Category Team Updates

ACt Team Updates

Jun 4 2015

Special Event – Hurricane Watch Net 50th Anniversay

Here is an article on the HF Band National Hurricane Network. Operating frequencies are listed at the bottom of the article.

A ham radio group dedicated to tracking Atlantic and Gulf hurricanes is celebrating a 50th anniversary, with a special event weekend June 13-14.

The Hurricane Watch Net is made up of ham operators across the U.S., Caribbean and Central America who track storms in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, taking notice when storms come within 300 miles of landfall.

Formed in 1965, the group has become larger and more formalized over the years, providing information to the National Hurricane Center station in Miami via spotter stations in the affected areas. The net also receives reports digitally over the Internet, to supplement what is received by radio, says Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, the HWN manager.

Over the five decades, there have been 581 storms in the coverage area, and 131 of those have come ashore as Category 1 hurricanes or higher, according to the HWN website newsletter. The work can be rewarding and stressful, in the business of saving lives and mitigating property damage.

“Every veteran HWN member has his or her own poignant memories of different storms,” Graves said on the website. “Others recall communicating with the flight crews of the hurricane hunter aircraft as they flew into storms…to maintaining communications with a ham in an upstairs room of his home, operating with a wire antenna and a battery as he watched as his neighbors’ homes were ripped apart by the fury of the storm.”

During June 13 and 14 event, the group will use the call sign WX5HWN to make contacts on 14.325 MHz – the normal daytime net frequency – and also the nighttime frequency of 7.268 MHz.

May 28 2015

CERT / COAD Meeting – 5/27/15

Team,

Yesterday evening I attended a meeting in Yaphank for the Brookhaven Town CERT group. The meeting was informative and a number of topics were discussed.

Justin ran a video which depicted men climbing down into a confined space. In the video, one of the workers died due to a severe lack of oxygen.

The point of the video was to reinforce the use of the buddy system when working in hazardous or unknown conditions. From what I gather CERT people do not use radio equipment since there was no mention of it during or after the video.

Tracy was recently elected as VP of Division 5 and spoke about the improvements that are already underway during her watch as VP.

Marian Russo, President of the Greater Patchogue COAD (Community Organization Active in Disaster) Team was the evening’s guest speaker. Marian spoke about all that her organization does in the communities they service.

COAD is an organization connected at the at the local, state and federal level. COAD, like ACT are not first responders. COAD members are well experienced in creating a structure or framework which is used to coordinate information and services in the community during and after man-made or natural disasters occur.

Marian and I spoke briefly and I had asked her if she would like to find out more about Amateur Radio and the ACT Team. In addition, I asked her if she would be interested in speaking at a future SCRC Club meeting.

With field day around the corner and our summer meeting hiatus, I will contact Marian in late August to schedule her presentation for a fall meeting.

Stay tuned for updates!

 

May 24 2015

How To Manage an Emergency Call – Art W2ALW

Team,
We are entering BRUSH FIRE season again. As communicators, we may receive an emergency call for help at any time for any reason! First and foremost, if you do receive a call, try to keep the caller calm and maintain control of the call.

Required Information:

  • Location of Incident: Town, Street, Street Name and Name of Nearest Street Intersection
  • Contact Information: Name and Phone Number (check your phone’s Caller Id also)

Optional But Helpful Information:

  • Ask caller if they observe people, buildings, vehicles, obstructions, dangers in or near the scene
  • Ask called if they will remain on scene until Emergency Services arrive

Contacting The Dispatcher:

  • Be sure the information you report is as accurate as possible
  • Keep your report simple and direct
  • Provide your phone number to the dispatcher in case more information is requested
  • Remember to: Print Out The List of Emergency Numbers from the ACT site
    • Place copies in you home, ham shack and the glove box of each of your vehicles
May 22 2015

ACT Meeting Consensus Poll

Team,

In my opinion, discussing ideas on the air during our round table is great and encouraged and the purpose of the round table. However, coming to a consensus can be a bit confusing and difficult.

In an effort to keep things rolling along, as many of you may remember, Tony KC2VZG and I were working toward securing a meeting site from Commissioner Gonnelly of the Medford Fire District.

We had drafted a letter but I believe it was never finalized. Since Tony knows the Commissioner personally but has become ill, his idea of handing the letter to the Commissioner has not taken place. So at this time we are still without a solution to a “more permanent” meeting place.

I approached the Grace Lutheran Church some time ago as an alternative, however the request was already posed to the Church BOD and ACT was turned down due to the lack of liability insurance.

Please respond to this poll to help us move things along in a positive direction until we can find a more permanent place to meet.

I do like Vinny KC2WPP’s suggestion of skipping a net and using the time to meet.

Please feel free to email me if you have other ideas to share.

Thanks for taking time time to respond to the poll.