by email rmacedo@rcn.com

W1MPN, Mike Neilsen by email w1mpn@ema.arrl.org

This training should be a worthwhile endeavor for anyone interested in

learning more about emergency communications and amateur radio in

general.

That's all for this edition of the SKYWARN Newsletter.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator

Southeast Massachusetts ARES District Emergency Coordinator

SEMARA ARES Emergency Coordinator

Pager #: (508) 354-3142

Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)

Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)

Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)

Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com

http://users.rcn.com/rmacedo

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