N8QHV’s latest training was on free online meteorological training.

See the complete training archive here.

From the ARRL Website:

09/21/2020

Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) volunteers will take part in the Department of Defense (DOD) Communications Exercise 20-4, starting on October 3 and concluding on October 26.

The MARS focus is interoperability with ARRL and the amateur radio community. “Throughout the month of October, MARS members will interoperate with various amateur radio organizations that will be conducting their annual simulated emergency tests with state, county, and local emergency management personnel,” said MARS Chief Paul English, WD8DBY.

“MARS members will send a DOD-approved message to the amateur radio organizations recognizing this cooperative interoperability effort.” MARS members will also train with the ARRL National Traffic System (NTS) and Radio Relay International (RRI) to send ICS 213 general messages to numerous amateur radio leaders across the US. “This exercise will culminate with MARS Auxiliarists sending a number of summary messages in support of a larger DOD communications exercise taking place October 20 – 26,” English added.

Throughout October, MARS stations will operate on 60 meters, and WWV/WWVH will broadcast messages to the amateur radio community. English assures no disruption to communications throughout the month-long series of training events.

N8QHV’s latest training was on the advantages of LED road flares.

See the complete training archive here.

ARLB022 5-MHz Interoperability Channels Designated for Wildfires and Hurricane Sally Response

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced that two 60-meter channels have been made available, as necessary, for interoperability between US Government stations and US amateur radio stations involved in emergency communications related to the wildland firefighting response in California, Oregon, and Washington, and to Hurricane Sally. These interoperability channels will remain active until the need for these channels no longer exists:

* Channel 1 – primary voice traffic 5332 kHz channel center, 5330.5 kHz USB voice.

* Channel 2 – digital traffic 5348 kHz channel center, 5346.5 kHz USB with 1.5-kHz offset to center of digital waveform.

Frequencies may be modified or added to by FEMA Region 10 for their area or operations due to existing 5-MHz/60-meter interoperability plans for their region.

Amateur radio is secondary on the 5-MHz band and should yield to operational traffic related to wildland firefighting and hurricane response. Although the intended use for these channels is interoperability between federal government stations and licensed US amateur radio stations, federal government stations are primary users and amateurs are secondary users.

The Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS – https://netcom.army.mil/mars/ ) is following FEMA’s lead on the interoperability channel designations for the wildfire and hurricane response. Army MARS Program Manager Paul English, WD8DBY, says he has alerted all MARS members of the FEMA channel designations and MARS members are prepared to support response efforts as needed.

The latest ARES E-Letter has been released.

In this issue:

• Amateurs Support Hurricane Laura Disaster Response
• Public Information Officers’ Key Role in Emergency/Disaster
• Former FEMA Administrator Advocates Using Mesh Networks for Disasters
• September is National Preparedness Month
• ARRL Learning Network Seeks Speakers on Emergency Communications

Saturday, October 24, the Dayton District Cross Country meet will be held in Cedarville.

The current plan is to have twelve races and they will be spaced out more than usual, so we will need as many ham radio volunteers as possible to cover the event.

We need to gather at the race course at 8:00 AM and the last race should be complete around 6:00 PM. This makes for a long day. If you would like to volunteer, but cannot commit to the whole time, please state that and we will see what can be arranged. Also, I anticipate that due to the lack of events so far this season, there may be quite a few of you wanting to participate. I negotiated with the organizer to remove the cap on the number that we can have, but that means that the event will not be able to provide lunches as in the past. (Bring your own food).

More details will be released as we get closer to the event. To volunteer, please contact Bob Baker N8ADO at n8ado@arrl.net

Congratulations to Elizabeth Klinc, KE8FMJ, who has been appointed as the Greene County Emergency Coordinator. She takes over from Henry Ruminski W8HJR.

The National Weather Service will be holding another Online Weather Spotter Training session on Monday, 5 October at 6:00 – 8:00PM

Registration is required:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4844007736691537676

From the Registration page:

SKYWARN spotters VOLUNTEER to become the “eyes and ears” of the National Weather Service. Spotters SERVE THEIR COMMUNITY by acting as a valuable source of information when dangerous storms approach!

During this webinar, a National Weather Service Meteorologist will teach you how to properly identify and report significant weather events that have an impact on the safety of YOUR community, such as damaging winds, hail, heavy rain, and tornadoes.

The drop down menus on this website have been rearranged.

Training is now it’s own menu rather than a subset of Net Info. Using the drop down you can still reach the pages for Ham Radio License, the Net Training Archive for weekly net training, and have added a section for Digital Training.

The order of the menu items has also been changed.

N8QHV’s latest training was on the appointment of the ARRL’s new Director of Emergency Management.

See the complete training archive here.