- This event has passed.
National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio Station Annual Test
May 27, 2023 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EDT
Special Bulletin 1 ARLX001
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT May 16, 2023
To all radio amateurs
SB SPCL ARL ARLX001
ARLX001 National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio Station Annual Test
The amateur radio station of the National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC
(NHC), located on the campus of Florida International University in
Miami, will conduct their on-the-air Annual Communications Test on
Saturday, May 27, 2023, from 9 AM – 5 PM EDT (1300z-2100z).
This is the NHC’s 43rd year of public service. NHC Amateur Radio
Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R/WX4NHC, reports that the
purpose of this event is to test amateur radio equipment and
antennas at the NHC as well as operators’ home equipment, antennas,
and computers prior to this year’s hurricane season. The 2023
hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through November 30.
This event is good practice for amateur radio operators worldwide to
practice amateur radio communications during times of severe
weather.
Ripoll said WX4NHC will be on HF, VHF, UHF, 2- and 30-meter APRS,
and Winlink. To contact the NHC’s amateur radio station send an
email to, wx4nhc@winlink.org. The subject of the email must contain
//WL2K.
The Hurricane Watch Net will try to stay on 14.325 MHz for most of
the time, as well as 7.268 MHz depending on propagation. They may
also change frequencies due to potential QRM.
You may be able to find WX4NHC on HF by using one of the DX spotting
networks, such as the DX Summit website at, http://www.dxsummit.fi .
The VoIP Hurricane Net will also be active from 4 PM – 5 PM EDT
(2000-2100z), on IRLP node 9219/EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node
7203. Visit their website at https://voipwx.net for more
information.
WX4NHC will also make a few contacts on local VHF and UHF repeaters,
as well as the Florida Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet)
system to test station equipment.
QSL cards are available via WD4R with a self-addressed stamped
envelope. More information about the NHC is available at their
website https://w4ehw.fiu.edu/ .