Hello to all…

The VoIP Hurricane Net activation for Major Hurricane Milton secured on Thursday 10/10/24 at 1100 AM EDT. Informal system monitoring will occur through Thursday Evening. Also, a reminder that due to the lengthy and overnight activation of the VOIP Hurricane Net for Major Hurricane Milton, the VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday 10/12/24 is canceled.

We wish to thank the reporting stations and our net controls for their support during this activation that spanned 22 hours. Thanks to AE4WX-Mark, KC5FM-Lloyd, N1YLQ-Sparky, KK7AHR-George, WX9VOR-Debby for their efforts during this activation. It is estimated that over 150 volunteer hours were completed by the net including preparatory activation plans and this activation closure message. We also wish to thank all the sysops of listen only conferences and nodes that were on the system.

Using the VoIP Hurricane Net approach of Amateur Radio reporting stations on the net, social media monitoring, public safety and online weather station monitoring, 120 reports meeting the SKYWARN reporting criteria were passed on the net. Over 3.3 million are without power in the state of Florida. The net received dozens of reports of hurricane force wind conditions with the highest wind gust recorded from a Davis weather station of 109 MPH in Bradenton FL. Numerous reports of tornadoes including some large tornadoes were received by the net via various means as well. The first reports of the roof being blown off Tropicana Field in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg FL area, which was being used to house power company relief resources, was received via Amateur Radio on our net by various means including direct Amateur Radio reporting. Other structural damage, wind damage, flooding from both heavy rainfall and coastal storm surge flooding were received by various means from the net. A listing of all reports that were received can be seen via the VoIP Hurricane Net Report Viewer at the following link:

https://www.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records1?auth=OK

We wish the Amateur Radio Operators and the residents well and keep them in our thoughts and prayers with their response and recovery efforts. We appreciate everyone’s support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

 

Hello to all..

**The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate at 1 PM EDT Wednesday Afternoon through Early Thursday Afternoon for Major Hurricane Milton and impacts to Florida during this timeframe. The net, on *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system and other VoIP radio systems via the KC5FM-R node is supporting WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida.**
**WX4NHC will also be active with their Amateur Radio Station as well during this timeframe.**
**The VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday 10/12/24 Will Be Canceled Due to Net Activation that will span overnight hours Wednesday Evening into Thursday Morning and the potentially long duration of the net activation.**

Here are the VoIP Hurricane Net Plans for Major Hurricane Milton as of Tuesday 10/8/24 at 410 PM EDT:

The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate at 1 PM EDT Wednesday Afternoon through Early Thursday Afternoon for Major Hurricane Milton and impacts to Florida during this timeframe. The net, on *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system and other VoIP radio systems via the KC5FM-R node is supporting WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida. WX4NHC will also be active with their Amateur Radio Station as well during this timeframe. The VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday 10/12/24 Will Be Canceled Due to Net Activation that will span overnight hours Wednesday Evening into Thursday Morning and the potentially long duration of the net activation.

Any Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area of Milton or with relays into the affected area of Milton 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:
https://voipwx.net/voip-hurricane-net-reporting-criteria

Any pictures or videos of wind damage, river/stream/urban/storm surge flooding etc. can be sent to our voipwxnet Facebook and Twitter feeds or 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 Milton can be seen off of the Atlantic Tropical Products menu selection on the voipwxnet web site, via our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and off the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:
https://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:
https://www.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records1?auth=OK

APRS, Winlink, AllStar, Hamshack Hotline resources that can be monitored are as follows:
APRS kc5fm-9
Winlink KC5FM
Allstar 28848
Echolink KC5FM-R 906281
Hamshack Hotline 94032
DMR TGIF 31207
P25 31207
DSTAR XLXOKL C
Yaesu Fusion 31207
M17-SUN module A

Stations outside the affected area that do not have relays into 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:
*NEW-ENG3* Echolink conference node: 9123/IRLP 9123
*SKY_GATE* Echolink conference node: 868981/IRLP 9252
*KC4QLP-C* Echolink conference node: 290251
*ARERT* Echolink conference node: 902723 (Also bridged to Allstar on Node 273660 and on the YCS311 C4FM Server at http://c4fm.mntrbo.net ID:74)
*FLORIDA* Echolink conference node: 3082

These streaming audio feeds should be available. Those streaming audio feeds are as follows:
Streaming feed 1: http://74.208.24.77:8000 -Provided by KC4QLP-Bob Carter
Streaming feed 2: http://radio.arert.net:8000/ARERT -Provided by the ARERT conference owners and sysops
Streaming feed 3: https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/38868 -Provided by the ARERT conference owners and sysops

Video streams will be provided by ARERT if they find video feeds from the affected area and will have audio from the hurricane net on it. Those streams are below:
Video stream feed 1: https://www.twitch.tv/pp93news
Video stream feed 2: https://dlive.tv/ARERT
Special thanks to N0VZC-Mike Norrbom and the ARERT sysops for their support of these feeds.

Please note that there could be additional listen only nodes and streaming feeds. If time allows, this info will be updated via the voipwxnet web site and social media feeds.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team continues to closely watch major Hurricane Milton. 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…

Tropical Depression (TD) 14 is now Tropical Storm Milton in the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to intensify into Hurricane Milton and threaten Florida Late Tuesday into Thursday Morning as a major hurricane with VoIP Hurricane Net activation likely. Advisories on Milton can be seen off the main menu of the VoIP Hurricane Net web site under Atlantic Tropical Products, via our voipwxnet Facebook and X feeds and via the National Hurricane Center (NHC) web site at the following link:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Residents and Amateur Radio Operators along the west coast of Florida through the Florida Keys should prepare for a major hurricane strike now for the late Tuesday into Thursday Morning timeframe. Any Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area who can connect to our hurricane net during this potential event would be helpful to give surface reports to WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center, as needed. Amateur Radio Operators who have relays into people that live in the affected area and can gather surface reports will also be helpful. Activation plans for this system will likely be posted early next week for a middle of next week Hurricane Net Activation.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of Milton and any other systems threatening land in the Atlantic Tropics. 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…

Tropical Depression (TD) 14 forms in the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to intensify into Hurricane Milton and threaten Florida mid-next week with VoIP Hurricane Net activation likely. Advisories on TD 14 can be seen off the main menu of the VoIP Hurricane Net web site under Atlantic Tropical Products, via our voipwxnet Facebook and X feeds and via the National Hurricane Center (NHC) web site at the following link:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Residents and Amateur Radio Operators along the west coast of Florida through the Florida Keys should prepare for a hurricane strike now for the middle of next week. Any Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area who can connect to our hurricane net during this potential event would be helpful to give surface reports to WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center, as needed. Amateur Radio Operators who have relays into people that live in the affected area and can gather surface reports will also be helpful. Activation plans for this system will likely be posted early next week for a middle of next week Hurricane Net Activation.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of TD 14 and any other systems threatening land in the Atlantic Tropics. 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 secured formal activation for Hurricane Helene on Friday AM 9/27/24 at 500 AM EDT/900 UTC. The net was active for 19 continuous hours of operation. Special thanks to KC5FM-Lloyd, AE4WX-Mark and N1YLQ-Sparky for their Net Control support during this net activation with approximately 80 volunteer hours logged. A total of 88 reports were submitted from the affected area into WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center through Amateur Radio Operators, personal/online weather stations, social media, public safety and other sources. Some of the wind gusts recorded by our net were 103 MPH at Alligator Point, FL, 101 MPH at Wallkula High School in Crawfordville FL, 99 MPH at Dowling Park, FL, Perry FL ASOS 99 MPH, 99 MPH Jennings FL, 96 MPH Gust at Lowndes County Utility Grassypond, 94 MPH in Jasper FL, 82 MPH Gust in Mayo FL, 81 MPH Montgomery GA and 77 MPH in Midway GA. Higher sustained wind speeds and wind gusts likely occurred but the hurricane core tracked through an area with no coastal weather stations at the landfall point. Over 3 million people are without power in an area from Florida to Georgia to South Carolina to North Carolina at the time this message was written. A complete list of the reports received can be seen at the following link:

https://www.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records1?auth=OK

We would like to thank N5OZG-Joe Glorioso, a long time VoIP Hurricane Net supporter, for assisting with getting the Georgia Echolink conference connected to our net as the Hams on that conference provided numerous reports for our net. We also thank all the stations who supported on the net with reports and connections to the affected area of Hurricane Helene. We wish those severely impacted by this hurricane a speedy recovery and we will keep them in our prayers.

While we have Hurricane Issac in the open Atlantic Ocean and another area of disturbed weather in the Atlantic with a high chance of development, no other land area is expected to be impacted by a tropical system over the next several days. The VoIP Hurricane Net management team will closely monitor the progress of Issac and any other development in the Tropics. The VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday 9/28/24 is canceled due to extended activation for Helene. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

Hello to all..

**The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate at 10 AM EDT Thursday Morning and remain active for as long as necessary for Hurricane Helene and impacts to Florida and Georgia Thursday Morning through Friday Morning. The net, on *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system and other VoIP radio systems via the KC5FM-R node is supporting WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida.**
**WX4NHC will also be active with their Amateur Radio Station as well beginning at 3 PM EDT Thursday Afternoon through late Thursday Evening.**
**The VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday 9/28/24 Will Be Canceled Due to Net Activation 36-48 hours prior to the day of the regular prep net and the potentially long duration of the net activation.**

Here are the VoIP Hurricane Net Plans for Hurricane Helene as of Wednesday 9/25/24 at 240 PM EDT:

The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate at 10 AM EDT Thursday Morning and remain active for as long as necessary for Hurricane Helene and impacts to Florida and Georgia Thursday Morning through Friday Morning. The net, on *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system and other VoIP radio systems via the KC5FM-R node is supporting WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida. WX4NHC will also be active with their Amateur Radio Station as well beginning at 3 PM EDT Thursday Afternoon through late Thursday Evening. The VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday 9/28/24 Will be canceled due to net activation 36-48 hours prior to the day of the regular prep net and the potentially long duration of the net activation.

Any Amateur Radio Operators in the affected area of Helene or with relays into the affected area of Helene 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:
https://voipwx.net/voip-hurricane-net-reporting-criteria

Any pictures or videos of wind damage, river/stream/urban/storm surge flooding etc. can be sent to our voipwxnet Facebook and Twitter feeds or 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 Helene can be seen off of the Atlantic Tropical Products menu selection on the voipwxnet web site, via our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and off the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:
https://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:
https://www.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records1?auth=OK

APRS, Winlink, AllStar, Hamshack Hotline resources that can be monitored are as follows:
APRS kc5fm-9
Winlink KC5FM
Allstar 28848
Echolink KC5FM-R 906281
Hamshack Hotline 94032
DMR TGIF 31207
P25 31207
DSTAR XLXOKL C
Yaesu Fusion 31207
M17-SUN module A

Stations outside the affected area that do not have relays into 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:
*NEW-ENG3* Echolink conference node: 9123/IRLP 9123
*SKY_GATE* Echolink conference node: 868981/IRLP 9252
*KC4QLP-C* Echolink conference node: 290251
*ARERT* Echolink conference node: 902723 (Also bridged to Allstar on Node 273660 and on the YCS311 C4FM Server at http://c4fm.mntrbo.net ID:74)
*FLORIDA* Echolink conference node: 3082

These streaming audio feeds should be available. Those streaming audio feeds are as follows:
Streaming feed 1: http://74.208.24.77:8000 -Provided by KC4QLP-Bob Carter
Streaming feed 2: http://radio.arert.net:8000/ARERT -Provided by the ARERT conference owners and sysops
Streaming feed 3: https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/38868 -Provided by the ARERT conference owners and sysops

Video streams will be provided by ARERT if they find video feeds from the affected area and will have audio from the hurricane net on it. Those streams are below:
Video stream feed 1: https://www.twitch.tv/pp93news
Video stream feed 2: https://dlive.tv/ARERT
Special thanks to N0VZC-Mike Norrbom and the ARERT sysops for their support of these feeds.

Please note that there could be additional listen only nodes and streaming feeds. If time allows, this info will be updated via the voipwxnet web site and social media feeds.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team continues to closely watch Hurricane Helene. 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…

Tropical Storm Helene has formed in the Northwest Caribbean Sea. Helene is expected to become a major hurricane with significant impacts to Florida and Georgia Thursday into Friday. The VoIP Hurricane Net and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, will activate Thursday Morning into Friday Morning on the *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system for Helene and impacts to Florida and Georgia. The net activation announcement will be posted by Wednesday Afternoon. Information on Helene can be seen in the Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook off the main menu of the VoIP Hurricane Net web site under Atlantic Tropical Products, via the voipwxnet Facebook and X feeds and via the National Hurricane Center (NHC) web site at the following link:

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

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team will continue to monitor the progress of Helene closely. Thanks to all for the 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 Management Team is monitoring Invest 97L in the Western Caribbean Sea. This system has a medium chance to develop in 48 hours and a high chance for development after 48 hours. If the system develops as expected, it would be named Helene. This system poses a potentially significant threat to the US northern Gulf Coast in the Thursday to Friday timeframe. Information on this system can be seen in the Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook off the main menu of the VoIP Hurricane Net web site under Atlantic Tropical Products, via the voipwxnet Facebook and X feeds and via the National Hurricane Center (NHC) web site at the following link:

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

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Tropics, a tropical wave off the coast of Africa could develop into a Tropical Depression in the next 7 days and has a medium chance, 60% for development. This system will only be a threat to shipping interests over the next week to 10 days.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team will continue to monitor all of the tropics closely with a particular concern with Invest 97L in the Western Caribbean Sea. Thanks to all for the continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

Hello to all…

Here is an update on the Atlantic Tropics as of Monday 9/16/24 at 820 AM EDT/1220 UTC:

Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 (PTC-8) is near the Southeast North Carolina/Northeast South Carolina coast line. Regardless of development into a named tropical storm, tropical storm force conditions of heavy rainfall, strong to damaging winds and coastal flooding are occurring in this area with Tropical Storm Warnings in effect for parts of the Southeast North Carolina and Northeast South Carolina coastline. The system may make landfall before it has enough organization to be a tropical storm or if it organizes sufficiently and becomes named before landfall, it would be named Helene. There is little to no risk of this system becoming a hurricane given its close proximity to land.

Tropical Depression Gordon is out in the Central Atlantic and will not be a threat to land over the next 7 days. The system is in a hostile environment for development but if its able to survive the hostile conditions over the next 2-3 days, Gordon would have an opportunity to strengthen. This will be monitored over the next few days.

Advisories on PTC-8 and Gordon can be seen off the main menu of the VoIP Hurricane Net web site under Atlantic Tropical Products, via our voipwxnet Facebook/X feeds or via the National Hurricane Center (NHC) web site at the following link:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

No other areas of tropical development are expected over the next 7 days. The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the Tropics. 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 secured formal net operations for Hurricane Francine on Wednesday 9/11/24 at 1100 PM EDT/1000 PM CDT as Francine weakened to a tropical storm. Thanks to AE4WX-Mark, K2DCD-Dennis, and KC5FM-Lloyd for all the net control support and to all stations that checked in during the net and gave reports or just stood by and monitored while the net was conducted.

Additionally, specific thanks goes to N5OZG-Joe Glorioso and the Crescent City Amateur Radio Group along with N4KYS-Joe Humberger, who was stationed at the Orleans Parish EOC for their reports, connectivity to the N5OZG Repeater system and to various tools from the Orleans Parish EOC which provided a number of surface reports during Francine. This was in addition to social media, public safety and online weather station monitoring. A total of 58 reports were submitted to WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center, some of which were used in NHC Advisories and Tropical Cyclone Updates. Reports ranged from wind damage to buildings, tree and wire damage reports, coastal storm surge flood, wind measurement, rain gauge and rain related street flooding reports. A complete listing of the reports can be seen in the VoIP Hurricane Net Report Viewer at the following link:

https://www.voipwx.net/qilan/nhcwx/list_VOIP_records1?auth=OK

The Atlantic Tropics are a bit more active and Tropical Depression 7 has formed in the far Eastern Atlantic. We will provide a complete update on the Atlantic Tropics later on Thursday or Friday. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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