Monitoring the Hurricane Hunters and More During the Hurricane Season

The July issue of The Spectrum Monitor is going to be released today and my monthly Milcom column will have detailed coverage of frequencies and call signs used by the US Government/Military agencies to study, track and report on hurricanes and tropical systems. It includes the latest information on the US Air Force and NOAA Hurricane Hunters.

It has been almost a decade (2008 in Monitoring Times magazine) since my last article on this subject so I had a lot of updates and information to share.

Yesterday, Curt Phillips shared with the Tarheel Scanner Group a list of Amateur Radio frequencies you can monitor during the hurricane season. With possible tropical activity developing off the southeast US coast or Gulf of Mexico in the next few days, my TSM list and this ham radio frequency list from Southgate should be helpful to stay informed.

From Southgate

On the IARU Region 1 site Greg Mossop G0DUB reports on the amateur radio nets that may be active during the Atlantic Hurricane Season June 1 to November 30

So it is time to remind the wider Amateur Radio community that the following frequencies may be in use by nets in North and Central America to track and deal with the consequences of these severe weather events. Radio Amateurs in Region 2 play their part in gathering and distributing information for the weather and emergency services as they do every year.

Radio Amateurs in Region 1 are reminded it is possible to cause unintentional QRM to these nets so please listen carefully if operating near these frequencies:

Belize: 7.177MHz
Caribbean Emergency & Weather Nets (CEWN): 3.815 & 7.162 MHz
Caribbean Emergency: 14.185 MHz
Central America: 7.090 & 3.750 MHz
Cuba: 3.720, 3.740, 7.110 and 7.120 MHz
Eastern Caribbean Narrow Band Emergency System Net: 7.036 MHz USB (Olivia & MT63)
Guatemala: 7.075 MHz
Mexico: 3.690, 3.693(Alternative), 7.060 & 14.120 MHz
Nicaragua: Main Frequencies 3.798, 7.098, 14.298 MHz Alternate Frequencies 3.898, 7.108, 14.198MHz
Panama: 7.085 MHz
Republica Dominicana: 3.780, 7.065 (Main), 14.280 MHz

USA:
Maritime Mobile Service Net: 14.300 MHz
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN): 14.265 MHz
Hurricane Watch Net: 14.325 MHz (day) 7.268MHz (Night)
National Hurricane Centre ( WX4NHC ) 14.325MHz

Other local emergency communications groups may also activate if a hurricane approaches their area and those frequencies would be announced at the time.  Thanks to the National Societies and Emergency Communications Groups of IARU Region 2 for updating their frequency information.

IARU Region 1 http://iaru-r1.org/

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/june/atlantic-hurricane-season-ham-radio-nets.htm#.WzT9i9JKjIU

You can get you copy of the July TSM issue that will include my column (electronic pdf format) from Spectrum Monitor for only $3 at https://www.thespectrummonitor.com/. Even better you can get a full year subscription to TSM for only US$24 and never miss any of my monthly Milcom columns. TSM is the only full spectrum radio hobby magazine in the US marketplace.

If you monitor radio you need a TSM subscription.

2009 Hurricane Op Plan Available

You can get the official Department of Commerce/NOAA National Hurricane Operations Plan for 2009 at http://www.ofcm.gov/nhop/09/pdf/2009%20NHOP%20entire%20document.pdf

As always, as the season progresses and the need arises, this blog and it's sister blog the BTown Monitoring Post at http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/ will carry the latest frequency information as it relates to each storm. Don't reply on old outdated list and frequencies that are no longer valid, get the best right here at the Milcom Monitoring Post.

NOAA NHOP 2007 Now Available

Those of you interested in monitoring hurricane comms during the upcoming season will find the new NOAA National Hurricane Operations Plan a useful tool. You can download your pdf copy at http://www.ofcm.gov/nhop/07/pdf/entire-nhop07.pdf.

6th SOPS assumes DMSP satellite control authority

by 1st Lt. Jeremy Cotton
6th Space Operations Squadron

2/6/2007 - SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The 6th Space Operations Squadron here assumed satellite control authority of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Jan. 29 as National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration officials deployed to Schriever from their facilities in Suitland, Md.

NOAA's deployment to Schriever is the result of a move from an older, outdated facility to a new $61-million NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland.

The move required engineers, schedulers and operators from Maryland to deploy to Schriever to continue command and control functions while 6th SOPS augmented the NOAA crews. NOAA is the primary command-and-control authority for DMSP.

In its first week, the move in Suitland has gone well and is ahead of schedule. NOAA officials powered on the ground system equipment and will begin testing soon. If all goes well, satellite operations will be transferred back to Suitland, Md. by the end of next week.

"The deployment shows how two completely separate departments of the U.S. government -- the Department of Commerce and Department of Defense -- can integrate their functions and become one in an effort to provide continued, critical meteorological information to warfighters and civilians worldwide," said Lt. Col. Byron Hays, 6th SOPS commander.

Both 6th SOPS and NOAA have prepared for this move for nearly two years. Problems with electrical and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems caused delays in the move to the new building. Once engineers resolved those problems, planners at NOAA and 6th SOPS set preparations for the move in motion.

Maj. Cal Peters, 6th SOPS chief of operations, worked with Schriever and NOAA officials to prepare the squadron for NOAA's deployment.

"Crosstalk in space ops is essential in many respects, but getting to sit side-by-side with our Department of Commerce counterparts has proven to be invaluable," Major Peters said. "We hope to give as much as we glean from them on how to streamline procedures, have big-picture situational awareness as operators, and most of all, ensure we bring down the data."

The NSOF building will host the Polar-orbiting and Geostationary operational environmental satellites and DMSP operations until the follow-on programs are launched and declared operational. The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, a combination of DMSP and the Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites, is expected to launch in 2012.