[AARA] Annual Pre-Hurricane Season Station Test at WX4NHC Set for May 28

[Herman Campbell]

Now in its 36th year, *WX4NHC* <http://www.wx4nhc.org/> at the National 
Hurricane Center (*NHC* <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/>) 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 30 meter APRS, 
and available via *Winlink* <mailto:wx4nhc at winlink.org> (subject line 
must contain “//WL2K”). “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 such as *My DX Summit* 
<http://www.dxsummit.fi/#/>,” he suggested.

WX4NHC also plans to be on the *VoIP Hurricane Net* 
<http://www.voipwx.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* 
<http://www.qrz.com/db/WD4R>; include a self-addressed stamped envelope. 
Do not send cards to the National Hurricane Center.

Visit the *WX4NHC* <http://www.wx4nhc.org/> website for more information 
about the station.

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