South Coast Massachusetts Amateur Radio Group


W1SMA

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Affiliates:

Acushnet Emergency Management SKYWARN (National Weather Service, Taunton)
Eastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Service
 

Nets & Events


SCMARG hosts several weekly, monthly and annual gatherings.  These on-air networks (nets) and events are open to both SCMARG members and guests.  We encourage all area amateurs to participate.  For more information on one of the nets or events below, simply click on its link to jump to a full description:

Weekly

Monday 8:00pm 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater Weather Net
Tuesday 8:00pm 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater Weather Net
Thursday 8:00pm 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater Weather Net
Friday 8:00pm 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater Weather Net
Saturday
(June-December)
8:00pm EDT 145.490 VoIP SKYWARN/Hurricane Net

Monthly

1st Monday 7:00pm Acushnet EMA Emergency Communications Night
1st Saturday
(January - May)
7:00pm EST 145.490 VoIP SKYWARN/Hurricane Net

Annually

Christmas Eve 10:00pm 145.490 Christmas Eve Net
New Years Eve 6:00am 145.490 New Year Around The World QSO Party

On Demand

Local Severe Weather and
IRLP Liason for NWS Taunton
145.490 New England VoIP SKYWARN Net
National Severe Weather 145.490 VoIP SKYWARN/Hurricane Net



Fairhaven Repeater Weather Net (FRWN)

When: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday @ 8:00pm
Where: 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater
Net Manager: Dennis G. Bollea, N1WJI
Web Site: (none)
Description:

This net has been in operation since the early 1990s.  It is designed for radio amateurs with a special interest in weather.  FRWN combines the simple exchange of locally observed weather data with distant noteworthy reports gathered from HF nets, news media, and Internet resources.  There is a round of personal comments which is wide-ranging and often surprisingly interesting, informative and entertaining.

FRWN also runs on Wednesday nights on the Plymouth Repeater (146.685 - PL 82.5).  When the net is carried on the 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater, stations are welcome to check in using VoIP.  The repeater's IRLP node is 4617 and the EchoLink node is 4611 (W1SMA-L).


VoIP SKYWARN/Hurricane (WX) Net

When: Saturday @ 7:00pm EST / 8:00pm EDT
1st Saturday of the Month from January through May
Weekly from June through December
and as needed during tropical weather
Where: 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater
Net Managers: Robert D. Macedo, KD1CY
Danny L. Musten, KD4RAA
Kevin Anderson, KD5WX
Web Site: http://www.voipwx.net
Description:

This net supports the effective utilization of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to handle critical wide area communications during major severe weather events such as tropical storms and hurricanes.  This nationwide net has merged two VoIP systems to provide a single point of contact for people in the field to submit reports by interfacing directly with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and National Weather Service (NWS).

Whenever tropical weather is imposing a threat to the United States mainland and certain other areas of interest, the VoIP WX Net will become active.  The net has a dedicated EchoLink conference *WX_TALK* (node number 7203) and a dedicated IRLP sub-channel on the East Coast Reflector (node number 9129).  At times when the net is active for a tropical threat (especially on New England), the 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater may also be linked in.


Emergency Communications Night

When: 1st Monday of the Month @ 7:00pm
Where: Acushnet Emergency Management Agency
14 Thomas Street, Acushnet, MA
Contact: Robert D. Macedo, KD1CY
Web Site: http://www.acushnetema.com
Description:

Everyone is welcome to stop by the Acushnet EMA building on the 1st Monday of each month at 7:00pm for Emergency Communications Night.  This is a joint venture between SCMARG, the Acushnet EMA and SEMARA to promote Amateur Radio Emegency Communications.  Participants will help support our region's RACES net at 7:30pm, followed by the Eastern Massahcusetts ARES net at 8:30pm.  Both drills are held locally on SEMARA's 147.000 Dartmouth Repeater.


Christmas Eve Net

When: Annually on December 24th @ 9:00pm
Where: 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater
Net Managers: Anne M. West, K1STM
John M. West, N1IWT
Web Site: http://new-eng.com
Description:

Have your egg nog and good cheer at the ready, and set that big old easy chair for 9:00pm, December 24th.  All of your friends are looking forward to hearing you on the annual Christmas Eve Net.  Be one of the dozens of amateurs that will check in and share season's greetings, or a simple thought or two for the holidays.  All amateurs are warmly welcome to join in.  If you have young ones in the shack, be sure to monitor the net closely, as a very special visitor always checks in (aeronautical mobile) from somewhere over the Atlantic.

In South Coast Massachusetts, the primary RF link for this net is the 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater.  The net is centrally run each year from Southington, Connecticut on the New England Gateway secondary channel, which consists of EchoLink conference server *NEW-ENG2* (node number 9127) and the IRLP New England Reflector 912 channel 7 (node number 9127).  The 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater is linked via IRLP to the New England Gateway in order to establish this link.


New Year Around The World QSO Party

When: Annually on December 31st @ 6:00am,
through January 1st @ 3:00am
Where: 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater
Net Manager: David C. Gingrich, K9DC
Web Site: http://ref9200.irlp.net
Description:

Get ready to ring in the new year with the festive IRLP New Year Around The World QSO Party.  The event gets started each year early enough for the New Zealand nodes to participate at 1100 UTC, December 31st (6:00am local time) and continues until at least 0800 UTC, January 1st (3:00am local time) when California rolls into the new year.  This is an open QSO party with no net control.  The net is carried world wide with the IRLP Crossroads Reflector (node number 9200) being the central hub.  Locally, the 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater is the South Coast Massachusetts affiliate for the New Year Around The World QSO Party.


New England VoIP SKYWARN Net

When: As needed during severe weather
and as a liason to other NWS Taunton areas
Where: 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater
Net Manager: Robert D. Macedo, KD1CY
Web Site: http://www.wx1box.org
Description:

This net utilizes Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to help support the National Weather Service (NWS) Taunton in the SKYWARN program.  SKYWARN is the NWS volunteer weather spotting program where public citizens send reports to weather meteorologists to help them make a precise prediction to protect life and property.  Rob, KD1CY founded the Taunton SKYWARN Amateur Radio Club (WX1BOX) for this purpose, which links NWS Taunton directly to amateur radio.

NWS Taunton's Southern New England Weather Forecast Office provides warning and forecast services for most of Massachusetts, Northern Connecticut, all of Rhode Island and Cheshire and Hillsborough counties in Southern New Hampshire.  When severe weather breaks in these areas, amateurs will gather at NWS Taunton and activate the New England VoIP SKYWARN Net.  When activated, the net is centrally run on the New England Gateway, which consists of EchoLink conference server *NEW-ENG* (node number 9123) and the IRLP New England Reflector 912 channel 3 (node number 9123).  Additionally, various 2 meter and 440 MHz repeaters will be used directly from NWS Taunton's amateur radio station to gather reports.

The 145.490 Fairhaven Repeater will be utilized while SKYWARN is active for two primary functions.  If a threat to the South Coast occurs, WX1BOX will be on the air directly via RF or may link the repeater to the New England Gateway to gather local reports.  Otherwise, when severe weather breaks outside of the South Coast but within NWS Taunton's jurisdiction (outlined above), the repeater may be used as a liaison for report gathering.  The repeater's IRLP node may be linked by WX1BOX to another area such as Connecticut or western Massachusetts.  In most cases, it is used to link to the Vernon, Connecticut 146.790 repeater as a vital communications path to gather SKYWARN reports when severe weather is moving through Hartford and Tolland county.


 
   

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