The Maritime Amateur

From Doug VO1DTM Nov.8th:

I have been just advised that IARU Region 2(C)has begun to operate in emergency net mode, as Tropical Storm Ida enters the Yucatan Channel as a category one storm with sustained winds of 120kph. Several 40M nets will be activated, and Hams in the region will be monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net on 14,325 Mhz. Forecasters expect the storm to enter the Gulf of Mexico today and decrease in intensity.
All Region 2(A) ARES members are encouraged to monitor the Hurricane Watch Net and 7,060 Mhz +/- as much as possible during the remainder of today and evening in case assistance is required.

73

Doug Mercer VO1DTM (RAC CEC)
Vice President Field Services
IARU Emergency Communications Coordinator Region 2(A) 
 

From Doug VO1DTM Nov.5th:Updated

IARU Announces “GlobalSET 2009”

On Saturday November 14, 2009, from 1800 to 2200 UTC, the International Amateur Radio Union will activate “GlobalSET 2009”, a Global Simulated Emergency Test that encourages Hams to pass simulated emergency traffic using standard National Traffic
System format.
The Radio Amateurs of Canada, a member society of IARU Region 2, encourages all Canadian Radio Amateurs having an interest in
emergency communications to participate.
Rules and a list of participating stations may be found at http://www.iaru-r1.org.  Search under the heading, “Emergency
Communications”, working group.
This is great opportunity for RAC members to observe and practice important traffic passing skills that are so important to the fundamentals of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.
Those Amateurs planning to participate are requested to register with the RAC Vice President for Field Services as soon as
possible by emailing vo1dtm@hotmail.com 

From Jim  VE1JBL Oct.14th:

Frank Leslie VE1FWL has stepped down as RAC Section Emergency Coordinator for the Maritimes. Frank will still be active in Emergency Communications in his local area, so we will still hear him on the bands. Until a new SEC is found, all Emergency Coordinators please send your monthly reports to me at ve1jbl@rac.ca . If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.

Courtesy of ARRL Aug.27th:

 

Along Coastal New England and the Canadian Maritimes, residents boarded up windows in preparation for Hurricane Bill. Even though the storm -- downgraded from Category 4 to Category 1 -- was considerably weaker than it had been when it was in the Caribbean earlier last week, those who live and work in the region were not taking any chances. To assist the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in tracking the storm, hams with the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and the VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIP Net) relayed traffic and spotting reports to WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the NHC.

"For the second year in a row -- last year with Hurricane Kyle, and now Hurricane Bill -- the Amateur Radio operators in the Canadian Maritimes proved their skills at supporting the needs of the hurricane centers and in passing information vital to the public's safety," said ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD. "We know that should even more severe tropical events impact that area, the hams will be ready with this increasing experience of late, and we will be ready to support them."

Bill's top-sustained winds fell from 105 MPH on Friday night to just 85 MPH by Sunday morning. But as the storm's wind speed dissipated, its size didn't: The diameter of tropical storm-force winds stretched 550 miles, the distance from Atlanta to Washington, DC. During the early hours of Sunday morning, Bill's center of circulation passed about 160 miles to the east-southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, its closest approach to the United States. There were wind gusts ranging from 25-35 MPH along the eastern coast of Massachusetts and a few bands of rain swept northward across Cape Cod, but not enough to cause any flooding.

The VoIP Hurricane Net activated at 4 AM EDT on Sunday, August 23, wrapping up at 6 PM that evening. "Nova Scotia amateurs relayed a significant number of reports to WX4NHC via the Net," said Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net Rob Macedo, KD1CY. "They described tropical storm force conditions and pockets of wind damage, including a few coastal road washouts from storm surge but the region was spared hurricane force winds. This is likely because of Bill's track parallel to the coast, just south of the province. The highest wind gusts were in the 45-55 MPH range over land."

Macedo said that during the VoIP Net's weekly Net on Saturday evening, Net Control conducted a special roll call, lining up Canadian stations from the affected area: "Martin Thomas, VE1AUZ, was the key liaison station monitoring the local VHF/UHF repeaters, feeding the information to the VoIP Hurricane Net. Several other Canadian stations also relayed reports, including Geoff Wilson, VE1GW, and Frank Leslie, VE1FWL. VE1EMX, an official station for the Municipality of the County of Cumberland's Emergency Measures Organization, was also on the air. More than a dozen Canadian stations were connected into the VoIP Hurricane Net during the height of Bill's impact on the Maritimes. This is our second time in two years working with Canadian amateurs and amateurs affiliated with Radio Amateurs Canada (RAC) and they did a terrific job once again."

RAC Vice President of Field Services Doug Mercer, VO1DTM, told the ARRL that he, Newfoundland Section Emergency Coordinator Rendyl Godwin, VO1RYL, and four District Emergency Coordinators were "actively passing traffic hourly to the Hurricane Watch Net since 1200 UTC [Sunday]. We will continue to pass regular updates until the event is over."

Hurricane Watch Net Manager Dave Lefavour, W7GOX, told the ARRL that they received an activation request from WX4NHC, their first activation of the 2009 hurricane season: "We opened the Net at 8 AM EDT on Sunday, August 23 on 14.325 MHz, and operated continuously until 7 PM. We had a successful spring recruiting campaign that brought several new members to the Net, and Hurricane Bill allowed us to introduce them to our Net protocols. It's one thing to read about how we do things, but there is no substitute for experience. Conditions on 20 meters were difficult, but with the additional members added to our roster, we were able to maintain communications with our Canadian reporting stations. Kudos to three hams -- Derek King, VE1AWT, David Myrick, VO1VCE, and Fredrick Snow, VO1FJS -- are in order, as they were stalwarts during this HWN session, providing timely information that we relayed to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. By the end of could support WX4NHC. "With the unpredictable shifts in propagation on the 20 meter band, and considering the conditions under which these folks are operating, the signals of our reporting stations are often weak," he said. "This was certainly the case for Sunday's Net session."

WX4NHC Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, thanked the hams who supported the operation: "I would like to echo my thanks to everyone for making the effort to support our friends in Canadthe day, 22 HWN members had participated in the Net."

Lefavour thanked all amateurs who kept the 20 meter frequency clear so they a during Hurricane Bill. It was truly an international effort with Net Controls from many parts of the US and as far away as Germany. The highest wind reports that I saw come in came from Sable Island with a population of five people and 300 wild horses."

Ripoll singled out five Canadian hams "who truly deserve special mention for their extra efforts and long hours relaying reports: Martin Thomas, VE1AUZ; Joseph Wilson, VE1GW; Frank Leslie, VE1FWL; James Hannon, VE1EMX, and Fredrick Snow, VO1FJS."

I would like to thank all the amateur radio operators from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island including VE3GKG/MM anchored at Lunenburg Harbor for all there reports, weather, damage and rain fall etc. I assure you that all your valuable reports were forward via Echolink (wx-talk VOIP Hurricane Net) to the National Hurricane center.
62 amateurs reported information to the net most through 3.770mc HF
64 messages sent.
The highest gust reported was 80Mph Queens Port Guysbrough. 

rFrom Doug VO1DTM Aug.24th:

Jim and Charlie,

Please pass this on to members of the NL and Maritime Section.

Good afternoon all,

On behalf of the Field Organization of the Radio Amateurs of Canada, I would like to say a large thank you to each and every one of you who gave up your Sunday in order to pass updates to the National Hurricane Center. Although I could not hear many of you, I could hear the different Net Controllers through-out the day and night acknowledge many VE1's and VO1's as you provided important updates during the entire event.
The skies are clear and sunny here now, a stark contrast to around 2030 Z yesterday when Bill made land-fall in Fortune Bay and proceeded north-east. Winds were strong but not fierce, rain was heavy at times and the Town of Placentia evacuated the hospital and seniors home, but when all was said and done, there was no major damage.
So, chalk up another one. Once again, your assistance is greatly appreciated by the RAC Field Organization. Also, I think I can speak for the Hurricane Center Net Controllers and relay stations and say many thanks for keeping the information coming.

73

Doug Mercer VO1DTM CEC
Vice President Field Services
Radio Amateurs of Canada 

From Jim VE1JBL Aug.24th:

I would like to take this time and thank all the amateurs who checked in to the Maritime ARES Watch Net for Hurricane Bill. I would also like to congratulate Martin Thomas VE1AUZ, RAC Emergency Coordinator for Lunenburg County for his many hours as Net Control. He did a wonderful job helping pass information of amateur radio stations calling in with weather reports to the National Hurricane Center in the United States and I will send all the info to the Canadian Hurricane Center in Dartmouth. I will be posting more info in the next couple of days about the net when I received it from Martin.
I also want to thank Dennis Dura K2DCD and Rob Macedo KD1CY for all their help in getting our stations on the VoIP Hurricane Net.

From Dennis K2DCD Aug.22nd:

From Jim VE1JBL Aug.22nd:

From Dennis K2DCD Aug.21st:

I want to invite you to participate in the regularly scheduled VoIP Hurricane Net on Sunday at 0000UTC, especially with the current track of Hurricane Bill still posing a risk to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and PEI. All Ham’s participation is welcomed. Not just from the Maritimes. 
This Net meets on the Echolink WX-TALK Conference and IRLP Reflector 9219. In the event that IRLP Reflector 9219 and the EchoLink WX-TALK conference is down, we will utilize EchoLink Conference *VKEMCOMM*, EchoLink Node #:270177 and IRLP Reflector 9508 system. A third backup is the New England Network which is the *NEW-ENG* Conference Server, Node #:9123 and IRLP Reflector 9123. For more details, visit http://www.voipwx.net/

Last season, when Hurricane Kyle impacted Nova Scotia, the amateur operators there provided critical information supporting the National Hurricane Centers…by performing a magnificent job. This information would once again be needed and I have coordinated with WX4NHC and the VoIP Hurricane Net for this activity, should it be required. Also be aware that any life/safety information can be passed over this network.

It is also likely that the Hurricane Watch Net would be stood up. Their success will be based up the propagation on the HF bands that are being utilized. They primarily operate on 14.325MHz, but can move onto other bands. I have also coordinated with Hams in the New England area that would be able to utilize HF in support of any of your operations.

73 & Thanks For All The Work!

Dennis C. Dura, CBRM
K2DCD, NCS310
Manager, Emergency Preparedness & Response
ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio™

From RAC Jul.01/09:   Effective July 1, 2009, Doug Mercer, VO1DTM, has assumed the post of Radio Amateurs of Canada Vice President for Field Services (VPFS). Doug replaces Sue Cooke VE3SUH, who was appointed by the RAC Board of Directors to temporarily fill the position when former VPFS Bob Cooke, VE3BDB, resigned to accept appointment as RAC president on February
24, 2009. Doug's appointment as VPFS will continue until December 31, 2009, which is the end of the current executive term. He may be contacted by email at vo1dtm@hotmail.com  RAC greatly appreciates Sue's efforts and is grateful to her and to Doug for ensuring that this important RAC position remains filled.

Bob Cooke VE3BDB
President, Radio Amateurs of Canada 

From Jim VE1JBL Jun.23/09: