08/28/2023 ããVolunteers of ARRLÿ The National Association for Amateur Radio[1]¨ areãactivating ahead of Tropical Storm Idalia. The storm, which is forecast toãintensify into a hurricane, was tracking from the Caribbean into the Gulf ofãMexico, between Cancun and the western tip of Cuba. Models agreed that it couldãmake landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast as a category 3 hurricane on Wednesday.ããIn a planning call Monday night with leadership of ARRL Florida sections andãARRL Headquarters staff, Section Emergency Coordinator of theÿARRL NorthernãFlorida Section[2]ÿArc Thames, W4CPD, shared plans for activation of AmateurãRadio Emergency Service¨ (ARES¨) volunteers within the section. "Beginning atã7:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, August 28, ARES volunteers will begin to staffãAUXCOMM positions at the State EOC," he said.ããThe Florida Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet)[3] is the primaryãemergency communications system planned for use. The system is a series ofãlinked UHF repeaters that covers the entire state. There are also HF netsãplanned as a backup.ããRadio amateurs are asked to yield HF frequencies to emergency nets when theyãare activated.ããThe Hurricane Watch Net (HWN)[4] was activated Monday afternoon. HWN activatedãon 14.325 MHz at 2:00 PM EDT (1800 UTC) and planned to remain active untilã11:00 PM EDT (0300 UTC) or until propagation was lost. HWN then planned toãactivate on 7.268MHz at 7:00 PM EDT (2300 UTC) and remain active until 11:00 PMãEDT (0300 UTC).ããHWN Activation Plans for Tuesday, August 29 through Wednesday, August 30:ããã o 20-meters: 14.325.00 MHz at 8:00 AM EDT (1200 UTC) daily untilãpropagation is lost at night. ã o 40-meters: 7.268.00 MHz starting at 7:00 PM EDT (2300 UTC) Tuesday. HWNãwill remain active on this frequency throughout the remainder of this event. ãã"We will suspend operations each morning at 7:30 AM ET to allow the WaterwayãRadio and Cruising Club Net - WRCC (Waterway Net) to conduct their dailyãmorning Net. After the Water Way Net has concluded, generally around 8:30 AMãET, we will resume operations," wrote net manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV.ããThe WX4NHC amateur radio station at the National Hurricane Center[5] alsoãactivated Monday, and plans to be active Tuesday and Wednesday as the stormãcontinues towards Florida.ããWX4NHC is active on the HWN frequencies but will also utilize the VoIPãHurricane Net.ÿ (IRLP node 9219 / EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203).ãhttp://www.voipwx.net/[6] The station is monitoring WinLink reports sent toãwx4nhc@winlink.orgÿ(subject line must contain //WL2K).ããWX4NHC asks that radio amateurs please relay any surface reports (weather data,ãflooding, damage) to them by one of the nets or an online hurricane reportãform[7]. (Link: https://w4ehw.fiu.edu/WX-form1.php[8])ããThe Hurricane VoIP Net plans to activate on Tuesday. "In addition to reportsãmeeting Skywarn criteria, the operators, using Echolink WXTalk conferenceãserver 7203 and Internet Relay Protocol 9219, will be joined to the KansasãSunflower Network offering Hamshack Hotline 94032, Echolink KC5FM-r, Allstarã28848, and other modes such as Dstar, Fusion, M17, and P25," wrote LloydãColston, KC5FM, Public Information Officer for the VoIP net.ããARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, and the ARESãheadquarters staff are staying in frequent touch with members of the ARRLãNorthern Florida Section. Section Manager of the ARRL Southern Florida Section,ãBarry Porter, KB1PA, sent a message to the hams in the lower part of theãSunshine State. "Much of the northern part of our state will be facing impactsãfrom Idalia, which could be a Category 3 or higher storm. In other words, theyãmight be the victims. Since the southern part of Florida will not see muchãsevere impact, we should be ready to assist with backup communications andãwelfare messages, if asked," he wrote.ããARRL will provide updates to the situation as it develops. Members in Floridaãare encouraged to monitor local emergency officials and prepare to take actionãto keep themselves safe[9] as the storm moves toward them.ããAbout Amateur Radio and ARRLÿããAmateur Radio Service licensees use their training, skills, and equipment toãpractice radio communications and develop radio technology. Amateur RadioãOperators volunteer their qualifications and equipment for communications dutyãin public service and during emergencies. Amateur Radio also provides a basisãfor hands-on STEM education and pathways to careers.ÿããARRLÿ The National Association for Amateur Radio[10]¨ was founded in 1914 asãThe American Radio Relay League, and is a noncommercial organization of RadioãAmateurs. ARRL numbers within its ranks the vast majority of active RadioãAmateurs (or "hams") in the US and has a proud history of achievement as theãstandard-bearer in promoting and protecting Amateur Radio. For more informationãabout ARRL and Amateur Radio, visitÿwww.arrl.org[11].ããAbout ARES¨ÿããAmateur Radio Operators, or "hams," have a long history of serving theirãcommunities when storms or other disasters damage critical communicationãinfrastructure, such as cell phone towers and fiber optic networks. Amateurãradio functions completely independently of the internet and phone systems, andãa ham radio station can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. Amateurs canãquickly raise a wire antenna in a tree or on a mast, connect it to a radio andãpower source, and communicate effectively with others.ÿããThe ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service¨ (ARES¨ÿwww.arrl.org/ares[12])ãconsists of hams who have voluntarily registered their qualifications andãequipment with their local ARES leadership for communications duty in theãpublic service when disaster strikes. They use their training, skills, andãequipment to prepare for and provide communications during emergencies When AllãElse Fails¨.ããã[1] https://www.arrl.org/aresã[2] http://www.arrl.org/groups/view/northern-floridaã[3] http://www.sarnetfl.com/ã[4] https://www.hwn.org/ã[5] https://w4ehw.fiu.edu/ã[6] http://www.voipwx.net/ã[7] https://w4ehw.fiu.edu/WX-form1.phpã[8] https://w4ehw.fiu.edu/WX-form1.phpã[9] https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/get-help/pdfs/hurricane/EN_Hurricane-Safety-Checklist.pdfã[10] https://www.arrl.org/ã[11] https://www.arrl.org/ã[12] http://www.arrl.org/aresãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBSã