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.
Despite some challenges, the 2022 Simulated Emergency Test was a big success for our team!
Since early Spring, the communications room at the Cumberland County EMA was undergoing various phases of renovation, and getting the gear setup in time for the SET was a huge undertaking. Our team also acquired, through grants, some new deployable equipment, which had just been taken out of the box a few days before the Saturday of the test! But, our team pulled it all together and did a great job demonstrating their skills once again, to make us one of the top performing groups in the state.
Despite this, there were some minor hiccups. Our primary deployed team, consisting of Brad Brown KC1JMH and Peter Hatem KC1HBM, was sent to Scarborough High School having never setup a Buddipole antenna before and with a brand new Icom IC-7100. Somehow, they managed to get the antenna setup and the radio on the air, although they did miss a couple of early tasks.
Things went smooth at the EOC, despite getting the gear setup the Thursday evening before the test. This consisted of more than just plugging in the equipment, but required the installation of a new PC for the HF station, including all necessary software, setting up two new work stations, routing coax through the ceiling and down the walls to the workstations, grounding, setting up a LAN, and more! The team of Tim Watson KB1HNZ and CJ Carlsson W1CJC, took turns manning the HF, V/U, and DMR stations, and performed all the necessary tasks.
Meanwhile, Waylon McDonald KC1HJN was deployed to multiple shelter locations throughout the county and successfully completed all of his objectives, and Eric Emery N1RXR, operating remote from New Gloucester, acted as a key station, performing relays when needed, and handled traffic for the National Weather Service, in Gray, ME.
Here’s what the 2022 SET consisted of:
Name of exercise: 2022 Maine Simulated Emergency Test Date of activity: October 22, 2022 Duration of activity: 08:00 – 12:00
Type: Multi-mode communication exercise between State and County EMAs, as well as other agencies, including Red Cross and the National Weather Service.
Served agency(s): Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency (CCEMA) National Weather Service, Gray, ME
WSSM-ECT: Participants will operate from the EOC, home, at deployed stations, and mobile from shelters.
Purpose: Test ability to communicate inter-county and between counties, using various modes: UHF FM repeater, VHF FM Simplex, HF SSB, VHF Packet, HF Digital, and Winlink via VHF Packet and HF.
Objectives: Perform Amateur Radio Tasks as outlined in the 2022 Maine SET Plan:
Digital data with other Counties on Amateur VHF repeater systems and packet network.
Voice with other Counties on Amateur VHF using simplex.
Voice with other Counties on Amateur HF systems
Retrieve a text file using Packet
Digital data via Amateur Packet and Winlink systems
TASK 1 – Perform voice radio checks inter-county via Amateur UHF repeater TASK 2 – Perform voice radio checks inter-county via Amateur HF TASK 3 – Establish communications with Statewide Emergency Net and perform voice radio checks with other Counties via Amateur HF TASK 4 – Perform voice radio checks inter-county via Amateur VHF Simplex TASK 5 – Perform voice radio checks with nearby Counties via Amateur VHF simplex TASK 6 – Exchange ICS-213 messages via voice, digital, Winlink, and Packet TASK 7 – Retrieve a text file via PACKET TASK 8 – Send Digital Data through the Maine Packet Network
Although highly successful, the 2022 SET highlighted some areas that can be more fine tuned. One of these is more hands-on training with deployable equipment, and another is, as always, traffic handling. Having more time to spend with our new gear, we’ll easily remedy the first concern, but the latter is more a widespread problem, not isolated to our team. In fact, having handled something like 32 messages during the SET (mostly within the county), we do very well with it, but I’ve found a lack of continuity on the statewide level, that can only be fixed with a unified acceptance of modes, forms, and protocol. I have no doubt this will get better with time, as we do more exercises, and hopefully, by next year, we’ll all be on the same page.
Click here to download our 2022 SET After Action Review.
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
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:
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
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.
Date: 08/26/2021 Time Started: 7:00 PM Time Secured: 7:20 PM Frequency: 147.090 (+ / 100 Hz) W1QUI repeater, on Blackstrap Mt., Falmouth, ME. Net Control: Waylon KC1HJN
Check-ins (7):
KC1HBL Ben Buxton, ME Commercial KC1JMH Brad Waterboro, ME Battery KC1OLX Tom Gorham, ME Commercial W1QUI George Auburn, ME Commercial AB1NS Tom Westbrook, ME Commercial KB1HNZ Tim Windham Battery KA1VPU Tim Windham Battery Traffic Exchanged: 2
Simplex Net Date: 08/26/2021 Time Started: 7:21 PM Time Secured: 7:39 PM Frequency: 146.580 FM Simplex Net Control: Tim KA1VPU (op. as WS1EC)
Check-ins (5):
KC1HBL Ben Buxton, ME Commercial KC1JMH Brad Waterboro, ME Battery KC1CPA Tom Chelsea, ME Commercial KB1HNZ Tim Windham, ME Battery KC1HJN Waylon Windham, ME Battery
Training Script:
This evening we’re transmitting from the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency, in Windham, for the first time since the SET back in October of 2020. I’d like to thank Chris and Jim and everyone here at CCEMA for hosting us this evening. Its good to be back.
I have one announcement. The Simulated Emergency Test (SET), which is scheduled for Saturday, October 9th, is going to be a radiogram relay and Winlink exercise this year. The details are currently in development, but it looks like it’s going to have a fun contest kind of element to it. So, the training that we’ll be doing between now and then will be focused on developing those skills.
Tonight, I’m going to ask net participants to craft answers to and send a radiogram reply to one of two MARS Interoperability Exercise messages. We’ll do that portion here on the repeater and then we’ll move over to 146.580 FM Simplex for the fun part of the exercise and see who can copy who.
Traffic Handled:
26 R K2WG 45 EAST CHATHAM NY 1250Z AUG 16 TIMOTHY WATSON PRES WIRELESS SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN MAINE 11 LYMAN AVE SACO ME 04072 NO PHONE KB1HNZ ATSIGN YAHOO DOT COM MARS RRI DASH NTS INTEROP 2021081240Z BT THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS TRAINING EXERCISE X WHAT IS THE DISTANCE AND BEARING TO THE AIRPORT CLOSEST TO YOUR LOCATION QUERY PLEASE EMAIL YOUR REPLY TO ME AND TO THE ARMY MARS REGION TWO OPERATIONS OFFICER AT RON ATSIGN RONTOMO DOT ORG O BT WAYNE F GEARING K2WG ARMY MARS REGION 2 MEMBER AAR2SE WAYNEG1231 ATSIGN FAIRPOINT DOT NET OR 518 610 1929
Sent to: Brad KC1JHM, from Tim KB1HNZ
37 R HXC K2XU 35 MOORESTOWN NJ 2145Z AUG 9 TIMOTHY W WATSON KB1HNZ/PRES WIRELESS SOCIETY OF SOUTHE 11 LYMAN AVENUE SACO ME 04072 NO PHONE KB1HNZ ATSIGN YAHOO DOT COM THIS IS A TRAINING EXERCISE BETWEEN REGION TWO ARMY MAR 08092147Z BT PLEASE IDENTIFY CLOSEST HOSPITAL WITH THE DISTANCE AND BEARING FROM YOUR LOCATION X EMAIL YOUR REPLY TO ME AND THE REGION TWO OPERATIONS OFFICER X HIS EMAIL IS RON ATSIGN RONTOMO DOT ORG THANK YOU BT JOHN HOOVER K2XU AAR2KX ARMY MARS REGION 2 MOORESTOWN NJ JHHOOVER ATSIGN COMCAST DOT NET 856 DASH 231 DASH 0754 K2XU 08092147Z KB1HNZ 08092147Z AR
Sent to Ben KC1HBL, from Tim KB1HNZ
After the net, Tim KB1HNZ and Waylon KC1HJN spent some time swapping the Kenwood D710A out for the original Kenwood D710G (which had been sent out for repair) and sorting the computer and software. In our absence, the PC at the ham station had been upgraded to Windows 10 and all the previous software and settings were no longer present.
Waylon and Tim successfully installed Winlink Express, but were having trouble when the Kenwood radio would display “TNC, STA CON, then packet12” when commanded to transmit. Since they ran out of time, this couldn’t be resolved last evening. A further work detail will have to take place to install multiple other softwares and test radio connections to prepare for the upcoming SET drill.
Please join us this evening at 7:00 PM on the W1QUI 147.090 (+ / 100) repeater, for our monthly On-Air Drill!
The topic for this evening is to review the components of the ARRL Radiogram and to compose and sent test messages that will be similar to those we’ll be sending during ARRL Field Day. We’ll start out on the repeater and move over to 146.580 FM simplex for a roll call. On simplex, we’ll exchange signal reports with each other, note who we can copy, and send traffic.
The purpose of this net is to focus 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.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the WSSM-ECT Training Net for Thursday, April 22nd! We had 12 check-ins on the repeater and 2 on DMR. The net started on time, at 7:00PM. Tim KB1HNZ served as moderator.
One announcement was made by Dave KB1FGF, who mentioned having a 4-way coax switch available for free to anyone who needed one, and he was also looking to sell his Connect Systems CS801 DMR radio.
The topic for the evening was SKYWARN, which focused on some of the things that a new Net Control station should be aware of, including where to find information about approaching hazardous weather, when and how to activate a net, on which frequency to operate, what to ask for, and how to log reports.
Tim KB1HNZ talked about the new SKYWARN Official Supporter program that was rolled out on Tuesday, which is designed to encourage more participation in SKYWARN from the ham radio club and EmComm group level.
Eric N1RXR talked about some of his experiences operating as Net Control for SKYWARN, and stressed the importance of good listening and asking for a specific location when taking reports.
Following the net on the repeater, we took call-ups for weather reports on the DMR SKYWARN Talk Group (759) to help familiarize participants with the SKYWARN talk group.
Net Participants:
KB1FGF Dave, Scarborough, ME (FM)
KB1IIR Luke, Madison, NH (FM)
K5RN Frank, Planto, TX (Echolink)
KC1OLX Tom, Gorham, ME (FM)
KC1JMH Brad, Waterboro, ME (FM & DMR)
KC1OER Norris, Portland, ME (FM)
N1RXR Eric, New Gloucester, ME (FM)
KC1NZD Rick, Peaks Island, ME (FM)
KC1HBL Ben, Buxton, ME (FM)
WX1D B.J., Kennebunk, ME (FM & DMR)
KU1U, Corey, Sabattus, ME (Echolink)
W1QUI, George, Auburn, ME (FM)
This was a fun training. SKYWARN is an important topic that we’ll be revisiting again in the future, and we’ll also work on getting more involvement on the DMR side of things, by helping to update code plugs and programming radios if needed.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the WSSM-ECT Training Net! We had 7 check-ins, a few of which only participated via Packet. The net started on time, at 7:00PM. Tim KB1HNZ served as moderator.
Among the items discussed were the Maine Packet Network and Packet Radio in general. Even while the repeater portion of the net was taking place, we had an active chat session going on Packet, and several had already sent their first messages via BBS and Winlink. Thanks to Brad KC1JMH for helping participants out with problem solving (including myself), and answering questions.
Net Participants:
KC1JMH Brad, Waterboro, ME (Phone, CHAT, BBS, Winlink)
KC1HBL Ben, Buxton, ME (Phone)
KB1FGF Dave, Scarborough, ME (Phone)
KC1HBM Peter, Scarborough, ME (Winlink)
N1XP Roger, Waterboro, ME (BBS, Winlink)
KC1ETT Jimmy, Wells, ME (CHAT, BBS, Winlink)
KB1TCE Steve, Owls Head, ME (BBS, Winlink)
KB1HNZ Tim, Saco, ME – Net Control (Phone, CHAT, BBS, Winlink)
At one point, some time after 8:00, the W1YCA node, in Alfred, started acting up. Myself and a few others were able to maintain a good connection to it for almost an hour prior. Brad KC1JMH was able to telnet in and restart it, but it still didn’t seem right after that. This morning, however, I connected right up to the BBS, CHAT, and via Winlink, and everything seemed okay.
Nevertheless, we had a fun CHAT session going and Brad, who was multitasking, helping Peter KC1HBM get connected, also helped me troubleshoot why my call sign wasn’t displaying correctly. As it turns out, I just needed to treat my Kenwood D710 like a hardware TNC and enter “MY KB1HNZ” prior to connecting to a node, and that solved the problem.
This was a fun training and we’ll keep working over the next few months to get some more hams active on Packet.
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