Hello to all…

Amateur Radio will again be represented at the 2018 National Hurricane Conference which will be held this year in Orlando Florida. The conference theme is to improve hurricane preparedness as it has been in past years. All Amateur Radio sessions are free. For 2018, all the Amateur Radio sessions will be on Tuesday March 27th, 2018 from 1030 AM-1215 PM EDT and 130-500 PM EDT. Each presenter will not only give an overview of their respective group but also how their group handled the historic 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The session will be livestreamed and recorded. The live stream links follow below:

Amateur Radio presentations will be recorded and live streamed via Youtube. Livestream links below and these same links will serve as the links for the recorded session:

http://www.nsradio.org/stream

http://www.voipwx.net/files/stream.htm

Here is the session breakdown:

Detailed Schedule Outline – All Times (Eastern Daylight Time – EDT):

1030-1035 AM: Opening Remarks

1035-1105 AM: Importance of Amateur Radio Surface Reports (Dr. Ed Rappaport)

1105-1135 AM: Canadian Hurricane Centre and Hurricane Meteorological Topics (VE1MBR-Bob R)

1135 AM-1215 PM: ARRL “Force of Fifty Mission” and Caribbean Amateur Radio Response (KI1U)

—> NOTE: Speakers will be on a lunch break from 1215 PM-130 PM EDT

130-210 PM: WX4NHC Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center Overview (WD4R)

210-240 PM: Hurricane Watch Net Overview, Personal Weather Stations and Backup Power and Antenna Overview (KB5HAV)

240-310 PM: VoIP Hurricane Net Overview & Best Practices in SKYWARN for Tropical Systems (KD1CY)

—> NOTE: Speakers will be on a break from 310-330 PM EDT

330-415 PM: SATERN, Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network Overview (WB8BZH)

415-500 PM: Moderated Q & A session and Panel Discussion (All)

500-515 PM: Door Prize Raffles (In Person Audience Only)

We hope many of you can watch the livestream or see the recording of the Amateur Radio Workshop as the Atlantic Hurricane Season starts on June 1st.

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

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Hello to all..

On behalf of the VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to all. Thanks to all of you for your support of the VoIP Hurricane Net during 2017.

The 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season was the most active year for the VoIP Hurricane Net since the mid-2000s. There were 4 formal activations of the VoIP Hurricane Net for the year. The formal VoIP Hurricane Net activations included Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Nate.

Hurricane Harvey tracked across Eastern Texas making landfall in Rockport Texas. Harvey produced major hurricane force conditions and several weather stations recorded measured wind gusts over 100 MPH. These winds caused significant, tree, wire and structural damage as well as a significant storm surge for the area around Rockport Texas and the immediate coastal areas. As Harvey weakened, his track slowed significantly and tapping into Gulf of Mexico moisture it caused tremendous rainfall amounts across portions of Texas including greater than 50″ of rain in the Houston Texas area and greater than 50″ of rain in the Beaumont, Graves and Port Arthur Texas. This led to catastrophic river, stream and urban flooding in these areas with tremendous damage. While Harvey was a tropical storm as this occurred, the VoIP Hurricane Net maintained a listening watch for several days handling a number of rain gauge, flooding and even a small number of rescues by informing the United States Coast Guard of the needs of a small number of residents. Harvey would be the start of a very active period of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Harvey was the first major hurricane to impact the US in 12 years.

Hurricane Irma formed during and shortly after Harvey’s impacts in Eastern Texas. Irma would cause massive destruction on the island of Barbuda where wind gusts as high as 155 MPH occurred there before the wind instrument malfunctioned. Many of the structures on Barbuda were destroyed by Irma. Some damage was also reported on the island of Antigua to trees and power lines and a few structures by Amateur Radio Operators but Antigua escaped the worst of Irma’s wrath. The islands of Anguilla and St Maarten/St Martin sustained very significant damage to trees, power lines and structures including storm damage to their airports. The Anguilla Department of Disaster Management weather station maintained by VP2EL-Larry had a sustained wind of 82 MPH with wind gusts to 117 MPH before that wind instrument failed. St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands had sustained winds of 82 MPH with gusts to 113 MPH before that instrument failed and had similar damage to Anguilla and St Maarten/St Martin. These areas would take weeks to months to recover from the damage brought by Irma. Irma would then go on to batter much of the state of Florida with widespread tree and power line damage and damage to structures from both the damaging winds and storm surge. Flooding from heavy rainfall was also an issue particularly in inland portions of Florida and where storm surge with the heavy rainfall caused further flooding issues. Close to 6 Million people were without power in Florida for numerous days and some would not get power back for over a week. The VoIP Hurricane Net was active through these various landfalls and got a number of reports from Amateur Radio Operators and SKYWARN Spotters in Florida and into Southern Georgia and included damage photos posted to the VoIP Hurricane Net Facebook page with credit given to those that shared storm damage photos.

Hurricane Maria formed shortly after Irma and would affect the Caribbean islands a bit south and west of the path of Maria. The island of Dominica would take a direct hit from Maria with significant damage to trees, power lines and structures from high winds, storm surge and heavy rainfall caused landslides in some of the villages on Dominica. Reports monitored by the Caribbean Emergency Weather Net were relayed by J69DS-Frans into the VoIP Hurricane Net along with reports monitored off of modern social media were collated and sent into WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center. Many Amateur Radio Operators on the island of Dominica suffered significant property losses yet continued to operate their Amateur Radio stations during and after the storm to support their communities and to relay information about the state of the island. The same would be said for the Amateurs in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and other Amateur Radio stations affected by hurricanes this season. As Maria rolled into the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico significant infrastructure damage occurred in these areas causing significant communications and power issues. Wind gusts of over 100 MPH were recorded in Puerto Rico as Maria tore through the island. NP3OD-Francisco, long-time VoIP Hurricane Net participant, gave live updates and reported damage to his home and neighborhood. KB2WUS-Francisco provided many relayed damage reports and information from Puerto Rico as well providing high situational awareness. NP3OD-Francisco has managed to support efforts with his local Red Cross despite the damage at his location and is holding up well. He lost electrical power and had trouble at times finding gas for his generator but he maintained running water at his residence throughout the event. The infrastructure damage from Maria in Puerto Rico required the ARRL Force of Fifty mission supporting Red Cross.

A complete archive of the different Hurricane responses across the Amateur Radio community from Harvey, Irma and Maria can be found at the following links:

http://www.arrl.org/hurricane-harvey-response
http://www.arrl.org/hurricane-irma-2017
http://www.arrl.org/hurricane-maria-2017

Hurricane Nate was the last formal VoIP Hurricane Net activation. Nate’s main impacts were across the Southern Mississippi and Southern Alabama gulf coast with storm surge flooding, heavy rainfall causing river and stream flooding and damaging wind gusts and tornadoes from the convective bands of the hurricane. Impacts across Southeast Louisiana were negligible as the main conditions were along and to the east of the center leaving Louisiana on the weaker end of the storm system. A number of reports were handled from US Gulf Coast region along with interaction with local/regional SKYWARN teams out of the Mobile Alabama NWS Forecast Office and the Crescent City Amateur Radio Group (CCARG) in New Orleans Lousiana. It was also the first time experimenting with the Zello application using Amateur Radio procedures working with the CCARG team and will be something that will be reviewed as a use case to cast a wider reach to gather information for both Amateur Radio and non-Amateur Radio people that could provide information during hurricanes.

A complete archive of reports compiled via the VoIP Hurricane Net can be seen in our report viewer in the following link:
http://report.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records?auth=OK

As occurs yearly, we did support WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center with the WX4NHC Communications Test at the start of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season. As our main client, we appreciate WX4NHC’s support of our net and thank WX4NHC Coordinators, Julio Ripoll-WD4R and John McHugh-K4AG for their support. They have been an incredible partner with the VoIP Hurricane Net dating back to the net’s inception in the 2003-2004 timeframe. We also had another successful SKYWARN Recognition Day event on the home of the VoIP Hurricane Net, Echolink conference: *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219. Many NWS offices rotated on the system making contacts with Amateur Radio Operators and SKYWARN Spotters from around the country thanking them for their support as well as making contact with different NWS offices around the country.

As we move into next year, we will again have a presence at the 2018 National Hurricane Conference which will be in Orlando Florida. As we move into 2018, we will look at doing training presentations particularly on the non-hurricane season months in 2018 and continue the question of the week format for the weekly nets and possibly do a few training sessions during the weekly nets that we have during the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season. We will also look at boosting more stations and contacts within the affected areas of hurricanes to provide critical surface reports to WX4NHC. We will also be factoring in many lessons learned from the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season for net activations in 2018 and this information will be factored into an updated NCO training for the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season. We will also be looking further at how stations outside of the affected area can assist with weather station, public safety and social media monitoring to provide more information for situational awareness and disaster intelligence during hurricane net activations and further investigate the experimentation with Zello utilized during Hurricane Net with CCARG. We would like to ask folks that might be interested to be a net control for the weekly/monthly VoIP Hurricane Prep Net and for net activations to please contact me directly as a reply to this email or at kd1cy@voipwx.net

We look forward to working with everyone again in 2018. The next VoIP Hurricane Prep Net will be will be Saturday January 6th, 2018 at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT/6 PM MT/5 PM PT which also equates to 0100 UTC Sunday. The net will meet monthly through May and then become weekly during the Atlantic Hurricane Season. We again wish all of our reporting stations, net controls and supporting stations that listen to the VoIP Hurricane Net a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and a Happy Holiday season!

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

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Hello to all..

**Made a change to the 0500-0600 UTC time slot to put WX9LOT in that time slot and remove KL7FWX as KL7FWX could no longer do that time slot.**

SKYWARN Recognition Day is December 2nd, 2017 from 0000-2400 UTC (Friday Evening 12/1/17 from 700 PM ET-Saturday Evening 12/2/17 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 links:

http://hamradio.noaa.gov

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

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-is-saturday-december-2

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 2017 SRD Schedule with the weather offices that have confirmed for 2017 and those left on the schedule from last 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: KL7FWX (Confirmed new time slot for this year – WX0GLD relinquished this time slot)
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: WX9LOT (Confirmed new time slot for this year – KL7FWX had to relinquish this time slot)
0600-0700: WX4HUN (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0700-0800: WX9LOT (Taking the KL7FWX time slot now relinquished for this year)
0800-0900: Open (WX9LOT relinquishing this time slot from last year)
0900-1000: Open
1000-1100: Open
1100-1200: Open
1200-1300: W7NWS  (Confirmed time slot for this year)
1300-1400: WX2PHI (Confirmed time slot for this year)
1400-1500: WX1AW   (Confirmed 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: Open (WX6MTR relinquished this time slot)
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 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.

-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…

The VoIP Hurricane Net Activation for Hurricane Nate secured on Sunday 10/8/17 at 200 AM EDT/100 AM CDT after Nate made landfall near Biloxi Mississippi. Nate spared the New Orleans LA area any significant wind damage and storm surge flooding but pockets of tree and wire damage and wind gusts to hurricane force were recorded in parts of Mississippi and offshore oil platforms in the Louisiana coastal waters. Storm surge values of 3-7 feet were recorded in portions of Southern Alabama, Southern Mississippi and extreme Southeast Louisiana. Some pockets of structural damage were recorded in parts of Mississippi/Alabama from higher wind gusts in severe thunderstorms or possibly tornadic activity. One tornado was spotted in Orange Beach, Alabama by both The Weather Channel media and an Amateur Radio Operator that was in the area. Reports from Nate can be seen at the VoIP Hurricane Net viewer via the following link:

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

While Nate was not as formidable as past hurricanes we worked this year, reports of SKYWARN reporting criteria were supplied to both local National Weather Service Forecast Offices and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center which is our net’s main mission to help save lives. 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 Nate secured on Sunday 10/8/17 at 200 AM EDT/100 AM CDT after Nate made landfall near Biloxi Mississippi. Nate spared the New Orleans LA area any significant wind damage and storm surge flooding but pockets of tree and wire damage and wind gusts to hurricane force were recorded in parts of Mississippi and offshore oil platforms in the Louisiana coastal waters. Storm surge values of 3-7 feet were recorded in portions of Southern Alabama, Southern Mississippi and extreme Southeast Louisiana. Some pockets of structural damage were recorded in parts of Mississippi/Alabama from higher wind gusts in severe thunderstorms or possibly tornadic activity. One tornado was spotted in Orange Beach, Alabama by both The Weather Channel media and an Amateur Radio Operator that was in the area. Reports from Nate can be seen at the VoIP Hurricane Net viewer via the following link:

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

While Nate was not as formidable as past hurricanes we worked this year, reports of SKYWARN reporting criteria were supplied to both local National Weather Service Forecast Offices and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center which is our net’s main mission to help save lives. 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 and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center, will activate starting at 5 PM EDT Saturday Afternoon 10/7/17 through possibly Sunday Afternoon for Hurricane Nate and his impacts to to the Northern US Gulf Coast region.**

Here are the VoIP Hurricane Net Activation Plans for Nate as of Saturday Afternoon 10/7/17 at 400 PM EDT/2000 UTC:

The VoIP Hurricane Net and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, will activate starting at 500 PM EDT Saturday Afternoon 10/7/17 through Sunday Afternoon 10/8/17 for Nate and his impacts on the Northern Gulf Coast region. Nate is currently a tropical storm and is expected to intensify into a hurricane and there is a possibility of it becoming a stronger hurricane than currently highlighted pending how quickly it can develop an inner core to allow for more rapid intensification.

Any Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area of Nate or with relays into the affected area of Nate are asked to provide surface and damage reports into the VoIP Hurricane Net for relay into WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center. We appreciate any and all support from Amateur Operators in the affected area or Amateur Operators with relays into the affected area. We are looking for reports based on the National Weather Service SKYWARN Reporting criteria. This can be seen on the VoIP Hurricane Net web site at the following link:
http://www.voipwx.net/node/236

Any pictures or videos of wind damage, river/stream/urban/storm surge flooding etc. can be sent to the following email address: pics@nsradio.org and credit will be given to the Amateur Radio Operator, weather spotter or individual that took the photos and media and be shared with the Amateur Radio team at the National Hurricane Center and other agencies and outlets.

Advisories on Nate 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

Reports as obtained via the VoIP Hurricane Net from Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area, relays from the affected area or from APRS/CWOP Weather Station feeds and other social media outlets can be found at the following link:
http://report.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records?auth=OK

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes and can connect on either Echolink or IRLP:
*Sky_Gate* Echolink conference node: 868981/IRLP 9252
*NEW-ENG3* Echolink conference node: 9123/IRLP 9123

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on Echolink:
*KA1AAA* Echolink conference node: 269929
*WASH_DC* Echolink conference node: 6154

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on All-Star by dialing *33009123.

An audio livestream has been setup on Youtube through the efforts of W5YAG-Chad Yaggie. That link is listed below:
http://voipwx.org (Can also be obtained via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZVq4KbPwXU)

Finally, a reminder that due to the VoIP Hurricane Net activation for the various hurricanes, the weekly VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for this Saturday Evening has been cancelled. Barring another hurricane net activation near or during the weekend, the weekly net will resume Saturday October 14th, 2017.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team continues to closely watch Nate. 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 Prep Net for Saturday 10/7/17 is cancelled due to the likelihood of VoIP Hurricane Net activation for Tropical Storm Nate which is expected to intensify and become a hurricane later tonight or Saturday and then make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast of the United States. Details on activation plans for Nate will be posted later this afternoon. 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 and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center, will activate starting at 8 PM EDT Tuesday Evening 9/19/17 through late Wednesday Night for Hurricane Maria and impact to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and surrounding areas over this time period. Hurricane Jose impacts as a tropical storm to be handled by the regional SKYWARN team in Southern New England.**

Here are the VoIP Hurricane Net Activation Plans for Hurricane Maria as of 9/19/17 at 715 PM EDT/2315 UTC and commentary on Hurricane Jose and impacts on the Northeast US Coast:

The VoIP Hurricane Net was active Monday from late morning until late evening and gathered numerous reports of severe and catastrophic damage from the island of Dominica. A recording of a summary of reports received and a complete list of reports received from all mediums available to the net can be seen at the following links:

VoIP Hurricane Net Recording of Reports:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSdd4jo-MQk&feature=youtu.be

VoIP Hurricane Net Report Viewer:
http://report.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records?auth=OK

The VoIP Hurricane Net and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, will activate starting at 800 PM EDT Tuesday Evening 9/19/17 through late Wednesday Night for Hurricane Maria and impact to Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. Hurricane Maria is a catastrophic category-V hurricane and expected to cause significant damage to this region as it approaches and crosses this area.

Regarding Hurricane Jose, he is expected to bring tropical storm conditions to portions of Cape Cod and the Islands. This will be handled by the local/regional SKYWARN group in Southern New England and will forward reports of tropical storm conditions to WX4NHC if needed.

Any Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area of Maria or with relays into the affected area of Maria are asked to provide surface and damage reports into the VoIP Hurricane Net for relay into WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center. Again regarding Jose, any reports received from local/regional SKYWARN groups on the VoIP Hurricane Net will be sent via the VoIP Hurricane Net webform and when necessary to the local NWS office. We appreciate any and all support from Amateur Operators in the affected area or Amateur Operators with relays into the affected area. We are looking for reports based on the National Weather Service SKYWARN Reporting criteria. This can be seen on the VoIP Hurricane Net web site at the following link:
http://www.voipwx.net/node/236

Any pictures or videos of wind damage, river/stream/urban/storm surge flooding etc. can be sent to the following email address: pics@nsradio.org and credit will be given to the Amateur Radio Operator, weather spotter or individual that took the photos and media and be shared with the Amateur Radio team at the National Hurricane Center and other agencies and outlets.

Advisories on Maria and Jose 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

Reports as obtained via the VoIP Hurricane Net from Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area, relays from the affected area or from APRS/CWOP Weather Station feeds and other social media outlets can be found at the following link:
http://report.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records?auth=OK

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes and can connect on either Echolink or IRLP:
*Sky_Gate* Echolink conference node: 868981/IRLP 9252

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on Echolink:
*KA1AAA* Echolink conference node: 269929
*WASH_DC* Echolink conference node: 6154

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on All-Star by dialing *033270177 or *033009123.

An audio livestream has been setup on Youtube through the efforts of W5YAG-Chad Yaggie. That link is listed below:
http://voipwx.org (Can also be obtained via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIwX7gBC_r0)

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team continues to closely watch Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Jose. 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 will activate starting at 11 AM EDT/1500 UTC Monday Morning 9/18/17 until further notice for Hurricane Maria and impact to the Leeward Islands over the course of the afternoon and evening Monday.**
**WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, will be active starting at 500 PM EDT/2100 UTC Monday Evening 9/18/17 for Hurricane Maria impacts to the Leeward Islands.**

Here are the VoIP Hurricane Net Activation Plans for Hurricane Maria as of 9/17/17 at 1100 PM EDT/0300 UTC and commentary on Hurricane Jose and impacts on the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US Coast:

The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate starting at 11 AM EDT/1500 UTC Monday Morning 9/18/17 until further notice for Hurricane Maria and impact to the Leeward Islands over the course of the afternoon and evening Monday. WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, will be active starting at 500 PM EDT/2100 UTC Monday Evening 9/18/17 for Hurricane Maria impacts to the Leeward Islands. Hurricane Maria will impact the Leeward Islands during the afternoon and evening on Monday. Maria will then make a track toward the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico later Tuesday and Wednesday with possible tropical storm impacts to some of the northern Leeward Islands during the day on Tuesday.

Regarding Hurricane Jose, he is expected to bring tropical storm conditions to portions of the Northeast US as well as potentially the mid-atlantic states as we get into Tuesday into Wednesday. Jose is expected to slowly weaken to a tropical storm over the next couple days but have a large tropical storm force wind field affecting these areas. At this time, the VoIP Hurricane Net will focus on Hurricane Maria and her impacts on the Caribbean islands since direct hurricane impacts are expected and local/regional SKYWARN groups will handle Jose’s impacts in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states but any SKYWARN criteria reports received from Jose by the VoIP Hurricane Net will be given to the NHC via the VoIP Hurricane Net webform.

Any Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area of Maria or with relays into the affected area of Maria are asked to provide surface and damage reports into the VoIP Hurricane Net for relay into WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center. Again regarding Jose, any reports received from local/regional SKYWARN groups on the VoIP Hurricane Net will be sent via the VoIP Hurricane Net webform and when necessary to the local NWS office. We appreciate any and all support from Amateur Operators in the affected area or Amateur Operators with relays into the affected area. We are looking for reports based on the National Weather Service SKYWARN Reporting criteria. This can be seen on the VoIP Hurricane Net web site at the following link:
http://www.voipwx.net/node/236

Any pictures or videos of wind damage, river/stream/urban/storm surge flooding etc. can be sent to the following email address: pics@nsradio.org and credit will be given to the Amateur Radio Operator, weather spotter or individual that took the photos and media and be shared with the Amateur Radio team at the National Hurricane Center and other agencies and outlets.

Advisories on Maria and Jose 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

Reports as obtained via the VoIP Hurricane Net from Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area, relays from the affected area or from APRS/CWOP Weather Station feeds and other social media outlets can be found at the following link:
http://report.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records?auth=OK

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes and can connect on either Echolink or IRLP:
*Sky_Gate* Echolink conference node: 868981/IRLP 9252

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on Echolink:
*KA1AAA* Echolink conference node: 269929
*WASH_DC* Echolink conference node: 6154

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on All-Star by dialing *033270177 or *033009123.

An audio livestream has been setup on Youtube through the efforts of W5YAG-Chad Yaggie. That link is listed below:
http://voipwx.org (Can also be obtained via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIwX7gBC_r0)

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team continues to closely watch Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Jose. 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 formal VoIP Hurricane Net activation for Hurricane Irma was secured at 800 AM EDT Monday 9/11/17 and the listening watch for Irma as a tropical storm has been secured as of 615 PM EDT Monday 9/11/17 as the tropical storm impacts are handled by local and regional SKYWARN nets and their local NWS Forecast Offices and efforts in Florida transition from response phase to the recovery phase. Over the course of the Hurricane Irma activation, both Hurricanes Katia, which made landfall in Mexico and Hurricane Jose, which skirted the Northern Leeward Islands, were also monitored for any reports and impacts while reports and monitoring continued for Hurricane Irma. It marked an unprecedented time for the net where 3 different hurricanes were monitored for potential land impacts Friday Night 9/8/17 into Saturday 9/9/17.

A listing of reports received from Amateur Radio Operators on the VoIP Hurricane Net, weather stations monitored across the region and relayed reports from social media can be found on the VoIP Hurricane Net viewer at the following link:

http://report.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records?auth=OK (Click on the link under Edit_link to view the report)

Several Amateur Radio Operators have sent us photos of the damage in their area. This is appreciated and encouraged. On our VoIP Hurricane Net Facebook Page, we created a photo album of damage photos. The album can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/voipwxnet/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1424444624343220

If you are in the affected area and have damage photos, they can be sent to the email address pics@nsradio.org and we will add them to the album with credit given to the individual who took the photo. Even if its a few days or a week or two after Irma’s passage, the photos can help with the historical record and will likely be used on a video our team will create on the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season which has been the busiest in several years for use at the 2018 National Hurricane Conference.

We appreciate everyone’s help and support in WX4NHC’s mission to help save lives and the support for our VoIP Hurricane Net! Thanks to all!

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

 

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