Hello to all..

**Happy Thanksgiving to All SKYWARN Spotters and Amateur Radio Operators involved in the SKYWARN program. On behalf of the NWS Taunton forecasters and the entire WX1BOX Amateur Radio Team and Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters in the field, we are fortunate to have such a strong and vibrant program with the support of all of you in the field and we appreciate another tremendous of year of service in weather spotting for the community. Thanks for all you do for us and the community!**
**Below is the annual Special Announcement on SKYWARN Recognition Day 2015.**

The following is a special announcement on SKYWARN Recognition Day 2015. This announcement will be updated either Thursday Evening 12/3/15 or Friday Morning 12/4/15. This announcement also appears on the WX1BOX home page via the following link:

http://beta.wx1box.org/node/3686

Announcement text is listed below:

The National Weather Service in Taunton Amateur Radio Station, WX1BOX, will once again be active for SKYWARN Recognition Day 2015. In addition, for the ninth straight year, the National Weather Service Gray, Maine Office will also be active under call-sign, WX1GYX. The Boston Amateur Radio Club will also be active as they have been over the past several years at the NWS Blue Hill Observatory under a new call-sign WX1BHO from 9 AM-3 PM Saturday December 5th, 2015.

This will be the 17th year of SKYWARN Recognition Day and its anticipated that over 100 NWS Forecast Offices will be participating once again this year. A Web link to information on SKYWARN Recognition Day can be seen at the following link:

http://hamradio.noaa.gov

WX1BOX will be monitoring the *NEW-ENG3* conference node 9123/IRLP 9123 system throughout the SRD event from 7 PM-12 AM Friday Evening 12/4/15 and from 7 AM-7 PM Saturday 12/6/15. Our HF station will be active on the various HF bands during the same time period. What bands/modes we operate on will be dependent on propagation and operator availability. We will attempt to announce the different HF frequencies will be on via our Facebook and Twitter feeds as well as on the DX Spotter/cluster system dxsummit.fi for people that wish to contact us on HF.

The following is a schedule of repeaters that will be utilized along with simplex being utilized during certain timeframes on Friday Evening 7 PM-12 AM and Saturday 7 AM-7 PM at WX1BOX. We hope Amateurs will utilize this schedule and try and work WX1BOX during these various timeframes. If you don’t hear NWS, feel free to call for WX1BOX and if the office is monitoring, a response will be given. When you make contact, give your current sky condition and temperature as required. Below is the tentative schedule of operations:

Friday December 4th, 2015:
7:00-7:30 PM:    146.970-Paxton Repeater (PL: 114.8 Hz)
7:30-8:00 PM:    147.180-Bridgewater Repeater (PL: 67.0 Hz)
8:00-8:30 PM:    147.000-Dartmouth Repeater (PL: 67.0 Hz)
8:30-9:00 PM:    146.955-Westford Repeater (PL: 74.4 Hz)
9:00-9:30 PM:    146.79-Vernon, CT Repeater (PL: 82.5 Hz) (linked via IRLP.)
9:30-10:00 PM:   147.225-Killingly, CT Repeater (PL: 156.7 Hz)
10:00-10:30 PM:  146.760-Scituate, RI Repeater PL: 67.0 Hz
10:30-11:00 PM:  145.470-Danvers, MA Repeater (PL: 136.5 Hz)
11:00-11:30 PM:  146.955-Barnstable, MA Repeater PL: 88.5 or 147.375-Falmouth Repeater PL: 110.9
11:30 PM-12:00 AM: 146.640-Waltham Repeater

**Will Attempt to monitor both the New England Network and the *WX-TALK*/IRLP Reflector 9219 systems during this entire timeframe.
**It is possible we may switch off to different repeaters or simplex during time slots if we run out of contacts.

Saturday December 5th, 2015:
7:00-8:30 AM:   146.595 Simplex
8:30-9:00 AM:   Litchfield County Linked System via KB1AEV repeater system
9:00-9:30 AM:   145.230-Boston Repeater (PL: 88.5 Hz)
9:30-10:00 AM:  146.640-Waltham Repeater
10:00-11:00 AM: NWS Taunton will participate in the Eastern Massachusetts Hospital Net
11:00-11:30 AM: 146.895-Walpole Repeater (PL: 123.0 Hz)
11:30-12:00 PM: 147.225-Killingly, CT Repeater (PL: 156.7 Hz)
12:00-12:30 PM: 145.470-Danvers Repeater (PL: 136.5 Hz)
12:30-100 PM:   146.790-Vernon, CT Repeater (Linked via IRLP.)
1:00-1:30 PM:   146.595 Simplex
1:30-2:00 PM:   145.37-Gardner/145.45-Fitchburg/147.39 Repeaters via IRLP 9122
2:00-2:30 PM:   146.685-Plymouth Repeater (PL: 82.5 Hz)
2:30-3:00 PM:   145.130-Gloucester Repeater (PL: 107.2 Hz)
3:00-3:30 PM:   146.955-Barnstable (PL: 88.5) or 147.375-Falmouth Repeater (PL: 110.9)
3:30-4:00 PM:   146.955-Westford Repeater (PL: 74.4)
4:00-4:30 PM:   146.970-Paxton Repeater (PL: 114.8)
4:30-5:00 PM:   145.370-Coventry, RI Repeater (PL: 67.0)
5:00-5:30 PM:   146.760-Scituate, RI Repeater (PL: 67.0)
5:30-6:00 PM:   147.000-Dartmouth Repeater (PL: 67.0)
6:00-6:30 PM:   147.180-Bridgewater Repeater (PL: 67.0)
6:30-7:00 PM:   147.225-Whitman Repeater (PL: 67.0 Hz)

**Will Attempt to monitor both the New England Network and the *WX-TALK*/IRLP Reflector 9219 systems during this entire timeframe.
**It is possible we may switch off to different repeaters or simplex during time slots if we run out of contacts.

We will also be utilizing 6-Meters FM for the second time during SRD since we now have that functionality in working order at NWS Taunton. The setup is a Vertical Antenna through an Icom IC-706 Radio. The following repeaters and simplex will be utilized during SRD on 6-Meters. This schedule may change as we get closer to the SRD event and 6-Meter use during SRD may expand depending on operator availability etc.

Saturday December 5th, 2015:
1230-1245 PM: 53.31-Mt Wachusett, MA
1245-100 PM:  53.07-Hopkinton MA
100-115 PM:   51.74-Hopkinton, MA
115-130 PM:   53.01-Barnstable, MA
115-130 PM:   53.17-Portsmouth, RI (KA1RCI)
130-145 PM:   53.27-Framingham, MA
145-200 PM:   53.81-Marlborough, MA
200-215 PM:   53.830-Fitchburg, MA
215-230 PM:   52.525-Simplex

The following is information EchoLink/IRLP operations during SKYWARN Recognition Day on the *WX_TALK* Echolink Conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system. Further updates to follow as we get closer to the event. See the list of NWS offices below:

Time in UTC NWS Office Call-Sign
0000-0100: WX0GLD (Time slot for last year)
0100-0200: WX1GYX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0200-0300: WX4MLB (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0300-0400: WX5EWX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0400-0500: WX1BOX (Time slot for last year)
0500-0600: KL7FWX (New Time slot for KL7FWX)
0600-0700: WX4HUN (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0700-0800: KL7FWX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
0800-0900: WX9LOT (New NWS Office for this year, taking KL7FWX’s old slot as they moved to the 0500 UTC time slot)
0900-1000: Open (Was KH6SW’s time slot)
1000-1100: Open
1100-1200: Open
1200-1300: Open (Was W7NWS’ time slot)
1300-1400: WX2PHI (New NWS Office for this year, taking W7NWS’ time slot)
1400-1500: W7W (Time slot for last year)
1500-1530: WX1BOX (Time slot for last year)
1530-1600: N0F (Time slot for last year)
1600-1700: WX4NC (Confirmed time slot for this year)
1700-1800: N0NWS (Time slot for last year)
1800-1900: WX6MTR (Time slot for last year)
1900-2000: K0MPX (Confirmed time slot for this year)
2000-2100: WX4MLB (Confirmed time slot for this year)
2100-2300: WX4NHC (Time slot for last year)
2300-2400: WX6NWS (Confirmed time slot for this year)

There will be other conference systems utilized for SKYWARN Recognition Day. They are as follows:

The New England Reflector Gateway System will be utilized by the NWS Taunton, Mass. and NWS Gray, Maine offices from 0000-0500 UTC and 1200-2400 UTC. The New England Gateway system is on EchoLink Conference server *NEW-ENG3* Node: 9123, IRLP reflector 9123. If other NWS offices would like to join the system, they are welcome to do so and participants in SKYWARN Recognition Day can also use that system to make contact with various NWS offices. This is a great place to move off the *WX_TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 system after your scheduled time if other Amateurs or NWS offices whish to make contact with you.

Also, the Western Reflector will be having NWS offices calling CQ as in past years and have multiple reflector channels and Echolink conferences available. There is reflector 9250/Echolink Conference *HI-GATE* node: 357564, IRLP 9251 and the *WORLD* Echolink Conference node: 479886, IRLP 9257/*DCF-ARC* Echolink Conference node: 336037 and IRLP 9258/EchoLink Conference *NV-GATE* Node: 152566 open for NWS offices. Please contact Kent-W7AOR for additional information on the Western Reflector.

A few technical reminders for folks interested in making contacts with the NWS Forecast Offices on the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP 9219 and New England Reflector Gateway IRLP 9123/*NEW-ENG* Echolink Node: 9123 systems:

-The system allows both EchoLink and IRLP connections. For EchoLink users, you connect to the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203 conference system. For IRLP users, you would connect to IRLP reflector 9219.

-If you are using EchoLink, the RF node or PC that you’re using must have EchoLink conferencing disabled. If it is not disabled, the system will automatically kick the node or PC off of the system. The reason this occurs is to prevent unintentional interference from a conferencing station that may not know the node is connected somewhere else. This will keep traffic moving on the net and reduce interference considerably.

For more information on VoIP Technical Configuration Tips, please go to our web site at http://www.voipwx.net where we have a link to that information on the main menu of the web site. This announcement will also be on the web site.

We are looking forward to another fun SKYWARN Recognition Day on the *WX-TALK* Node: 7203/IRLP reflector 9219 system, New England Reflector Gateway system and Western Reflector system. Thanks to all for their support!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
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Hello to all..

The following announcement is for those Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters who utilize Echolink to reach WX1BOX when Amateur Radio Operations are active and/or SKYWARN liaisons during SKYWARN Self-Activations. The Echolink conference portion of the system has been changed. The Echolink conference portion of the system to reach ARES/SKYWARN Operations is now *NEW-ENG3*. The Echolink Conference node number for *NEW-ENG3* remains 9123 and if you are using IRLP, the channel to use remains 9123. This change was made to better align the conference systems to other Echolink/IRLP reflector systems. If you are utilizing the Echolink PC program, you will see that *NEW-ENG3* Echolink conference listed as ARES/SKYWARN under node number 9123. The SKYWARN Frequency listing document on wx1box.org has been changed and future SKYWARN Training Classes will reflect this change in the Echolink conference name.

If there are any questions, please contact Rob Macedo-KD1CY regarding this change. Thanks to all for your support of the NWS Taunton SKYWARN program.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: (508) 346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
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Hello to all..

..Strong Winds today over Cape Cod and the Islands and other parts of Southern New England..
..A Wind Advisory is in effect from 1 PM Friday Afternoon to 7 AM Saturday for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Block Island Rhode Island. A Wind Advisory is in effect through 7 AM Saturday for Nantucket. Winds in the advisory area will be sustained at 25-35 MPH with gusts up to 45-50 MPH. Other coastal areas, particularly the south coast outside of the advisory area could see wind gusts to 40 MPH today..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor the strong winds through the day today into Saturday. This will be the only coordination message on the strong winds unless a significant upgrade to the situation occurs. Below is the NWS Taunton Wind Advisory Statement and Hazardous Weather Outlook..

NWS Taunton Wind Advisory Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus71.KBOX.html

NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: (508) 346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
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Hello to all..

..Strong Storm System will bring Strong winds and some potentially heavy rainfall over portions of Southern New England..
..A Wind Advisory is now in effect for Eastern Essex, Eastern Plymouth Counties and Cape Cod and the Islands from 1 AM to 7 PM Wednesday for sustained winds of 20-30 MPH with gusts to 45-50 MPH. Areas closest to the Wind Advisory area could see wind gusts to 40 MPH during this period and the Wind Advisory may be expanded to include other parts of Eastern Massachusetts depending on storm track and intensity..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions during the day Wednesday..

A strong storm system will track close enough to Southern New England to bring rain, some of it potentially heavy and strong winds to portions of East Coastal Massachusetts and Southeast New England. Rainfall of around 1″ is expected currently and if the storm track is a bit further north, it could mean 1-2″ of rainfall for the region. A Wind Advisory is now in effect for East Coastal Massachusetts and Cape Cod and the Islands from 1 AM to 7 PM Wednesday for sustained winds of 20-30 MPH with gusts to 45-50 MPH. Areas closest to the current Wind Advisory could see wind gusts to 40 MPH during this period and the Wind Advisory may be expanded to include other parts of Eastern Massachusetts depending on storm track and intensity.

It is noted that there is a low probability of minor splashover and/or coastal flooding especially south of Boston to Cape Cod at the time of high tide on Wednesday. No coastal flood advisories are posted so any coastal flood concerns appear low but worthy of mention in this coordination message update.

SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor the storm system during the day Wednesday. This will likely be the last complete coordination message unless a significant upgrade to the situation occurs. Below is the NWS Taunton Wind Advisory Statement and Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Taunton Wind Advisory Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus71.KBOX.html

NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: (508) 346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
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Hello to all..

..Strong Storm System will bring Strong winds and some potentially heavy rainfall over portions of Southern New England..
..A Wind Advisory is in effect for Eastern Essex, Eastern Plymouth Counties and Cape Cod and the Islands from 1 AM to 4 PM Wednesday for sustained winds of 20-30 MPH with gusts to 45-50 MPH. Areas closest to the Wind Advisory area could see wind gusts to 40 MPH during this period..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor conditions during the day Wednesday..

A strong storm system will track close enough to Southern New England to bring rain, some of it potentially heavy and strong winds to portions of East coastal Massachusetts and Southeast New England. Rainfall of around 1″ is expected currently and if the storm track is a bit further north, it could mean 1-2″ of rainfall for the region. A Wind Advisory is now in effect for East Coastal Massachusetts and Cape Cod and the Islands from 1 AM to 4 PM Wednesday for sustained winds of 20-30 MPH with gusts to 45-50 MPH. Areas closest to the current Wind Advisory could see wind gusts to 40 MPH during this period.

SKYWARN Self-Activation will monitor the storm system during the day Wednesday. Another coordination message will be posted by 1000 PM Tuesday Evening. Below is the NWS Taunton Wind Advisory Statement and Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Taunton Wind Advisory Statement:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.wwus71.KBOX.html

NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: (508) 346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org
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Hello to all..

The week of November 2nd through November 6th was the NWS Taunton MA Winter Weather Preparedness Week. NWS Taunton issued 5 Public Information Statements on various subjects on Winter Weather Preparedness. Below is the NWS Taunton Winter Weather Preparedness Week web page as well as a listing of NWS Taunton Public Information Statements that has the text information from the Winter Weather Preparedness Week web page:

NWS Taunton Winter Weather Preparedness Week Web Page:
http://www.weather.gov/box/WinterWeatherPreparednessWeek

NWS Taunton Winter Weather Preparedness Week – Public Information Statements:
http://beta.wx1box.org/local/winter_weather_preparedness_11_8_15.txt

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org
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Hello to all..

The Fall 2015 edition of the Prevailing Winds SKYWARN Newsletter is now available. Links to the Fall 2015 Prevailing Winds SKYWARN Newsletter appear below:

http://beta.wx1box.org/local/Iss5vol2_newsletteroctober2015.pdf
http://www.weather.gov/media/box/officePrograms/prevailing_winds/2015_10_prevailing_winds.pdf

An archive of Prevailing Winds SKYWARN Newsletters can be seen via the following link:
http://beta.wx1box.org/node/3288

There are many interesting stories in the Fall 2015 Prevailing Winds SKYWARN Newsletter with much of the focus on the August 4th, 2015 severe weather outbreak. There are also several other stories of interest in this Fall 2015 edition of the Prevailing Winds SKYWARN Newsletter.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org
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Hello to all..

There will be one SKYWARN Class this Fall and that will be in Belmont, Mass on Wednesday November 18th, 2015 from 7-930 PM. The details follow below:

Wednesday November 18th, 2015 – 7-930 PM:
Belmont High School Auditorium
221 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA
Taught by: Amateur Radio Coordinator
Registration: None Required

Please spread the word about this SKYWARN Class for those interested in taking a session before the end of 2015. A new slate of SKYWARN Classes will be planned for the start of 2016.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org
Like us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/wx1box
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/wx1box

Read more