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News last updated: Thu, October 30, 2008 at 5:34 AM ET
Hams in Paradise October 2008
Local Hams Provide Critical WX Info During Omar; STX Clean Up Continues
At this writing, parts of St. Croix (STX) remain without power following Hurricane Omar -- a dangerous Category 3 storm that grazed the eastern part of that island, leaving many in the dark. Luckily, the majority of residents now have their electrical service restored, and repairs continue along with the overall clean-up process.
Omar was forecast to make a direct hit on St. Thomas and St. John. Instead, the storm took a more easterly track, cutting across the eastern portion of St. Croix and passing to the west of Anguilla. The core, containing the most damaging winds, shrunk as the storm intensified. After passing St. Croix, Omar's eye slipped through an opening in the island chain, sparing most other areas from severe damage. Minimal damage was reported on St. John, St. Thomas and in the British Virgins.
So, how prepared were we, and how did things go? Pretty well, according to amateur radio clubs across the region.
ARRL Section Manager John Ellis, NP2B, clocked winds of 109 miles per hour at his home on St. Croix, 133 feet above sea level in the Cotton Valley area (about seven miles from Christiansted). Luckily, even with high winds, there was no loss of life reported from the storm; most of the damage on the eastern part of St. Croix involved downed trees, power lines and poles. Boats in several areas were pushed onto shore, with some severely damaged.
As the storm approached St. Croix, Ellis provided weather condition reports to the National Hurricane Center in Miami via HF into the Hurricane Watch Net for as long as he could. Over on St. John, Mal Preston, NP2L, also checked into the Hurricane Watch net on 14.325. As the storm approached his home in Great Cruz Bay, Preston provided barometric pressure and wind information. Unfortunately, evening propagation was poor. Ellis noted that, before things really went downhill -- both propagation and weather-wise -- he could hear several other local hams providing reports from time to time, but conditions did not allow him to identify the calls.
In Coral Bay, St. John, Phyllis Benton, NP2MZ, provided e-mail updates to the Hurricane Net's Voice Over Internet Protocol area. Hourly reports began just after 1 pm on the day of the storm and continued late into the evening. Local conditions in Coral Bay included high rain amounts -- with close to three inches of rain falling in a one-hour period just as the storm began to move in.
Long before the storm arrived, planning was underway. Officials from the American Radio Relay League's home office in Newington, CT were in contact with local ham representatives via phone to solidify backup plans in the event of a "worse case scenario." The plan included use of specific frequencies on various amateur bands, and set times to attempt contacts should all other modes of communications be knocked out by the strengthening storm.
Knowing that a storm was brewing, club members on St. John, St. Thomas and in the BVI did what they do best: prepare for the unexpected. Radios, backup batteries and alternate energy supplies (such as deep cycle batteries and solar panels) were checked to make sure they were in proper operating order. Many hams with large external antennas took them down as part of preparations for Omar. As the storm neared the area, it had grown quickly from a Category 1 to a low 2, then to a 3. Several amateurs reported pre-testing smaller two-meter antennas for inside use -- just to see if they were still able to hit their local repeaters when everything was boarded up.
Hams on St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix and in the British Virgin Islands on Tortola who participate in the morning Virgin Islands Weather Net were told that, should power and phones go down, they would go with a preestablished operating procedure: communicate via 2 meter through the St. John repeater. Should the repeater go down, the group would go to simplex and relay reports, if needed.
Jasen Penn, VP2VJ, of the British Virgin Islands Amateur Radio League reports the group readied for Omar by "having all hams on alert including making sure necessary checks were conducted (such as charging batteries, etc.)." Penn, who works for the BVI Department of Disaster Management on Tortola, was on duty throughout the hurricane. Luckily, damage was limited to "a few falling trees and minor flooding with some mudslides." While hams were ready to help, DDM did not have to call upon them "as Omar decided to change course and swung off of us as the last minute."
While many hams awoke the morning after the storm to find themselves without power, it was quickly restored to just about everyone except for the hardest hit parts of St. Croix. Cell phone service and broadband Internet were unavailable for several days for areas on St. John, and residents on other islands also suffered relatively minor communications inconveniencies. Virgin Islands hams were well prepared for Omar, but certainly glad the storm moved on without more damage. But keep those backup batteries charged; hurricane season isn't over until the end of November!
Exam Information
Are you thinking about upgrading your license, or know someone who is preparing to take their first licensing exam? To find out about upcoming exam dates, please contact the following individuals:
St. Croix -- Al Rymsha, NP2V, at 340 773-4725.
St. John -- Exams are usually held twice yearly, in the spring and fall. Please contact Mal Preston, NP2L, at 340 693-8782
St. Thomas -- Exams can be arranged, as needed, to coincide with the Tuesday Ham luncheon at Hook, Line & Sinker in Frenchtown. Those interested in scheduling an exam should call Richard Ashley, KP2RA, at 340 642-6316.
ARRL Calendar
November 1 CW Sweepstakes 15 Phone Sweepstakes
December 5 Deadline for Leonard Award entries 7 December ARRL 160 meter contest 13,14 December ARRL 10M contest 31 ARRL Straight Key Night
January 2009 4 Kid's Day
VI Club Meetings
The St. Croix Club meets on the first Saturday of the month at the Deep End Bar at Tamarind Reef Hotel at Green Cay Marina. The group gathers around noon for lunch; an informal meeting begins around 12:30 pm. Contact John Ellis, NP2B, 340-773-9643; np2b@arrl.org (Annual dues are $1 per year.)
St. John Ham (and Eggs) Breakfast -- 9 am, first Sat. of each month; alternates between Cruz Bay and Coral Bay; BYOB (Buy your own breakfast). Contact Paul Jordan, NP2JF, President, St. John Amateur Radio Club, 340 776-6568 reeladventuresstjohn@yahoo.com or George Cline, KP2G 340 693-5137; KP2G@surfcoralbay.com (Annual dues are $5 per year.)
The St. Thomas Club meets every Tuesday at the Hook, Line & Sinker restaurant in Frenchtown, just west of the Seaplane base and the Veterans Drive Post Office. 12 noon to 1 pm. The Club meets in the back room. (Annual dues are $10.00 per year.)
The British Virgin Islands Amateur Radio League meets the fourth Monday of each month at 5 pm at the office of the DDM in Road Town. Anyone with an interest in Amateur Radio is welcome. For more information, contact league secretary Jasen Penn, VP2VJ, at pinniepenn@yahoo.com or call 284-468-4200.
Local Ham Nets
Virgin Islands Weather Net St. John Repeater (146.63 (-) offset, 100Hz PL); 6:40 am each morning; hams provide local weather conditions. Get to know your fellow hams (and know that your rig is working!)
Local HF Communication
7.250 Caribbean Maritime Mobile Network (During non-emergency operation, the net begins at 7 a.m. AST taking maritime and non-maritime check-ins. http://users.isp.com/kv4jc
7.086 Also used as part of the Caribbean Maritime Mobile Network.
Local Repeaters
St. Croix Repeater 147.250 (+) offset. No tone required. St. John Repeater 146.63 (-) offset, 100Hz PL St. Thomas Repeater 146.81 (-) offset, 100Hz PL
Virgin Islands Amateur Radio contact list: Section Manager St. Croix John J. Ellis, NP2B P.O. Box 24492 Christiansted, St. Croix, VI 00824 340-773-9643 np2b@arrl.org
Assistant Section Manager Malcolm M Preston, NP2L PO Box 1318 Cruz Bay, VI 00831-1318 (340) 340 693-8782 np2l@arrl.net
Alvin F Rymsha, NP2V 96 Judiths Fancy Est # 4018 Christiansted, VI 00820-4407 (340) 773-4725 alvinr26@gmail.com
Deborah M Thomas, NP2DJ PO Box 9280 St Thomas, VI 00801-2280 (340) 344-9427 np2dj@arrl.net
For more information: www.atthehelm.com
Hams in Paradise is compiled by P. Benton, np2mz@arrl.net Please e-mail any Ham-related info you would like included in the next e-letter. If you would like to be taken off the distribution list, please e-mail np2mz@arrl.net
--------------------------------------------
Greetings to all, and thanks to Phyllis for the updated section news!
Welcome to the Virgin Islands page on the ARRL website. Please take time to visit the Virgin islands amateur radio website too, at www.atthehelm.com.
Jeanette NP2C continues to work on the VI section website, look for it at www.atthehelm.com.
The St. Croix Club now has it's station complete and working properly. It is located at Southgate Baptist Church, across from Green Cay Marina where the Club has it's meetings. The rig is a Kenwood TS-140S and an MFJ tuner. An Icom IC-25A serves as the 2M rig. The antenna system on HF consists of a Cushcraft A3S at 30 feet (yup, it's on a tower!!!) and atop that is a Hustler G6 antenna.
A lot of people donated equipment to this project including Dave NP2I, Steve K2OMP, Larry N4FD, Manny NP2KW, the Pina Colada Contest group and even John NP2B.
Now we need to put some hours on it!
The St. Thomas repeater (146.81 MHz) is up and running, actually it has been up and running for some time! It is a brand new repeater. Much of the credit goes to Bernie, NP2W, who basically put it together. It has been upgraded to 60 watts out and it has a controller with a lot of nifty features. You can dial the numbers "929"and it will give you the correct time and date. You can also dial "878", unkey the repeater and it will come up and say "ready". You then have 4 seconds to start talking. When you stop transmitting, it will automatically play your last transmission back to you so you can see how well you are getting into the machine. It works very well, try it!
The St. John and St. Thomas repeaters now require a 100Hz PL (CTCSS) tone. The St. Croix repeater currently does not require the use of a PL tone. Convention here in the VI is that if a repeater goes down, go simplex on the output frequency. That is the frequency everybody will be listening on anyway and when the repeater comes back up, you will know it and can go back to usual duplex repeater operation.
Mal NP2L has taken over the VE licensing operations for St. John while Richard NP2RA has taken over the VE operations for St. Thomas. Al NP2V runs them on St. Croix. Mal can be reached at np2l@arrl.net while Richard can be reached at 340-642-6316. Al can be reached at 340-773-4725. The St. Thomas exam sessions coincide with the Tuesday luncheons at Hook Line and Sinker in Frenchtown. Thank you guys, for picking up the ball and running with it.
The St. John Amateur Radio Club conducts exams for the St. John group, the V.I. Amateur Radio Club conducts them for St. Thomas and the St. Croix ARC does likewise on St. Croix. Exams are generally given on an "as needed" basis, contact the coordinator for your island to schedule a test.
For all exams, applicants must bring the following.
1. Legal photo ID.
2. Social Security number or taxpayer ID (TIN) number if you are a US citizen or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence or US employment. (If possible, non US residents should contact the FCC at (202) 414-1250 or email them at ulscomm@fcc.gov to obtain an Alternate TIN (ATIN) prior to the exam).
3. If upgrading please bring the original and one copy of a) your valid US amateur license and b)completion certificate (CSCE) to claim element credit.
4. Required fee of $14.00.
Also, if you have an FRN number, please use that instead of your social security number on your form 605. If you don't, the FCC will reject your application. Go to the ARRL website (www.arrl.org) for further information.
Please contact Malcolm Preston, NP2L, at (340) 693-8782, if you have any questions on the St. John test sessions, Richard Ashley NP2RA at (340) 642-6316 on St. Thomas for those sessions or Al Rymsha, NP2V at (340) 773-4725 for the same on St. Croix."
Also, please welcome back Phyllis Benton, NP2MZ, our new Public Information Coordinator. She is taking care of distributing news to the various media concerning amateur radio activities in the Territory and the one who puts the first part of this newsletter together.
Section website www.atthehelm.com
e-mail your news to Phyllis (NP2MZ@arrl.net or myself at NP2B@arrl.org
np2b@arrl.org or john.np2b@gmail.com
73, John, NP2B
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