North Carolina
ARRL
Section Information

SKYWARN Recognition Day 2011 officially takes place Saturday, December 3, 0000-2400 UTC. Over 100 National Weather Services offices across the nation, including the Raleigh National Weather Service, are expected to participate in this 13th annual event.

Announcement including activities (pdf)

For all ARES officials in the Western Branch, the Fall meeting is planned for October 29, 2011. Please read http://www.qsl.net/k/kd4ozi/DEC/STATE%20MEETING%2010292011.htm for more information.

I will provide more information about this meeting in the coming days.

The Tar Heel Emergency Net is back on its regular frequency of 3.923 MHz.

Saturday, Aug. 27 2:30 PM. According to SEC Tom Brown, N4TAB, who’s been at the State EOC for the past 24 hours with ASEC-Central Branch Steve Misel, K4WEB, ARES has been used minimally because many affected areas have retained commercial communications access. The Tar Heel Emergency Net will remain in monitor mode for the remainder of Saturday until 11 PM. No overnight activation is expected. SEC Brown will consult with NCEM officials to see if THEN is needed on Sunday, Aug. 28. All NC operators are asked to continue monitoring.

An update will be available tonight during the regular session of THEN at 7:30 PM on 3923 KHz. Late this morning both SEC Brown and ASEC Misel were personally thanked for the work of all Hams and ARES by Gov. Beverly Perdue and Reuben Young, Secretary for North Carolina Crime Control & Public Safety, as they toured the state EOC.

QST - Friday night 7:30PM
The Tar Heel Emergency Net (THEN) is up and running to coordinate efforts with Hurricane Irene. Please monitor 3.923 MHz throughout Friday night and Saturday until the major impact of the storm has passed. Should propagation become difficult during the day, the net might move to 7.232 MHz. Keep in mind that requests for additional resources may continue through the weekend so don't stop monitoring THEN after the eye of the storm passes.

The Wilmington and Newport SKYWARN nets will be active beginning 9 PM Friday night. Wilmington's primary frequency is 146.82 and Newport is 145.31.

Keep in mind that should Hams in eastern North Carolina lose HF capability, the Carolinas 440 linking systems and other linked repeater systems may become the primary source for information. We will be grateful if Hams in the Piedmont and Mountains can please monitor THEN and linked repeater systems.

Should you encounter questions from media about Amateur Radio help with Hurricane Irene, please refer all inquiries to our section Public Information Coordinator (PIC) Woody Woodward, K3VSA, at k3vsa@arrl.net

For those in affected areas, be sure to place your personal safety and that of your family above all. Thanks in advance to all who are helping during this critical time.

ARES Update #3

Re Hurricane Irene - Not a good scenario, at all.

The track of Hurricane Irene has turned more toward the West and places significant portions of Eastern NC in a perilous situation.The trajectory, plus the forecast wind field profiles, plus the forecast storm surges portends some tough days ahead.

NC ARES/Auxcomm folks may be tasked to support our state in unprecedented ways. Attendant to the potential for communications infrastructure failures is the very real likelihood of mandatory evacuations from affected areas and that may include EM personnel as well as volunteers in our Auxcomm ranks. Once evacuated, you may not re-enter the area until Recovery is complete. That means that the folks most familiar with the affected areas may not be available to serve during the Incident and recovery. Worse is the absence of institutional knowledge, such as frequency plans in IC-205 and IC-217 formats that have been previously/recently requested. Teams sent into affected areas without that information will have to play Monte Carlo, seeking assets. It's not too late to get that accomplished - an informal email to your EB ASEC John Sprouse N4VJJ or CB ASEC Steve Misel K4WEB will be a big step in filling that need.

Timing Owing to the projected timeline for Hurricane impact upon NC, it is not likely that dangerous wind fields will have exited NC prior to sundown on Saturday. That will affect initial damage assessment and the subsequent Recovery phase of the Incident. If that process identifies significant infrastructure damage, it is likely that Strike Teams will be formed for insertion into the affected areas. Comms will be a critical part oft the Team mission and, if the State's COMMs are impaired, ARES/Auxcomm will fill that role.

Capabilities We have identified, contacted and effected initial coordination with entities that can provide record traffic communications via Winlink Transportable assets, as well as tactical communications. These will come from NC ARES, NC MARS, SC ARES, SC MARS and other groups. This is Auxcomm at it's very best.

COMMS in NC The Tar Heel Emergency Net (THEN) will be active during the Hurricane impingement period. We have real experience that, although listening to HF during a hurricane is tedious and tiring, it is essential.

This is it Folks, this is a BIG Incident. Recall/refresh your ICS concepts and be ready to plug-in. This is the reason that we, all of us, signed-up and agreed to help. Now is the time.

Please. If you don't understand or need help in putting a plan in place, contact your EC. DEC, ASEC, SD and/or me.......one single ICS trained and motivated individual can make a difference.

Final tonight. Immediately prior to the onset of Hurricane Irene's insult upon NC, the NC ARES/ NC MARS/ Auxcomm Team will communicate to all members, jointly and severally, cogent information and instructions.

Please maintain situational awareness and be cognizant of changing circumstances.

Of most importance, be safe and take care of your loved ones, first.

2:30 PM Thursday, August 25th

FYI below from ARRL HQ. As of Thursday, Tropical Storm Watch for SC border to Surf City, NC (Onslow Co.), and Hurricane Watch from Surf City to VA border. Current track of storm shows considerable storm surge potential in Areas 1, 2 and 3. As of midday, Gov. Purdue has a declared a State of Emergency east of I-95, and 39 eastern counties are in various states of emergencies. Beginning Thursday morning, residents of all of Hyde County and visitors to Dare County began evacuations. At 1:45 PM, the Weather Channel said the impact on the Outer Banks could be the worst storm since Hazel, a Category 4, hit in 1954. We’re still too early to know if this is hyperbole, but it gives you a flavor of what we will be experiencing over the next 72 hours.

Not much to report. I attended the 0900 HRS briefing at the NC State EOC in Raleigh this morning and remained until about 1300 HRS. The hurricane track remains similar to that of yesterday. Irene is now a CAT 3 hurricane and is expected to increase to a CAT 4 storm. Current expectations are that the eye will remain east of NC and the NC coast will feel the effect of storm surges and wind fields from the western quadrants of the hurricane. Damage is not expected to be significant.

HOWEVER, the storm is still almost 3 days south of NC and while the models may encourage us to relax, do not succumb to Irene's siren song. This is a big, nasty, dangerous storm and steering currents that influence the model vectors are far from certain. A few degrees more to the west and we'd be in dire straits.

The following is correct at this time, subject to change:

State EOC activates their staff 0700 HRS Thursday, until about 2230 Thursday night. Resume activation at 0700 Friday for the duration of the incident and recovery. ARES will activate at the State EOC about 2200 Friday night and will operate until stand-down.

Eastern Branch RCC activates 0700 Thursday and operates until Thursday night. Resume activation at 0700 Friday and runs through the duration of the incident and recovery. ARES will activate there at 0700 Saturday and operate until stand-down.

That is all that is known at this time. I will attend briefings at the State EOC Thursday and bring any new information to our group, via this medium and via the THEN.

Thanks, all, for remaining vigilant and forward-leaning.

Here's the best information currently available to me at 1600 HRS 23 AUG 11.

1. Track of Hurricane Irene is uncertain. May be trending toward a more easterly track.
2. A WebEOC Incident has been created and will be updated as preparations and announcements progress.
3. Unless there is a major change of course or intensity, NC will receive significant wind fields and storm surges.
4. Probable full-scale activation of the NC State EOC (SEOC) in Raleigh at 0700 Saturday, August 27, 2011. We will staff that facility until the stand-down order is received - 24-48 hrs, likely.
5. SERT meeting at 0900 Wednesday morning - I will attend and relay any updated info to this group.

Please continue to make and check your preparations and provisioning. There is a potential for significant danger to persons, animals and property. Most important, plan to make you and your family safe.

QST - Now is the time to get your Amateur Radio equipment and go-kits ready for the possible landfall of Hurricane Irene somewhere in the Carolinas this coming Saturday afternoon through Sunday, August 27-28. As of Tuesday, August 23rd at 12 Noon, there have been no announcements for activations from North Carolina Emergency Management, and there probably won't be any until late Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest. Hurricane Irene has the potential to be a dangerous storm with tropical force winds and up to 10 inches of rain covering up to 2/3 of North Carolina across the Coastal Plains and Piedmont regions.

Use the time over the next 48 hours leading up to possible announced activations and evacuations to recharge batteries, and to test equipment, antennas and feedlines. Monitor local repeaters, especially those designated as ARES repeaters, and over the next few nights be sure to monitor or check into the Tar Heel Emergency Net (THEN), North Carolina's HF ARES Net, at 7:30 PM local time on or near 3923 KHz. Updates will be announced on THEN, and on the North Carolina section website at www.ncarrl.org Registered ARES members will be alerted through the NC ARES reflector. Thanks to all for your vigilance and preparedness. Above all, keep yourself and your families safe.

So far, we have received only one advance input from NCEM, indicating concern for likely issues from this storm. We are in the loop and will know more as Hurricane Irene develops.

In the meantime, begin forward thinking about how a Hurricane threat affects NC in general and your area, specifically. No area of NC is immune. This is the time to prepare - check your home facilities, your EOC facilities, your go-kits and your IC-205 and IC-217 listed resources.

If there is a major activation or activations, we will employ the HF Tar Heel Emergency Net as a Command and Control backbone. Additional information will be disseminated via email, the website at http://www.ncarrl.org/ares and the Tar Heel Net. Those operators with access to WebEOC should periodically check that as part of your situational awareness.

Please remain vigilant and and informed and take care of your loved ones first.

New Photos of Field Day are being posted daily. Go to the Photos link in the menu and choose field day. If you have photos to post, choose 5 or 6 and E-mail them to ncarrlfdpix@yahoo.com . If your collection has any pictures of minors in it, please include in your E-mail a note letting me know that their parents have given the OK to have the pictures posted on the Internet. Facebook members please go and "tag" any of your Friends who appear in the album.

Governor Perdue has declared June 20-26, 2011 as "AMATEUR RADIO RECOGNITION AND APPRECIATION WEEK" in North Carolina. Print a copy of the proclamation (pdf) for your Field Day information table.

To Field Day Coordinators and Club Presidents:

T-minus less than one week to Field Day, perhaps the greatest day every year in Amateur Radio. Let me begin by thanking each and every one of you for not only participating in Field Day for your own personal gain and fun, but also for showing what a great hobby and service we have to elected officials, government staff, served agency representatives, and above all, the general public. Field Day is personally my favorite Amateur Radio event.

I'm planning my route for this year’s visits. As my section manager predecessors know, this is an exercise in cramming 30 lbs. of sugar into a 5 lb. bag. With 64 ARRL affiliated clubs in the North Carolina section, it’s impossible to visit all clubs across the state the same year. The state has been traditionally divided into the three major regions of North Carolina -- Western, Piedmont, Coastal -- with the section manager rotating FD visits with clubs in three year cycles. This year’s list focuses on FD sites in western North Carolina, but I have some personal constraints this year. I have a family commitment which will require me to be back in Wilmington by early Sunday morning, and that’s going to force me to cut back my visits to east of Asheville. So let me begin with my apologies to all clubs west of Asheville. I hope I can make it up to you with visits at another time.

There are three clubs I plan to visit Saturday afternoon: Cleveland County ARS, Shelby ARC and Mecklenburg ARS (MARS). Otherwise, I'm pretty open as long as I work my way north up the I-85 corridor to I-40 east so I can be in Raleigh by 9 PM or so before heading back to Wilmington. Typically a section manager can reach 5-7 FD locations per day starting with breakfast Saturday morning and visiting 1-2 FD locations before the 2 PM sign on.

NOTE: Anyone having a Friday night dinner or Saturday morning breakfast or site set up that I can join you before 2 PM sign-on? If so, I'd like to see if I can at least see you before 2 PM if possible. I will release my planned itinerary next Wednesday or so, so please shoot me a reply back ASAP as to your club’s plans. I look forward to seeing many of you.

Please remember that other ARRL officials will be visiting North Carolina Field Day locations, so if I can't make it, folks like Roanoke Division Vice Director Dr. Jim Boehner, N2ZZ; Assistant Section Manager Tim Slay, N4IB; and Asst. Section Emergency Coordinator -- Western Branch Paul Robinette, KD4OZI, will be making the rounds on behalf of ARRL too.

GL to all for a very productive, fruitful, safe and fun filled Field Day!

If would like a template to invite elected officials to your Field Day, here is a sample invitation.

• Microsoft Word Format
• HTML Format

For those that escaped last week's severe WX events, Mother Nature is giving us another opportunity. As most are aware, there is a very significant Severe Weather system just now impinging the Western border of NC. This is a serious matter and that storm system has already claimed lives as it advances Eastward. Make no mistake, this is a deadly threat.

We have canceled the ARES meeting scheduled for Saturday, April 30th in Raleigh. It will be rescheduled. The venue was to be the Situation Room at the State EOC in Raleigh, but likely NCEM activations will obviate that.

ARES jurisdictions that are activated by local served Agencies are asked to notify their DEC, who will notify surrounding jurisdictions and their ASEC and SEC. If there is a need to activate the Tar Heel Emergency Net to support message transport,we will do so.

DO NOT BE BASHFUL! If you anticipate needs or have concerns, raise your flag immediately.

We simultaneously ask our MARS partners to notify their NC members of this potential threat.

Take care of your families first, and let us know, via any available mechanism, if you need assistance, support or material goods. Remember your ICS training and use it. Also recognize that you have a resource in the nc-ares.org database, by which you can retrieve contact information for your colleagues across the state.

Please take great care and be safe. We can't do without you.

The North Carolina Emergency Plan is now available. This updated plan is a topic of discussion at the April 30th and subsequent discussion forums.

POSTPONED DUE TO POSSIBLE OPERATIONS

The State ARES meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 30, 2011. It is the State EOC in Raleigh. The EOC is at 116 W Jones Street. Park in the lot on the rear (North side) of the building. The meeting will begin at 0900 and is expected to conclude about 1200.

If you are a great distance away, no worry. To ease the travel cost burden for those driving long distances, a similar meeting will be held in the June/July time frame in the Eastern Branch and a Western Branch meeting will take place in the Fall.

Numerous areas in the Central Branch and some in the Eastern Branch have received major damage to structures and power distribution facilities from this afternoon's tornadoes and high winds. So far, I am,/we are not aware of any significant communications infrastructure damage and have not received any notifications of ARES activations. HOWEVER, that does not mean that.that we may not be needed as the full assessment of damage continues.

Please be vigilant and remain in contact with your EM and other served agencies. If you need support in any form, raise the semaphore immediately.

A forum entitled "Laws and Restrictions As They Impact NC Hams" was held at the North Carolina Section Hamfest (Charlotte Hamfest) March 13, 2011.

A video of this very important forum is available on the W4BFB website. This video is 1 hour 19 minutes.