2023 Simulated Emergency Test a Huge Success!

During a 24-hour period beginning at noon on Friday, October 27th, and continuing through Saturday, members of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine Emergency Communications Team (WSSM-ECT) participated in a statewide drill to test their communications capabilities between various sites throughout Cumberland County and the state of Maine. The drill, known as the Simulated Emergency Test, or SET, is an annual exercise, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, which encourages amateur radio operators from across the country to test their communications skills during a mock disaster.

During the SET, hams are required to quickly establish communications between various Emergency Operations Centers and exchange formal messages and traffic, which contain requests for supplies, medical information, or weather reports, or other information that may be of importance during a disaster. They do this via voice, Morse code, and digital two-way radio, on bands ranging from HF to UHF, as required.

The purpose of this year’s exercise was to test the ability to communicate intra-county and between counties, using various modes: V/U FM repeaters, VHF FM Simplex, V/U Digital, HF SSB, VHF Packet, HF Digital, and Winlink via VHF Packet and HF, with the following objectives:

• Test ability to activate group
• Establish an HF circuit with KE4UCW (Simulated State) and ISS ops
• Establish an HF circuit with other County EOCs
• Establish 2 Meter Simplex Comms within county and with adjacent counties
• Establish HF and 2 Meter Comms with N1RXR (Simulated NWS)
• Test EMA repeater coverage
• Ability to send and retrieve Winlink traffic
• Relay simulated requests for support to MEMA and/or adjacent county EOCs
  TASK

Tim Watson, ARES EC for Cumberland County, said afterwards, “We accomplished all of our tasks, and although it exposed a few deficiencies, we also learned quite a bit about VHF/UHF coverage in the western part of the county, and discovered that we can use peer to peer Winlink as a reliable means of sending traffic if the nodes and/or digipeaters are unreachable. Thanks to everyone who took time out of their weekend to help us out!”

Several operators (listed below), were deployed to shelter locations, where they tested various forms of communications, including FM simplex, UHF repeater, Packet Winlink, HF (on both 40 and 80 meters), and the EMA repeater, if equipped to do so. They communicated with Net Control at the EMA Bunker in Windham, with adjacent counties, direct with the Maine Emergency Communications net on HF, and via Packet Winlink.

Peter Hatem KC1HBM – deployed to South Portland High School / South Portland Community Center. Peter tested HF SSB, FM Simplex, V/U repeaters, EMA repeater, and digital voice via DMR and Fusion simplex.

Tom Mahon AB1ND – deployed to Westbrook High School. Tom tested FM Simplex and V/U repeaters.

Brad Brown, Jr. KC1JMH – deployed to Lakes Region High School (in Naples, ME), and Bridgton Hospital. Brad tested HF SSB, FM Simplex, V/U repeaters, EMA repeater, and Packet Winlink.

Brad KC1JMH setting up his portable antenna during the SET

Todd Rodgers KC1SQ – deployed to Gorham Middle School. Todd tested HF SSB, FM Simplex, V/U repeaters, and the EMA repeater.

Todd KC1SQ setup at Gorham Middle School

A unique task this year was to test the range of the EMA repeater, which is in the 155 MHz band. It had remarkably good coverage, especially to the western reaches of Cumberland and York counties.

“We found, in some cases, that FM simplex was more reliable than the UHF repeater, and in one instance, when Brad KC1JMH was unable to reach any Packet nodes from Lakes Region High School, we attempted Peer-to-peer (Simplex) Winlink, and it was successful,” Watson added.

“Peter KC1HBM reported having some difficulties setting up one of the BuddiPole antennas in the windy conditions, and we found that the BuddiPole that he used didn’t have the instructions in it for the 80m NVIS configuration, which is something we’ll be sure not to forget in the future,” continued Watson.

“I’m proud that our team accomplished their objectives and we even learned a few things that we didn’t anticipate, so the 2023 SET was a huge success.”

Thanks also to Jim Fraser KB1SDK, who assisted at the EMA on Saturday, Chris Wheeler, LEPC Liaison at CCEMA, who provided some realistic resource requests, and to everyone who checked into our SET nets Friday evening through Saturday.

2023 1st Quarter ARES Exercise

Good Afternoon,

Here’s the plan for tomorrow’s Emergency Communications exercise, that takes place from 9:00AM – 11:00AM (prior to Winter Field Day):

Chris Wheeler (CCEMA) offered the following scenario (and request): 

 “Let’s say we had a large subsidence on the Presumpscot river below the Sappi Paper Mill that caused the foundations to some of their buildings to buckle and potentially fail. In this type of scenario we would be looking for:” 

Request to MEMA for assistance (ICS-213RR via Winlink): 

• Structural Engineers (5) 
• Type One Large Backhoes (2) 
• Water Pumps (8) 
• Railroad Ties (500) 
• Manual and Hydraulic Building Jacks (25) 
• Large Type 1 Dump Trucks (4) 

Countywide traffic: 

During the exercise, we’ll be looking for a simulated storm update from NWS Gray to determine likelihood of continuing flood risk, simulated weather reports from individual check-ins that we can forward to NWS so they can issue, update, or confirm warnings, and also simulated reports of road washouts, etc., to forward to CCEMA, so they can dispatch DOT crews. Be sure to preface each message with THIS IS A DRILL or EXERCISE MESSAGE. 

Exercise Schedule: 

• We will be starting our county wide net on the 449.225 repeater at or around 9:00 AM to take check-ins and take any traffic (weather reports or SITREPS) from participants. 
• At around the same time, we will also check into the Maine Emergency Net on 3940 kHz. 
• At 9:30 AM, we will take check-ins on simplex to test comms from the trailer. For obvious reasons, it won’t have the same coverage as the station at the EOC, but we’ll see who can hear us. 
• At 10:00 AM we will be sending our Winlink traffic, most likely via PACKET. 
• From 10:30 – 11:00 AM, we will check back into and monitor the Maine Emergency Net to see if there’s any traffic waiting for us, and handle as needed. 

 73′ 

Tim 

KB1HNZ

Local Ham Group Participates in Statewide Exercise

On Saturday, October 22nd, members of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine Emergency Communications Team (WSSM-ECT), which meets monthly in Scarborough, will participate in a statewide drill to test their communications capabilities between various different sites throughout Cumberland County and the state. The drill, known as the Simulated Emergency Test, or SET, is an annual exercise, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, which encourages amateur radio operators from across the country to test their communications skills during a mock disaster.

During the SET, hams are required to quickly establish communications between various Emergency Operations Centers and exchange formal messages and traffic, which contain requests for supplies, medical information, or weather reports, or other information that may be of importance during a disaster. They do this via voice, Morse code, and digital two-way radio, on bands ranging from HF to UHF, as required.

“Similar to previous years, there’s has been statewide coordination for the SET, and Maine ARES and others have developed a plan that involves testing both amateur radio and EMA communications,” says Tim Watson, of Saco. Watson is a founder of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine, which provides communications support for Cumberland County EMA, as well as the National Weather Service. “The SET tests how we respond during large- scale disasters, where commercial infrastructure has failed. In these events, hams are often the only source of communications.”

“The hams in our club are a dedicated group,” adds club President, Brad Brown, of Waterboro. “Amateur radio has a long history of volunteerism. Sure, it’s a hobby and there’s some fun things that we do like lighthouse expeditions or competitive events like contesting, but so many like to stay sharp by providing support for community events, and drills like this, so they’ll be ready to offer their time and expertise when disaster strikes.”

The Wireless Society of Southern Maine’s Emergency Communications Team is participating in their eighth SET. After the event, the participants will do an assessment to determine how well they performed and look for areas to improve upon. “There’s always new things to learn and ways to improve,” says Watson. “This year we’ll be testing some updates that have been made to the statewide digital packet network, which we use for sending messages. We hope to learn more about its capabilities and how to improve it for the future.”

For more information about amateur radio, or the Wireless Society of Southern Maine, please visit their website at: http://www.mainehamradio.com

WSSM-ECT Training Net – Thursday, October 28, at 7:00 PM

Please join us this evening at 7:00 PM on the W1QUI 147.090 (+ / 100) repeater, for our monthly On-Air Drill!

This will be an on-air and in person hybrid meeting, with a limit of 5 people allowed at the CCEMA Bunker, which is located at 22 High Street, Windham, ME. For those who join us at the bunker, we’ll use the remaining time after the net to install and update software on the PCs.

Following our net on the repeater, we’ll test out the newly re-installed HF antenna at CCEMA. For those with HF capabilities, please join us on 3940 kHz LSB for an exchange of signal reports.

Catch you on the air!

73′

Tim
KB1HNZ

Local Ham Radio Group Participates in Statewide Exercise

On Saturday, October 9th, members of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine Emergency Communications Team (WSSM-ECT), which meets monthly in Scarborough, will participate in a statewide drill to test their communications capabilities between various different sites throughout Cumberland County and the state. The drill, known as the Simulated Emergency Test, or SET, is an annual exercise, sponsored by the American Radio Relay League, which encourages amateur radio operators from across the country to test their communications skills during a mock disaster.

During the SET, hams are required to quickly establish communications between various Emergency Operations Centers and exchange formal messages and traffic, which contain requests for supplies, medical information, or weather reports, or other information that may be of importance during a disaster. They do this via voice, Morse code, and digital two-way radio, on bands ranging from HF to UHF, as required.

“Similar to last year, there’s has been a lot of statewide coordination for the SET, and Maine ARES and others have developed an extensive plan that involves testing both amateur radio and EMA communications,” says Tim Watson, of Saco. Watson is a founder of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine, which provides communications support for Cumberland County EMA, as well as the National Weather Service. “The SET tests how we respond during large-scale disasters, where commercial infrastructure has failed. In these events, hams are often the only source of communications.”

“The hams in our club are a dedicated group,” adds club President, Brad Brown, of Waterboro. “Amateur radio has a long history of volunteerism. Sure, it’s a hobby and there’s some fun things that we do like lighthouse expeditions or competitive events like contesting, but so many like to stay sharp by providing support for community events, and drills like this, so they’ll be ready to offer their time and expertise when disaster strikes.”

The Wireless Society of Southern Maine’s Emergency Communications Team is participating in their seventh SET.

After the event, the participants will do an assessment to determine how well they performed and look for areas to improve upon. “There’s always new things to learn and ways to improve,” says Watson. “This year we’ll be testing some updates that have been made to the statewide digital packet network, which we use for sending messages. We hope to learn more about its capabilities and how to improve it for the future.”

For more information about amateur radio, or the Wireless Society of Southern Maine, please visit their website at:

http://www.mainehamradio.com

WSSM-ECT Pre-SET Training & Traffic Net Report

Thanks to everyone who joined us our special Pre-SET Training Net last evening. We began the net on the 147.090 repeater and after closing the net on the repeater, we moved over to 146.580 FM Simplex. Below is the complete Net Report:

Date: 10/07/2021
Start Time: 7:00 PM
Frequency: 147.090 (+ / 100 Hz) FM repeater, located on Blackstrap Mt., Falmouth, ME
Net Control: Tim Watson KB1HNZ, Battery Power, in Saco, ME

Check-ins: 4
Ben, KC1HBL, Commercial Power, in Buxton, ME
Dave, KB1FGF, Commercial Power, in Scarborough, ME
Brad, KC1JMH, Battery Power, in N. Waterboro, ME
Ed, W1XAW, Mobile, Battery Power, Portland, ME

Traffic Handled: 1
Brad brought one piece of through traffic to the net, for KX7YT, in Portland, OR. This will be held and forwarded via Winlink during the SET, on Saturday.

Secure at: 7:22 PM

Simplex Net Details:
Start Time: 7:23 PM
Frequency: 146.580 FM Simplex
Net Control: Tim KB1HNZ, Battery Power, in Saco, ME
Check-ins: 5
Ben, KC1HBL, Commercial Power, in Buxton, ME
Dave, KB1FGF, Commercial Power, in Scarborough, ME
Brad, KC1JMH, Battery Power, in N. Waterboro, ME
Steve, WZ1J, Commercial Power, Brunswick, ME
Steve, W1GR (Club Call Sign), Commercial Power, Brunswick, ME
Secure at: 7:38 PM

2021 Maine SET is This Saturday

When: Saturday, October 9, from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Thanks to everyone who’s been joining us during our monthly WSSM-ECT Training Nets! Over the past several months, we’ve successfully tested communications on multiple bands and modes, including VHF repeaters, 2m FM Simplex, 40 and 80 meters SSB, and Winlink. Now its time to put these skills to use during the 2021 Simulated Emergency Test (SET)!

The scenario for this year’s SET is a solar storm that disrupts the electrical grid and communications, including landline telephone, internet and cellular services.

If you’re interested in participating, please click here to familiarize yourself with the “Final” SET plan for Saturday’s statewide test.

To begin with, we’ll meet at 8:00 AM on the Cumberland County primary repeater 147.090. We’ll use this to trouble shoot problems amongst ourselves and coordinate which simplex and HF frequencies to use during the SET, but we won’t be using the repeater to exchange any traffic.

Please help out with as many tasks as you’re able to:

Task #4 on the SET Plan will be our first task on Saturday – It asks that we perform radio checks with nearby counties. We’ll take this opportunity to try different VHF simplex channels as well as HF, and contact other ARES and EmComm groups and individuals as we can. Keep a log of your contacts and which county EMA they are associated with, if any. Also be prepared to receive or relay radiogram traffic, as some may have traffic already prepared. See the explanation in the SET plan for more info. This will be performed Saturday during the SET.

Task #5 is to check into the Statewide ARES net, which will take place on 3945 kHz LSB. The net will be active from 9:30 AM through 11:30 AM EST. Net Control will be run by W1AXS. Eric N1RXR will be checking in on our behalf, as WX1GYX, but we encourage anyone with HF capabilities to check in. Identify yourself with your personal call sign and “Cumberland County Emergency Communications Team.” This will be performed Saturday during the SET.

Tasks #6, #7, and #8 are all related to Winlink.

Broken down, task #6 requires us to send radiograms via Winlink. There will be three components to this, so everyone can participate, regardless of Winlink capability or experience.

This element will be organized by county and will take the form of an informal contest with points awarded to counties based on the activity level.

There will be three types of operators in each county:

The Message Originator. This person will compose a formal radiogram in text format. The radiogram will be addressed to an out of state party, either someone that the originator knows or to a traffic handler on the list of “willing” recipients. The originator will send the radiogram by voice over the radio (any band) to a relay station. The originator will also send a copy of their radiogram by email to kb1tce@belljar.net.

The Relay Station. This person will copy the radiogram and then relay it to the designated Winlink relay. Any mode may be used but the message must leave the relay station by RF. Modes could include NBEMS, voice, cw, etc. Depending on how each county group is structured, the person in this role could be the same as the person in #3. Tim KB1HNZ will act as the Relay Station, operating from the Bunker, during the SET, however, depending on coverage, we may ask others to help with this.

The Winlink Relay. This person will collect the radiograms from the various relays and forward the messages to KB1TCE. KB1TCE will inject the radiograms into the Digital Traffic Network. Brad KC1JMH will act as our Winlink Relay during the SET.

Most of our participants will fall under the Message Originator category, and their task will be to send a radiogram message by voice. You may operate from home, mobile or portable. We will have a net at 7:00 PM Thursday evening on the 147.090 repeater to begin this part of the task, but if you can’t make it then, we will also accept traffic Saturday morning during the SET as well.

Don’t worry if you’re unsure of who to address a message to, or even what the content should be. We’ll help you out with that part.

We encourage anyone who has the ability to connect to Winlink, to log on and send radiogram traffic during the SET, but if you don’t have that capability yet, that’s okay. We’ll ask that participants without Winlink share their traffic via voice, with Net Control, either Thursday evening, or Saturday morning. The Net Control Relay Station will collect those messages and forward them to Brad KC1JMH, who will be acting as our Winlink Relay Station, to forward messages via Winlink.

Task #7 is to retrieve a file via Winlink, which anyone with Winlink capability can do. Anyone in our group who has Winlink or Packet capability is encouraged to participate in this task. This will be performed Saturday during the SET.

Task #8 is to send digital data through the Maine Packet Network. Anyone in our group who has Packet capability is encouraged to participate in this task. This will be performed Saturday during the SET.

Your participation is important! Not only is this an important learning exercise, to help us determine areas to improve upon, but it is also our opportunity to showcase our capabilities and demonstrate what we have learned and built upon during the year.

Catch you on the air!

73′

Tim
KB1HNZ

WSSM-ECT Training Net Tonight at 7:00 PM!

Please join us this evening, March 25th, at 7:00 PM on the W1QUI 147.090 (+ / 100) repeater, for our monthly On-Air Drill!

Last month we talked about the ARRL Radiogram and ICS-213 message forms and we practiced sending those over the air. We had lots of positive feedback about that and we will continue to practice message handling in the coming weeks.

Tonight, we’re going to build on a discussion that we started a couple of weeks ago during our monthly business meeting, and that’s Packet Radio and the Maine Packet Network. Brad KC1JMH gave a nice presentation on the topic, and he introduced a very informative website: www.mainepacketradio.org – Click this link if you’d like to follow along during the net.

For tonight’s on-air training, we’re asking that anyone who is equipped for Packet Radio to connect to your nearest node, check your messages, and send a message to either myself or Brad KC1JMH. If you have Winlink Express installed, you can connect via that same node (if it includes that feature), and send a message that way as well.

Catch you on the air!

73′

Tim
KB1HNZ

On-Air Drill This Thursday!

Please join us tomorrow evening, January 28th, at 7:00 PM on the W1QUI 147.090 (+ / 100) repeater, for our first On-Air Drill of the new year!

We’ll first meet on the repeater, where we can exchange traffic and share announcements, and once everyone’s checked-in, we’ll move over to 146.580 simplex for a roll call. On simplex, we’ll exchange signal reports with each other and note who we can copy.

Over the next few months, we’ll make use of other modes and bands, focusing on developing skills, such as familiarity with message forms, traffic handling, using modes like FM Simplex, Winlink, Packet, and the FLDigi suite, while fostering an interest in and recruiting newcomers to emergency communications.

Catch you on the air!

73′

Tim
KB1HNZ