08/26/2020

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES¨) teams along the Gulf Coast have plans in place to deal with Hurricane Laura, now expected to make landfall as a powerful and dangerous Category 4 storm. "Catastrophic damage will occur" in a Category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warns. More than a half-million people in Louisiana and Texas have been ordered to evacuate ahead of the storm, set to strike around the Louisiana-Texas border. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN[1]) updated its plans and has activated on both 14.325 and 7.268 MHz as Laura swirls in the Gulf's warm waters.

"Overnight, Laura grew in size and intensity and is now a major Category 3 hurricane," HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KE5HAV. "The forecast calls for it to become a Category 4 hurricane later today."

Graves said that because Laura is a major hurricane, HWN is now operating in catastrophic response mode. "We will remain in continuous operation on both frequencies until the bands close," he said. "We will resume operations on those bands just as soon as propagation returns."

At 1200 UTC, the center of Laura was some 280 miles south-southeast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and about 290 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, moving northwesterly at 15 MPH with maximum sustained winds of 115 MPH.

"Laura is a large hurricane," Graves pointed out. "Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles."

"Once Laura has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm, we will focus on helping to gather any post-storm reports from the areas that had been hit," Graves said. "This includes the relaying of any emergency or priority traffic."

The Voice over Internet Protocol Weather Net (VoIP-WX[2]) will activate later today and remain up into Thursday morning. WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center will also be active to receive ground-truth weather data from HWN and VoIP-WX Net participants. The VoIP-WX Net will activate, with expanded capabilities, on the Echolink WXtalk 7203 Conference, as well as IRLP 9219. 9550, AllStar 27154, DMR BM TG 50535, P25 TG 50535, YSF reflector 50535 (narrow mode only), and D-STAR XLX432 D (DCX432 D).

"We are looking for reports based on the National Weather Service SKYWARN reporting criteria[3]," said Net Manager Rob Macedo, KD1CY.

In Louisiana, parish ARES teams will remain in standby status until local emergency managers or served agencies, such as the Red Cross request activation, Louisiana Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) James Coleman, AI5B, said in a Tuesday evening situation report. Activations will happen on a parish-by-parish or on a regional basis as support is needed. The Louisiana ARES Emergency Net is set to activate today (August 26) at 2300 UTC. Ham Aid[4] emergency communication kits from ARRL Headquarters have been pre-positioned in Louisiana in preparation.

"Ensure you have a plan," advised Louisiana ARES Net manager Joe Holland, KB5VJY. "If you have a generator, test run it, ensure you have plenty of fuel and ventilation, ensure you have water and food. Be safe." The net convenes on 3.878 and/or 7.255 MHz. The Delta Division Emergency Net will be on standby status starting at 1700 UTC on Thursday, August 27. VHF and UHF resources will also be called into service.

ARRL South Texas Section Manager - and incoming ARRL Director of Emergency Management - Paul Gilbert, KE5ZW, advised members there to make plans either to ride out the storm or evacuate. He said the likely landfall zone would impact the cities of Beaumont, Orange, and Port Arthur, as well as other towns along the Texas-Louisiana state line. ARES members should get stay in touch with Section Emergency Coordinator Jeff Walter, KE5FGA, as well as district and local emergency coordinators for any activation plans. "Please do not self-deploy," Gilbert stressed.

The ARRL Headquarters Emergency Response Team (HQERT) has been in regular communication with Section leadership in Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Sections potentially to be affected. On Tuesday evening, several members of the team took part in a Zoom conference with Section Managers and Section Emergency Coordinators in areas that could be impacted by the storm. Another Zoom conference is set for this evening (August 26).

"Most staff members, including the HQERT, are working from home and communicating with each other via email and MS Team," ARRL Assistant Emergency Preparedness Manager Ken Bailey, K1FUG, said, adding that W1AW is ready to go, if needed.


[1] http://www.hwn.org
[2] http://voipwx.net/
[3] http://voipwx.net/voip-hurricane-net-reporting-criteria/
[4] http://www.arrl.org/ham-aid

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þ Synchronet þ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBS

08/27/2020

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES¨) teams along the Gulf Coast were ready to assist as needed after Hurricane Laura made landfall as a powerful and deadly Category 4 storm along the Texas-Louisiana border with sustained winds of 150 MPH. The National Hurricane Center (NHC)-predicted "unsurvivable storm surge" was in the vicinity of 20 feet or greater, driving Gulf waters inland into waterways and lowlands. More than a half-million people in Louisiana and Texas were told to evacuate ahead of the storm, but not everyone did - or was able to leave. One death has been attributed to the storm. Widespread power outages were reported. By Thursday morning, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN[1]) had ratcheted its alert level up to 5 - Catastrophic Response Mode - and remained in operation even after the hurricane hit.

"Once Laura has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm, we will focus on helping to gather any post-storm reports from the areas that had been hit," HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said. "This includes the relaying of any emergency or priority traffic."

At mid-week, ARRL South Texas Section Emergency Coordinator Jeffery Walter, KE5FGA, said, "We have begun nightly Zoom meetings with North Texas, South Texas, and ARRL Delta Division leadership. The areas directly in the path of the storm may call for mutual aid support." He assured that volunteers would be vetted and provided with necessary information and a plan put in place to define the deployment period.

At 1200 UTC on Thursday, the NHC was reporting damaging winds and flooding rainfall overspreading inland areas in western and central Louisiana. "Life-threatening storm surge continues along much of the Louisiana coastline," the report added. The storm was still packing 100 MPH winds. Laura was moving toward the north and expected that motion to continue through the day. A northeastward to east-northeastward motion was expected Thursday night and Friday. Laura was predicted to move across southwestern Louisiana Thursday morning, and then continue northward across the state through the afternoon, with the storm's center forecast to move over Arkansas Thursday night, the mid-Mississippi Valley on Friday, and the mid-Atlantic states on Saturday.

Voice over Internet Protocol Weather Net (VoIP-WX[2]) Manager Rob Macedo, KD1CY, was interviewed on The Weather Channel on Thursday morning.

In Louisiana, ARES teams were in standby status for local emergency managers or served agencies, such as the Red Cross, to request activation. Louisiana Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) James Coleman, AI5B, said earlier this week that activations would happen on a parish-by-parish or on a regional basis as support is needed. The Louisiana ARES Emergency Net activated on Wednesday on 3.878 and 7.255 MHz. The Delta Division Emergency Net was on standby on Thursday. Ham Aid[3] emergency communication kits from ARRL Headquarters have been pre-positioned in Louisiana for such situations since last year.

ARRL South Texas Section Manager - and incoming ARRL Director of Emergency Management - Paul Gilbert, KE5ZW, was among those participating in an August 26 ARRL Headquarters Emergency Response Team (HQERT) Zoom meeting that also included Section leadership in Louisiana and Mississippi. ARES members were advised to stay in touch with Section Emergency Coordinators as well as district and local emergency coordinators for any activation plans, but consensus of those at the session was that volunteers would be needed. Gilbert stressed that ARES volunteers should not self-deploy.

"Most staff members, including the HQERT, are working from home and communicating with each other via email and MS Team," ARRL Assistant Emergency Preparedness Manager Ken Bailey, K1FUG, said, adding that W1AW is ready, if needed.ÿ


[1] http://www.hwn.org
[2] http://voipwx.net/
[3] http://www.arrl.org/ham-aid

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þ Synchronet þ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBS

09/30/2021

On September 11, some 115 amateur radio volunteers from five states provided communication support for LoToJa[1], the longest single-day USA Cycling (USAC)-sanctioned bicycle event in the country and now in its 39th year. Starting in Logan, Utah, the 203-mile course ends in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, taking cyclists through northeastern Utah, southeastern Idaho, and western Wyoming in the process. The race attracts thousands of applicants, and upward of 2,000 are selected to compete. Some 1,700 competed this year. The event generates more than $2 million a year for Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Hams participate from multiple clubs in Utah, including Goldman Spike Amateur Radio Club (GSARC[2]), Ogden Amateur Radio Club (OARC[3]), and Utah Valley Amateur Radio Club (UVARC[4]). The race deploys four command centers and multiple repeaters.

Prior to the event, Race Director Brent Chambers told[5] the Cache Valley Daily that "This year's race will have 600 course volunteers, which includes 150 ham radio operators [and helpers] from the Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club. They provide uninterrupted communication throughout LoToJa's mountainous and remote terrain."

"We take two portable repeaters to the top of mountains, and we deploy multiple APRS [Automatic Packet Reporting System] digipeaters," explained Kevin Reeve, N7RXE, who is the coordinator of amateur radio operators and communications systems for LoToJa. "All ham vehicles run APRS, and we have APRS and a radio operator with the race director and race official. Our goal is the help the cyclists, their support crews, and their families have a safe and enjoyable event."

Ted McArthur, AC7II, heads the communication infrastructure team for the LoToJa hams. In all, nine repeaters and several simplex frequencies are used throughout the event, and APRS plays an important role.

"With [an increase in] the number of mobile vehicles needed to meet a growing event, Net Control Stations were spending a lot of radio time asking for position reports," McArthur said. "We needed the airtime for real traffic, like helping cyclists, emergencies, and other critical traffic."

"LoToJa is such a great event for amateur radio operators to participate in," said Tyler Griffiths, N7UWX. "It is the ARES [Amateur Radio Emergency Service] radio operator's dream event. We know where it starts, we know where it ends, but everything that happens in between is different from year to year."

ÿ


[1] https://lotoja.com/
[2] https://www.ubetarc.org/
[3] http://www.ogdenarc.org/
[4] https://uvarc.club/
[5] https://www.cachevalleydaily.com/news/archive/2021/09/08/cyclists-gather-in-logan-for-39th-annual-lotoja-saturday/#.YUoKgFVKiUl

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þ Synchronet þ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBS