- RRL/YRM CONDUCTS PRE-HURRICANE SEASON READINESS DRILL
There is a group of Vincentians – and this group is increasing – that enjoy communicating wirelessly, some as a hobby, others as a service, but at the end of the day they all join forces to provide emergency communications services, on a volunteer basis, as their contribution to national safety, many going the extra mile.
Just before 3 AM on Whit Sunday, June 19, 2024, a clear signal on VHF radio from J88CU – Sean Patterson broke the silence of the quiet but breezy environment of the YWAM compound in Mayreau, to signal the start of another communications readiness exercise, designed to prepare local radio amateurs (Hams) for the 2024 storm season. Meteorologists are predicting that this will be an above normal year for named storms, as the earth is registering higher temperatures, and high sea temperatures are the ‘fuels’ for storm formation.
The communications exercise tested the use of field stations, including the Grenadines, some operated by battery power only. In the case of Mayreau, there is communications equipment available but a lack of trained volunteers, not their fault. A training session was organised and volunteers from Mayreau ready to be trained but the person conducting the training had their property on St. Vincent broken into and had to return pre-maturely, and has since not been able to get another opportunity to pass on these vital skills.
Therefore, on this occasion the RRL/YRM took the opportunity to use the equipment donated by Barrett Communications AU, to ensure it was operational and to provide basic training for local volunteers should an emergency arise and phone service compromised. Contacts from Mayreau were made with stations from Fancy, Rose Hall, Belmont, Biabou, Bequia, Canouan, Calder, Dorsetshire Hill, Vermont, Kingstown and further afield including stations from Tobago, Dominica, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Grenada and USA including a Vincentian radio amateur in the US, Herbert “Jeff” English – KE2HK who also made contact with his nephew Arington Raguette – J88SE for the first time since the latter became a licensed radio operator about a month ago.
Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of this readiness exercise was the use of Winlink, a free software that allows licensed radio amateurs to send and receive emails wirelessly and independent of the fibre internet service. So if a hazard impacts and compromises our fibre internet service, radio amateurs, once they have power/electricity, can send/receive emails. This is the first year that the RRL/YRM has experimented with Winlink and did so successfully.
Pioneering Winlink were Sean – J88CU, Reni King – J88DM and Arington –J88SE with international contacts including Paul Lowman – K9PSL and Jeff KE2HK in the US and Frans Santibrink – J69DS among others . A full list of stations emailed via Winlink can be viewed on the CDARIN website. It is the intention of the RRL/YRM to expand the number volunteers using Winlink in the future, but this depends on funding from corporate society to provide some laptops running Win 10 or above to provide a reliable service. These laptops can be refurbished units in working condition.
The success of this readiness training exercise was in great part achieved by sponsorship from the Bank of St. Vincent & the Grenadines – BOSVG which provided support to cover logistic and travel expenses to ensure that the Grenadines were not left out from this training activity. The Director of the RRL/YRM uses this medium to express profound gratitude to BOSVG for living up their their corporate responsibility to ensure that Vincentians across our territory are not left out in matters of preparedness and safety, both on land and sea. Thanks is also expressed to Youth With A Mission – YWAM on Mayreau for the use of their grounds to erect temporary antennas and radio equipment, it was the ideal location for that exercise.
The Director of the RRL/YRM Donald De Riggs – J88CD said that he was pleased with the outcome of the readiness exercise and that there is a corps (group) of Vincentian radio operators who are now in a state of readiness for the 2024 hurricane season which officially begins on June 1st. A complete list of radio operators who took part in the readiness drill can also be found on the CDARIN website. www.cdarin.net
