The Federal Government has a guide to implement Amateur Radio in times of emergency, that guide is called the ‘Auxiliary Communications Field Operations Guide (AUXFOG). Likewise Massachusetts has it’s own guide, that guide is titled the ‘Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Plan’.
In it’s introduction, the Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Plan states:
“This plan contains the details of how the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is implemented across Massachusetts. Instructions and general operating procedures presented in this document are applicable to message traffic handling by RACES and used in all RACES training. All amateur radio operators are encouraged to use this document in training and/or activated net operations.” While the introduction specifically mentions RACES, this operations manual includes sections on RACES and SKYWARN.
Some of the topics covered in the MARECP include:
– Identification of Operators.
– RACES Net Hierarchy.
– Frequencies.
– Available Simplex Frequencies – Per NESMC.
– Net Control Duties and Authority.
– Net Preamble for Massachusetts RACES Nets.
– Massachusetts RACES Message Format
If you’re already a member of RACES, ARES or SKYWARN, your going to want to read this document. After which you may want to print it to keep a hard-copy on-hand. To those interested in these groups, Emergency Communications (emcomm), or Hams simply wanting to brush up on Good Operating Practices, I encourage you to read this plan.
Please click on this link, to view the Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Plan. Note: it’s in PDF format.