Amateur Radio station WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in Miami will conduct its annual station test on May 30, 1400 until 2200 UTC. The purpose of this event is to test Amateur Radio station equipment, antennas, and computers in advance of the 2015 hurricane season, which starts June 1 and runs through November 30.
“This event is will be good practice for ham radio operators worldwide, as well as for National Weather Service (NWS) staff to become familiar with Amateur Radio communications that are available during times of severe weather,” said WX4NHC Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R. WX4NHC also will conduct operator training.
WX4NHC will make brief contacts on a variety of frequencies and modes, exchanging signal reports and basic weather information, such as “sunny” or “rain,” with any and all stations. WX4NHC will operate on HF, VHF and UHF bands, including APRS on 2 and 30 meters and WinLink (subject must contain “//WL2K”).
“We will try to stay on the recognized Hurricane Watch Net frequency of 14.325 MHz most of the time and announce when we QSY,” Ripoll said. “Due to space and equipment limitations, we will have two to three operators per shift,” he added. “We cannot be everywhere and on every mode at the same time.” He suggested locating WX4NHC by using one of the DX station spotting networks, such as DX Summit.
WX4NHC also will be on the VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIP-WX) from 2100 until 2200 UTC and on IRLP node 9219 and EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203. The station also will operate on VHF and UHF repeaters in South Florida.
QSL cards are available via WD4R with an SASE. Do not send cards directly to the National Hurricane Center.
Due to security policy, no visitors will be allowed into the National Hurricane Center without having prior clearance from the NHC PIO and Security. Only WX4NHC Operators on the pre-approved operating schedule will be allowed entry.