AG17
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 17  ARLB017
>From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  May 24, 2016
To all radio amateurs 

SB QST ARL ARLB017
ARLB017 Annual Pre-Hurricane Season Station Test at WX4NHC Set for
May 28

Now in its 36th year, WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center (NHC)
in Miami, will conduct its annual NHC Station Test on Saturday, May
28. The event, which gets under way at 1300 UTC and wraps up at 2100
UTC, is conducted each year in advance of hurricane season.

'The purpose of this event is to test Amateur Radio Station
equipment, antennas and computers prior to this year's Hurricane
Season, which starts June 1 and runs through November 30,' said
WX4NHC Amateur Radio Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R. 'This
event is good practice for ham radio operators worldwide as well as
National Weather Service (NWS) staff to become familiar with Amateur
Radio communication available during times of severe weather.'

The annual Station Test is not a contest or simulated hurricane
exercise. WX4NHC will be on the air on various bands and modes. The
station also often takes advantage of the test to perform operator
training. WX4NHC will make brief contacts with participating
stations to exchange signal reports and basic weather data. For
example, stations may report 'sunny' or 'rain' or 'cloudy' in
describing the conditions at their locations.

Ripoll said WX4NHC will operate on HF, VHF, UHF, 2 meter and 30
meter APRS, and available via Winlink (subject line must contain
'//WL2K') at, [email protected] .

'We will try to stay on the Hurricane Watch Net frequency of 14.325
MHz most of the time,' Ripoll said. He explained that due to space
and equipment limitations, WX4NHC will deploy up to three operators
per shift, so the station cannot be everywhere and on every mode
simultaneously. 'You may be able to find us on HF by using one of
the DX spotting networks, such as DX Summit (dxsummit.fi/#/),'
he suggested.

WX4NHC also plans to be on the VoIP Hurricane Net from 2000 until
2100 UTC (IRLP node 9219; EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203). In
addition, the station will be active on South Florida VHF and UHF
repeaters.

QSL cards are available to participating stations via WD4R; include
a self-addressed stamped envelope. Do not send cards to the National
Hurricane Center.

Visit the WX4NHC website at www.wx4nhc.org for more
information about the station.