Join us this Thursday, June 18th, from 7:00PM – 8:00PM on the 147.090 repeater, for our monthly meeting on-the-air.
On the agenda, we’ll be talking about ARRL Field Day, which will take place at Wassamki Springs Campground on the weekend of June 27-28. If you haven’t already, please click here to sign up to operate or to take on a bonus category task. We’ll also be discussing the possibility of restarting in-person meetings in July.
Catch you on the air!
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
Don’t get bored. Get on the air! Join us this Thursday evening from 7PM – 8PM, on 146.580, for the “Self-Quarantine Simplex Drill.”
This will be a basic net to test coverage on 2 meter FM Simplex, and to exchange traffic using the ARRL Radiogram format. The topic can be anything you choose.
I won’t be on the air this week because I’ll be spending the next 4 evenings at work, moving network equipment into our new building, so if anyone can pick up Net Control duties, that would be great!
The drill begins at 7PM Thursday evening on 146.580 FM Simplex.
Next week will be the Meeting On The Air, on the 147.090 repeater. We’ll be talking Field Day details, and more, including the possibility of restarting in-person meetings in July.
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
Thanks to everyone who checked in and participated! We had a good turnout on both simplex and Winlink, with 6 check-ins! The purpose of the drill was to build upon previous exercises by encouraging mobile and portable participants to activate from a shelter location, and also to exchange traffic via Winlink.
The simplex portion of the net started on time, at 7:00 PM (2300 UTC), on 146.580.
Net Control: KB1HNZ Tim, mobile at Windham High School.
We had 6 check-ins:
W1SFS Jason, near Scarborough High School (2300 UTC)
Contacted 3 stations: K1MGR, KB1HNZ, KB1FGF
KC1HBL Ben, in Buxton, ME (2301 UTC) I/O
K1MGR Greg, portable at the South Portland Community Center & South Portland High School (2302 UTC)
Contacted 3 stations: KB1FGF, W1SFS, KB1HNZ
KB1FGF Dave, in Scarborough, ME (Pine Point) (2303 UTC)
Contacted 3 stations: K1MGR, W1SFS, KB1HNZ
WZ1J Steve, in Brunswick, ME (2311 UTC) I/O
N1RXR Eric, in New Gloucester, ME (2317 UTC)
Contacted 2 stations: WZ1J, W1SFS
The Simplex Net was secured at 7:21 PM (2321 UTC), after a round of informals.
The Winlink portion of the exercise started immediately after the simplex net. There were 9 items of traffic handled by the following stations:
N1RXR Eric, in New Gloucester, ME
KC1JMH Brad, in North Waterboro, ME
KB1HNZ Tim, in Windham, ME
W1WMG Thom, in Gorham, ME
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
This Thursday, we’ll build upon previous exercises and incorporate multiple elements of communications. Like last week, if you’re mobile, you’re encouraged to check-in from one of the shelter locations listed below.
The first step will be to check-in to our coordination net on 146.580 FM Simplex, where we’ll do a brief round of informals, then you’ll be asked to send traffic (if you are equipped to do so), via Winlink. If you’re at one of the shelter locations, try connecting to the Maine Packet Network via whichever node you are closest to. If you’re a home station, you can connect to Winlink via any method you prefer.
You may use any message format or form that you’d like, however we ask that if you reply to a message, please reply using the same format as the original.
If you’re new to Winlink, click here for a brief overview to help you get started.
Here’s a list of the shelter locations:
Catch you on the air!
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
Thanks to everyone who checked in and participated this past Thursday! We had a great turnout with 8 check-ins at 4 different shelter locations. This particular drill focussed on familiarizing participants with the various shelter locations we may be deployed to, and encouraged activations from these locations. There were 4 mobiles, including Net Control, 4 check-ins from home, and 1 portable setup.
The net started on time, at 7:00 PM. Net Control: KB1HNZ Tim, mobile at Scarborough High School.
We had 8 check-ins:
KB1FGF Dave, mobile at Scarborough High School, Scarborough (2249 UTC)
Contacted 5 stations: KC1HBM, K1MGR, KB1HNZ, KC1MSQ, KC1MSR
N1RXR Eric, mobile at Memorial Elementary School, in New Gloucester (2300 UTC). Contacted 4 stations: KB1HNZ, KC1HBL, K1MGR, KC1HBM
KC1HBM Peter, mobile at South Portland High School and South Portland Community Center (2302 UTC). Contacted 5 stations: KB1FGF, KB1HNZ, K1MGR, KC1MSR, KC1MSQ
KC1MSR Nick, in Gorham (2304 UTC)
Contacted 4 stations: KC1HBM, KB1FGF, KB1HNZ, K1MGR
KC1MSQ Cole, in Gorham (2305 UTC)
Contacted 4 stations: KC1HBM, KB1FGF, KB1HNZ, K1MGR
KC1HBL Ben, in Buxton (2307 UTC) I/O
KC1DFO Pete, in Dayton (2308 UTC) I/O
K1MGR Greg, portable at Scarborough High School, in Scarborough (2307 UTC)
Contacted 5 stations: KB1HNZ, KC1MSQ, KB1FGF, KC1MSR, KC1HBM
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
Got the lockdown lows? Dust off your radio and join us this Thursday evening from 7PM – 8PM for the “Self Quarantine Simplex Drill.”
The purpose this week will be to relay ICS-213 messages via 2 Meter FM Simplex, and to determine who can hear each other. If you’re mobile, you’re encouraged to check-in from at or near one of the following shelter locations:
For those of you who’ve participated in SET exercises with us, these locations will be familiar. The drill begins at 7PM Thursday evening on 146.580 FM Simplex.
Catch you on the air!
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
Join us this Thursday, May 21st, from 7:00PM – 8:00PM on the 147.090 repeater, for our monthly business meeting on-the-air.
On the agenda, we’ll be asking if members have tried out anything new in the hobby in recent weeks, talk about the recent Self-Quarantine Simplex Drills, and discuss options for Field Day 2020.
See you there!
73′
Tim
Thanks to everyone who checked in and participated! We had a good turnout on both simplex and DMR, with 10 check-ins! The purpose of the drill was to expose participants to the SKYWARN simplex frequency and the Severe Weather Report form, test our simplex coverage, and also test out the SKYWARN DMR Talk Group. In addition, we encouraged those who could not check-in on either simplex or DMR to send weather reports to WX1GYX via Winlink.
The simplex portion of the net started on time, at 7:00 PM (2300 UTC), on 146.595. Net Control: KB1HNZ Tim, in Saco. We had 6 check-ins and handled 6 pieces of weather traffic:
KC1HBL Ben, mobile in Scarborough, ME (2301 UTC), Traffic handled: 1
K1MGR Greg, in Scarborough, ME (2302 UTC), Traffic handled: 1
KB1FGF Dave, in Scarborough, ME (Pine Point) (2303 UTC), Traffic handled: 1
KB1HUU Dave, in Lyman, ME (2303UTC), Traffic handled: 1
AB1VX Larry, in Acton, ME (2307 UTC), Traffic handled: 1
WX1GYX op. N1RXR Eric, in New Gloucester, ME (2310 UTC), Traffic handled: 6
The Simplex Net was secured at 7:12 PM (2312 UTC), after a round of informals.
The DMR net started at 7:15 PM on the SKYWARN DMR Talk Group 759. Net Control: KB1HNZ Tim, in Saco. We had 4 check-ins and handled 2 pieces of weather traffic:
K1MGR Greg, in Scarborough, ME (2315 UTC), No traffic
KB1HUU Dave, in Lyman, ME (2315UTC), No traffic
W1CUI Dan, in Barrington, NH (2317 UTC), Traffic handled: 1
N1KMX Scott, in Weymouth, MA (2318 UTC), Traffic handled: 1
The DMR net was secured at 7:21 PM (0021 UTC).
Two reports were received via Winlink.
All the weather traffic over the voice nets were relayed either directly or by Winlink, to SKYWARN liaison N1RXR, who checked in as WX1GYX.
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
Join us this Thursday evening from 7PM-8PM, on 146.595 FM Simplex, for the Self Quarantine SKYWARN Drill. This will be similar to previous simplex drills, but the traffic to be exchanged will be your current weather, using the format of the Severe Weather Report Form, which can be downloaded here as a filable PDF. The goal will be to pass your traffic to WX1GYX, who will be checking in.
Once the net is secured on 2 meter simplex, those with DMR capabilities will be asked to check in on the DMR Talkgroup (759), where we will continue the net and take additional traffic from those who couldn’t get in on simplex.
We will also be accepting traffic via Winlink. Please send weather reports directly to WX1GYX.
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
Join us this Thursday, from 7PM-8PM for our next “Self-Quarantine Winlink Drill.”
The purpose will be to relay ICS-213 messages via Winlink, by connecting to the RMS network using any method you prefer. One option is to connect by VHF, through the Maine Packet Network, or you could connect to a Winlink node via HF.
The drill begins at 7PM Thursday evening. In the meantime, if you haven’t used Winlink before, the first step is to download Winlink Express, and click here to follow the instructions for “How To Get An Account.” First time users can find lots of helpful info, including video links on the Winlink.org website.
Once you’re up and running, get familiar with how to send a message, post it to the outbox, and explore the various templates that are available. For this exercise, we’ll use the following templates:
ICS-213_TwoWay_Initial.txt
ICS-213_TwoWay_SendReply.txt
Catch you on the air!
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
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