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QST QST QST
Those of you who send in net reports, station activity reports (SARs) or Public Srevice Honor Roll reports (PSHR), you no longer will send them to WV8RG.   Our Section Manager, Anne KA8ZGY, had been temporarily filling in.  Now, there is a replacement!  Send all of the above reports to:
Tom Jones, N8NMA in Parkersburg, WV.
As always, we try to maintain liaison to the WV Section traffic from the local area.  So bring your reports to one of the local nets if you can't get into the WV Section level nets.

The Berkeley County OES DAREN node is operational.   The call is :KD8ALZ-7 (KD8ALZ is the station call at the OES).  The aliases associated with this node are:  Node = BERKES,  Digi = BERKES and the PBBS = MRTNES.  If you are familiar with the DAREN naming convention, the nodes and digis usually are the first 4 letters of the county and the last 2 letters indicate the location, in this case ES = Emergency Services HQ.  The PBBSes are the nearest city and the same naming for the last 2 letters, in this case MRTN for Martinsburg and ES as shown above.
Don't confuse this with the main nodes and PBBSes in each county, these will end with WV.  The main node for Berkeley County is BERKWV (W8CMK-7) and the associated PBBS is MRTNWV.
If you have a chance, check out the system.  There are even WinLink gateways that are on DAREN now!

New Late Night HF Assistance on 75M
 
RADIO RESCUE net is a group of volunteers gathered from among regular net controls who cover 14300 kHz.  These volunteers endeavor to have resources available to assist with any sort of emergency situation that may require skilled radio operators.

In the interest of providing similar services to those provided on the Maritime Mobile Service Network (MMSN) this group has set up to guard 3911 kHz DAILY from 0000 to 0500 ETZ (Eastern Time Zone).    A mobile operator who finds himself or another traveler in need of emergency assistance can come on 3911 kHz and find a station there with the resources to get the proper authorities to the scene.  NOTE: Primary mode on 3911 will be SSB, but CW signals will be answered when a Morse operator is available

RADIO RESCUE operators have available to them contact information for all fifty state police agencies and some medical professionals that can be brought onto the frequency, etc.

Although networks on other bands have been organized to assist such folk, there is little or nothing on 80 meters which can be regularly counted on to be of assistance, especially during the early morning hours.  To fill this need when it arises, RADIO RESCUE will have trained operators guarding the frequency to assist.  Of course, during widespread emergencies, stations can list and handle emergency or priority traffic here as well.

As with most true emcomm groups, RADIO RESCUE is not interested in handling routine book traffic, make-work birthday greetings, or other routine traffic.

Occasionally, stations will announce that 3911 kHz is being guarded for this purpose.  Stations desiring a quick signal report or to advise that they, too, are monitoring are welcome to call/answer at these times so long as there is no emergency business to be handled.

The RADIO RESCUE net control operator pool is thin at the time, so we're interested in recruiting operators who are available during the early morning hours to assist
us.  Anyone interested can contact me at elspider@bellsouth.net or Richard.Webb@116-901.ftn.wpusa.dynip.com  - Richard Webb, NF5B, Eads, TN

ATTENTION ALL SKYWARN SPOTTERS: Please email Sarah Rogowski (Sarah.Rogowski@noaa.gov) if any contact information has changed.

          found in the Winter 2006/2007 Sterling Reporter (Balt/Wash NOAA Forecast Office Newsletter)

GLOBALSTAR SATELLITE PROBLEMS
The American Radio Relay League recently
distributed a warning that "Our served agencies are
increasingly relying on satellite phones for back up
communications and some think it has lessened the
need for HF and the other services provided by
amateur radio. You should refer your emergency
management contacts to a recent SEC filing made
by Globalstar. The performance of the S-band
power amplifiers in the company’s satellites is
degrading, likely to due radiation exposure. ... there
is apparently a significant chance that the new
satellites won’t be up in time and that sometime in
2008 substantially all of the Company’s currently
in-orbit satellites will cease to be able to support
two-way communications services!"
          found in Apr. 2007 Monitoring Times

Note from site editor:  Looks as if the served agencies that have been increasingly relying on satellite phones may have one more reason to keep their local amateurs "in their hip pocket".  As has always been the case, commercial links fail and the hams need to be ready to provide whatever back-up is needed.

THE NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CERTIFIED EMCOMM VOLUNTEERS

The National Registry of Certified EmComm Volunteers (NRCEV), a
non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the State of Pennsylvania, has
established a comprehensive system to produce national certification
standards for emcomm volunteers, teams and organizations to be
measured against for training and skill competence.

Other organizations have produced training materials that have
national reach and recognition; and local, section, state and
national organizations have developed or proposed training standards
for their members, but none of these are designed to be a nationwide
standard beyond their organization or program. This is the need the
NRCEV was established to meet. NRCEV certifications are intended to
be independent, to reach beyond political and organizational
boundaries and to be realistically achievable by the vast majority of
emcomm volunteers.

Those that achieve NRCEV certification are recognized as having met
the rigors of review by an independent organization. National
certification affords the individual, team or organization a
uniformity and portability of qualifications. This is important when
it comes to providing Mutual Aid across jurisdictional and
organizational boundaries.

The NRCEV is not a membership organization that you can join. The
NRCEV is a private certifying organization. Certification by the
NRCEV is a distinct process from licensure, and it serves the
important independent purpose of identifying for the public and
governmental or non-profit disaster relief agencies, those emergency
communication volunteers who have successfully completed the NRCEV's
training requirements and who have been assessed on their ability to
perform the skills and abilities associated with the role of an
EmComm volunteer. For more information visit <http://www.nrcev.org>;
-- Chris Snyder, NG3F, President, National Registry of Certified
EmComm Volunteers <chris.snyder@nrcev.org> 1-866-446-7969 or
570-504-8738 [Snyder has an Associate Degree in Computer Science
Technology, and is a US Army Veteran - Morse Intercept; he is an
EMT-Paramedic, and has served as county RACES Officer, county ARES
EC, and as ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania SEC. Certified 3 Levels ARRL
Emergency Communications Courses, and numerous NIMS/ICS courses. He
was an emergency management professional for two years with the
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (in Training and Planning)].
     reprinted from ARES E-Letter for March 21, 2007

Remember to check in to your local ARES or RACES nets. Be a known participant before disaster strikes!