WCARES Status – Final update from AT&T on Outage Recovery

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Updated: Tuesday, December 29, 2020, 5:50 p.m. CST

— AT&T website, final update Tuesday, December 29, 2020, 5:30 p.m. CST
https://about.att.com/pages/disaster_relief/nashville.html

This will be our final update. We want to thank our customers for their patience as we have worked to restore service after this devastating explosion. We also give thanks to the first responders who have been tireless in their efforts to investigate the bombing and secure the area.

The local utility has made repairs so we can begin to restore commercial power to our building. Our second generator is online and providing power. We are in the process of activating the last of the remaining wireline equipment this afternoon. As we make the transition back to normal operations, we will continue to make repairs to the building and keep our equipment running. We will have significant resources on site as needed until the building is fully restored.

For customers who need additional assistance, they should contact our customer care teams at 1-800-288-2020 or by dialing 611 from their mobile devices.

— AT&T will waive overage charges for affected customers
https://about.att.com/newsroom/2020/nashvillerelief.html

— Xfinity WIFI and Wifi available from businesses
To help residents and emergency personnel stay connected after today’s explosion in downtown Nashville, Comcast is reminding residents that its network of public Xfinity WiFi hotspots is available for anyone to use, including non-Xfinity customers, for free.

Comcast opened its network across the country at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and has already committed to keeping it open through June of 2021.

For a map of public Xfinity WiFi hotspots, which are located both indoors and outdoors in places such as shopping districts, parks and businesses, visit Xfinity.com/wifi. Once in range of a hotspot, select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots and then launch a browser.

Xfinity internet customers can sign in with their usernames and passwords, and they will be automatically connected to Xfinity WiFi hotspots in the future. Non-Xfinity internet subscribers should visit the “Not an Xfinity Internet Customer” section on the sign-in page to get started. Non-customers can renew their free sessions every two hours.

More information is also available here: https://xfinity.com/learn/internet-service/wifi

Some businesses also offer free Wifi; for example, we have a report that the Dunkin Donuts in Fairview is one such location with operational Wifi.

— ARRL News release on the WCARES and MTEARS nets
https://wcares.org/2020-dec-arrl-ares-news-wcares-standby/ Original ARRL article is here.

— NWS Public Information Statement (contains county emergency numbers):
https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSOHX

— HubNashville link to 2nd Avenue explosion information and assistance:
https://hub.nashville.gov/s/request-type/a0ut0000001GMMtAAO/2nd-avenue-explosion-information-and-assistance?language=en_US

— Williamson County EMA and Office of Public Safety
Williamson Co. Office of Public Safety
https://twitter.com/WCTNEMA

— AUXCOMM of TN – Action Requested – tracking status of Tennessee communication infrastructure
https://wcares.org/2020-dec-26-auxcomm-1400/

The WCARES net is not in full activation but Net Control operators are monitoring, both to take reports of continuing outage or re-establishment of service and to read pertinent information over the air for those without Internet access.

WCARES can been reached via the Contact Us form: https://wcares.org/contact/

Our Regional Frequencies page, https://wcares.org/repeater-network/mtears-frequencies/ includes a list of regional frequencies and links to ARES groups and radio clubs in neighboring counties.

Middle Tennessee Electric Co-operative Outages: https://www.mtemc.com/Outages




AUXCOMM TN – Action requested – updated Dec 28, 2020

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From AUXCOMM of TN, Elizabeth St. Vincent, K4KTG

WIDEST DISSEMINATION REQUESTED – PLEASE SHARE THIS EMAIL WITH AMATEUR RADIO COMMUNICATIONS GROUPS & TEAMS

WHAT WE KNOW: As efforts continue to bring online Tennessee’s communications systems, I wish to take a moment and thank everyone for their valuable ‘ground-truth’ reports. We have been able to utilize your data points for understanding where there are still lapses in coverage, and where restorative efforts have been successful.

Approximately 59 Tennessee 911 centers (PSAPs) experienced partial, or total, telecommunications disruption as a result of the explosion in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day. With over 140 AUXCOMM data points collected from all across Tennessee, with a variety of area codes included in the mix, we were able to provide invaluable feedback to served agencies who worked to establish back-up telephone numbers for their dispatch centers.

WHAT WE NEED: To assist in the tracking of Tennessee’s communications infrastructure status, Amateur Radio systems are being exercised for various served agencies:

o DMR TEMA TalkGroup 31478 Net Daily at 10am & 2PM (CST) – Call Sign, County, System Connectivity (ie. Are you using a HotSpot: Internet Service Provider or DMR Repeater to access TalkGroup)

ACTION REQUESTED: At this time, we are modifying the request for data collection. Please submit a response to the Auxiliary Communicators of Tennessee Facebook Group ONLY if:

1. If your Cellular of Internet Service Provider link has NOT been restored
2. If you have experienced a sudden change (either up or down) in service

Use this NEW template, and look for the text of this email for a NEW thread that will be used to track updates from any given station:

1. Amateur Radio CallSign
2. County Name (State Abbreviation if you are an out-of-state (TN) Station)
3. Personal Cellular Area Code
4. Personal Cellular Provider’s Name
5. Personal Cellular Status (Restored / No Coverage)
6. Internet Service Provider (ISP)
7. Personal ISP Status (Restored / No Coverage)

SAMPLE:

1. K4KTG
2. Williamson
3. 615
4. AT&T
5. Restored
6. Comcast
7. Restored

****** Only if you DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO FACEBOOK (https://www.facebook.com/groups/AUXCOMMofTN) may you respond to this email [send to: estvincent@secureidea.com ], and I will copy/paste your completed template into the Facebook thread.

This was the reason we have trained so hard across the years. This is why the Incident Command System is critical for our understanding of served agencies. This was why we exercised frequently, so that our individual response was a calm and collected response. This was the moment for TN-AUXCOMM to shine, and you did so valiantly! Thank you!

Talk to you soon,
Elizabeth St. Vincent
FCC Callsign: K4KTG

Certified Communications Unit Leader (TN-COML)
Communications Unit Technician (COMT)
(615) 946-9766 Mobile
(615) 301-1747 Fax
estvincent@secureidea.com

NOAA Weather Radio restoration status

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From Laura, N4CLO

From Faith Borden at OHX, during the morning briefing:

These NOAA weather radio frequencies are on the air: Nashville (162.550), Lawrenceburg (162.425), Spencer (162.450), and a fourth whose name was not given. Restoring the systems used for transmitting wx information are lower priority for AT&T than other services. No severe weather is expected the next few days.

OHX list of all NOAA weather radio frequencies in the area, including frequencies and SAME codes:
https://www.weather.gov/ohx/weatherradio

 

Note: current NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) status including outages: https://www.weather.gov/nwr/outages
Note: a page with NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) links is available here, under Frequencies and Nets.

ARRL News – Ed, WB4RHQ: ARES volunteers monitoring & standing by to assist

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http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-ares-volunteers-standing-by-to-assist-if-needed-in-wake-of-nashville-blast

ARRL ARES Volunteers Standing By to Assist if Needed in Wake of Nashville Blast
12/26/2020

ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers remain ready to deploy in Williamson County, Tennessee, in the aftermath of an apparently intentional explosion early on Christmas morning in downtown Nashville. In addition to injuring at least three people and possibly killing one, damaging more than 40 buildings, and causing multiple water main breaks, the blast disrupted telecommunication systems. The explosion occurred in front of an AT&T switching facility. Nashville’s mayor has declared a civil emergency and imposed a curfew through December 27. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee called the damage “shocking” and has requested a federal emergency declaration. ARRL Vice Director and Williamson County Emergency Coordinator Ed Hudgens, WB4RHQ, who lives in Nashville, is monitoring the situation.

“Here in Nashville and the surrounding counties things are a bit of a mess still. The explosion did a lot more damage than was originally thought. AT&T now has about 30 mobile cell units deployed throughout the area.

“Since about 0730 yesterday, we have had monitoring nets up and running on the local analog repeaters and DMR repeaters. We have mainly been answering questions as best we can considering the limited information coming out from AT&T. My ARES group is ready to deploy to the Williamson County PSC to assist with communications for various county offices when the call comes.

“MTEARS [Middle Tennessee Emergency Amateur Repeater System] is holding nets on our DMR repeater system several times a day. The main repeater at the TEMA [Tennessee Emergency Management Agency] site is affected by the outage and fortunately we just last week got two DMR repeaters online in Williamson County, and all communications is going through them.

“WCARES is holding a continuous net on our five-repeater linked system to assist hams as needed. We are relaying news updates from AT&T and county governments and assisting callers on AT&T to implement wireless calling on their phones. In the future we may start taking traffic and routing it to the state nets.” The monitoring net on the linked system will remain u p until AT&T systems begin to come back online, he added.

Hudgens said that a net is active in Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, in addition to the WCARES net. “The MTEARS system is active and providing similar information. Our DMR repeater system is also up and running. The main repeater at TEMA is down because of the AT&T outage, but just last week we got two new DMR repeaters up in Williamson county and all DMR traffic is running through them,” Hudgens said.

ARRL Headquarters has reached out to Tennessee Section Manager David Thomas, KM4NYI, to offer any possible assistance.

A public address system on the RV broadcast continuous warning messages, counting down from 15 minutes. Police called to the site after reports of gunfire quickly evacuated residents. According to FEMA, outages with patient-tracking systems were reported, but there is no anticipated impact on patient care. Air traffic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is on hold due to a communication outage, FEMA said. Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the only Level I trauma center serving the region.

AT&T is experiencing service outages across middle Tennessee and Kentucky, including with local 911 systems, cable TV, telephone, and internet customers. The Tennessee Emergency Operations Center is at partial activation, experiencing telephone and internet outages. The FBI is heading up the investigation. FEMA reports it’s received no requests for assistance.

New DMR repeaters and changes to WC4EOC-9

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From Hilton, W4GHD

I announced yesterday during the WCARES monthly meeting that Williamson County EMA will install two new DMR repeaters on Tuesday, Dec 22 2020 for use of WCARES and the entire Amateur Radio Community.

One repeater will be located at the Trinity/Nolensville Tower off Clovercroft Road (440.6875 +5); the second on the Tower just above Century Court (440.5875 +5) near downtown Franklin where the WCARES hub (444.025) is also located.

The Trinity/Nolensville Tower did not have an immediately available UHF antenna for the new DMR Repeater. So, we agreed to take WC4EOC-9 off the air temporarily to free up an antenna for the DMR repeater.

WC4EOC-8 will continue on the air at 145.050 with VARA FM 1200 and 1200 Packet to serve Winlink users.

Hopefully an additional UHF antenna will be installed at the Tower in the not too distant future and allow the UHF node to resume operations.

I know you will all join me in thanking Bill Jorgensen, K4COM and Director of the Williamson County Office of Public Safety and all the people at WCEMA and thank them for all they do for WCARES.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hilton
W4GHD

Dec 2020 Virtual Monthly Meeting: DMR, ARES in TN, Winter FD, POTA and Shack Tour!

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Our EC, Ed WB4RHQ reported we had a record 63 attendees for this, the final Virtual Monthly Meeting of 2020 and he wished all a happy and safe holiday season. Thanks to everyone who took the time to join in for a great set of presentations.

DMR in Williamson Co. – Hilton Dean, W4GHD

Williamson Co. will be adding 2 DMR nodes on Tuesday, December 22, 2020:

  • Trinity site(*)
  • Century Court where the WCARES 444.025MHz hub is located

Thanks to Bill Jorgenson and the Office of Public Safety and also to Andrew Gossett, AK4FA who got the boards programmed. Look for upcoming e-mail with more details.
* The WC4EOC-9 UHF antenna will be used for the Trinity site DMR so WC4EOC-9 will be offline until another antenna can be added to this tower, likely in 2021.

Winter Field Day – Cliff Batson (N4CCB)

  • We are very fortunate that the Winter Field Day organizers will allow aggregation of scores like the ARRL did for Field Day in June. So everyone who includes the same group name will get their scores aggregated for a combined group score. You’ll need to decide how adventurous you want to be. Running off mains from inside your house with 100W on SSB and getting 100 QSOs would get you 200 points; running outside on batteries or a generator would get you 3200 points for those same QSOs. Something to think about! Cliff will have much more to say in the January meeting.

Presentations & Shack Tour!

The State of ARES in TN – Jim Snyder, AJ4NO, Tennessee Section Emergency Coordinator

https://youtu.be/ANNPMG9LBG0

Jim generously provided a copy of his presentation as well; you can read the PDF version here.

Parks On The Air – Tom Suggs N4MTE

https://youtu.be/brnt8Zpshto

and Tom generously provided a copy of his presentation so check this out as well:

Parks on the Air – WCARES Presentation by Tom, N4MTE

Virtual Shack Tour – Doug Miller (W4DML)

https://youtu.be/7edSXoYbwjQ

You can find videos of past meetings on the WCARES Media channel on Youtube .

Santa Net – Christmas Eve 2020

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Tony, KF4KFQ will be presenting the Santa Net again this year on Christmas Eve, December 24th at 7PM CST.

This year the Santa Net will be once again be soaring through the skies of
Middle Tennessee. Each year Tony, KF4KFQ, presents the “Santa Net”
bringing Santa across Middle Tennessee. Amateur radio operators will be
able to contact Santa during his rounds on the 146.415 simplex and
simulcast on 446.415 simplex.

For those heading out of the area or for our non-ham listeners, the Santa
Net will be simulcast on YouTube and on Zoom.

See the PDF linked below for all the details including frequencies, schedule, Youtube and Zoom links and login information.

PDF: https://wcares.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/KF4KFQ2020SantaNetInfo.pdf

Nov. 2020 Virtual Monthly Meeting: What’s in a bag, FT8 & FT4, Shack Tour!

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(RJ’s tour video has been updated.)

This month Kevin, KO4HPE has a presentation on planning and building an effective go-bag, Hilton, W4GHD gives a Technical Presentation on digital modes FT8 and FT4 and RJ, KC4LRR takes us on a tour of his radio shack and laboratory!

What’s in a bag: Preparedness
By Kevin Fitch (KO4HPE)

https://youtu.be/64WfO0iPGeQ

FT8 & FT4
By Hilton Dean (W4GHD)

https://youtu.be/RtQXbVEqcP0

RJ Virtual Shack Tour
By RJ (KC4LRR)

https://youtu.be/TLCaljEq2FQ

Update on Hamvention 2021

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From DX Engineering’s “Tuesdays with Tim and Jeff” an update on the status of Hamvention 2021:

https://youtu.be/SeqrR1WdXGw

From the Hamvention website:

We are looking forward to seeing all our friends at the 2021 Hamvention. Of course, 2020 has turned out to be the year of the COVID-19 pandemic and that has caused us to deal with new stresses and visitor concerns regarding Hamvention.

As we move forward toward the 2021 Hamvention, we are keeping our eye on government policy and ensuring good protection for our guests. As someone trained in Public Health, I am especially interested in making sure all our guests will be able to enjoy the Gathering at Hamvention without unnecessary risk to themselves.

Many things need to happen between now and May of 2021 for Hamvention to be a success. Some are in our control, and some are not. But all of us in the Hamvention Volunteer Corps are working full speed and at full throttle toward the success we hope Hamvention 2021 will be.

Rick Allnutt, MD, WS8G, 2021 Hamvention General Chair

Field Day 2020 Results are in!

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As you read in a recent WCARES Notes, our EC Ed Hudgens, WB4RHQ had exciting news:

“The results are in the Dec QST and WCARES wound up 5th in the country with 26.7K points. The winner, not that it was a contest, had over 45K. The others were slightly above us.”

The December QST ( http://www.arrl.org/qst ) should be in your hands now and includes a summary of the scores starting on page 69 (the digital edition of QST and the ARRL Field Day Page at http://field-day.arrl.org have the full listings.)

You can find a list of WCARES entries at http://field-day.arrl.org/fdentriesrcvd.php under

Williamson County (TN) ARES

Try Sort by Club Name to seem them grouped togther and be sure to check out the Soapbox section http://field-day.arrl.org/fdsoapbox.php to see comments and photographs from the day, including by our own Jeff, WB5WAJ!