AmCON-4 20221002 18:30Z

AmRRON is now at AmCON-4.  Great job to all who covered the bands during Hurricane Ian!  And a SUPERB job to the operators at the Eastern SIGCEN.  There were four pieces of Health and Welfare traffic passed, and all four parties were found safe and well.

As of Saturday, October 1st, there were still reports of isolated communities which had received no outside contact, so we appreciate those of you in the east and southeast who are able to continue to monitor the Persistent Presence Net.  Don’t forget, Puerto Rico is still knocked out from the hurricane a week prior to Ian.

 

AmRRON is at a Readiness Condition Level 2 (AmCON-2), for a regional event.

UPDATES AS OF 9/30  22:30hrs Zulu:

Reduction of ops tempo.  We will remain at AmCON-2 until Sunday, mid-day.  Eastern SIGCEN standing down.  However, Persistent Presence Net coverage by any available operators is recommended and appreciated.  Great job eastern SIGCEN!!!

As Ian again has turned into a tropical storm after making landfall on South Carolina, we are seeing a rapid degradation of the storm system.  Communities in the northeast states are seeing increasing power outage reports.  We will remain at a heightened presence on the air.  Use the Z-Net to coordinate with other AmRRON Corps operators.  If you do not have access to the Z-Net, you can relay traffic or tropical storm Ian-related traffic or questions to johnjacob at amrron dot com.

If you intercept/receive emergency traffic over the air, call 911 (see guidance in previous updates).

Stay safe, and stay dry!  Pray for those in the path, from Florida to Virginia.

=====================================

 

UPDATES AS OF 9/29  18:30hrs Zulu:

Tropical Storm Ian is strengthening, and expected to reach Category 1 status prior to making landfall on the coast of South Carolina Friday afternoon.

TROPICAL STORM PUBLIC ADVISORY 
WTNT34 KNHC 291755
TCPAT4

BULLETIN
Tropical Storm Ian Intermediate Advisory Number 28A
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL       AL092022
200 PM EDT Thu Sep 29 2022

...IAN FORECAST TO PRODUCE LIFE-THREATENING FLOODING, STORM SURGE 
AND STRONG WINDS ACROSS PORTIONS OF FLORIDA, GEORGIA, AND 
THE CAROLINAS...

...
WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:

The Tropical Storm Warning has been discontinued from Jupiter Inlet 
to Vero Beach.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for...
* Flagler/Volusia Line to Little River Inlet
* Neuse River
* St. Johns River

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for...
* Savannah River to Little River Inlet

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
* Vero Beach Florida to Savannah River
* Little River Inlet to Duck North Carolina
* Pamlico Sound

A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for...
* North of South Santee River to Duck North Carolina
* Pamlico River

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for...
* Flagler/Volusia County Line to the Savannah River

A Storm Surge Warning means there is a danger of life-threatening
inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, in
the indicated locations. For a depiction of areas at risk, please
see the National Weather Service Storm Surge Watch/Warning Graphic,
available at hurricanes.gov.  This is a life-threatening situation.
Persons located within these areas should take all necessary actions
to protect life and property from rising water and the potential for
other dangerous conditions.  Promptly follow evacuation and other
instructions from local officials.
Read the full bulletin at: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT4+shtml/291755.shtml

=====================================

AmRRON operators in the southeast, under the guidance of the Eastern SIGCEN are handling some welfare traffic related to friends/family in the impacted areas along the Florida west coast.  We have copied no emergency traffic or distress calls as of the time/date of this update.

OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE:

  • Reminder:  All AmRRON stations, adjust your heartbeat in JS8Call to send no more than once per hour
  • Eastern SIGCEN is sending out three time synchronization heartbeats each hour.  This is to allow stations in impacted zones with no satellite or internet time synchronization capabilities.
  • If you receive EMERGENCY TRAFFIC while conducting a net or monitoring the frequencies, gather as much information as possible, especially the location (street address, county, and state).  Call 911 and explain the nature of the emergency, where the emergency is located, and that you are a ham operator in contact with the distressed party, and that you are located in xxxxx.   Maintain a connection with the distressed party if at all possible.
  • Then notify AmRRON, or the AmRRON Eastern SIGCEN by Z-Net, or email (johnjacob at amrron dot com), or other expedient means at your disposal.  If those are not available/practical, then contact the Eastern SIGCEN over radio with a detailed report.

 

 

UPDATES AS OF 9/27  22:20hrs Zulu:

Updated operational guidance for regional supporting stations.

  • Set your beacon/heartbeat/sounder (depending on digital mode) to no more than once per hour, to build a network path of stations heard.
  • If you receive EMERGENCY TRAFFIC while conducting a net or monitoring the frequencies, gather as much information as possible, especially the location (street address, county, and state).  Call 911 and explain the nature of the emergency, where the emergency is located, and that you are a ham operator in contact with the distressed party, and that you are located in xxxxx.   Maintain a connection with the distressed party if at all possible.
  • Then notify AmRRON, or the AmRRON Eastern SIGCEN by Z-Net, or email (johnjacob at amrron dot com), or other expedient means at your disposal.  If those are not available/practical, then contact the Eastern SIGCEN over radio with a detailed report.

 

===============

Click on the NOAA message/image below to visit the source page.

FLORIDA, GEORGIA, and ALABAMA AmRRON OPERATORS, WE ARE PREPARING TO BE THERE FOR YOU.

The Eastern AmRRON SIGCEN (GA/SC border) will be activated beginning early Wednesday morning, and will be monitoring the AmRRON frequencies, ready to help facilitate traffic, coordinate radio operations, and offer assistance and receive reports from operators in the impacted areas in the days following the hurricane, to include welfare traffic.

This will hopefully help relieve congestion on other related nets, such as the Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 and/or 7.268 (for example).

All available AmRRON operators are encouraged to monitor the Persistent Presence Net frequencies through at least Sunday, October 2nd.

WHAT TO EXPECT: 

  • Expect to hear nothing (initially) from the impacted area on Wednesday afternoon and evening.  Operators will be grid down and most HF antennas will not survive the hurricane-force winds.  Additionally, lighting threat mitigation will have radio stations off the air.
  • HF antennas and backup power could take many hours, or even days, to reconfigure and make operational.
  • Any HF radio communications will likely increase in tempo beginning Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and will likely begin to taper off on Sunday onward.
  • Most grid-up coordination will take place on the AmRRON Corps Z-Net Breakout Channel, as that is where the overwhelming majority

OPERATIONS:

FOR STATIONS IN THE IMPACTED AREAS:

  • Let us know you are okay!  Your safety, and that of your family, is first and foremost.  Please report as soon as it is safe and practical, with at least an abbreviated STATREP.
  • As you know, digital modes are the most effective.  Use the mode which gets the most information out the fastest.  If you are running QRP (low power), then JS8Call may be your only way to reach out.  We will keep the frequencies clear to monitor for your traffic.
  • Use the @AMRRON group in JS8Call to query Signal Reports (SNR), and determine who is on frequency, and where, and the quality of your path to others.
  • At minimum, please send out an abbreviated STATREP, including your maidenhead grid square, so we can account for our opertors.
    • Please include your county and state, and nearest town/city, ESPECIALLY if you are reporting emergency traffic or in need of Priority support.
  • Voice frequencies will also be monitored, per the AmRRON SOI.  If you have misplaced your SOI, then we will also be monitoring 80m, 40m, and 20m AmRRON Voice frequencies at the top of each hour to give you a better time window.
  • We will send SITREPs (Situation Reports) over HF on the SOI net schedule frequencies so that you can be informed on what might be happening beyond your local VHF/UHF communications, as information is available.
  • If you encounter an emergency, and AmRRON nets are your only source of communications, (we will have operators standing by monitoring persistently), then announce your emergency traffic.  We will coordinate your traffic and route it to the appropriate agencies or entities.

SUPPORTING AmRRON STATIONS OUTSIDE THE IMPACTED ARES: 

  • Most importantly, keep the frequency clear if you do not have traffic to pass.
  • Set your beacon/heartbeat/sounder (depending on digital mode) to no more than once per hour, to build a network path of stations heard.
  • The AmRRON Corps Z-Net Breakout Channel is the most effective method for coordinating with other AmRRON support stations and getting the most up-to-date information related to the post-hurricane operations.
  • If you receive STATREPs or SITREPs from stations in the affected area, relay to the Eastern SIGCEN or to an NCS station, who will then be able to relay to the SIGCEN (unless you know that an NCS or SIGCEN has also copied the same traffic).
  • NCSs should have a /N after their callsign, and stations working as SIGCEN operations stations will have a /S after their callsigns.
  • If you receive EMERGENCY TRAFFIC while conducting a net or monitoring the frequencies, gather as much information as possible, especially the location (street address, county, and state).  Call 911 and explain the nature of the emergency, where the emergency is located, and that you are a ham operator in contact with the distressed party, and that you are located in xxxxx.   Maintain a connection with the distressed party if at all possible.
  • Then notify AmRRON, or the AmRRON Eastern SIGCEN by Z-Net, or email (johnjacob at amrron dot com), or other expedient means at your disposal.  If those are not available/practical, then contact the Eastern SIGCEN over radio with a detailed report.

More information and guidance will be added here in the coming hours and days.   Keep checking back.

73, and stay safe!

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