Hello to all…

The monthly VoIP Hurricane Net presentation for May will be on updates to the EchoLink/IRLP technology currently being utilized by Tony Langdon-VK3JED, VoIP Hurricane Net Technical Coordinator. Tony will discuss a new transcoder feature that will be utilized on integrated reflector/conference systems and discuss other enhancements to follow on the VoIP technology.

Due to an issue with a new server upgrade to host the VoIPWXNet web site, this presentation will likely be posted to a different site and then transferred to the VoIPWXNet web site later this weekend. We will also post the recording of the April Net and a recording of the May net once that issue is resolved. Please watch the VoIPWXNet email list for updates. The VoIPWXNet web site may or may not be updated with the link to the presentation depending on time constraints.

Also, we are on a recruitment drive for new net controls and the response has been excellent to date. Special thanks to Dennis Dura-K2DCD, Assistant Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net, and Lloyd Colston-KCSFM, VoIP Hurricane Net Public Information Officer for their assistance in getting this done as we approach hurricane season. A link to the article is listed below and those interested in helping are asked to email myself and Jim Palmer-KB1KQW:

VoIP Hurricane Net Recruiting Net Controls for 2008 Hurricane Season

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

We have resolved the server issue on the VoIPWXNet web site which was preventing us from uploading files to the web site. We have now uploaded the recording from the April VoIPWXNet on the National Hurricane Conference and have uploaded the May VoIPWXNet presentation and recording by Tony Langdon-VK3JED, VoIP Hurricane Net Technical Coordinator on EchoLink/IRLP/VoIP enhancements to the web site. These files are fairly large and may be best heard and seen by downloading the presentations off the web site. The presentations and recordings can be found at the following links:

VoIP Hurricane Net May 2008 EchoLink/IRLP/VoIP Enhancements Presentation

VoIP Hurricane Net May 2008 EchoLink/IRLP/VoIP Enhancements Recording (High Audio Quality-9 Meg file)

VoIP Hurricane Net May 2008 EchoLink/IRLP/VoIP Enhancements Recording (Slightly lower quality-7 Meg file)

VoIP Hurricane Net April 2008 National Hurricane Confernece Recording

VoIP Hurricane Net April Presentation on the National Hurricane Conference

VoIP Hurricane Net Amateur Radio Workshop Video Segment Page

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

A reminder that the monthly VoIP Hurricane Net for this month is Saturday April 5th, 2008 at 8 PM ET or 0000 UTC Sunday for those using GMT/UTC time. This month’s topic will be an overview of the National Hurricane Conference and the VoIP Hurricane Net Management team’s participation in the conference. We’ll also discuss the VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team visit to WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami Florida, to talk with WX4NHC Coordinators Julio Ripoll-WD4R and John McHugh-K4AG on operations for the upcoming 2008 Hurricane Season.

It is hoped by net time to have a complete video uploaded to the web site in roughly 10 minute segments from the Amateur Radio Workshop given at the conference, the presentations from the Amateur radio Workshop given at the conference as well as several articles/press releases on the conference uploaded to the VoIPWXNet web site including a special video interview of National Hurricane Center Director, KB5FYA-Bill Read provided by IRLP Net Manager and Storm Study Team member, Danny Musten-KD4RAA. Some of this work to put this information out on the web was started during the trip but we were not able to complete the work to the proper level to distribute on the web during the conference but these articles and materials will be available on the web site by Saturday Evening.

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

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

After about 2 years of service, Matt Hoppes-KB3MSE has stepped down as net control trainer for the VoIP Hurricane Net due to additional commitments Matt has picked up over the last several months. Matt did a tremendous job of scheduling and conducting numerous Net Control training sessions since taking over the position in June 2006. We wish Matt well and all the best in his future endeavors and Matt may help us when he can as a Net Control Operator for the net.

Replacing Matt Hoppes-KB3MSE as VoIP Hurricane Net Control Trainer will be Mike “Sparky” Leger-N1YLQ. We are very lucky to have Sparky on the net management team as Net Control Trainer. Sparky has served the VoIP Hurricane Net in several capacities since 2004. Sparky has been an experienced Net Control Operator that has stepped in for numerous Hurricane Net activations over the years and has assisted with contacts in the affected area of hurricanes across portions of the US East Coast as well as other international locations. Sparky has emergency communications experience as an Amateur Radio Operator for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Taunton, Massachusetts and currently assists with communications, operations and logistical needs for the Florida Coast-to-Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross based in Daytona Beach Florida serving Citrus, Flagler, Lake, Hernando, Marion, Sumter and Volusia Counties of Central Florida. Net Control Training sessions will be scheduled and announced as we move into May and the start of Hurricane Season in June. Please give Mike “Sparky” Leger your full support in this new position.

This is the first of a series of announcements as many in the VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team participate in the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, Florida and visited the National Hurricane Center and the Amateur Radio Station, WX4NHC. On Tuesday April 1st from 130-500 PM, the Amateur Radio Workshop, featuring National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio Coordinators, Julio Ripoll-WD4R and John McHugh-K4AG, Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net, Rob Macedo-KD1CY and Assistant Director of the VoIP Hurricane Net and Manager of Preparedness and Response at ARRL HQ, Dennis Dura-K2DCD, will present a variety of topics concerning Amateur Radio’s role in Hurricanes. Julio and John will present the operations of WX4NHC and the HF Hurricane Watch Net. Rob Macedo-KD1CY will present the VoIP Hurricane Net and Rob Macedo-KD1CY and Dennis Dura-K2DCD will present the importance of collecting “Disaster Intelligence” and other roles that Amateur Radio Operators can play in assisting Emergency Management during hurricane related disasters.

Please keep an eye out for more announcements over the course of this week. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

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Hello to all…

The following is from the ARRL Letter Article and highlights the National Hurricane Conference set for April. Once again, the VoIP Hurricane Net along with WX4NHC Operations will be presented at the conference. Below is the ARRL Letter Article:

==> NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE SET FOR APRIL

The 30th Annual National Hurricane Conference http://www.hurricanemeeting.com begins on March 31, running through April 4 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida. This annual event brings together many disciplines in the Emergency Management field to address tropical events that impact the United States.

Once again, Amateur Radio is being highlighted on Tuesday, April 1 in a 4.5 hour training session. ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Dennis Dura, K2DCD, is the Chairman of the Amateur Radio Committee of the NHC, and has put together what he calls “a worthwhile learning experience for the attendees.”

Leading off the afternoon will be a presentation on Amateur Radio and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) Station WX4NHC http://www.fiu.edu/orgs/w4ehw by John McHugh, K4AG, and Julio Ripoll, WD4R, the Amateur Radio Coordinators at the NHC http://www.nhc.noaa.gov . The VoIP Hurricane Net http://www.voipwx.net will then be highlighted in a presentation by Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Director of Operations.

The final formal presentation of the afternoon will be the subject of Macedo’s and Dura’s “Emergency Management’s use of Amateur Radio for Situational Awareness and Disaster Intelligence.” This discussion is focused on the Emergency Managers and their staff to give them clear concepts to include Amateur Radio in their operational plans beyond the more traditional uses of emergency traffic handling. As time permits, the afternoon will conclude with an open forum on current issues in Amateur Radio’s response to tropical events.

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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The VoIP Hurricane Net Newsletter for January-March 2008 is now available. Rich Long-KF6BKA, Newsletter Editor, has worked hard to put together this newsletter so please take a look at it. Rich had some significant work commitments which abated this month and allowed him to put together this newsletter for the January-March 2008 time period. See link below:

January-March 2008 VoIP Hurricane Net Newsletter

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Hello to all….

The Saturday March 1st VoIP Hurricane Net Presentation on Weather Spotting During Hurricanes and how folks can help with spotting during hurricanes even if they are from out of the hurricane zone has been archived to the web site and this includes a recording from the Saturday Evening Net. The recording of the net is about 3 Megabytes in size in MP format and the Power Point presentation file is 20 Megabytes in size so please download the presentation and recording off the web site for best results in reviewing the presentation. Links to the presentation and the recording are listed below:

March 2008 VoIP Hurricane Net Presentation on Weather Spotting During Hurricanes

March 2008 Hurricane Weather Spotting Presentation Recording

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

The Monthly VoIP Hurricane Prep Net will be this Saturday Evening at 7 PM ET. The net for this month will be on weather spotting during hurricanes and what reports are most pertinent to the net and to the needs of WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center. This presentation will be run here in March and rerun again as we get closer to Hurricane Season.

In addition, a reminder that the VoIP Hurricane Net will be presented at the National Hurricane Conference which will run from Monday March 31st-Friday April 4th, 2008. The Amateur Radio Workshop will be on Tuesday April 1st, 2008 from 130-500 PM. Amateur Radio Operators interested in attending only the Amateur Radio Workshop are able to get into that one workshop on Amateur Radio free of charge. Those that wish to attend the whole conference are subject to the conference fee. For more information on the National Hurricane Conference, please see the link below:

Homepage

More information on the presentation for our upcoming monthly net will be sent later this week. We hope that many Amateurs living in coastal areas of the Atlantic in the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean can make the net this week. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

The Monthly VoIP Hurricane Net for this Saturday February 2nd, 2008 at 7 PM ET/0000 UTC Sunday (Saturday Evening for much of North America) featured a talk on Hurricane Preparedness. Leveraging the slide set provided by NWS Taunton, Massachusetts, we reviewed hurricane preparedness and how National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center products are utilized to warn the public and the Amateur Radio community when a tropical system or hurricane threatens a land area.

The presentation is available on the VoIP Hurricane Net web site. The presentation is 7 MB in size so for best results, please download the presentation to your computer prior to net time. The presentation links are listed below:

VoIP Hurricane Net 2008 Hurricane Preparedness Presentation

VoIP Hurricane Net 2008 Hurricane Preparedness Presentation in PDF Format

February 2008 VoIP Hurricane Net Recording in MP3 Format

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

The VoIP Hurricane Prep Net January 2008 Presentation was recorded and the recording and the Power Point presentation are now available on the VoIPWXNet web site at the following links:

VoIP Hurricane Net January 2008 Power Point Presentation on Hurricane Noel

VoIP Hurricane Net January 2008 Recording on Hurricane Noel

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