Hello to all….

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Labor Day Weekend. Unfortunately, the tropics are picking the holiday weekend to get active.

Tropical Depression-6 (TD-6) has formed in the Atlantic about 180 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands. TD-6 is expected to strengthen and if it does as forecast it would be named Felix. This system is expected to potentially bring tropical storm force conditions to Tobago, Grenada and its dependecies and potentially other parts of the Southern Windward islands and the Northern Coast of Venezuela.

TD-6 has the potential to reach hurricane strength in 4-5 days with it reaching the Belize coast near that timeframe but it is noted that hurricane intensity and track forecasts 4-5 days out are particularly problematic and can be prone to large errors. The VoIP Hurricane Net management team will continue to closely monitor the progress of TD-6.

Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

The VoIP Hurricane Net has had several noteworthy news segments over the past two weeks as the net activated for Hurricane Flossie over Hawaii and several times for Hurricane Dean over the Caribbean islands, Jamaica, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and Belize and mainland Mexico. Below are links to those articles:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/08/23/100/?nc=1
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/08/17/100/?nc=1
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/08/15/100/?nc=1

We’d like to again thank all the stations who relayed reports to our net and all stations who provided relayed reports. We’d also like to thank our Net Controls who did much work over the span of these two activations and our Net Controls from Puerto Rico who provided translation services as Dean churned through Mexico.

These links have been added to the VoIP Hurricane Net in Amateur Radio News section. Additional items from Hurricane Dean will be posted later this week.

Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

At 5 PM EDT/2100 UTC Wednesday August 22nd, 2007, the VoIP Hurricane Net has secured as Dean has been downgraded to a tropical storm. Dean will rapidly weaken inland over Mexico. Heavy Rain and flooding will be the main threats.

It has been a very long week as we’ve dealt with this extremely dangerous hurricane and impact to multiple land areas. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all of the Net Controls, Spanish translators, stations in the affected area and stations who relayed reports from the affected area to our net and found other means to acquire information from the affected area. Some of the reports when Dean was over Jamaica were utilized in the advisory update that was given at 8 PM Sunday Evening. Those reports wouldn’t have been received if it wasn’t for everyone’s efforts. The Coordinators of the National Hurricane Center are very pleased with the efforts of our net.

I also would like to thank the many EchoLink PC users, links and repeaters and IRLP nodes and repeaters that connected to our system. On Sunday, I saw over 150 connections between EchoLink *WX-TALK*/IRLP 9219 and the listen only IRLP reflectors and conferences. I also wish to thank those conference and reflector owners who provided listen-only capability for the net.

In the next few days, I will try and send out some material and Frequently Asked Questions about our net as we’ve had an influx of over 40 new people to the VoIP-WXNet email list. Many of you may have questions and haven’t asked them so hopefully the Frequently Asked Questions document will answer some of those items. We are also working PR for the net’s efforts for Dean and hopefully that will be seen in the next few days.

Its now time to get some rest before the next potential hurricane strikes as we approach the peak of Hurricane Season in mid-September. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

One last activation for Hurricane Dean as he makes final landfall over Southeast mainland Mexico will occur Wednesday starting at 8 AM EDT lasting through early to mid afternoon depending on how Dean evolves and the level of reporting that can be obtained from main land Southeast Mexico. Any relays into the affected area and any Spanish translators would be helpful for this last Dean activation for final Dean landfall in main land Southeast Mexico.

The VoIP Hurricane Net has obtained links into the affected area who will be relaying reports from their area and from other sources. XE2WCG-Carlos and XE2ZQ-Guillermo will be assisting in these efforts among others. The VoIP Net Management team is making contact with additional node owners in the affected area of Dean in the hopes of raising more reports. Special thanks to Hector-N1TKK and Fransisco-NP3OD for there translating efforts and monitoring of other conferences and systems to provide reports to WX4NHC to help save lives.

Please note that the track, speed and intensity of Dean could cause changes in activation plans. Updates will be posted whenever time allows.

We now have 2 streaming audio links working as a means to listen to the net thanks to Tony Langdon-VK3JED, VoIP Hurricane Net Technical Coordinator and log time net supporter Lu Vencl-KA4EPS. The information is listed below along with listen only EchoLink and IRLP systems.

The reporting criteria and activation policy for our net during hurricane net activations as well as National Hurricane Center Advisory information can be found on our web site at http://www.voipwx.net

Listen Only IRLP/EchoLink capability include the following systems:

IRLP:
Reflector 9508 Sydney Australia Reflector channel 8.
Reflector 9129 New England Reflector channel 9.
Reflector 9058 Northeast Reflector channel 8.

EchoLink:
*KC4QLP-C* Node: 290251
*VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177
*N5API* Node: 77433
*WASH_DC* Node: 6154
*NC-PENN* Node: 137634

Streaming Audio feeds are now available and links have been added to the web
site:
KA4EPS Streaming Audio
VK3JED Streaming Audio

Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

At 11 PM EDT/0300 UTC, the Hurricane Dean VoIP Hurricane Dean activation was secured for Jamaica. A new activation will be started informally on Monday at 6 AM EDT/1000 UTC and formally start at 8 AM EDT/1200 UTC and could potentially last into early afternoon as Dean makes his closest approach to the Cayman Islands. Stations in the affected area or stations with relays into the affected area can give their reports on EchoLink *WX-TALK* Conference Node: 7203 and IRLP reflector 9219.

The next activation after Monday is expected early Tuesday Morning lasting through Tuesday Evening as Dean is expected to make landfall somewhere on the Yucatan Peninsula and sustain hurricane conditions on both the east and west sides of the Yucatan. The final activation for Dean should take place Wednesday as its expected that Dean will make landfall in the Southeast part of mainland Mexico. WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida, will be active across much of these timeframes per coordination with Julio Ripoll-WD4R, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator.

The VoIP Hurricane Net has obtained links into the affected area who will be relaying reports from their area and from other sources. XE2WCG-Carlos and XE2ZQ-Guillermo will be assisting in these efforts.

Please note that the track, speed and intensity of Dean could cause changes in activation plans. Updates will be posted whenever time allows.

We now have 2 streaming audio links working as a means to listen to the net thanks to Tony Langdon-VK3JED, VoIP Hurricane Net Technical Coordinator and log time net supporter Lu Vencl-KA4EPS. The information is listed below along with listen only EchoLink and IRLP systems.

The reporting criteria and activation policy for our net during hurricane net activations as well as National Hurricane Center Advisory information can be found on our web site at http://www.voipwx.net

Listen Only IRLP/EchoLink capability include the following systems:

IRLP:
Reflector 9508 Sydney Australia Reflector channel 8.
Reflector 9129 New England Reflector channel 9.

EchoLink:
*KC4QLP-C* Node: 290251
*VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177
*N5API* Node: 77433
*WASH_DC* Node: 6154

Streaming Audio feeds are now available and links have been added to the web site:
VK3JED Audio Streaming Link

KA4EPS Audio Streaming Link

Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

…VoIP Hurricane Net Activation to Commence at 8 AM EDT/1200 UTC Sunday August 19th, 2007 for Hurricane Dean’s impact on Jamaica as there are EchoLink and IRLP nodes in the affected area….

The VoIP Hurricane Net in coordination with WX4NHC will be activating at 8 AM EDT/1200 UTC to support WX4NHC with surface/meterological reports from stations in the affected area on *WX-TALK* node: 7203/IRLP reflector 9219. Impact to Jamaica is expected Sunday with impact to the Cayman Islands on Monday.

As of 11am EDT / 15:00 UTC…Hurricane warnings have been issued for Jamaica. Hurricane warnings remain in effect for the south coast of the Dominican Republic and for the Southwestern peninsula of Haiti. Tropical Storm warnings are also in effect for other areas of the Caribbean. The center of Hurricane Dean was located near 15.7 North and 68.6 West or about 565 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. Dean is moving toward the west near 17mph and a west or west-northwest motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. This puts the core of the hurricane south of Hispaniola today and early Sunday. Maximum sustained winds remain near 150mph making Dean a major and extremely dangerous Category 4 Hurricane. Fluctuations in strength are possible and Dean could reach Category 5 strength prior to hitting Jamaica, however little overall change in strength is expected. Estimated minimum central pressure is 929mb or 27.43 inches. Complete information on Dean can be found at the National Hurricane Center Webpage www.nhc.noaa.gov.

We are currently making contact with Amateurs in Grand Cayman and Jamaica. Any stations with contacts in that area are urged to assist us by relaying reports from those contacts in the affected area wherever possible. It is possible we may have a few of these stations on our weekly net this evening if they are not too busy preparing for this dangerous hurricane.

The reporting criteria and activation policy for our net during hurricane net activations can be found on our web site at http://www.voipwx.net

Listen Only IRLP/EchoLink capability include the following systems:

IRLP:
Reflector 9508 Sydney Australia Reflector channel 8.
Reflector 9129 New England Reflector channel 9.

EchoLink:
*KC4QLP-C* Node: 290251
*VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177
*N5API* Node: 77433

Below is the WX4NHC Activation Announcement as provided by Julio Ripoll-WD4R, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator:

WX4NHC ANNOUNCEMENT – HURRICANE DEAN OPERATIONS
Released August 18, 2007, 1 PM EDT

PLEASE RELAY TO STATIONS IN THE AFFECTED AREAS.

DEAN IS NOW A VERY STRONG CATEGORY-4 HURRICANE WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 150 MPH AND FORECAST TO TRACK OVER JAMAICA AND THE CAYMANS ISLANDS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY.

WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami will reactivate operations sunday, AUGUST 19th at 8 AM EDT (1200z) and continue operations through Tuesday August 22nd as Dean is forecast to track over the Yucatan Peninsula.

We would appreciate weather data AND DAMAGE reports from land based stations and ships IN the affected area.

If you are in the affected area and normally stay on a local Net on VHF, 40 or 80 meters, we would appreciate your checking into the HWN NET or EchoLink/IRLP Net once per Hour TO RECEIVE THE LATEST HURRICANE ADVISORIES AND TO report your LOCAL conditions.

Please do not venture outside during the hurricane to gather weather data.

Your safety is the first priority.

There are many constantly changing atmospheric variables that affect the storm’s track and strength.

Please refer to the National Hurricane Center Advisories for official information. www.nhc.noaa.gov

WX4NHC will be monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net www.hwn.org on 14.325 MHz.

Secondary HF frequencies will be 7.268 MHz and 3.950 MHz +/- QRM, should we loose propagation on 20 meters.

EchoLink WX-Talk Conference Room and IRLP node 9219 will also be monitored. www.voipwx.net

WX4NHC will also monitor CWOP, APRS and MADIS/MESONET Automated weather stations in the affected area.

Surface Reports using our On-line Hurricane Report form will be monitored.

Amateur Weather Enthusiasts and ON-NHC Volunteers may report directly to WX4NHC on-line.

http://www.wx4nhc.org/WX-form1.html

ON-NHC Volunteers are both Ham Radio Operators and Non-Ham weather observers that use their own weather instruments to submit “Surface Reports” directly to NHC over the Internet via the WX4NHC on-line report form. These “Surface Reports” are very important as they give Hurricane Specialists at NHC a better idea of what is actually happening on the ground level during the storm.

The WX4NHC Group continues to expand its efforts to increase the quantity and quality of surface reports to include many different modes of reception and groups of people; including HF, VHF/UHF IRLP & EchoLink, VHF & HF APRS, CWOP NOAA Program and ON-NHC Weather Observers Network.

(see our web site for more information on these programs): www.wx4nhc.org

WX4NHC is very proud to have maintained an active Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center for the past 27 years.

We appreciate all of the volunteers who help with our efforts.

OUR MISSION: TO HELP SAVE LIVES.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Julio Ripoll Architect WD4R
WX4NHC Amateur Radio Asst. Coordinator
www.wx4nhc.org

National Hurricane Center
www.nhc.noaa.gov
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net 1 1
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Hello to all….

We have secured the VoIP Hurricane Net activation for Hurricane Dean as it crossed through the islands of Martinique, Dominica, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Barbados and surrounding islands. Damage reports were fairly significant with reports of structural damage to a children’s hospital on St. Lucia, several roofs blown off homes in Dominica with wind gusts exceeding hurricane force and significant damage in St. Vincent. Phone systems were affected in some areas of Dominica with phone service lost entirely on the island of Martinique.

You can view the reports that were received via the VoIPWXNet web site at http://www.voipwx.net and by clicking Report Viewer off the Main Menu. It lists specific reports from the Hurricane Dean activation as well as Hurricane Flossie.

A huge thank you to Clem James-J73CI, Joseph Russell-J73RJ from Dominica and Julien Dedier-9Z4FZ from Trinidad for all their reporting into the VoIP Hurricane Net. This is serving in WX4NHC, the National Hurricane Center Ham station’s mission of helping to save lives.

Dean’s path will be taking it close to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. The potential currently exists for activation of WX4NHC and the VoIP Hurricane Net on Sunday for these areas. Further details will follow in future email updates on Hurricane Dean.

Thanks to all for their continued support of VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net 1
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Hello to all….

Dean has now become a hurricane with maximum sustained winds as of the 11 AM EDT advisory of 90 MPH. It’s track is expected to take the system through the Netherland Antilles with Dominica and Martinique bearing a potential direct hit from Hurricane Dean and other surrounding islands will also feel the impact of Dean.

Given there are EchoLink and IRLP stations in the affected area of Hurricane Dean, the VoIP Hurricane Net on Echolink *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 will activate. The start time for activation has changed. The start time of the activation for the threat of Hurricane Dean to the Caribbean islands will now be 2 AM EDT/0600 UTC. This could be subject to change based on the speed of Dean.

The Amateur Radio Coordinators for WX4NHC have indicated that they will also be activating for Hurricane Dean and man the station at the National Hurricane Center. In talking with Julio Ripoll, WD4R, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator, the start time of their activation will be 6 AM EDT/1000 UTC. This could be subject to change based on the speed of Dean. When an updated announcement on the WX4NHC Activation is provided, this VoIP Hurricane Net activation notice will be updated.

We have made contact with Clem James-J73CI who is on the island of Dominica. Clem has worked with us on several VoIP Hurricane Net activations for this area over the years and were happy that he will be able to help us once again. Other Amateurs from surrounding islands will be contacted to assist in relaying reports to the VoIP Hurricane Net.

The reporting criteria and activation policy for our net during hurricane net activations can be found on our web site at http://www.voipwx.net

Listen Only IRLP/EchoLink capability include the following systems:

IRLP:
Reflector 9508 Sydney Australia Reflector channel 8.
Reflector 9129 New England Reflector channel 9.

EchoLink:
*KC4QLP-C* Node: 290251
*VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177
*N5API* Node: 77433

If any Amateurs have contacts with Dominica, Martinique and surrounding Caribbean islands and can relay reports from there, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

The VoIP Hurricane Net Activation for Hurricane Flossie was featured on the ARRL web site this morning. See link below for information:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/08/15/100/?nc=1

Special thanks to Dennis Dura-K2DCD, Assistant Director of VoIP Hurricane Net Operations for his support at ARRL Headquarters for the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations of the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

In the Central Pacific, Hurricane Flossie was downgraded to a tropical storm at 0900 UTC by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Tropical storm force wind gusts occurred over south and east parts of the big island of Hawaii but no significant damage occurred. Reports were received via reflector 9254 and 9219 from KH6SW-NWS Honolulu and the Hilo EOC. Special thanks to Connie-NH7IE, Jack-KH6DQ who operated at NWS Honolulu, Hawaii and Bob-AH6J and AH6JA-Harvey who operated at the Hilo EOC for their reports and information. The VoIP Hurricane Net activation was secured at 0900 UTC upon a downgrade of Flossie to a Tropical Storm.

Turning our attention to the active Atlantic and Gulf, Tropical Storm Dean is expected to undergo further strengthening and become the first Atlantic Hurricane of the 2007 season. The potential exists for Dean to become a major hurricane. Dean could potentially track through the island of Martinique and surrounding islands during the day on Friday. The potential exists for VoIP Hurricane Net activation on Friday as this system makes its way through the Caribbean islands. Further updates will be posted on Dean over the next couple of days.

Tropical Depression #5 has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Depression #5 has the potential to become a tropical storm before making landfall north of Brownsville Texas late Thursday Afternoon. If TD-5 strengthens as anticipated, it would be named Erin. At this time, this system is not expected to reach hurricane strength.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team continued to monitor developments in the Tropics. At this time, we are particularly interested in hearing from stations in the Caribbean islands chain so that we can obtain reports from that area for WX4NHC for a potential passage of Dean as a hurricane on Friday. Please contact, Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net, Rob Macedo-KD1CY at kd1cy@voipwx.net or kd1cy@comcast.net if you’re in the Caribbean and can help. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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