VoIP Hurricane Net

Hello to all….

The Tropics continue to be relatively quiet with Hurricane Gordon becoming extratropical on its approach to Europe while causing hurricane force wind gusts to the Azores Islands of Portugal. Hurricane Helene is out in the open Atlantic and is expected to remain out to sea before becoming extratropical in 48 to 72 hours. A tropical wave, several hundred miles southwest of the Cape Verde islands may slowly develop over the next few days and will be monitored.

In the past week, many web site updates were made and they include the following:

-Added to the VoIP Hurricane Net in Amateur Radio News section, features from Amateur Radio Newsline from 2004 and the recent feature on the net’s effort as Hurricane Florence impacted Bermuda.

-Added a VoIP Hurricane Net in action during Hurricanes section which features audio clips from VoIP Hurricane Nets where Net Controls are getting reports from stations in the affected area of hurricanes.

-Have organized the Main Menu into blocks for readability.

-Have added links to the National Hurricane Center’s advisory archive for Atlantic and Pacific Tropical Cyclones.

More Audio clips will be added to the VoIP Hurricane Net in action section in the coming weeks. Also, more web links will be added to the web site in the coming weeks.

It has been a quiet 2006 Hurricane Season to date but we must remain vigiliant. We also should all use this quiet period as an opportunity to increase our own preparedness for hurricanes for those who live in coastal areas and utilize this time period to improve our Amateur Radio infrastructure to withstand what a hurricane or other disaster can do to that infrastructure.

Thanks to all of you for your 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….

Thanks to the efforts of Lloyd Colston-KC5FM, VoIP Hurricane Net Public Information Officer, the Hurricane Florence VoIP Hurricane Net Activation was featured on Amateur Radio Newsline. Amateur Radio Newsline featured audio clips of communications between our Net Controls and Tony Siese-VP9HK.

Below are links to the transcript and the audio clip:

ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.txt
ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News/news.mp3

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 tropics are fairly active for this time of year but far less active then the previous 2 years. Here is a rundown of the various systems:

Hurricane Florence became extra-tropical and passed over Southeastern Newfoundland Canada bringing tropical storm/hurricane force winds in that area.

Hurricane Gordon became a major hurricane but Gordon is tracking out to sea and should not affect any land areas at this time.

Tropical Storm Helene has formed out of Tropical Depression #8 and will become a hurricane in the next several days. Helene will remain in the open waters for the next several days. Impact to any land areas is not known at this time.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor these tropical systems. Thank you for your continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

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

The Tropics are becoming more active. Hurricane Florence has moved away from Bermuda and is headed for extratropical transition in the North Atlantic Ocean but Tropical Storm Gordon has formed and another system off Africa has the potential to develop into a Tropical Depression as we are in the peak of hurricane season.

Tropical Storm Gordon is over the open waters of the Atlantic and has the potential to become the third hurricane of the 2006 season. Luckily, Gordon is expected to stay in the open ocean and recurve out to sea missing all land areas including Bermuda. The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team will monitor the progress of this system to make sure this track continues.

A new tropical wave off of Africa is getting better organized and the potential exists for a tropical depression to form from that system. Further updates on this system will be provided if it develops.

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 VoIP Hurricane Net secured at 1230 PM EDT. WX4NHC secured operations shortly after Noon time and WX4NHC Coordinators Julio Ripoll-WD4R and John McHugh-K4AG were very appreciative of the efforts of the VoIP Hurricane Net and VP9HK-Tony Siese, our liaison from Bermuda who provided excellent reports of what was happening on the island.

The last report before the net secured indicated that an estimated 25,000 people were without power. Tony sustained damage to his HF antenna. Hurricane force wind gusts were recorded on the western parts of the island. Tony remained without power at his location per his last report.

Hurricane Florence is pulling away from Bermuda and conditions will improve over the next few hours. Bermuda was spared the most damaging part of Florence but nonetheless issues impacting the island have occurred. The VoIP Hurricane Net has made ARRL News once again and the link to the article is listed below:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/09/11/100/?nc=1

I want to thank our net controls during this activation for doing a great job. Those net controls were as follows:

K2DCD-Dennis Dura, Assistant Director of VoIP Hurricane Net
NP3OD-Fransisco Diaz-Gonzalez
KC5FM-Lloyd Colston, VoIP Hurricane Net Public Information Officer
KF6BKA-Richard Long

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 VoIP Hurricane Net was secured at 8 PM EDT once VP9HK-Tony secured for the evening. He will be back on at 0900 UTC/5 AM EDT where we may get additional reports from him and others on the island of Bermuda provided he still has phone service.

The latest track keeps hurricane force conditions just offhsore of Bermuda but just 30-40 statute miles off island. The VoIP Hurricane Net will reactivate in the morning to work with Tony-VP9HK on obtaining reports from the island as required.

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

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

The VoIP Hurricane Net is active monitoring Hurricane Florence on her approach to Bermuda. Thanks to the additional assistance of John McHugh-K4AG, WX4NHC Coordinator, VP9HK-Tony is on the air from Bermuda. Winds are not too extreme at present and 0.60″ of rain has fallen with rough seas visible. We will be active with the net working with Tony and any other stations from the island of Bermuda that will join us on our net while they are able to do so.

Additional sitreps may be issued if time allows. Thanks for your 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 VoIP Hurricane Net will activate informally starting at 12 PM EDT to support obtaining reports from the island of Bermuda as Hurricane Florence approaches the island. Florence is expected to become a strong Category 2 hurricane as it makes its closest approach to Bermuda Monday Morning.

There is one Echo-IRLP node on the island of Bermuda. The node, however, does not have backup power. The VoIP Hurricane Net will provide support for as long as we have access to the Echo-IRLP node on Bermuda. If the node does not connect directly to the IRLP reflector 9219/*WX-TALK* conference system, our net controls will connect directly to their node to see what information can be obtained from their node/repeater and bring it back to IRLP 9219/*WX-TALK* EchoLink Node: 7203.

The reporting criteria and activation policy for our net during hurricane net activations can be found on our web site at http://www.voipwx.net

Listen Only IRLP/EchoLink capability include the following systems:

IRLP:
Reflector 9508 Syndey Australia Reflector channel 8.
Reflector 9129 New England Reflector channel 9.

EchoLink:
*KC4QLP-C* Node: 290251
*VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177

It is possible that the *N5API* EchoLink Node: 77433 listen only conference may also be connected to the system as it has permission to connect.

If any Amateurs have contacts within Bermuda and can relay reports from the island, it would be greatly appreciated. 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 latest model trends and official NHC Forecast track bring Tropical Storm Florence to hurricane strength with a threat to the island of Bermuda. Florence has an unusually wide area of tropical storm force winds. Tropical storm force winds of 34 Knots or greater could start affecting Bermuda as early as Sunday Morning with winds of 50 Knots or greater affecting the island Monday Morning and the potential for hurricane force winds on the island shortly before daybreak on Monday Morning with winds subsiding Monday Afternoon.

The model trends, track and intensity of Florence could change and possibly spare Bermuda hurricane force conditions as impact to Bermuda is still 48-72 hours away. Watches and Warnings may be posted by the Bermuda Weather Service in the next 24 hours per NHC advisories.

There is an IRLP node in Bermuda. Therefore, the VoIP Hurricane Net could potentially mobilize to support obtaining reports out of the island of Bermuda as long as the node is operational.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Managment team continues to monitor the threat from Florence. 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….

Tropical Depression #6 has become Tropical Storm Florence in the open waters of the Atlantic. Florence is expected to gradually intensify in the short-term and intensify more rapidly longer term becoming the season’s second hurricane. There is still some questions on the intensity forecast but this is the solution given by most weather models at present. It is possible that Florence may become the first major hurricane of the season but that is uncertain at this time.

The track of Florence will remain over open waters for the next 5 days. It is not clear whether Florence will stay out over the open waters or threaten some portion of the US East Coast as we get into next week. There is quite a bit of model divergence once we get into the 4 day period and beyond.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team will continue to monitor the progress of Florence. 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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