Hello to all..

A reminder that due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday September 7th, 2009, the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Net will be next Monday September 14th, 2009 at 830 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. The RACES Nets are also rescheduled to next Monday due to the Labor Day holiday this Monday and the ARES Net will be immediately following the RACES nets. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

For this month, make the second Monday of the month, "Emergency Communications Night" and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone's participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org    

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Hello to all...

...EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES STAND-BY MOBILIZATION SECURED AT 630 PM ET SATURDAY AUGUST 29TH, 2009...

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Standby Mobilization for the Kennedy Funeral and the Nor'easter storm associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Danny is secured at 630 PM Saturday August 29th, 2009. Thanks to all ARES folks who checked their go-kits and assisted with reports during the nor'easter associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Danny.

The Nor'easter brought the advertised 3-5" of rain across Southeast New England with 1.5-3" rainfall amounts common in Southern New Hampshire, Central and Northeastern Massachusetts. This produced some urban and poor drainage flooding and caused small rivers and streams to rise to near or just short of bankful. Winds briefly kicked up around the coast with 40-50 MPH wind gusts across East Coastal and South Coastal Massachusetts and Cape Cod and the Islands. One report from an elevated wind platform at 60 feet in Horseshoe Shoals had a wind gust of 53 MPH/61 Knots associated with the storm. The winds were brief and were likely convective in nature except for some backside winds reported in some areas between 5-6 PM Saturday Evening. Rainfall and wind reports can be seen via the links below:

Local Storm Report on Wind Damage and Flood Reports:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nwus51.KBOX.html

Public Information Statement on Rainfall Reports:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.nous41.KBOX.html

The Kennedy funeral also went flawlessly and without incident in Boston Massachusetts earlier today. The State EOC was operational and secured at 2 PM for this event and for the nor'easter storm that affected the area. Once again, thanks to all who supported the stand-by mobilization and thanks to all for their continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
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://www.wx1box.org
http://ares.ema.arrl.org

Hello to all..

***EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS ARES TO BE PLACED ON STAND-BY FOR POSSIBLE MOBILIZATION STARTING AT 6 AM ET SATURDAY LASTING THROUGH 12 AM ET SUNDAY FOR IMPACTS OF TROPICAL STORM DANNY AND FRONTAL SYSTEM INTERACTION ALONG WITH THE SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY FUNERAL PROCEEDINGS IN BOSTON FOR SATURDAY MORNING***

***SKYWARN ACTIVATION WITH OPS AT NWS TAUNTON WILL COMMENCE AT 5 AM ET THROUGH LATE SATURDAY EVENING/EARLY SUNDAY MORNING***

With the impacts of Tropical Storm Danny and his interaction with a frontal system potentially bringing 3-6” of rainfall and the potential for strong to damaging winds near and just inland from the coast coupled with the fact that there are a significant amount of dignitaries present for the Senator Kennedy Funeral, Eastern Massachusetts ARES will be placed on stand-by to cover the storm and potential flooding and damaging wind issues as well as any exigencies with the Senator Kennedy funeral.  

While the intensity and track of Tropical Storm Danny is uncertain, there remains the potential for flooding rains and strong to damaging winds as Danny interacts with a couple other approaching storm systems. There is the potential for a strong hybrid system to bring 3-6” of rain and strong winds of 50-60 MPH on Cape Cod and the Islands and 40-50 MPH along East and South Coastal Massachusetts. While this would normally be handled simply as a SKYWARN Activation, there is an outside chance of something stronger and that needs to be watched. This coupled with the fact that we have a large number of dignitaries in the Metro Boston area for the Senator Kennedy funeral means we should be alert for any issues that could occur with the storm or the funeral or a combination of both events.

We will activate the town of Bridgewater EOC as the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Incident Command Post. We will also activate the Acushnet EOC over the course of the day Saturday to assist with storm reporting and monitoring any other exigencies pertaining to the Kennedy funeral.

We’d like to have ARES personnel assist with SKYWARN reporting of flooding of rivers, streams and urban areas as well as any wind damage. Keep your situational awareness level high from any updates from ARES leadership by checking your email for updates and our ares web site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org and monitor local media on the funeral for Senator Kennedy.

What is ARES Stand-By mode?

ARES stand-by mode is to alert Amateurs within ARES that a mobilization is possible on a wide-scale and that some localized mobilizations are or could be taking place in isolated areas. It means to take a look at your Go-Kit and have batteries and equipment ready to go and charged up and take care of any requirements at home in case a mobilization is required and you can participate. Do NOT self-deploy. Wait for guidance from leadership for any deployment. It is an honor to be ready even if you don't deploy for the event.  Hopefully, this is just another exercise of our preparedness and capabilities. If not, the ARES leadership looks forward to working with you if any wide scale mobilization is required after the impact of this major storm to the region or an issue arises at the Kennedy funeral.

Thanks for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator 
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://www.wx1box.org
http://ares.ema.arrl.org

Hello to all..

At the request of the Cape Cod Incident Management Team and the Cape Cod Red Cross, Cape Cod ARES provided support for the funeral services of Marine Corporal Nicholas Xiarhos who died in the line of duty in Afghanistan in late July. Cape Cod ARES District Emergency Coordinator Frank O'Laughlin-WQ1O provides his after action report via the PDF document below:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/CCARES_After-Action_FuneralSrvcs_Marine_Cpl._Nicholas_Xiarhos_07-31-09.pdf

It was an honor and privilege for Cape Cod ARES to participate. On behalf of Eastern Massachusetts ARES, I'd like to thank Cape Cod ARES for their support of this event.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Hello to all...

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for August is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for August is Monday August 3rd, 2009, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, "Emergency Communications Night" and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone's participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org    

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Workshop Saturday August 8th, 2009:

There will be an Emergency Communications Workshop on Saturday August 8th, 2009 from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM at the Boston Salvation Army Headquarters on 147 Berkley Street, enter on Columbus Avenue in Boston Masachusetts. This session is being put on by the ARES Section Staff through the efforts of Metro Boston ARES District Emergency Coordinator (DEC), Blake Haskell, K1BTH, and the cooperation of the Massachusetts Division of the Salvation Army through the efforts of Frank Murphy-N1DHW, leader of the Boston SATERN team. This Emergency Communications Workshop will provide the background and information to serve Amateur Radio Operators when they need to respond to a communications emergency or when supplemental communications via Amateur Radio is required. It will feature an Introduction and Conclusion to Emergency Communications, and five 1-hour training sessions on topics including:

Overview of Eastern Massachusetts ARES-RACES-SKYWARN Programs
Net Operations
NTS Traffic Message Handling
Basic Overview of ICS
Go Kits

The Boston SATERN Team will also give an overview of the SATERN/TSA agreement that was put in place a number of months ago.

This training will also feature a 1-hour lunch that will be provided at no coerced cost to any Amateur who attends the session. The 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 requested but is not required in case anyone would like to attend at the last minute. Please try to preregister by Monday August 3rd, 2009 to assure the meeting place is setup properly and we have enough refreshments for breaks between lectures and for the lunch break. We will, however, accept any last minute preregistrations after that day or any walk-ins as long as space permits.

Directions to Salvation Army Massachusetts Division Headquarters:
Please see the link from the Boston Amateur Radio Club (BARC) web site as they hold their Amateur Radio Club Meetings at this site:
http://www.barc.org/exec.html

Talk-In will be on the 145.230-Boston Repeater PL: 88.5 Hz.

For any additional information and to preregister for the workshop, please contact:

N1DHW-Frank Murphy n1dhw@comcast.net
K1BTH-Blake Haskell k1bth@aol.com
KD1CY-Rob Macedo rmacedo@rcn.com

This training should be a worthwhile endeavor for anyone interested in learning more about emergency communications and amateur radio in general. Please forward this on to anyone you feel may benefit from this workshop.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Hello to all...

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for July is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for July is Monday July 6th, 2009, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:
http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, "Emergency Communications Night" and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone's participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org  

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Hello to all..

The following is an updated Massachusetts Statewide Hurricane Drill - Hurricane Madison 2009 Exercise Participants Manual. This Manual is in Word and PDF Document format and can be seen at the links below:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/2009_Hurricane_Madison_Mass_Drill_Participants_Doc_Rev_2.doc

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/2009_Hurricane_Madison_Mass_Drill_Participants_Doc_Rev_2.pdf

The name of the hurricane was changed from Wanda to Madison to coincide with MEMA Region Two's naming of the hurricane. The idea of updating the document with a graphical/tabular track of the hurricane using Hurrevac was dropped due to an all day activation of SKYWARN for severe weather on Sunday May 24th precluding the time needed to add that information to the document. The document has been updated with Winlink/Airmail resource information, page numbers for the document and other associated minor changes.

An exericse controllers document has been created for net controls/alternate net controls and coordinators for the exercise and has been updated with the hurricane name change and additional suggestions/corrections to that document. The ARES/RACES/SKYWARN Management team working with MEMA will get that distributed to all appropriate personnel along with the participants manual.

We hope to have a successful exercise with strong participation across the commonwealth. Thanks to all for their continued support of ARES, RACES and SKYWARN.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)

ARES SKYWARN Coordinator

Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org

http://www.wx1box.org

Hello to all..

Greetings from the Dayton Hamvention. This is my first time at Dayton and I'm looking forward to a great weekend.

We will be having the Massachusetts Statewide Hurricane Drill on Monday June 1st from 7-9 PM. Exercise scenario details and information will follow no later than Monday May 18th. Below is a PR document put together by Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section Manager, Mike Neilsen-W1MPN. The PR document is listed below:

http://ares.ema.arrl.org/local/Hurricane_Drill.pdf

Thank you for your continued support of Eastern Massachusetts ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

Hello to all...

A reminder that the monthly ARES Net for May is rapidly approaching. The monthly ARES Net for May is Monday May 4th, 2009, at 8:30 PM on the MMRA Repeater system. This is after the RACES Nets earlier in the evening. For frequencies that will be linked into the ARES Net on the MMRA Network, please see the following link from the MMRA web site and the repeaters that will be linked in will be through Hub 1:

http://www.mmra.org/repeaters/map.html

In addition, if the Echo-IRLP node on the MMRA hub is available, we will likely link that to the New England Reflector system on IRLP 9123/Echolink Conference *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123.

Make the first Monday of the month, "Emergency Communications Night" and check into your local RACES Net and then check into the ARES Net on the MMRA Repeater System. We look forward to your participation and remember, we are always looking for Net Controls to run the ARES Net.

We will have several interesting announcements for the net that evening and we look forward to everyone's participation. Updates will be posted via email and on the Eastern Massachusetts ARES Web Site at http://ares.ema.arrl.org 

Thanks for your continued support of ARES!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section 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://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org