NATICK EMERGENCY RADIO NET (NATICK, MA)
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NATICK EMERGENCY RADIO NET (NATICK, MA)
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NET INFORMATION
*********** JULY 2008 ***********
NATICK EMERGENCY RADIO NET
146.490 MHz (SIMPLEX ,pl=146.2 Hz) and 447.675 (-5) MHZ (pl=203.5 Hz)
MEETS EVERY MONDAY AT 8 PM LOCAL TIME
IN AN EMERGENCY THE NET MEETS THE FIRST 5 MINUTES OF EVERY HOUR
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REMEMBER THAT STARTING JULY 1ST OUR 2 M FREQUENCY WILL BE 146.490 MHz WITH A PL OF 146.2 Hz.
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TRAINING
An ICS-100 Training class will be offered at the Boxborough NE
Division ARRL Convention on Friday August 22 at 9am.
It is required that people sign up in advance for this course. Please
use the following link to sign up:
https://training.mema.state.ma.us/Mema/courseDesc.do?cofId=20147&fromCalendar=true&month=8&year=2008&originatingPage=MEMATrainReg&onLoginContinue=MEMATrainReg&onAppSubmitOrContinue=MEMATrainReg&onPPContinue=MEMATrainReg
(thanks to N1CPE for this info)
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A CHANGE TO OUR 2 METER FREQUENCY AND ADDING PL ON JULY 1ST
BY : JOE W1HAI
As you know, for over a year we have been looking to move our 2 meter operations off of 147.42 as it will be activated during an emergency on a wide area basis.
We are going back to our original frequency, 146.49 in the following way.
From now to July 1, we chat on 146.49 to further engage the frequency. Our Monday night net will continue as usual on 147.42 and 447.675 with a pl of 203.5.
On June 1st, we shift 2 meter operations to 146.49 with a pl of 146.2 to also include the Monday net and of course on the repeater, 447.675, pl 203.5.
The above plan is subject to change if we find more activity on 49 in the weeks ahead or the pl of 146.2 is being used on the frequency.
Thanks for listening to various frequencies over the past year and hope that this move back to 49 will be our last on 2 meters.
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NET MEETINGS
OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE POSTED HERE AS SOON AS SCHEDULED
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NEW STUFF AT THE EOC
On April 2nd we received a new FT7800R with power supply, antenna and cable from the NE Homeland Security Compact that will be installed in the EOC replacing the Icom IC2720 soon. The IC2720 will move to the new repeater site at Fire Station 3 next year for use as a remote base (see below) on 2 M.
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REPEATER UPDATES
During the September 2007 the repeater received a software update that increased the squelch tail on the repeater from 0.3 seconds to 2.0 seconds to give a real detectable tail and get rid of the picket fencing problem. Everything else (power, CTCSS AND 3 minute time out) remains the same. Thanks to N1DM and W1EWN who were available on a weekday to help with this change.
We are in the process of installing a back up repeater in North Natick. With any luck this will happen in early 2009. Dom N1DM is leading the charge on this and the Town recently bought the RACES organizaton a new NHRC controller for this project and a 15 A switching power supply has been obtained form the PD inventory. The fire department has provided a high band Mitrek. The plan is to install it at Fire Station 3 and our plan is to operate it as an auxiliary station (remote base). We will keep you informed as plans go forward.
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WHAT WAS ALL THAT TESTING ON THE PD AND FD CHANNELS
IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS THOSE WITH SCANNERS IN TOWN MAY HAVE NOTED A LOT OF TESTING ON POLICE AND FIRE CHANNELS. THIS WAS RELATED TO BIDIRECTIONAL AMLIFIER (BDA) SYSTEMS INSTALLED IN THE NEW NATICK COLLECTION (NATICK MALL) AS PART OF THE ZONING REQUIREMENTS. THE SYSTEM IS A BIT COMPLEX AND NEEDED QUITE A BIT OF TESTING AND TWEAKING TO GET EVERYTHING RUNNING IN TIP TOP SHAPE. THE SYSTEM ALLOWS POLICE AND FIRE TO USE THEIR REPEATERS IN THE NEW MALL AND ANCHOR STORES EVEN IN THE LOWER (BELOW GRADE) PARKING GARAGES.
THANKS TO STEVE, WB1DNZ WHO HELPED IDENTIFY SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM.
BY THE WAY IF S10 SOUNDED FAMILIAR THAT WAS DOM, N1DM WHO WAS THE TOWN'S TECHNICAL REP FOR THE BDA PROJECT.
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******* KB1DFN REPEATER **********
ON JANUARY 19th, 2006 WE INSTALLED A NEW KENWOOD TKR-850 REPEATER ON OUR 440 CHANNEL. THIS WAS FUNDED BY THE NATICK POLICE DEPARTMENT AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY. THE NEW REPEATER BROUGHT US UP TO 20 W TRANSMITTER OUTPUT (FROM THE PREVIOUS 2 W). THIS REPLACED OUR HOMEBREW REPEATER MADE OF A GE MASTER II MOBILE EXTENDER WITH ARR PREAMP, A HAMTRONICS TRANSMITTER AND N1DM'S HOMEBREW CONTROLLER ORIGINALLY INSTALLED ON JUNE 29, 2002. THE OLD REPEATER WORKED BUT AS WE CONSIDERED ADDING THE TPL AMP TO BRING IT TO 20 WATTS WE DECIDED IT MADE MORE SENSE TO GET A MODERN COMMERCIAL REPEATER TO INCREASE RELIABILITY AND ENHANCE FUTURE SERVICEABILITY.
COVERAGE IS ROUGHLY AS BEFORE WITH SOME IMPROVEMENT WEST AND SOUTHWEST. THE NULL IN THE ANTENNA PATTERN BETWEEN METROWEST MEDICAL (LEONARD MORSE HOSPITAL) AND THE BACON LIBRARY ON UNION STREET STILL EXISTS. THIS IS A RESULT OF THE ANTENNA BEING SIDE MOUNTED ON THE NORTHWEST ARM OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY TOWER RESULTING IN A NULL IN THE ANTENNA PATTERN TO THE SOUTHEAST FROM THE TOWER. WE ATTEMPTED TO CONNECT AN ARR PREAMP TO ENHANCE RECEIVE COVERAGE BUT THE LOCAL PCS QRM WAS STILL AN ISSUE, WE MAY REINSTALL THE PREAMP LATER WITH A LOW LOSS PREFILTER (STAY TUNED FOR MORE ON THAT).
YOU MUST USE A PL OF 203.5 TO ACCESS THE REPEATER.
THE SQUELCH TAIL IS 2 SECONDS AND THE TIME OUT TIMER IS 3 MINUTES. YOU MUST DROP THE CARRIER (UNKEY YOUR RADIO) FOR THE TIME OUT TIMER TO RESET.
FREQUENCIES AND PL REMAIN THE SAME.
REPEATER UPDATES
During the September 2007 the repeater received a software update that increased the squelch tail on the repeater from 0.3 seconds to 2.0 seconds to give a real detectable tail and get rid of the picket fencing problem. Everything else (power, CTCSS AND 3 minute time out) remains the same. Thanks to N1DM and W1EWN who were available on a weekday to help with this change.
NEW REPEATER
We are in the process of installing a back up repeater in North Natick. With any luck this will happen in early 2009. Dom N1DM is leading the charge on this and the Town recently bught us a the RACES organizaton a new NHRC controller for this project and a 15 A switching power supply has been obtained form the PD inventory. The plan is to install it at Fire Station 3 and our plan is to operate it as an auxiliary station (remote base). We will keep you informed as plans go forward. Thanks to Chief Mannix of the PD and NEMA and Chief Sheridan and Supt. vanTassel for their support of this project.
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******* EOC UPGRADES *******
DURING 2006 DURING THE INSTALLATION OF THE NEW KB1DFN REPEATER WE ALSO UPGRADED THE LOW BAND PUBLIC SAFETY RADIO. WE REPLACED THE ONE CHANNEL GE MVP (25 + YEARS OLD) WITH A KENWOOD TK-6110-2 TRANSCEIVER. IT HAS NATICK DPW (45.56 MHZ), FIRE DISTRICT 14 LOW BAND REPEATER (46.36 MHZ), NATICK EMA LOW BAND CHANNEL, AND SO MIDDLESEX POLICE NET (39.38 MHZ)PROGRAMMED IN.
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NATICK RACES FREQUENCY PLAN
Based on the our last communications survey the following is the RACES frequency Plan for the town. For those of you who want to preprogramm your radios here it is.
Primary Net Channel (UHF) 447.675 repeater (CTCSS 203.5 with -5 MHz split)
Primary Net Channel (VHF) 146.490 simplex (146.2 Hz CTCSS)
Tactical Channel (VHF) 147.420 simplex(no CTCSS)
Tactical Channel (UHF) 447.675 simplex(203.5 CTCSS) <<<<use only with permission of net control>>>>
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NET HISTORY AND PURPOSE
THE NATICK EMERGENCY RADIO NET WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1991 BY LOCAL AMATEUR RADIO (HAM) OPERATORS TO SUPPORT EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS IN THE TOWN OF NATICK, MA. WE ACT AS THE LOCAL RADIO AMATEUR CIVIL EMERGENCY SERVICE (RACES)NET.
DURING NON NET PERIODS WE ENCOURAGE THE USE OF THE 447.675 REPEATER AND 146.490 SIMPLEX AS LOCAL TOWN CHIT CHAT CHANNELS. A LOT OF MEMBERS MONITOR THESE FREQUENCIES. THE 447.675 RACES REPEATER IS AN OPEN REPEATER THAT COVERS MOST OF NATICK AND A LARGE PORTION OF FRAMINGHAM. RAGCHEWS ARE ENCOURAGED, SO FEEL FREE.
THE NET HOLDS THE CALLSIGN KB1DFN WHICH IS USED FOR THE TOWNS EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER, RACES REPEATER AND WILL BE HEARD DURING ACTIVATIONS, DRILLS AND EVENTS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE NET AND REPEATER CONTACT DOM MALLOZZI , N1DM, AT DMALLOZZI@AOL.COM
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RANDOM RUMORS AND NOTES ON LOCAL COMMUNICATIONS AND EVENTS
Some of you readers of the FCC website may have noticed that Natick Fire has licensed a repeater on 483.650 MHz. This is a project that will be implemented by February 2009 with the intent of moving all operations to UHF from VHF in the next two years. The repeater will probably use a pl of 156.7 HZ (or DPL 172) and will be narrowband FM so you with older scanners will notice the audio level down about 6 dB from the police signal which is on the older 'conventional' FM public safety bandwidth.
Look here for further information on the project, as it move forward.
The fire department bought a technical Rescue truck from Weston which is now operational as Rescue 3. It has already been used for multiple rescues in town. It does not check in to the daily roll calls on the radio. They do a radio check weekly, usually Saturday.
If you listen on the Natick Fire input channels (156.045 MHZ and 153.830 MHZ) you will here a digital burst for each unit accessing the system. That is a unit ID which has been implemented to allow dispatchers to determine which unit is transmitting on the system. It shows up on the dispatchers screen even if the user does not ID. The tones are not always passed through the repeater so you have to listen on the input to hear them consistently. (This is a MDC1200 (r) Motorola ID system used extensively in metro Boston public safety operations).
The Natick Fire Department now has units identifying as things like Engine 302. No, the fire department is not competing with Boston for the number of companies. Finally, the town has assigned each duty firefighter with a portable radio, so Engine 302 is the second portable on Engine 3. The availability of individual portables is just another addition to firefighter safety.By the way calls like 'Portable Engine 3" indicates this is the officer in charge of the particular company. So there is no confusion Car 1 and Portable Car 1 are the Fire Chief and Car 2 and portable Car 2 are the duty Deputy Chief.
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NON MEETING ACTIVITIES, DRILLS , ETC.
TRAINING
INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM TRAINING ON-LINE
The following information is courtesy of KA8SCP:
The Incident Command System Training
An Overview for Emergency Communications Volunteers
The K3XO.net/Sterling Interactive "Incident Command System" online training is now available free for general use.
The Incident Command System, or ICS, is an almost universally accepted organizational structure for the management of emergency and disaster situations of all sizes. The project was initiated to provide an overview of an important
organizational system for emergency and disaster management. One of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Report strongly endorses the use of ICS. The recommendation on page 397 of the report states: "Recommendation: Emergency response agencies nationwide should adopt the Incident Command System (ICS).When multiple agencies or multiple jurisdictions are involved, they should adopt a unified command. Both are proven frameworks for emergency response. We strongly support the decision that federal homeland security funding will be contingent,
as of October 1, 2004, upon the adoption and regular use of ICS and unified command procedures. In the future, the Department of Homeland Security should consider making funding contingent on aggressive and realistic training in
accordance with ICS and unified command procedures."
While the intended audience for this training is Amateur Radio emergency communications volunteers, this overview would benefit anyone who might become involved in an emergency response or disaster relief. As emergency volunteers,we may have to work directly with government emergency and disaster response
organizations. However, this training is not intended as a comprehensive training package for emergency response professionals. For some of our more experienced ARES and RACES members, this will hopefully be a useful review. For the many new people who have joined our ranks recently, this is essential training. At the end of the series of presentations we will provide you with an opportunity to take a test to see how well you have learned the basics of the Incident Command System.
The content was adapted from the Emergency Management Institute online course IS-195, "The Incident Command System." The Emergency Management Institute is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The material that will be presented is the substance of Unit 1 of Course IS-195, with the addition of some supplemental information from the ICS training curriculum from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG). Please pass this information on to anyone you think would benefit from it. Also, please feel free to link from your
website to the training. I am hoping for as wide a distribution as possible. I am also very interested in your feedback. Please send any comments you have to mailto:ics@k3xo.net. The direct link http://www.k3xo.net/ics_login.php will take you to the login screen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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NATICK'S TRAVELLERS INFORMATION STATION
During April of 2006 the Town activated WQAM781 (formerly WPZT270) on 1630 KHz (yep in the expanded AM band)in addition to traffic info the station will be used for emergency information as the situation dictates. The station was a result of discussions started at the local emergency planning committee about how the town would dessiminate information in an emergency.
The station operates from the public safety building on East Central Street with a power of 10 watts.
The station was the brainchild of Dom , N1DM and one of the voices you will hear is that of Joe, W1HAI.
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REPEATER AND OTHER INFORMATION
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LOCAL PUBLIC SAFETY FREQUENCIES
The Town of Natick operates multiple public safety radio operations. Here are the frequencies:
Department / Function / Frequency / CTCSS / Channel Designator
Police / Operations / 472.7375 / 131.8 / Ch. 1
Fire / Operations / 154.205 / 107.2 / Ch. 1
Fire / Ops Direct / 154.205 / 107.2 / Ch. 2
Fire / Fireground / 155.310 / 107.2 / Ch. 3
Fire / Fireground Direct / 155.310 /107.2 / Ch. 4
Fire / EMS On Scene / 155.160 / 107.2 / Ch. 5 (limited Use)
Fire / Future UHF Repeater / 483.650 / 156.7 OR DPL172
Public Works / Operations / 45.560
Emergency Management / Command Net / 39.320 (this channel also is used for certain public safety radio control functions in town)
Natick TIS-HAR Radio / WQAM781 / 1630 KHz
Police Ch. 1 and Fire Channels 1 and 3 are repeaters.
Natick Fire tests with all units on channel 1 (154.205 MHz) daily at 8:15 AM and 6 PM
Mass. Fire District 14 operates a crossband repeater on 33.980 and 46.360 MHz in Framingham linked to the 471.050 MHz (DPL172)south fireground repeater in Hopkinton and the 453.3875 MHz (DPL 065)north fireground repeater in Concord . A roll call check of each town is done daily at 8:30 AM with Ashland FD acting as district control.(Not all towns are repeated on UHF at this time.)
Many listeners in the town of Natick using scanners without CTCSS decoders report hearing multiple fire departments on 154.205 MHz (Natick's primary fire channel). This is normal, we share the channel with Cumberland, RI (for many years) and Lowell, MA. They are both relatively strong in many parts of town. Natick Fire runs CTCSS(107.2 Hz tone)on all its radios so their units do not hear out of town units.
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PUBLIC SAFETY CHANNELS FOR ADJACENT TOWNS
TOWN / POLICE / FIRE
DOVER / 472.3125 / 33.500
---DOVER (NEW FD UHF) 483.050 DPL065---
FRAMINGHAM / 471.7625 / 483.7625
SHERBORN / 471.6375 / 483.0875
WAYLAND / 484.4375 / 483.4125
WELLESLEY / 471.4875 / 482.575
WESTON / 472.2375 / 154.160
---WESTON (NEW FD UHF) 470.1625 DPL172---
FIRE DISTRICT 14 CHANNELS ****
33.980 MHz CTCSS 127.3 DIRECT AND FRAMINGHAM
46.360 MHz CTCSS 100.0 DIRECT AND FRAMINGHAM
453.3875 MHz DPL 065 NORTH REPEAER - CONCORD
471.050 MHz DPL 172 SOUTH REPEATER - HOPKINTON
**** REGIONAL POLICE CHANNELS ****
BAPERN WEST 470.7375 CTCSS 131.8
BAPERN WIDE AREA 3 470.7875 CTCSS 131.8
SOUTH MIDDLESEX POLICE BASE STATION NET 39.38 MHZ CTCSS 123.0
WE UNDERSTAND THAT DOVER AND WESTON WILL BE MOVING THEIR FIRE OPERATIONS TO UHF SOON (IF NOT ALREADY). THE PLAN AT WESTON IS TO RUN BOTH THE VHF HIGH BAND AND UHF SYSTEM TIED TOGETHER FOR A WHILE. IT IS UNCLEAR IF DOVER WILL REMAIN ON LOW BAND. DOVER HAS BEEN AT THIS UHF PROJECT FOR 3 YEARS LETS HOPE THEY GET IT DONE SOON.
WWW.SCANBOSTON.COM REPORTS THAT SUDBURY PD HAS BEEN REBANDED TO A NEW CHANNEL OF 852.9125 WITH A DPL OF D023.
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OTHER STUFF
For the 10M buffs in the group N1NTE in Holden has a low power beacon opearting, info from his homepage is as follows:
N1NTE 10 Meter Beacon
Frequency: 28.2444 MHz
Location: Holland, MA
Grid: FN32
RF Output: 2.5 watts
Equipment: Converted CB and a Freakin' Beacon FB-2 Controller
Antenna: Horizontal Dipole
Beacon Message:
Three one second tones
@ 15 WPM - VVV VVV N1NTE/B FN32
@ 5 WPM - VVV VVV N1NTE /B FN32
[repeats]
Page Last Revised - 7/25/08
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