Hello to all….
On behalf of the entire VoIP Hurricane Net Management team, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy and safe holiday season for those celebrating other holidays during this festive time of the year. The 2006 Hurricane Season brought very little action to our net from an activation perspective but we have made many improvements and put much work into the net through the efforts of so many that help make this net run.
Kevin Anderson-KD5WX and Danny Musten-KD4RAA remain key players in our net today. While not as active participating on the net as in the past, Danny worked diligently to do a major upgrade to the IRLP 921 reflector that also hosts the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203 EchoLink Conference server after it went down in late March 2006. The new system was brought online in late June/early July 2006 and has worked flawlessly. Kevin-KD5WX has allowed us to maintain the *WX-TALK* conference with IRLP reflector 9219 during this timeframe as well and has offered consultation and advice when needed on net matters.
Dennis Dura-K2DCD took on the role as Assistant Director of VoIP Hurricane Net Operations in late May 2006. Dennis has helped out consistently with net control duties for both net activations and the weekly hurricane preparation nets and assisted in SKYWARN Recognition Day activities on the EchoLink *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP Reflector 9219 system. With Dennis’ roles as NWS Philadelphia-Mount Holly SKYWARN Coordinator, Assistant RACES Radio Officer for the state of New Jersey and his professional role in New Jersey Emergency Management, Dennis has brought a high degree of knowledge and professionalism to the net.
Lloyd Colston-KC5FM took on the role as the Public Information Officer for the VoIP Hurricane Net also in the June-July 2006 timeframe. Lloyd assisted in PR efforts during net activations for Ernesto and Florence and his efforts led to mentions not only by the ARRL but also by Amateur Radio Newsline. Lloyd also assisted with PR for SKYWARN Recognition Day activities. Lloyd’s experience with Emergency Management in Oklahoma as well as in public information has benefited the net greatly.
Matt Hoppes-KB3MSE took on the role as Net Control Trainer for the VoIP Hurricane Net in June 2006. Matt led training sessions during the summer months that trained roughly half of the net controls utilized for the weekly preparation and activation nets. Matt has also taken on a role in SKYWARN in his local area of Pennsylvania which will add to the degree of knowledge he can bring to Net Control training and for the net. Matt has also served as net control for the weekly preparation net when his schedule has allowed him to do so.
Tony Langdon-VK3JED remains one of our longest contributors to the net management team as our VoIP Hurricane Net Technical Coordinator. Tony did a fantastic job in assisting the net by providing the *VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177/IRLP reflector 9508 as backup for our net when the Raleigh reflector went through its upgrade and used his technical skills to alias the *WX-TALK* conference server to the system when *WX-TALK* was brought down during the Raleigh upgrade which assisted Kevin-KD5WX as SKYWARN folks local to Kevin’s area use the *WX-TALK* system for SKYWARN purposes. Tony also provided the conference killer script to kick stations from conferencing to prevent interference. Tony is currently working on mechanisms that would make HF VoIP linking more feasible. Tony remains one of the core contributors to the VoIP Hurricane Net.
Kevin Huyck-KB9WOB assisted with net control work and activation scheduling during the 2006 Hurricane Season. Kevin has been with the net since 2004 doing net control duties and assisted in scheduling net controls in 2005 and 2006. Kevin is going through some job changes and has resigned as the Activation Net Control Scheduler but will continue to be a net control for the weekly net and for activations when possible. We thank Kevin for his tremendous efforts in serving the net as the Activation Net Scheduler over the past 2 years.
Jim Palmer-KB1KQW took upon the position as Weekly Net Control Scheduler for the VoIP Hurricane Net at the beginning of 2006 and has done a tremendous job managing the scheduling of net controls for the weekly net and providing guidance to new net controls. Jim brings a wealth of experience from being North Shore Massachusetts ARES Emergency Coordinator and North Shore Massachusetts SKYWARN Coordinator and has done net control work in some of the most significant situations weather can bring to an area. Jim will be picking up the activation net control scheduling work from Kevin for the 2007 Hurricane Season and we thank Jim for his continuing support of the VoIP Hurricane Net.
The revamp of the VoIP Hurricane Net web site and reporting form was made possible through the efforts of Phil Temples-K9HI, webmaster for the Eastern Massachusetts ARRL/ARES web site and Phil McNamara-N1XTB, who hosts the Eastern Massachusetts ARRL/ARES web site for free and created the Eastern Massachusetts ARES online registration form and database. These two men dedicated time and energy that has bolstered the Hurricane Net’s standing on the web and through Phil-N1XTB’s efforts, created the same user friendly input form that we had previously with the output for the forecasters and Hams at WX4NHC that would be easier for them to read. The new form also captures past reports that have been entered from past nets. The web site work would not have been possible without their efforts and it also saved the cost involved with maintaining the web site that Kevin-KD5WX was handling on his own.
Our thanks to all the net controls who assisted during 2006’s weekly prep nets and activations. Without all of you being there assisting with the net and providing the calm, steady voice that people in the affected area need when their reporting key information into the National Hurricane Center, the net wouldn’t be where it is today. Net controls from Australia to Canada to the US and Caribbean and everywhere in between made the net run efficiently and effectively in 2006. Having these net controls and having them participate from all the different time zones is a huge asset for this net. The Net Management team looks forward to working with all of you once again in 2007.
Our thanks to all the reporting stations in the affected area of hurricanes who gave us reports during this quiet year. The Coordinators for WX4NHC appreciate those reports and they add value and credibility to the VoIP Hurricane Net. We hope you will be with us once again in 2007 and that you will spread the word about the net to those stations in hurricane prone regions so that we can expand the reach of reporting and the reach of our net for the protection of life and property.
Finally, our thanks to all those who may not be in the affected areas of hurricanes who check into the weekly net and monitor our net through our standard listen only channels or actually on the net system. We appreciate all of you being there and we appreciate the fact that some of you either have helped the net in some small way or that some of you have taken a greater role in the net by listening to its operations.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to all of you! Look forward to hearing from many of you in 2007!
73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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