Hello to all…

The annual WX4NHC On Air Communications Test has been set for Saturday May 28th, 2022 and WX4NHC will be on the air on the VoIP Hurricane Net system Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 from 4-5 PM EDT (2000-2100z). Other Amateur Radio modes will be utilized and those details are listed in the announcement below from WD4R-Julio Ripoll, Assistant WX4NHC Coordinator:

Announcement from WX4NHC
Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, Miami Florida
WX4NHC will be On-The-Air for the Annual Communications Test
Saturday May 28th, 2022 from 9AM – 5 PM EDT (1300z-2100z)

This is our 42nd year of public service at NHC.

The purpose of this event is to test WX4NHC Amateur Radio Equipment and Antennas at NHC as well as Operator’s home equipment, antennas and computers prior to this year’s Hurricane Season, which starts June 1st and runs through November 30th.

This event is good practice for Ham Radio Operators world-wide to practice Amateur Radio communications available during times of severe weather.

We will be making brief contacts on many frequencies and modes, exchanging signal reports and basic weather data exchange (Sunny, Rain, Temperature, etc.) with any station in any location.

WX4NHC will be On-The-Air on HF, VHF, UHF , 2 & 30 meter APRS and WinLink wx4nhc@winlink.org subject must contain //WL2K.

We will try to stay on the Hurricane Watch Net frequency 14.325 MHz most of the time. Also 7.268 MHz depending on propagation.

However, we will be operating different frequencies depending on QRM.

You may be able to find us on HF by using one of the DX Spotting Networks,
Such as the DX Summit Web Site: http://www.dxsummit.fi/Search.aspx

We will also be on VoIP Hurricane Net 4pm-5pm EDT (2000-2100z)
(IRLP node 9219 / EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203). http://www.voipwx.net/

WX4NHC will also make a few contacts on local VHF and UHF repeaters as well as Florida Statewide SARNET system to test our station equipment.

QSL Cards are available via WD4R.
Please send your card with a S.A.S.E.

Please do NOT send QSLs directly to the Hurricane Center address, as it will get delayed.

Due to security measures and COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic:
NO VISITORS will be allowed entry to NHC.

For more information about WX4NHC, please visit our website
www.wx4nhc.org

Thank you for your participation in the WX4NHC Annual Station Test event.

73, Julio – WX4NHC/WD4R

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Julio Ripoll Architect WD4R
WX4NHC Amateur Radio Asst. Coordinator
www.wx4nhc.org
Celebrating 42 years at the
National Hurricane Center
www.nhc.noaa.gov
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

We hope many can join the WX4NHC Annual On-Air Test for this year. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.

Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net

Hello to all…

The following is a complete 4 hour and 33 minute recording of the 2022 National Hurricane Conference Virtual Amateur Radio Workshop from Monday April 11th, 2022 uploaded via Youtube:

2022 Virtual Amateur Radio Workshop – National Hurricane Conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTKJz9FpSAs

As listed in the YouTube listing, here are the start timeframes for each of the workshop topics:

00:05: Opening remarks
05:10: Canadian Hurricane Center and Hurricane Meteorological Topics – VE1MBR-Bob Robichaud
44:00: WX4NHC Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center Overview -WD4R-Julio Ripoll
1:45:40: VoIP Hurricane Net Overview & Best Practices in SKYWARN for Tropical Systems – KD1CY-Rob Macedo
2:17:55: HWN Overview – KB5HAV-Bobby Graves
2:56:00: SATERN Presentation – WB8BZH-Bill Feist
3:23:35: ARRL Update and First Part of Q&A session – K1FUG-Ken Bailey
4:03:50: Importance of Amateur Radio Surface Reports with Q&A – WX4KEG-Ken Graham
4:21:03: Remaining Q&A/Panel Discussion – All

Please note that Ken Graham-WX4KEG, NHC Director, had to join by phone due to an issue with his IPad and Zoom with Audio so during that portion of the presentation the visual portion may either be blank or show the last person that spoke to Ken or posed a question to him.

We appreciate everyone who attended the workshop live (it was between 85-95 people which was higher than last year) and we hope many more will view the video presentation recording via YouTube.

Thanks to all for their continued support of the Amateur Radio Hurricane program led by WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Watch Net, VoIP Hurricane Net, SATERN, ARRL, National Hurricane Center and Canadian Hurricane Center as well as all the local regional SKYWARN/CANWARN programs in the United States and Canada and the various local groups that support us internationally.

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

Hello to all…

We will have the 2022 National Hurricane Conference Virtual Amateur Radio Workshop on Monday April 11th, 2022 from 1030 AM-1200 PM EDT and 130-500 PM EDT. The topics lineup for the workshop as well as the Zoom information details are listed below:

https://voipwx.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/National-Hurricane-Conference-2022-Session-and-Schedule-Information-2.pdf

The workshop will be recorded and added on to Youtube as well. We appreciate everyone’s support of the 2022 National Hurricane Conference Virtual Amateur Radio Workshop on Monday 4/11/22 and everyone’s support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

Hello to all…

Well, unfortunately, those of us in Southern New England will not escape the 2021-2022 Winter without a Blizzard! New England Blizzard Operations will occur on Echolink/IRLP on the *NEW-ENG* Node: 9123/IRLP 9123 system. The *WX_TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system will be linked in as a listen only reflector system to the operations late tonight or first thing Saturday Morning. SKYWARN Activation will start no later than 5 AM ET Saturday Morning lasting through Sunday Morning. Further details are available at:

http://www.wx1box.org
http://ares.ema.arrl.org (Updates to be posted here later today)

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

Hello to all..

SKYWARN Recognition Day is Saturday December 4th, 2021 from 0000-2400 UTC (Friday Evening 12/3/21 from 700 PM ET-Saturday Evening 12/4/21 at 700 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 including registration for all stations can be found via the following links:

http://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition

Due to COVID19, volunteer Amateur Radio Operators are not allowed to be at NWS Forecast Offices. Forecast offices will be represented by Amateur Radio Operators at home and possibly by some NWS employees from actual NWS offices.

As in past years, the EchoLink *WX_TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP reflector 9219 system will be scheduling time for NWS offices and due to COVID, Amateur Operators who typically are at weather service hours, 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/SKYWARN NWS Operator runs out of contacts and there are other NWS offices on the system, the NWS office/SKYWARN Operator 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. Also, for this year, we will have the following modes connected in through the efforts of KC5FM-Lloyd Colston and VK3JED-Tony Langdon. They are as follows:

Allstar 28848
Hamshack Hotline 94032
IRLP 9550
AllStar 27154
DMR BM TG 5053029
P25 TG 50535
YSF reflector 50535 (narrow mode only)
D-STAR XLX432 D (DCS432 D)

We’d like to ask NWS offices and/or coordinators who are operating from homw who operate at NWS offices do their best to adhere to the schedule. Sometimes this is difficult due to the number of contacts received by each net control. We ask for everyone’s patience and working cooperatively to respect the time slot schedule.

Below is the 2021 SRD Schedule with the time slots confirmed so far for 2021 and those time slots relinquished by NWS offices. See the list of NWS offices below:

Time in UTC NWS Office Call-Sign
0000-0100: N0NWS (Time slot confirmed for this year)
0100-0200: WX1GYX (Time slot confirmed for this year)
0200-0300: WX7SLC/KJ7MEB (Time slot confirmed for this year)
0300-0400: Open
0400-0500: WX1BOX (Time slot confirmed for this year)
0500-0600: WX9LOT (Confirmed time slot from last year)
0600-0700: WX4HUN (Time slot confirmed for this year)
0700-0800: WX8APX (Time slot confirmed for this year)
0800-0900: WX8APX (Time slot confirmed for this year)
0900-1000: Open
1000-1100: WX7SLC/AD7LO (Time slot confirmed for this year)
1100-1200: WX1GYX (New time slot this year for existing NWS Office)
1200-1300: W7NWS (Confirmed time slot from last year)
1300-1400: WX7SLC/W1YMI (Time slot confirmed for this year)
1400-1500: WX1AW (Confirmed time slot from last year)
1500-1600: WX1BOX (Time slot confirmed for this year)
1600-1700: WX4NC (Time slot confirmed for this year)
1700-1800: WX4JKL (Time slot confirmed for this year – NEW office)
1800-1900: WX6LOX (Time slot confirmed for this year)
1900-2000: K0MPX (Confirmed time slot from last year)
2000-2100: WX4JKL (Time slot confirmed for this year – NEW office)
2100-2300: WX4NHC (Time slot confirmed for this year)
2300-2400: Open

The New England Reflector Gateway System will be utilized by SKYWARN Coordinators from New England 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 SKYWARN Coordinators and 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 wish 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. It is possible we will have DMR/D-STAR and other modes directly linked on the system. This will be updated in the next few days regarding that aspect.

-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 Boston/Norton Massachusetts
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator

Hello to all…

The 2021 Virtual National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Workshop that was held on Tuesday June 15th, 2021 is posted on Youtube. It can be seen at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ecZRKVgIG0

In the interest of time to get this posted on Youtube since it has been several months since the conference, it is one long workshop video of 4 hours and 8 minutes but in the description of the video, we provide the rough start time for each of the workshop topics. We hope this will be useful to anyone in the coastal areas that are threatened by tropical systems each year.

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

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

Hello to all…

Tropical Storm Nicholas has formed in the Southwest Gulf of Mexico. While the current NHC official forecast is to keep it below a hurricane strength, it will not take much deviation in the forecast intensity for Nicholas to attain hurricane strength. This could occur if Nicholas stays over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico longer and tracks a little further east to avoid stronger shear in the atmosphere that could keep it weaker. These aspects will be monitored closely by the VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team. Advisories from the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Nicholas can be found off the main menu of the voipwx.net web site under Atlantic Tropical Products, via our Social Media Facebook and Twitter feeds and via the NHC web site at the following link:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

As mentioned on the VoIP Hurricane Prep Net last night, there are several other areas of disturbed weather in the Atlantic basin being monitored in the Atlantic basin. We are at the peak of hurricane season. All Amateur Radio Operators, spotters and residents in coastal areas should monitor the developments in the Atlantic Tropics, review and have in place their hurricane plans. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

Hello to all…

The VoIP Hurricane Net Activation for Hurricane Larry was secured at 230 AM EDT – Saturday 9/11/21 supporting both WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida and the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada. Through the exemplary efforts of VO1IV-Aaron Abbott and a number of Amateur Radio Operators across Newfoundland Canada and one Amateur Operator in Ontario who relayed a report from a non-Amateur Radio CANWARN Spotter in St Johns Newfoundland, reports of damage to trees, power lines, power outages including roof damage to a school and a home were relayed off from Amateurs in the region. Additional information was captured via public safety feeds from the St Johns and Conception Bay areas of Newfoundland Canada as well as online weather stations including one report from Cape St Mary Lighthouse which was used in the Friday Evening 1100 PM EDT National Hurricane Center Advisory crediting Amateur Radio. The complete set of reports can be seen on the following link:

http://report.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records?auth=OK

We are very grateful to VO1IV-Aaron and all Amateurs who supported the respective hurricane centers and our net. We wish them well in their storm recovery efforts!

We will have our regular VoIP Hurricane Prep Net this Saturday Evening at 800 PM EDT. While there are no named systems in the Atlantic basin, there are several areas of disturbed weather and we will discuss them on tonight’s net. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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