Field Day 2008

Field Day 2008 has come and gone. As usual, I attended the Amateur Radio Club of Savannah (ARCS) Field Day out at the Georgia Air National Guard Pavilion at the Savannah CRTC.

Some of the Antennas: The large rotatable dipole is for 10/15/20-meters. The ground plane antenna on the left is for 6-meters, with the 6m/2m rotatable dipole beneath it. The white vertical sticking up above the roof is the Echolink Node antenna. Just visible towards the front of the building (we're looking at the rear) is the 2-meter vertical antenna for the talk-in radio.

Dan, KF4MND, sets up the Echolink Node.

We began setting up at 1000 on Saturday morning. The first thing to go up were antennas: A 2-meter vertical for a talk-in station, a dual band 2m/70cm for an Echolink Node, two 10/15/20 meter rotatable dipoles, a 6-meter ground plane, a 2m/6m rotatable dipole, an 80-meter dipole, and a 40-meter dipole. 3 HF radios were set up inside the pavilion, equating roughly to one 40-meter station, one 80-meter station, and one 10/15/20 meter station. There was also a 6m/2m station, an Echolink Node, and a 2-meter talk-in station. We operated as a 3A GA station, meaning 3 transmitters running off of battery power, limiting to three the number of transmitters on the air at any given time.

Stacy, WA4IDS and sons working 80-meters.

Andy, WD4AFY working 40-meters.

Ken, VE2HFX working 6-meters.

I'm working 20-meters around 0200.

Despite lower attendance than last year, we had a quality Field Day Operation. It would probably not be up to snuff for a contester, but that really wasn't we were geared to. Our Field Day was more about practice and training in setting stations in an environment other than the home. A of this is that three of our antenna masts were raised by placing them on kick-outs we had hammered into the ground and then lashing them to the exposed roof rafters of the pavilion with parachute cord or heavy wire. During the daytime, we were able to keep three transmitters on the air until late Sunday. During the night, I stayed awake and moved between the 20-meter and 80-meter stations trying to keep us on the air, collecting just over a page worth of logs on 20-meters and 3/4 of a page on 80-meters.

Saturday morning brought an excellent 6-meter band opening around 0830. After making a contact with a Canadian maritime station, I started calling CQ on 50.140 USB and worked 75 stations in just over one hour and fifteen minutes, almost averaging one contact a minute. The band was open into the northeastern US and Canada. After my throat got scratchy and needed a break, Ken Jeffers, VE2HFX took over on 6-meters. Ken continues working into the northeast and to the west as the band opened that way, adding to our tally of 6-meter contacts. By the time the band started fading in and out on us, we had logged well over 1oo stations on 6-meters. By far it was the best 6-meter haul we've had in recent Field Day operations.

Early Saturday morning, I traveled west to the Effingham County ARES (ECARES) Field Day site at Lakeview Community Park in Faulkville. ECARES truly had a field set-up for their Field Day, working out of tents for their operating, eating, and sleeping areas. Unfortunately, I left my camera at the ARCS site, so I don't have any pictures.

Sadly, I never found the time to get out to the Coastal Amateur Radio Society (CARS) Field Day at Southside Fire Station #1. I missed being able to get out there and visit with the CARS bunch for awhile. Mark Bolton, KA4CID, had provided a solar trailer to power the radios and I would have loved to have seen that operation. During the daytime, we were able to keep three transmitters on the air until late Sunday.

Mary, KD4DOY and sons; Kurt, N4CVF; Ed, NC5S; and Stacy, WA4IDS and son.

Ed, NC5S; Irene; KF4RFF; and Mac, AF4KL

Mark, KD4PDX shows his renowned enthusiasm.

Irene, KF4RFF; Beth Ann, KI4ZDN; and Andy, WD4AFY enjoy lunch while we wait on the rain to stop to take down the antennas on Saturday afternoon.

I really enjoyed Field Day this year, more so than I have previous years. I worked HF more than I have in previous Field Days, but I think the mini pile-up I worked on 50.140 USB was the highlight of my Field Day. Those of us in attendance enjoyed a couple of meals together and enjoyed just hanging out trading stories through the weekend.


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Military Monitoring Recap; 01-15 June 2008

It's been awhile since I've posted one of these. I wanted to get one out before Field Day weekend, hopefully I'll get the second half of June out at the beginning of July.

Hunter AAF
124.975 - Tower
279.575 - Tower
285.425 - Tower
121.800 - Ground
291.675 - Ground
126.200 - Base Ops
309.000 - PMSV
51.050 - Helicopter Common
406.1625 - Tower/Base Ops
406.7625 - POL
415.1625 - Trans Alert
32.350 - 3-3 AVN "SHARK OPS"
38.150 - B-169 AVN "HURRICANE OPS"
345.000 - USCG Air Station Savanah Ops

ARMY 45474 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 57005 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 57007 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 57008 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 57009 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 57011 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 57012 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 75502 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 75506 (AH-64D, 3-3 AVN)
ARMY 03746 (MH-47G, 3-160 SOAR)
ARMY 03757 (MH-47G, 3-160 SOAR)
HURRICANE ## (CH-47D, B-169 AVN)
SUNNY ## (RC-12N, 224 MI Bn)
GUARD 252 (CH-47D, B-169 AVN)
GUARD 259 (CH-47D, B-169 AVN)
GUARD 296 (CH-47D, B-169 AVN)
GUARD 297 (CH-47D, B-169 AVN)
TESTHAWK ##(H-60, OLR)
COAST GUARD 6553 (HH-65C, Savannah)
COAST GUARD 6561 (HH-65C, Savannah)
COAST GUARD 6560 (HH-65C)
NAVY LT 621 (P-3C, VP-62)
PELICAN 14 (P-3C, VP-45)
SAM 2627


Savannah IAP/CRTC
119.100 - Tower
257.800 - Tower
121.900 - Ground
348.600 - Ground
120.400 - Approach/Departure
380.025 - Approach/Departure
125.300 - Approach/Departure
387.100 - Approach/Departure
118.400 - Approach/Departure
307.225 - Approach/Departure
225.750 - 165 AW CP
225.050 - 165 AW

DAWG 0# (C-130H, 165 AW)


Fort Stewart/Wright AAF
127.350 - Marne Radio
279.626 - Marne Radio
126.250 - Wright AAF Tower
269.275 - Wright AAF Tower



MCAS Beaufort
251.700 - Approach/Departure
301.200 - Approach/Departure
281.800 - Base Ops
305.800 - VMFA(AW)-224 Base
250.300 - VMFA(AW)-224 Tac 1
313.800 - VMFA-251 Base
290.000 - VMFA-251 Tac 1
327.475 - VMFA-251 Tac 2
354.400 - VFA-86 Base
308.925 - VFA-86 Tac 1
363.825 - VFA-86 Tac 2

BENGAL 4# (F/A-18D, VMFA-224)
TBOLT 5# (F/A-18C, VMFA-251)
WINDER ## (F/A-18C, VFA-186)
MAD FOX 03 (P-3C, VP-5)


Charelston AFB
306.925 - Approach/Departure
349.400 - Command Post "PALMETTO OPS"
134.100 - Command Post "PALMETTO OPS"
118.150 - North Field CCT
235.775 - North Field CCT

GRITS 18 (C-17, 437/315 AW)
GUZZLER 64
JOSA 497
RIDER 85


McIntire JNGB
298.300 - 169 FW "SWAMP FOX OPS"
141.825 - 169 FW V14
143.625 - 169 FW V15
140.125 - 169 FW V18
149.625 - 169 FW V19

MACE (F-16CJ, 169 FW)
VIPER (F-16CJ, 169 FW)
DEMON (F-16CJ, 169 FW)


Shaw AFB
320.525 - 79th FS Ops
138.150 - 79th FS V8
141.600 - 79th FS V9
141.775 - 79th FS V10
139.925 - 79th FS a2a
141.550 - 79th FS a2a
141.700 - 79th FS a2a

BRONCO (F-16CJ, 79 FS)
GUNDOG (F-16CJ, 79 FS)
JAGGER (F-16CJ, 79 FS)
KING (F-16CJ, 79 FS)
VISOR (F-16CJ, 79 FS)
SCAR (F-16CJ, 79 FS)
STORMY (F-16CJ, 79 FS)


Jacksonville IAP/125th FW
322.400 - Jacksonville App/Dep
351.800 - Jacksonville App/Dep
251.250 - 125th FW Maintenance/Ops
234.800 - 125th FW Aux 6
253.700 - 125th FW Aux 7
314.200 - 125th FW Aux 8

FANG (F-15, 125 FW)
SNAKE (F-15, 125 FW)


Robins AFB/JSTARS
349.850 - Robins PMSV
293.525 - 116 ACW "PEACHTREE OPS"
225.725 - JSTARS Discrete
324.650 - JSTARS Discrete
376.125 - JSTARS Discrete
395.150 - JSTARS Discrete


Ranges/Military Operating Areas
228.400 - Townsend Range
343.750 - Bulldog MOA
264.700 - Poinsett Range Control
354.300 - BEEFEATER ECM Range
278.800 - Moody MOA
371.200 - Moody MOA
236.000 - SAR Alpha (Moody MOA)


SEALORD (USN FACSFAC Jax)
120.950 - North Primary
284.500 - North Primary
267.500 - South Primary
349.800 - W-157 Discrete
376.900 - W-157 Discrete
385.300 - W-157 Discrete
311.500 - BRISTOL Discrete
320.500 - BRISTOL Discrete


DOUBLESHOT (W-161/177)
*127.725 - Primary
*279.725 - Primary
*258.400 - Discrete


Miscellaneous
BENGAL (A-10, 23 Wing)
GRUMMAN 08 (E-2, Grumman)
GRUMMAN 12 (E-2, Grumman)
INVADER JACK 284
MAULER 10 (S-3, VS-32)
NAIL (A-10, 23 Wing)
NAVY LA 051 (P-3C, VP-5)
NAVY LL 72 (P-3C, VP-30)
RAWHIDE ## (C-2, VRC-40)
SALTY (A-10, 23 Wing)
SANDY (A-10, 23 Wing)
SKULL 25 (B-52H, Barksdale)

138.275 - 23 Wing air-to-air
139.700 - 23 Wing air-to-air
143.000 - 23 Wing air-to-air
143.150 - 23 Wing air-to-air
143.600 - 23 Wing air-to-air
285.000 - USN TSC Jacksonville "FIDDLE"
364.000 - GRUMMAN ##/INVADER JACK ### Operations


ARTCC
256.900 - Jax Center
269.550 - Jax Center Columbia Low
277.400 - Jax Center Brunswick Low
281.550 - Jax Center Columbia Low
282.200 - Jax Center Jekyll Low
282.300 - Jax Center Alma High
285.650 - Jax Center Statesboro High
290.400 - Jax Center Waycross Low
319.200 - Jax Center Aiken High
322.500 - Jax Center Savannah Low
346.250 - Jax Center St. Augustine
351.700 - Jax Center Summerville High
363.200 - Jax Center Allendale Low
379.100 - Jax Center Charleston Low

323.000 - Atlanta Center Macon
335.650 - Atlanta Center

255.400 - Flight Service


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

NWS Statement on Thursday's Severe Weather

This is the NWS Public Information Statement regarding Thursday 20 June 2008's severe weather. Although an EF1 Tornado occured, most of the damage came from strong downbursts.

Mac


PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
833 PM EDT FRI JUN 20 2008

...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONFIRMS EF-1 TORNADO IN CHATHAM COUNTY GEORGIA THURSDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS COMPLETED A DAMAGE SURVEY OF CHATHAM COUNTY GEORGIA AREA AND HAS DETERMINED THAT AN EF-1 TORNADO OCCURRED. THE TORNADO DEVELOPED AROUND 3:37 PM JUST NORTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF MONTGOMERY CROSS ROAD THE HARRY TRUMAN PARKWAY AND TRAVELED SOUTH-SOUTHWEST JUST WEST OF THE HARRY TRUMAN PARKWAY FOR ABOUT 3/4 OF MILE BEFORE LIFTING. THE MAXIMUM WIDTH OF THE TORNADO WAS ABOUT 100 YARDS. THIS TORNADO DAMAGED A FIRE STATION AND UPROOTED AND SNAPPED OFF NUMEROUS TREES.

STRENGTH...... EF-1
PEAK WINDS.... 90-100 MPH
MAX WIDTH..... 100 YARDS
TRACK LENGTH.. 3/4 MILE

THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY AT LEAST 5 STRONG DOWNBURSTS. IN GENERAL FAIRLY WIDESPREAD DAMAGE OCCURRED FROM THE BACON PARK GOLF COURSE STARTING AROUND 3:32 PM AND ENDED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF FERGUSON AVENUE AND ROUTE 204 AROUND 3:45 PM. SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF THIS INTERSECTION AND NORTH OF THE BACON PARK GOLF COURSE DAMAGE WAS MUCH MORE SPORADIC. IN THIS CONCENTRATED DAMAGE AREA...DAMAGE WAS UP TO 2.5 MILES WIDE. DOWNBURST WINDS KNOCKED THE STEEPLE OFF A CHURCH AND KNOCKED DOWN OR SNAPPED OFF THOUSANDS OF TREES. TREE LIMBS AND LARGE BRANCHES DAMAGED 40 TO 50 HOMES...WITH ABOUT A DOZEN OR SO OF THE HOMES SUSTAINING MAJOR DAMAGE. TREES OR LARGE LIMBS FELL ON AND DESTROYED ABOUT A DOZEN VEHICLES. THE WINDS KNOCKED DOWN POWER POLES AND POWER LINES RESULTING IN THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITHOUT POWER. IN ADDITION...SHINGLE AND SIDING DAMAGE WAS ALSO OBSERVED ON SOME OF THE HOMES.

ONE OF THE AREAS OF MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED IN THE LAKE VIEW SUBDIVISION JUST WEST OF FERGUSON AVENUE. IN THIS AREA... DOWNBURST WINDS SNAPPED OFF OR UPROOTED NUMEROUS TREES. TREES OR LARGE BRANCHES FELL ON AT LEAST A DOZEN HOMES...SEVERAL HOMES SUSTAINED SHINGLE OR MINOR ROOF DAMAGE. ONE OF THE HOMES WAS DEEMED UNINHABITABLE AFTER A TREE FELL THROUGH IT. WIND SPEEDS IN THIS AREA WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 80 TO 90 MPH.

ANOTHER AREA OF SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED AT A GUN CLUB BETWEEN FERGUSON AVENUE AND THE HARRY TRUMAN PARKWAY. IN THIS AREA...STRONG WINDS DESTROYED A BUILDING AND TOSSED AN OUTBUILDING ABOUT 30 YARDS. IN ADDITION...NUMEROUS LARGE TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF OR UPROOTED...WITH ONE TREE LANDING ON AND DAMAGING ANOTHER BUILDING. WIND SPEEDS IN THIS AREA WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 90 TO 100 MPH.

20 June 2008 Tornado Confirmed

The National Weather Service has confirmed that there was an EF1 Tornado in the storm that caused so much damage on Thursday, 20 June 2008. The National Weather Service in Charleston's survey of the damaged area on Friday indicated that the tornado traveled southwest from the area of the intersection of the Truman Parkway and Montgomery Crossroads to the area of the intersection of Ferguson Ave. and Whitfield Ave. It was approximately 100 yards wide and had wind speeds of 90-100 mph.

The areas with the worst damage, according to the NWS, were the areas of the Lakeview Subdivision in Sandfly (this is where Guy, K4GTM, lives - see my previous post here) and the Forest City Gun Club. Guy posted some photos of the storm and tornado damage in Lakeview on his blog:

http://k4gtm.blogspot.com/2008/06/looking-down-our-street.html
http://k4gtm.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-post_2581.html
http://k4gtm.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-post_361.html
http://k4gtm.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-post_21.html
http://k4gtm.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-post.html


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Severe Storms Hammer the East Side of Savannah and Chatham County

Thursday afternoon I was enjoying some quality monitoring time on my day off. The return of the the VMFA-312 "Checks" to the air and some JSTARS activity nearby was making for an interesting monitoring day. Shortly after 1400 local I began hearing thunder to the north, so I checked the weather radar; a storm was brewing up around the Georgia/South Carolina border near the Port Wentworth area. Even though the storm didn't seem to have much motion on the radar, I went ahead and disconnected my gear to prevent lightning damage. No worries, I sat down with the latest issue of Road and Track magazine (there are two wonderful Sam Posey articles this month, check out my motorsports blog soon on those!) to wait for the delivery of the AT-897 tuner and MFJ 1764 antenna I ordered earlier this week.

When UPS delivered the package around 1500, I noticed that the skies here in east Savannah were darkening and a few minutes later it began sprinkling. It was almost time to go to Rincon to pick up my nephew from his father's house, so I began getting ready to go. As we left the house, the tornado warning sirens began going off so we checked 162.400, the local NOAA weather radio station, and heard the first Tornado Warning going off. As we drove out of town, I locked the 2-meter radio in my father's truck on the 146.970 repeater, reporting hail we encountered at I-516 and the Southwest Bypass over the repeater and via cell phone to the National Weather Service in Charleston. It was raining so hard while I was reporting the hail, that I couldn't understand much of what the NWS were saying on the other end!

As we drove west out of Savannah, the weather cleared and improved but it rapidly became apparent from traffic we were monitoring on our scanners and from what other amateurs were reporting on the repeater that the areas around Sandfly, Whitfield Avenue, and Ferguson Avenue had taken a hard hit from the storm, possibly even from a tornado (although I haven't seen this confirmed by the news or the NWS yet). Kurt, N4CVF, was reporting numerous trees down and road blockage on Ferguson as he tried to make his way home; Southside Fire's Montgomery Division radio traffic supported Kurt's observations. They were working a multitude of downed trees, power lines, and vehicle crashes. Guy, K4GTM, reported traffic backups, trees down, and serious damage as he approached his home in the Sandfly area. Luckily, Guy's home avoided serious damage but his neighbor was not so lucky. Their house was comprehensively damaged by falling trees. Traffic from Southside Fire and Isle of Hope Fire further indicated more damage along Whitfield and farther along Skidaway towards Isle of Hope. Likewise, Thunderbolt Fire was also busy handling calls of trees and power lines down in their city. I later began hearing radio traffic that the county water system on Isle of Hope was out.

We made it back home from Rincon to find the power out. After clearing out debris from the roads in front and alongside the house and from the yard I drove over to Guy's neighborhood to see if I could lend a hand. By the time I got there, the neighborhood had put out an all hands effort to clear the roads and were working to remove a tree from the neighbor's house with a John Deere tractor and chainsaws. The Red Cross was en route with food, water, and other assistance, so at that point there was not much I could do. I spoke with Guy and Bill, K4WP, for a few minutes, offering any assistance that they might need; I then returned home so that I and the car wouldn't be in the way of equipment that would be needed to remove all of the debris.

By this time, ARES and Red Cross volunteers had begun using the 146.970 repeater for assessment, relief, and recovery operations. K3SRC, the Red Cross ham station along with K4SDJ, Steve, W4SWJ, Susanne, and others were on the air coordinating the response. On my way home, I reported some traffic bottlenecks on Skidaway to K3SRC and let them know that one of their units was almost to their staging area at the Piggly Wiggly on Skidaway. After checking in with work to make sure I wasn't needed, I monitored the 146.970 and began to hear about some of the damage. In addition to what I had witnessed in Guy's neighborhood, there were also heavily damaged mobile homes in some of the mobile home parks in the Whitfield area. Luckily, I heard no reports of injuries from any of the damaged homes. Hopefully that will be the case across the affected area.

Throughout the entire time I was monitoring, I was proud to hear how hams were reacting to the aftermath of the storm. I can't remember all of those I heard offering assistance but N4RVM and WD8LUL were two that immediately jump to mind. There were offers to help clear the trees, offers to help the neighbors, and offers of batteries and other equipment to help keep Guy on the air.

It is impossible to include a comprehensive list of what I all I was listening to during the afternoon, because often I wasn't looking at the radio display. I was paying more attention to the weather and to the amateur radio traffic. That said, here is a certainly incomplete listing of active talkgroups. You'll quickly note that I was mostly monitoring the fire departments to keep up with tree/power situations.

Fort Stewart/Hunter AAF TRS
TG 3504 - Hunter AAF Crash/Fire

Chatham/Effingham TRS
TG 3568 - Metro Fire Dispatch (and associated Tac TGs)
TG 3824 - Southside Fire Dispatch (and associated Division TGs)
TG 4880 - Thunderbolt FD
TG 5040 - Garden City FD
TG 5424 - Pooler FD
TG 5456 - Pooler FD
TG 6224 - CEMA 1
TG 6640 - ANG/Savannah IAP Crash/Fire
TG 7760 - Isle of Hope FD
TG 36880 - Savannah Fire Dispatch (and associated Fireground TGs)
TG 36912 - Savannah Fire Admin


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Loggerhead Turtle Nesting

On the way home from work tonight, I heard activity on the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge Complex repeater system from personnel tracking Loggerhead Turtle Nesting. Apparently they had sighted 7 turtles nesting and were going out to the nesting area (possibly on Wassaw Island, the location was never mentioned). The traffic was multicast on the Onslow Repeater (172.650 P25) and the Skidaway Repeater (172.450 P25).

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

June 2008 VHF QSO Party

This past weekend (14/15 June 2008) was the ARRL June VHF QSO Party. I am not an avid contester, but I did take advantage of the contest to put some logs in the logbook. Due to work and an otherwise busy weekend I was only able to get on the radio for an hour, from 0941 to 1041 local on Sunday Morning (15 June).

Luckily, that hour occured during some outstanding 6 Meter propagation. I worked 20 stations in 11 different states, adding Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and New York to the logbook.

That hour of radio also provided me time to play with the DSP on the FT-897 and get some learning experience with it. I mostly used the DSP Noise Reduction to lower background noise and the DSP Notch Filter to cut interference from adjacent frequencies.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Wright AAF/Midcoast Regional Airport Airshow

Due to a confluence of work, the amateur radio June VHF QSO Party, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I was not able to make the airshow at Wright AAF/Midcoast Regional Airport this past weekend (14/15 June 2008). I do hope that there was a good turnout for the show and that it becomes a regular event. Perhaps next year they can hold it on a weekend other than the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

Guy, K4GTM and Mark, KA4CID, however, did attend the show and they passed along 118.775 at the airboss frequency. Guy also mentioned that the West Coast F-15 Demo Team had to cancel out on Saturday due to a problem with jet.

Thanks to Guy and Mark for the good info.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Cuba on 6 Meters

Monday morning just after 1030 hours, I was able to work 6 Meters into Cuba, making a contact with CO8LY in Santiago de Cuba on 50.125 USB. Apparently the band was also open into Puerto Rico, but I never heard anything other than the Cuban station.

Otherwise, the high activity from the Sunday wasn't present on Monday. The only other station I heard was XE2WWW from Mexico, but he never heard me; he seemed to be mostly answering stations from the 9 region.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

6 Meter Band Opening - 8 June 2008

I finally caught a 6 Meter band opening while I was off from work! Yesterday, 8 June 2008, was a good day for working 6 meters. During midday, I worked a station from Texas the between 2030 and 2200 hours local, I worked stations on 6 Meters USB in Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas:

N5GE - Arlington, TX
N5KWB - West Monroe, LA
W5FKX - River Ridge, LA
W5PF - Montgomery, TX
K5AH - Ponchatoula, LA
W5JLH - Haughton, LA
K8LEE - Lawrenceburg, IN

2 Meters was also open today. I didn't make any 2 Meter SSB contacts, but I did hear the W4YJC repeaters on 144.330 and 144.360 with NASA audio again; the 144.330 was at S9+ at one point. I also heard the 146.700 W4IZ 146.700 repeater from Jacksonville at half to three quarter scale around 1730 local while mobile in midtown Savannah.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

Hunter AAF and Fort Stewart Exercise

There is an exercise of some sort going on at Hunter AAF and Fort Stewart. I started hearing the activity on Thursday night and it has been on each night since, including last night. Most of the activity is UHF milair encrypted, but some of it has been in the clear. Participants include A-10s that seem to be from the 23rd Wing, an AC-130, an MC-130, and several C-17s all of which are using callsigns that change daily. Additionally, the A-10s have aerial refueled several times each night in the "Nicole" AR track, which they have accessed via 380.025 (Savannah Approach) and 363.200 (Jax Center Allendale)

124.975 - Hunter AAF Tower
279.575 - Hunter AAF Tower
279.625 - Marne Radio
380.025 - Savannah Approach/Departure
363.200 - Jax Center Allendale Sector
141.650 - A-10 air-to-air (Friday night)
143.150 - A-10 air-to-air (Thursday night)
143.600 - A-10 air-to-air (Saturday night)
228.175 - encrypted
236.725 - A-10 and AC-130 air-to-ground
250.275 - encrypted
299.650 - encrypted (satcom uplink?)
364.275 - Aerial Refueling
396.525 - encrypted

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

The 2-Meter SSB Setup Works

Last night while searching for activity related to the exercise going on over at Hunter AAF I noticed that there was a pretty good VHF opening, so I decided to try some 2-Meter SSB work. After listening for a few minutes and hearing no activity, I decided to call CQ.

After calling CQ a couple of times, K4ILT out of Saint George, SC came back to me for my first 2-Meter SSB contact. During the QSO, he mentioned that he was hearing Space Shuttle audio rebroadcast on 144.330, which he believed was coming from the Jacksonville area.

I checked 144.330 as well and found the same shuttle/NASA retransmission coming in at about S2-S3. Web research indicates that it most likely W4YJC out of Macclenny, FL. Searching around a bit, I also found 144.360 active, which should also be W4YJC, this time from Jacksonville, FL.

Hurricane Monitoring 2008

This article initially appeared in the June 2008 of "Key Klix," the newsletter of the Amateur Radio Club of Savannah. It is designed to provide basic local huricane monitoring information for the Savannah area.

With Hurricane Season upon us, it is a good time to gather monitoring information on monitoring communications related to the response to a storm. The purpose of this month’s article is to provide some basic hurricane monitoring information for both Savannah area amateur radio and government response to a hurricane. Many thanks to David Delamater, K4DJD, Steve Jonas, K4SDJ, and Doug Rowland, KF4EFP for providing amateur radio frequency information for this article.

Amateur Radio Monitoring

In the event of a hurricane, Amateur Radio would of course play a large part in the response to the storm. Georgia Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) would activate to support state and local emergency management. Other organizations would activate to respond to the hurricane in other capacities.

ARES, when activated will use several 2-meter repeaters for local area, point-to-point traffic. HF frequencies would be used for more long distant communications including communications with statewide ARES and emergency management stations.

146.970 - Chatham County ARES Ops Primary
146.880 - Chatham ARES Ops Secondary
147.105 - Georgia ARES Southeast District Ops
146.745 - Effingham County Repeater (97.4 PL)
146.520 - National Calling Frequency

3.975 LSB - Georgia ARES Primary HF
7.277 LSB - Georgia ARES Secondary HF
5.3305 LSB - Georgia ARES Section Emergency Net

The American Red Cross will also make use of local repeaters during their hurricane response operations. Secondary Red Cross Repeaters will be assigned usage depending upon the nature and size of the response.

146.850 - American Red Cross Primary
146.700 - American Red Cross Secondary
147.210 - American Red Cross Secondary
147.330 - American Red Cross Secondary

Other organizations that might activate to assist in response and relief efforts are the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network and Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief teams.

7.265 LSB - SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network)
14.265 USB - SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network)

151.625 - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief (VHF Itinerant)
147.550 - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
147.555 - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
3.865 LSB - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
7.238 LSB - Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief
7.251 LSB - South CARS Net
7.262 LSB - Southern Baptist Convention Net

A good way to keep track of and to gather information on a hurricane is the venerable Hurricane Watch Net, which has been around since 1965. This net will activate whenever there is a hurricane within 300 miles of a populated land mass or when activation is requested by the National Hurricane Center. The purpose of the net is to gather information from the storm for the National Hurricane Center and to pass on National Weather Service advisories on the storm. Information on hurricanes can also be heard on the Maritime Mobile Network. They also collect information for the National Weather Service and pass weather service advisories.

14.325 USB - Hurricane Watch Net
14.300 USB - Maritime Mobile Network


Government Monitoring

Local public safety agencies would be in the front lines of hurricane response. A listing of agency frequencies and Chatham-Effingham Trunked Repeater System (TRS) talkgroups would be too long to list here, but there are emergency management, mutual aid, and common frequencies and talkgroups that would be good to include in scanner programming. These would be used by a wide variety of agencies during any multi-agency response. A full listing of agency talkgroups for the Chatham-Effingham TRS can be found on the Radio Reference website (see list of links below).

Conventional Frequencies
123.025 - Airborne Operations, Air-to-Ground
123.100 - Airborne Operations, Air-to-Air
154.280 - Fire Mutual Aid
155.340 - HEAR (Hospitals, EMS)
155.475 - Law Enforcement National Emergency
853.6375 - Chatham County 800 Conventional
866.0125 - I-Call
866.5125 - I-Tac 1
867.0125 - I-Tac 2
867.5125 - I-Tac 3
868.0125 - I-Tac 4

Chatham-Effingham TRS Talkgroups
6224 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 1
6256 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 2
6288 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 3
6320 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 4
6352 - Chatham County Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) 5

33456 - Police Common
54032 – Police Common Digital
37072 - Fire Common
3632 – Fire Tac 1
3664 – Fire Tac 2
3696 – Fire Tac 3
3728 – Fire Tac 4
3760 – Fire Tac 5
3792 – Fire Tac 6
2416 - Medical Common
50320 - Savannah City Common
50352 - Chatham County Countywide Common
1648 - Chatham County Common
4240 - Chatham County Westside Common
4272 - Chatham County Eastside Common

Both Hunter Army Airfield and Savannah International Airport and the military units based there would be involved in relief operations in the event of a hurricane striking the coastal Georgia area. B-169 Aviation of the Georgia Army National Guard at Hunter AAF would likely support local operations while the 165th Airlift Wing at Savannah IAP would be able to help provide an air bridge for the Savannah area. The United States Coast Guard would also assist in the response to a hurricane with both aircraft from Air Station Savannah and surface assets from Sector Charleston and it’s subordinate unit Station Tybee (and beyond).

133.550 AM – Hunter AAF Control Tower
279.575 AM – Hunter AAF Control Tower
126.200 AM – Hunter AAF Base Ops
38.150 FM – B-169 AVN “Hurricane Ops”
139.400 AM – B-169 AVN “Guard Operations”
242.400 AM – B-169 AVN Air-to-Air

119.100 AM - Savannah IAP Control Tower
257.800 AM - Savannah IAP Control Tower
225.750 AM - 165 Airlift Wing, Georgia Air National Guard Command Post
237.000 AM - Air National Guard CRTC Command Post

156.800 – Marine VHF Ch. 16, Calling/Distress
156.650 – Marine VHF Ch. 13
157.050 – Marine VHF Ch. 21, Sector Charleston Primary Operating
345.000 AM - USCG Air Station Savannah Ops

Charleston Air Force Base is involved in relief operations not only nationwide but worldwide. Aircraft inbound to Charleston AFB from the south can easily be heard from the Savannah area.

134.100 AM - Charleston AFB Command Post
349.400 AM - Charleston AFB Command Post

Another agency that would support hurricane response efforts would the United States Air Force auxiliary, the Civil Air Patrol. The Civil Air Patrol is in the midst of frequency changes, so it would be prudent to keep both their old and new frequencies in mind. The CAP also uses repeater output frequencies as simplex frequencies.

148.150 - Civil Air Patrol Primary Repeater Output
148.125 - Civil Air Patrol Repeater, Coastal Georgia Area

148.175 - New Civil Air Patrol Repeaters
148.775 - New Civil Air Patrol Repeaters


There are many lists on the Internet that list HF frequencies for the “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft. For the most part, these lists are obsolete; the “Hurricane Hunters” now use satellite communications, including military SATCOM, instead of HF for their primary means of communications with ground stations.



Reference Links
Georgia ARES:
http://www.gaares.org/

SATERN (Salvation Army):
http://www.satern.org/

Hurricane Watch Net:
http://www.hwn.org/

Maritime Mobile Service Network:
http://www.mmsn.org/

Radio Reference:
http://www.radioreference.com/


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net

The 6-Meter Setup Works

I finally found made some 6 Meter contacts with the FT-897 and the JTB-4. They were local rather than DX contacts, but were good contacts none the less. After seeing some emails and hearing some QSOs on 2 Meters about how 6 Meters had been open the previous few days, I called CQ on 50.125 USB yesterday evening. This time, I was duly answered by Russ, K4YDG. We spoke for a few, then carried on a QSO after he went mobile. After dinner, I left the FT-897 on while monitoring some A-10 and AC-130 activity over Hunter AAF and Fort Stewart and heard Ken, W4JKG calling CQ. I answered and had a good QSO with Ken.

Hopefully my work schedule and 6 Meters' schedule will mesh and I'll be around for a band opening. Next up is to finally make a contact on 2 Meters SSB.

Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net