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The ARES Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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April 17, 2024

Editor: Rick Palm, K1CE <k1ce@arrl.net>

IN THIS ISSUE

- ARES� Briefs, Links
- American Red Cross Nebraska-Iowa Region Winlink Exercise Develops
Skills
- Amateur Radio Hurricane Networks Featured at the National Hurricane
Conference
- Spring Severe Weather Preparations Begin
- NWS Melbourne, Florida 2023 SKYWARN Recognition Day
- Winter Field Day in Florida
- World Amateur Radio Day 2024 -- "A Century of Connections:
Celebrating 100 years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and
Advocacy"
- K1CE for a Final: IARU and ITU
- ARES� Resources

==> ARES� BRIEFS, LINKS

World Amateur Radio Day
<https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/world-amateur-radio-day/> is Tomorrow
-- Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in
celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 that
the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was formed in Paris.

Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the
shortwave spectrum -- far from being a wasteland -- could support
worldwide propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths,
amateur radio was "in grave danger of being pushed aside," the IARU's
history has noted. Amateur radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and
created the IARU to support amateur radio worldwide.

Colorado State University Issues Hurricane Season Forecast -- Colorado
State University hurricane researchers are predicting an extremely
active Atlantic hurricane season in their initial 2024 forecast. The
team cites record warm tropical and eastern subtropical Atlantic sea
surface temperatures as a primary factor for their prediction of 11
hurricanes this year. When waters in the eastern and central tropical
and subtropical Atlantic are much warmer than normal in the spring, it
tends to force a weaker subtropical high and associated weaker winds
blowing across the tropical Atlantic. These conditions will likely lead
to a continuation of well above-average water temperatures in the
tropical Atlantic for the peak of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
-- Colorado State University Forecasting
<https://tropical.colostate.edu/forecasting.html>

==> AMERICAN RED CROSS NEBRASKA-IOWA REGION WINLINK EXERCISE DEVELOPS
SKILLS

The American Red Cross Nebraska-Iowa Region is working to develop
capabilities for Red Cross amateur radio operators and other interested
amateur radio organizations to support disasters that may occur in the
region. As all amateur operators know, an ability to communicate in the
absence of internet and cell phone service could be critical in the
early stages of a disaster response.

For a localized event, voice communications might be adequate, but for
a larger event the ability to deliver formatted email using Winlink
Global Radio Email would be extremely valuable.

Amateur radio operators can send and receive Winlink messages using HF
or VHF radio depending on their location, license class, and equipment.

An exercise using Winlink messaging was conducted Saturday, March 23,
2024. The exercise was controlled from the W0EQU station located at the
Omaha Red Cross headquarters. Participation was invited from Amateur
Radio Emergency Service� organizations within the region as well as
from amateurs with some Red Cross affiliation from across the country.
Operators were invited to submit Winlink Check In forms via radio (if
equipped) via the Winlink system to the W0EQU station. If the operator
had the ability to use multiple radio paths (modes or frequency bands)
to submit check-ins, that was invited.

Results:

W0EQU received 81 successful check-ins with the following
characteristics:

- 62 distinct amateur radio operators checked in at least once.
- Check-ins came from 14 different states, the most distant being
Alaska.
- 28 of the messages were originated over a VHF radio connection
(relatively short range between the transmitting station and the
Winlink Gateway station).
- 30 were originated over an HF radio connection (up to hundreds of
miles from the transmitter to the Gateway).
- 20 were originated over the internet (not via radio).
- ALL messages were received at W0EQU and all outgoing traffic sent
over a VHF link to a local Gateway.

A map detailing all messages is available at the Exercise Participant
Map <https://sites.google.com/view/arcneiawinlink?usp=sharing>.

Additional Activities

W0EQU also activated no-notice VHF FM voice networks on three of the
local FM repeaters to evaluate the ability of the Red Cross station to
act as net controller using those repeaters. The repeaters activated
include the K0USA repeater in North Omaha, the W0WYV repeater in
Bellevue, and the N0WKF repeater in Glenwood, Iowa. Local operators
checked in to all three of the nets.

A special test was conducted with Jerry Davis, KA4QVH, in Cleveland,
Georgia, using VARA HF Peer-to-Peer. This mode allows passing Winlink
traffic directly from one station to another over HF radio, with no
internet anywhere in the picture. This would be used in the event of a
widespread internet outage. The operators were successful passing
messages directly to each other over a distance of 808 miles.

Next Steps

The American Red Cross Nebraska Iowa Region hopes to conduct more
exercises like this and to build up connections with amateur radio
organizations and operators across the two states. For more information
or to discuss involvement with the Red Cross contact the NEIA Region
<marty.malley@redcross.org> Amateur Radio coordinator for the Red
Cross, Marty Malley, WK0E <marty.malley@redcross.org>.

==> AMATEUR RADIO HURRICANE NETWORKS FEATURED AT THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CONFERENCE

The National Hurricane Conference <https://hurricanemeeting.com/> was
held March 25 - 28, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. A series of workshops
were held that focused on amateur radio's involvement in hurricane
tracking, coverage, and recovery.

Among the presenters was the Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator of
WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center <https://w4ehw.fiu.edu/> (NHC)
Julio Ripoll, WD4R. Ripoll gave a history of amateur radio's
involvement in NHC, including the use of tube radios in the 1980s and
the Yaesu FTDX-1200 used today. WX4NHC is also equipped with VHF/UHF
radios to access the Florida Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet),
as well as digital equipment to communicate with the VoIP Hurricane Net
<https://voipwx.net/>, IRLP, and Winlink to receive emails via amateur
radio.

"We were the only means of communication between the National Hurricane
Center and the National Weather Service Field Office in Slidell,
Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina," Ripoll said. He went on to
highlight other instances of reports given by ham radio that provided
mission-critical information that had a major impact on the way NHC
handled a storm.

ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, gave a
presentation to the crowd of hurricane experts, meteorologists, and
emergency managers about the Amateur Radio Emergency Service� (ARES�).
He spoke of ARRL's role on the board of SAFECOM, a program managed by
the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) that sets
the standards of interoperability procedures. Being a part of the group
solidifies the Amateur Radio Service as a robust resource before and
during times of crisis.

Johnston shared that in 2023, ARES volunteers contributed at least
$21.8 million in volunteer hours to their local communities. "Is
amateur radio still relevant? Absolutely! Are we still involved in the
places that are doing things the right way? Amateur radio absolutely
is," he said.

Johnston highlighted the relationship between ARRL and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
<https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-and-fema-sign-agreement-ham-radio-is-as-relevant-as-ever>,
as well as ARRL's position as a net control station within the SHAred
RESources High Frequency Radio Program (SHARES)
<https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/programs/shared-resources-shares-high-frequency-hf-radio-program>
managed by CISA.

Among other presenters was ARRL's The ARES Letter
<http://www.arrl.org/ares-letter/> Editor Rick Palm, K1CE, who shared a
harrowing tale of his family experiencing a direct hit from Hurricane
Idalia in August 2023. The damage and impact he felt gave him a new
perspective on emergency communications, as he went from a volunteer
communicator to a storm victim. Read more about his experience in the
"Public Service" column in the January 2024 issue of QST.

Watch a video of the amateur radio workshops
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-43X6wVrqwA> at the 2024 National
Hurricane Conference on YouTube, courtesy of Jim Palmer, KB1KQW. See
photos and discussion in the ARRL Letter for March 29, 2024
<https://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-importance-highlighted-at-national-hurricane-conference>.
See also Hurricane Watch Net manager Bobby Graves', KB5HAV, recordings
of the proceedings <https://www.youtube.com/@HurricaneWatchNet>.