Special Announcement: WD4R-Julio Ripoll – Founder & Coordinator of National Hurricane Center Amatuer Radio Station – WX4NHC Receives Prestigious Dayton Hamvention Special Achievement Award

Hello to all…

On Saturday Evening, May 17th, 2025, WD4R-Julio Ripoll, Founder and Coordinator of WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, received the prestigious Dayton Hamvention (a national Amateur Radio Convention), Special Achievement Award for 45 years of service to the National Hurricane Center and for founding the Amateur Radio station in 1980.

Julio announced at the 2025 National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Workshop in New Orleans, Louisiana that he will be retiring as the coordinator for the station at the end of the 2025 Hurricane Season. He will continue on for some time after 2025 to support the operation as an Amateur Radio Operator. On hand from the WX1BOX Amateur Radio Team to be present in this award presentation was North Shore ARES SKYWARN Coordinator, KB1KQW-Jim Palmer, who also took a photo of Julio and the Awards Committee that presented this award to Julio. Picture attached to this web post.

We congratulate Julio on this award and we look forward to working with him in the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season. We are also hopeful that he may visit the New England area in the Fall of 2025. If so, we will be looking to have him do a special presentation for the New England region on his support of the National Hurricane Center over the last 45 years and also give Julio our in-person thanks and gratitude for his many years of service to the National Hurricane Center which has included several activations for landfalling tropical systems in the New England area (Irene, Sandy and Henri specifically) and participation in hurricane exercises for Amateur Radio in the mid-2000s through early 2010s. We appreciate Julio and the entire WX4NHC Amateur Radio team’s support during hurricanes. We also appreciate the support of the Amateur Radio and non-Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters that support Southern New England SKYWARN and the WX1BOX Amateur Radio team!

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
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