VoIP Hurricane Net to Activate

The VoIP Hurricane Net will activate at 2300 UTC Friday, September 8, until Saturday, September 9, at 0600 UTC to track the impact of Hurricane Irma, expected to affect Cuba and the Bahamas, and of Hurricane Katia, expected to reach southeastern Mexico.

A VoIP Hurricane Net activation for Hurricane Irma will restart on Saturday, September 9, at 0600 UTC, to address the storm’s impact as it departs Cuba and heads for Florida, as well as any impact from Hurricane Jose to the northern Leeward Islands. This activation will likely continue through Monday, September 11.

Although downgraded to a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Irma is expected to remain a major storm for the next several days as it moves across the warm waters between the Bahamas and Cuba and then into Florida and, potentially, Georgia and South Carolina. Hurricane Katia is expected to make landfall in southeastern Mexico this evening (September 8) and will be covered by the net as well as any impacts by Hurricane Jose to the Northern Leeward Islands on Saturday.

Any Amateur Radio operators in the areas affected by Irma, Katia, or Jose — or having relays into the affected areas of those storms are asked to provide surface and damage reports to the VoIP Hurricane Net for relay into WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Any SKYWARN Nets active as Irma moves into Florida and potentially Georgia and South Carolina that can pass reports to the VoIP Hurricane Net for relay into WX4NHC are welcome to send a net liaison or connect directly at their discretion to the *WX_TALK* EchoLink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219. Stations on All-Star can connect to the EchoLink side of the system by dialing *033007203.

“We appreciate any and all support from Amateur operators in the affected area or Amateur Operators with relays into the affected area,” said the net’s Operations Director Rob Macedo, KD1CY. “We are looking for reports based on the National Weather Service SKYWARN reporting criteria.

Send photos or videos of wind damage, river/stream/urban/storm surge flooding etc. to pics@nsradio.org; credit will be given to the photographer or videographer.

Advisories on Irma, Katia, and Jose are available from the VoIP Hurricane Net website, its Facebook and Twitter feeds, and from the National Hurricane Center website. Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes and can connect on either EchoLink or IRLP:

*NEW-ENG3* EchoLink conference node: 9123/IRLP 9123

*Sky_Gate* EchoLink conference node: 868981/IRLP 9252

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on EchoLink:

*KA1AAA* Echolink conference node: 269929

*WASH_DC* Echolink conference node: 6154

Stations outside the affected area who would like to listen into the VoIP Hurricane Net can use any of the following systems for listen-only purposes on All-Star by dialing *033270177 or *033009123.

An audio livestream has been set up on YouTube through the efforts of Chad Yaggie, W5YAG.

Due to the VoIP Hurricane Net activation for the various hurricanes, the weekly VoIP Hurricane Prep Net for Saturday evening has been cancelled. Barring another hurricane net activation near or during the weekend, the weekly net will resume on Saturday, September 16.

Source:ARRL