Simplex Communication Drill Thursday Sept 10 at 7 PM

The simplex test event will be held on Thursday 9/10/20 following the usual Thursday W1SYE net.  Mike Cullen K1NPT has created a form to record results. Would be nice if folks could use it to report what they heard, not not mandatory.
The event will utilize the W1SYE repeater to coordinate the drill, and users should program their gear to use the repeater output (145.450 MHz) as a SIMPLEX CHANNEL.  This is called “Talk Around” and is a good place to meetup with folks if the repeater is not working.  The process will be as follows:
  1. Net Control Station (NCS Ted W1GRI) will poll the known list of call signs and then ask for any others who want to participate in the drill.
  2. Ted will announce the stations in the order they will be called. Please be sure you have / make a list of these stations.
  3. Each station will be called in that order and asked to switch to simplex and broadcast for about 30 seconds (to allow receiving stations to move around if needed).  Be sure to give your call sign repeatedly, maybe like “This is W1ABC, sleepy in Newport calling simplex on 145.450 for the Newport County Radio Club simplex test” repeating that two or three times.
  4. Simplex station will then switch back to the repeater and announce they have finished the simplex broadcast.
  5. Once the list has been completed NCS will ask for any stations wishing to repeat their simplex broadcast, maybe with a different radio or antenna.
  6. The list of repeats will be processed as above.
As each station broadcasts please note their callsign, and how well you heard them as follows:
  • FQ: Full Quieting
  • WR: Weak, Readable
  • HU: Heard, Unreadable
  • NH: Not Heard
Finally, net control will poll each station asking for their observations for each station and any comments.
Hope we can have some fun!
Ted  W12GRI

NCRC Members Support Portsmouth MEDS-POD Exercise

Several members of NCRC supported a Medical Emergency Distribution System – Points of Dispensing (MEDS-POD) exercise for the town of Portsmouth on April 19th.  Members involved were Chuck N1CKT, Brian N1TBT, Paul N1PSX, and John WA1ABI.

The purpose of the exercise is to train volunteers that would be utilized if there were a medical emergency requiring the rapid distribution of medications like vaccinations quickly to a large population (10,000 residents in the Portsmouth case).  The NCRC members were there to cover the communications required to coordinate such a large event.

Copies of the Newport Daily News covering the exercise are included below

Newport_Daily_News_20180420_A03_4

Newport_Daily_News_20180420_A05_0

SKYWARN Training in Middletown May 12

We are very fortunate to have the National Weather Service offer their SKYWARN training in the East Bay area.  Not only is the topic of weather spotting fascinating, but the information that is gathered on the ground is critical for validating forecasting models and can have an impact on the ability of our towns to recover some of their expenses incurred as a result of a major weather event.  Having trained SKYWARN spotters that are also hams is an extra bonus, as we can get the ground reports to the NWS via Amateur Radio when other means are inoperable.

The Newport Daily News had an article a couple of days ago concerning SKYWARN.  See page 1 here, page 2 here

The SKYWARN training is free, and takes about 2.5 hours.  But you must register as space is limited.  Details are below:

Saturday May 12th, 2018 – 1000 AM-1230 PM:
Middletown Fire Department – Community Room
239 Wyatt Road
Middletown RI
Taught by: Amateur Radio Coordinator
Registration Required via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skywarn-training-class-middletown-ri-tickets-44373833330

Want to help MARS stations?

There is an exercise between MARS and Amateur Radio Stations that is being held this Sunday, November 8th.  Beginning about 8 AM local time and continuing through about 11 AM on the KA1RCI network, MARS stations that are also hams will ask for county status reports from hams.  Please note these are ACTUAL conditions, not simulated:

“The requests from MARS amateur radio operators will be for the status of power, water, sanitation, medical facilities, communications and transportation.  Amateur operators are to respond to the best of their knowledge, and it is perfectly acceptable to say “I don’t know”.  MARS amateur operators may thus talk with several amateur radio operators to try to develop a fuller picture of that county’s status.  Again, amateur stations should report only actual conditions.”

The purpose of the exercise is demonstrate the MARS operator’s capability to develop a situation picture for their area of responsibility.