Hello to all..

SKYWARN Recognition Day is December 3rd, 2016 from 0000-2400 UTC (Friday Evening 12/2/16 from 700 PM ET-Saturday Evening 12/3/16 at 7 PM ET) and Echolink and IRLP will be playing a role in SRD as it has in past years. SKYWARN Recognition Day is an opportunity for National Weather Service Forecast Offices across the United States to thank SKYWARN Spotters for their efforts in obtaining timely severe weather reporting for the protection of life and property. This is the SKYWARN program’s main mission.

EchoLink and IRLP are just a couple of modes people can utilize to contact NWS offices during SKYWARN Recognition Day. Many NWS offices will be on 2 Meters, 440 MHz, HF and other VHF/UHF bands. Additional details on SKYWARN Recognition Day can be found via the following link:

http://hamradio.noaa.gov

The ARRL has also published a web story for SRD. That web story can be seen via the following link:
http://www.arrl.org/news/skywarn-recognition-day-on-the-air-event-is-saturday-december-3

As in past years, the EchoLink *WX_TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP reflector 9219 system will be scheduling time for NWS offices in 1-2 hour time slots to act as a net control to make contacts with spotters that are on the system. If a NWS office runs out of contacts and there are other NWS offices on the system, the NWS office acting as net control can turn it over to a different NWS office to act as a net control on the system at their discretion.

We’d like to ask NWS offices to do their best to adhere to the schedule. Sometimes this is difficult due to the number of contacts received by NWS offices. We ask for everyone’s patience and working cooperatively to respect the time slot schedule.

Below is the latest 2016 SRD Schedule with numerous updates from NWS offices that have confirmed their time slot for this year. We would like to know if the remaining NWS offices would like to keep their time slot or change time slots. See the list of NWS offices below:

Time in UTC NWS Office Call-Sign
0000-0100: WX0GLD (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0100-0200: WX1GYX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0200-0300: WX4MLB (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0300-0400: WX1BOX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0400-0500: WX9GRB (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0500-0600: KL7FWX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0600-0700: WX4HUN (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0700-0800: KL7FWX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0800-0900: WX9LOT (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0900-1000: Open
1000-1100: Open
1100-1200: Open
1200-1300: W7NWS (New Time Slot for this year)
1300-1400: WX2PHI (Confirmed time slot for this year)
1400-1500: W1AW (New time slot for this year)
1500-1600: WX1BOX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
1600-1700: WX4NC (Confirmed time slot for this year)
1700-1800: WX2PHI (Confirmed time slot for this year)
1800-1900: WX6MTR (Time slot for last year)
1900-2000: K0MPX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
2000-2100: WX4MLB (Confirmed time slot for this year)
2100-2300: WX4NHC (Confirmed time slot for this year)
2300-2400: WX6NWS (Confirmed time slot for this year)

There will be other conference systems utilized for SKYWARN Recognition Day. They are as follows:

The New England Reflector Gateway System will be utilized by the NWS Taunton, Mass. and NWS Gray, Maine offices from 0000-0500 UTC and 1200-2400 UTC. The New England Gateway system is on EchoLink Conference server *NEW-ENG3* Node: 9123, IRLP reflector 9123. If other NWS offices would like to join the system, they are welcome to do so and participants in SKYWARN Recognition Day can also use that system to make contact with various NWS offices. This is a great place to move off the *WX_TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system after your scheduled time if other Amateurs or NWS offices whish to make contact with you.

Also, the Western Reflector will be having NWS offices calling CQ as in past years and have multiple reflector channels and Echolink conferences available. There is reflector 9250/Echolink Conference *HI-GATE* node: 357564, IRLP 9251 and the *WORLD* Echolink Conference node: 479886, IRLP 9257/*DCF-ARC* Echolink Conference node: 336037 and IRLP 9258/EchoLink Conference *NV-GATE* Node: 152566 open for NWS offices. Please contact Kent-W7AOR for additional information on the Western Reflector.

A few technical reminders for folks interested in making contacts with the NWS Forecast Offices on the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 and New England Reflector Gateway IRLP 9123/*NEW-ENG3* Echolink Node: 9123 systems:

-The system allows both EchoLink and IRLP connections. For EchoLink users, you connect to the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203 conference system. For IRLP users, you would connect to IRLP reflector 9219.

-If you are using EchoLink, the RF node or PC that you’re using must have EchoLink conferencing disabled. If it is not disabled, the system will automatically kick the node or PC off of the system. The reason this occurs is to prevent unintentional interference from a conferencing station that may not know the node is connected somewhere else. This will keep traffic moving on the net and reduce interference considerably.

For more information on VoIP Technical Configuration Tips, please go to our web site at http://www.voipwx.net where we have a link to that information on the main menu of the web site. This announcement will also be on the web site.

We are looking forward to another fun SKYWARN Recognition Day on the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP reflector 9219 system, New England Reflector Gateway system and Western Reflector system. Thanks to all for their support!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton Massachusetts
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator

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Hello to all…

Tropical Storm Otto has intensified into Hurricane Otto as of the 4 PM EST 11/22/16 National Hurricane Center (NHC) advisory. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the Costa Rica/Panama border to south of Bluefields. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Nargana to Colon including San Andres. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for West of Colon to the Costa Rica/Panama border and the Bluefields to Sandy Bay Sirpi. Hurricane Warnings are likely for portions of the Hurricane Watch area tonight or early tomorrow morning. On the current forecast track, Otto will make landfall in Southern Nicaragua on Thanksgiving Day.

Regarding VoIP Hurricane Net Activation status, there are no known Echolink or IRLP nodes in the affected area and few online personal weather stations in the area. If Amateurs within the email groups know of stations in the affected area of Costa Rica and Nicaragua who can connect via Echolink or IRLP or have relays to Amateurs in the affected area, we can look at a potential activation. If there are no known paths to the affected area, we will not activate for Hurricane Otto. We will provide an update on activation status by late Wednesday Afternoon.

Advisories on Otto can be seen off the main menu of the voipwx.net web site, via the voipwxnet Facebook and Twitter feeds and off the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of this system. 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…

Tropical Depression (TD) 16 has intensified and become Tropical Storm Otto in the Southwest Caribbean Sea and its movement continues to be stationary. Gradual strengthening is expected to continue and Otto has the potential of becoming a Category-1 Hurricane and begin a westward motion making landfall in Nicaragua later this week. VoIP Hurricane Net activation status if that were to occur would be determined by the level of ability in gathering reports from the affected area. Advisories on TD 16 can be seen off the main menu of the voipwx.net web site, via the voipwxnet Facebook and Twitter feeds and off the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of this system. 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…

Tropical Depression (TD) 16 has formed in the Southwest Caribbean Sea and its movement is stationary. Gradual strengthening is expected and TD 16 is expected to become a tropical storm and if that occurs as forecasted, TD 16 would be named Otto. Otto does have the potential of becoming a Category-1 Hurricane and begin a westward motion making landfall in Nicaragua later this week. VoIP Hurricane Net activation status if that were to occur would be determined by the level of ability in gathering reports from the affected area. Advisories on TD 16 can be seen off the main menu of the voipwx.net web site, via the voipwxnet Facebook and Twitter feeds and off the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of this system. 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…

Hurricane Nicole will be near or over Bermuda on Thursday. The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate between 5-6 AM EDT, 0900-1000 UTC and will likely deactivate by 800 PM EDT 0000 UTC at the latest. VP9HK-Tony will check in periodically into the VoIP Hurricane Net. We will also be monitoring storm bloggers from the stormcarib.com web site and weather stations on Bermuda for as long as they are operational and accessible on the island along with social media outlets. Nicole is a major hurricane and as of the 10/12/16 11 PM EDT/0300 UTC advisory has reached category-IV status with the stronger eastern side of the hurricane expected to traverse the island with the possibility of the eye of Hurricane Nicole tracking over the island. Advisories on Hurricane Nicole can be seen off the main menu of the voipwx.net web site, via the voipwxnet Facebook and Twitter feeds and via the National Hurricane Center web site at the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

We will continue to closely monitor Nicole’s passage through Bermuda on Thursday. Thanks to all for the 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 weekly VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday October 8th will be cancelled. The net will likely continue to be in activation mode for Hurricane Matthew through Saturday Evening and possibly into Sunday. If Matthew drops below hurricane strength before Saturday Evening, the net activation would end shortly after that point but after almost a week of continuous operation for Hurricane Matthew, regardless of activation status, it makes sense to cancel this week’s net. The VoIP Hurricane Prep Net will resume its regular weekly net on Saturday October 15th at 800 PM EDT/700 PM CDT/0000 UTC. 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..

Here are updated VoIP Hurricane Net Activation plans for Hurricane Matthew as of 10/2/16 at 915 AM EDT/1315 UTC:

The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate for Hurricane Matthew no later than 7 AM EDT Monday Morning. The track of Matthew has slowed and the onset of tropical storm force winds to Jamaica and Southern Haiti won’t be until 4 to 5 AM Monday Morning. Given the slowdown in Matthew’s track and the delay in the onset of tropical storm force winds, the activation for Hurricane Matthew has been pushed out to 700 AM Monday Morning. The net will likely be active through late Monday Evening and potentially into Tuesday depending on his track and ability to gather surface reports from areas of Jamaica, Haiti, Eastern Cuba, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands.

We will continue to update VoIP Hurricane Net activation plans for Hurricane Matthew as required. Again, it is too early to say what impacts, if any, Matthew will have on the US East Coast later this week and into the weekend and early next week. Amateur Radio Operators and SKYWARN spotters along the US East Coast should continue to monitor the progress of Matthew by monitoring National Hurricane Center and local National Weather Service products, “unhyped” media sources and satellite trends and weather models though when reviewing weather model data, one model run or one specific model is just a piece of an entire puzzle and should be combined with forecast information and multiple weather models to make reliable decisions.

Advisories on Matthew can be seen off of the Main Menu of the voipwxnet web site, via our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and off the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
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Hello to all…

Hurricane Matthew is a powerful Category-IV hurricane as of the 800 AM EDT/1200 UTC advisory. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Jamaica and a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Colombia/Venezuela border to Riohaca. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Haiti from the southern border with the Dominican Republic to Port-Au-Prince. Hurricane Matthew will begin to impact the Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watch areas late Sunday Afternoon/evening through Monday Evening. Eastern Cuba, and the southern Bahamas will likely start to feel impacts Monday Afternoon into Tuesday.

The VoIP Hurricane Net is looking at activation plans some time during the late afternoon Sunday into Monday Evening. The exact timing of activation will likely be announced Saturday Evening. There is Echolink/IRLP activity on Jamaica and we have reached out to several storm bloggers on stormcarib.com and there are several personal weather stations on Jamaica. WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, is looking at similar activation plans at this time. Any Amateur Radio Operators with contacts into the affected area of Jamaica, Southern Dominican Republic/Haiti or Eastern Cuba are welcome to relay reports from these areas.

Beyond Tuesday, it is unclear whether Matthew will stay offshore of the US East Coast or have direct impacts on the US East Coast. Model solutions vary from direct impacts to the US East Coast to no impact on the US East Coast. The future track of Matthew should be monitored by all SKYWARN Spotters and Amateur Radio Operators over the course of the coming week as models will likely converge on a solution once Matthew reaches the area of the Bahamas in the Tuesday to Wednesday timeframe.

Advisories on Matthew can be seen off of the Main Menu of the voipwxnet web site, via our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and off the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:
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Hello to all…

Tropical Storm Matthew has formed in the Atlantic and is not in the Eastern Caribbean Sea. Matthew is expected to intensify into a hurricane over the next day or so and there is some potential that Matthew could become a powerful hurricane and system over the next several days. The current track out in the 4 to 5 day period brings Matthew to the east of Jamaica and over eastern Cuba, however, the track error in the 4 to 5 day range is between 180 and 240 miles and there is still some model spread in the guidance. The potential exists for activation of WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, and the VoIP Hurricane Net later this weekend. At this time, it looks like the VoIP Hurricane Prep Net will take place as scheduled. Matthew may then move parallel to the US East Coast over the course of next week but guidance at this time range can have huge track errors and this will need refinement as we move forward.

Advisories on Matthew can be seen off the main menu of the voipwx.net web site, via our voipwxnet facebook and twitter feeds and via the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of this system. 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 Management Team is continuing to monitor the progress of Invest 97L approaching the Caribbean Windward and Southern Leeward islands and northern South America. Recon planes flew into the invest but were unable to find a closed circulation. There remains a high chance, 90%, for development of this system into a tropical depression or tropical storm and another recon plane will investigate the system Wednesday Morning. Regardless of development, wind gusts to tropical storm force are likely in the Windward and Leeward islands. The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of this system. The Tropical Weather Outlook can be seen off the Main Menu of the web site, via the voipwxnet Facebook and Twitter feeds and via the National Hurricane Center web site at the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team will continue to closely monitor the progress of this system. 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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