• Bill Feist (WB8BZH)

SATERN To Present At National Hurricane Conference

Jackson, MS (06/12/2021) – The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN), in partnership with other national government organizations and amateur radio emergency communications groups, will be presenting at the 2021 National Hurricane Conference Virtual Amateur Radio Workshop.  Although most of the National Hurricane Conference will be held live in New Orleans, LA, all of the Amateur Radio sessions will be free and only provided virtually via the Zoom platform.  After the Workshop, the sessions will also be uploaded to YouTube for those that cannot attend the sessions live.

The National Hurricane Conference Amateur Radio Workshop will be begin at 10:30 AM (Eastern) / 9:30 AM (Central) and will end at 5:00 PM (Eastern) / 4:00 PM (Central).  The virtual Workshop can be accessed through Zoom as follows:

     Meeting ID:  844 9788 6921  

     Passcode:  565708

     Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84497886921?pwd=ZVJKZkx4VDk1bGJzbWFjaEhweTY4QT09

    Phone (Audio Only):  (301) 715-8592    or     (312) 262-6799

The Workshop will begin with a joint presentation by Mr. Kenneth Graham (WX4KEG), National Hurricane Center Director and Mr. Bob Robichaud (VE1MBR), Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for the Canadian Hurricane Centre.  Graham will talk about the importance of the surface and on-scene reports provided by amateur radio to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).  Robichaud will give an overview of the Canadian Hurricane Centre and talk about hurricane meteorology.

NHC Amateur Radio Coordinator John McHugh (K4AG) and Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll (WD4R) will discuss operations of the National Hurricane Center’s amateur radio station WX4NHC. 

Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Manager Bobby Graves (KB5HAV) will explain how HWN responds to hurricanes and about personal weather stations and backup power. 

Rob Macedo (KD1CY), VoIP Hurricane Net Manager will discuss the VoIP Hurricane Net and SKYWARN best practices for tropical systems.

Ken Bailey (K1FUG), Assistant Emergency Preparedness Manager for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) will provide an update of the ARRL’s emergency preparedness and other programs and activities.

The Salvation Army’s Southern Territory SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) Coordinator Bill Feist (WB8BZH) will talk about SATERN and its activities in past hurricane seasons and its protocols for the 2021 Hurricane Season.

SATERN (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network) is an international group of Salvation Army Emergency Disaster (EDS) volunteers who are licensed amateur radio operators and support The Salvation Army EDS ministry with auxiliary and emergency communications.

Throughout year, SATERN works closely with its major national Amateur Radio and government emergency communications partners.  These partners include the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN), the Voice-Over-IP Weather and Hurricane Net (VoIPWX.net), the National Hurricane Center’s amateur radio station (WX4NHC), the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force Military Auxiliary Radio Systems (US. Army and USAF MARS) and the SHAred RESources (SHARES) high-frequency (HF) radio system of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDHS).  That coordination includes support of each others’ programs with information and, when needed, personnel. 

Southern Territory SATERN Coordinator Bill Feist (WB8BZH) stated, “Over the last few years, all of us in the emergency communications field have learned that no one organization can do it all.  We recognize that coordination and cooperation is essential, especially in large events such as has been experienced during past hurricane seasons and other events.”

Questions can be addressed to:  Bill.Feist@USS.SalvationArmy.org