May 1, 2018 – Here is some raw drone footage (Courtesy of W1AYX) of the St. John River and Fish River at Fort Kent, ME and Soldier Pond, ME running just below moderate flood stage at 11.91 feet.
https://youtu.be/KBd7oZtjnRo
Congratulations to the members of the New England Weather Net and to one in particular, Jack Caron, W1AYX, our new Net Manager.
Jack Caron has been named the new Net Manager of the New England Weather Net with overwhelming support from the members, all of the Net Controls, and myself. Jack is a moving force in ham radio and emergency communications in the State of Maine. He has a close relationship with the National Weather Service in Caribou, ME. Additionally, Jack has a great deal of talent in Internet communications and has done a fantastic job revising and maintaining our web site, newenglandweathernet.com.
It is my opinion, supported by many of our regular members, that the report form on our website has been the salvation of the New England Weather Net during this long period of terrible band propagation. This was entirely the result of Jack’s efforts.
Please welcome Jack as he takes over on May 1st! I have had a tremendously good time as your Net Manager for the past 7 or 8 years. My mentor, Bill Claflin SK, a shortwave monitor, served as Nete Manger for a similar period of time and was an immense help to me as I got my feet on the ground. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to another mentor, Rob Lyons, AB1NJ SK. Rob provided a great deal of support when I had to deal with a disruptive member shortly after becoming Net Manager.
I would also like to thank those members who have participated as Net Controls, including Henry , K1WCC; Joan, KC1KZ; Jack, W1AYX; Jon, N1MLF; tom, K1TL; Jack, N1HOS; Mike, W1MCT; Phil KE2EA SK, Pete, KA1GHF; Al, N1MHC; Doug, N1JBG; Jim, WA1KCC SK; Bill W1JLK SK; ED, W1UAZ SK; ART, K1TDY. I apologize to any others I can’t remember!
During my time as Net Manager we have averaged approximately 12,000 check ins per year. These years have had incredible growth in membership and in member participation. I have had a great deal of fun leading the Net even though it has meant getting up at 4:45 AM 312 stimes so far this year! My wife and I are returning to the fun that we have had exploring North America. We sold our travel trailer almost two years ago and have now purchased a 35 foot motorhome.
Dick, K1MGH
Follow our travels at http://rawiklund.com
This past winter seems to have been especially long here in northern Maine but spring is nipping at its heels. Ice flow and subsequent jams along with spring flooding are always a concern for those who live along the rivers of Maine. However, this year the area has a new tool to help monitor progress of the ice flow along the St. John River in northern Maine. NB Power is hosting a GPS tracking project by placing automated buoys on the river ice at various locations. Once the buoys begin to move with the ice they start sending out automated position reports thus helping to track the progress of the ice flow.
If you want to take a close look here is a short video taken on April 19, 2018 that shows the buoy on the ice at the Dickey Bridge at Allagash, ME. It is visible at about 00:25.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qti6akGLAM
If you want to track the progress of the buoy click here.
Jack, W1AYX
Here is some aerial footage from Jack Caron, W1AYX, of the world record ice carousel built on a frozen lake in northern Maine on April 7, 2018. The diameter of the carousel is 426.5 feet (130 meters) with 30 inches (76.2 cm) of ice thickness. The estimated 11,000 ton disk of ice was turned by three outboard motors put through holes in the ice.
Click Here for the local news story from Bill Green’s Maine.
A colder, wetter and snowier than normal March here in the Northern part of Acushnet. March opened with the warmest day of the entire month and the calm before the Storm.
A nor’easter slammed the area the next day with hurricane force winds and windswept rain. Long duration powerful winds fell and snapped trees resulting in region wide power outages and property damage and beach erosion.
Another strong N.E. storm hit the area on March 13th. with heavy wet snow and wind and more severe tree damage and power outages. Area yards looking like a war zone and the snow on the ground lingered long with the cold temperatures. Mother Nature eased off her rampage a little bit during the second half of the month confusing the computers and forecasters into apologies. A short string of warmer temps at months end awakened the honeybees and peepers and yard cleanups.
March 2018 Acushnet, Mass. 41deg,44min N 70deg,55min W
Ave High 44.0 deg. Ave Low 29.6 deg. March Mean 36.8 deg. is 1.5 deg. below normal.
High Temp 63 deg. on March 1st.Low Temp 16 deg. on March 18th. Days 0 or below 0
Total Precip. 6.58″ is 1.11″ above normal. Max 24hr. Precip. 3.35″ on March 2nd.
Snowfall 15.8″ is 9.0″ above normal. Max 24hr. Snowfall 11.0″ on March 13th. Season Snowfall ( dec-mar) 40.6″ (dec 5.9,jan16.0,feb 2.9,mar 15.8)
Total 2018 Precip. 20.24″ is 6.47″ above normal. T-Storm Days 0. High Wind Gust 48 mph on March 2nd.
Heating Degree Days 883. Cooling Degree Days 0. High Barometer 30.69″ on March 26th. Low Barometer 29.06″ on March 2nd.
Phil Bretz, KE2EA, was a very long time member of the New England Weather Net and served as a Net Control for many of those years.
I received a call today from Phil’s son-in-law, John Wojack, KC2JAM, telling me that Phil died at home last night after a long battle with bone marrow cancer. Phil was in the hospital for the last three weeks but chose to return home where he could pass in peace. Phil’s wife passed away last June after a very long illness.
Claire and I had a wonderful visit with Phil and his wife during our trip to Alaska in 2013.
A much milder than normal February here in the northern part of Acushnet with above normal precipitation and below normal snowfall. It was the warmest Feb. 38.1 deg. on my 34 years of temperature records. 20 years ago Feb. of 1998 had a mean of 37.4 deg..
17 days this month saw measurable precipitation and it was the wettest February since 2008 had 6.98″ of precip.. The high barometer reading of 30.81″ on Feb. 13th. was the highest in February since 1981 reached 30.93″ at my location also on a Feb. 13th..
The Winter Season 2017-2018 was exactly normal temperature wise with a mean of 32.2 deg.. It was the wettest Winter Season since 20.39″ fell during 1997-1998. Snowfall was below the normal.
February 2018 Acushnet, Mass. 41deg,44min N 70deg, 55min W
Ave High 47.4 deg. Ave Low 28.8 deg. Feb. Mean 38.1 deg. is 6.8 deg. above normal. High Temp 59 deg. on Feb. 20th. Low Temp 07 deg. on Feb. 3rd Days 0 or below 0
Total Precip. 6.43″ is 2.45″ above normal Max 24hr. Precip. 1.18″ on Feb. 10-11th. Snowfall 2.9″ is 8.3″ below normal. Max 24hr. Snowfall 1.8″ on Feb. 18th. Total 2018 Precip. 13.66″ is 5.36″ above normal
T-Storm Days 0. High Wind Gust 29 mph on Feb.2nd. Heating Degree Days 760 Cooling Degree Days 0
High Barometer 30.81″ on Feb.13th. Low Barometer 29.44″ on Feb. 5th.
The Winter Season 2017-2018 ( dec,jan,feb) Ave. Temp 32.2 deg. is exactly normal . Total Precip. 17.20″ is 4.09″ above norma. l Snowfall 24.8″ is 4.5″ below normal
The Internet Report Form has been a boon for the New England Weather Net during times when we have incredibly poor band conditions. But it’s not for everyone. There is an alternative that keeps a little closer to Ham Radio but it still uses the Internet. It is D-STAR, a digital mode that uses 2 Meters or 440 cms mostly.
You don’t need to buy a D-STAR radio to take advantage of D-STAR, you can use a DV Dongle, a small device that connects to your PC or Apple computer and allows you to access any D-STAR reflector, repeater and, therefore, any D-STAR user in on Earth, now even in Space! See: http://www.dvdongle.com/DV_Dongle/Home.html. Prices vary between $200 and $300, far less expensive than an ICOM or Kenwood enabled base or handheld radio. You don’t need to be close to a D-STAR repeater; all you need is an Internet connection.
As Net Manager, I monitor 3.905 and my D-STAR repeater (KB1ZEG module C at 145.210 KHz with a -600 Hz offset. The D-STAR repeater is linked to a Reflector 050C. I can hear stations on Cape Cod, the greater Boston area, all of New England, and even Florida or beyond. W1JGR and K1CB check in with me frequently when they can’t get through to Net Control on 3.905 but I can.
This is how my dual band Icom 9100 is set up every morning. Click on a button and I can switch back and forth between bands, transmit on the top one and listen to both at the same time.
D-STAR sounds ominous but it is really pretty simple. If anyone wants to look into a DV-DONGLE, feel free to contact me and I’d be glad to help. I’m sure that K1CB and Q1JGR would also be glad to help.
Dick, K1MGH
When we get a new station checking in with us I go to QRZ.com and get some info about them. One of the things I do is click on “show map” to see if their QTH is close to anywhere that I would recognize. I did that a week or two ago and noticed another tab at the bottom of the map, “Explore on HamGrid Maps” and it showed their QTH and the boundaries of their Madenhead Grid square and all the hams in their immediate neighborhood. When I clicked on adjacent areas another grid square showed up and displayed all the ham stations in that grid. So I tried it on my own call sign and started clicking like mad until I had covered all of southeastern Massachusetts. Here’s what I ended up with:
Every dot is a ham radio station. Try it and have some fun!
Dick
That’s a frustrating situation for both the Net Control and the station trying to check in! We have a good solution to that with the addition of the “Report Online” option that’s available on our website. Fill in the data and click on the “submit” tab. The Net Control will receive your data almost immediately.
Now we have found a more pleasing, for the station and the Net Control, solution. A group in Pennsylvania has put access to a Software Defined Radio on the Internet. That radio serves as a reflector, it will receive your signal and then retransmit it from their Qth. Their location is at a good position to receive stations that are too close to the Net Control for good reception in poor band conditions. If you tune into 3.905KHz you will hear Net Control. When there is a lull, call on 3.905 and give your roster number and call sign. You will hear your transmission a second or two into your transmission and then you will hear Net Control doing the readback. Neat!!!!