Overview

Welcome to the 2025 Pennsylvania Simulated Emergency Test (SET) scheduled for 5 April 2025. Red Cross Emergency Station (RCES) nets will be on April 5 from 1000 to 1200 local time. Winlink messages can be sent at any time on April 5th or 6th. 

This SET includes Red Cross Emcomm, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and unaffiliated stations across Pennsylvania and is a collaboration of:

  • EPA ARES (ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section)
  • WPA ARES (ARRL Western Pennsylvania Section)
  • ARC GPA (American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania Region)
  • ARC SEPA (American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Region)

All Pennsylvania amateur radio operators are invited to participate.

RCES Net Check-in

You’ll be connecting to Red Cross Emcomm Stations or their associated nets. Stations and Nets are listed in FREQUENCY TABLE. You may operate from home or deploy. If you deploy, it’s suggested that you find a location close to a potential emcomm mission. This includes hospitals, law enforcement, government sites, schools and sports facilities (the latter two are potential shelter locations). You may check-in with as many RCES stations and nets that you can reach. There will be over 20 RCES station nets on the air on local repeaters. 

  • Use FREQUENCY TABLE to locate nets that you can reach.
  • Check-in with all the nets that you can reach.
  • Check-in with net control. Provide your call, name, location (municipality and county), if you are ARES, Red Cross or belong to any other organization. If you are at a potential emcomm site, provide the site name (ie Phoenixville Hospital).

See NOTES FOR PARTICIPANTS in the full instructions for additional details.

Winlink ARC Frost Report

For this exercise, you are provided with a prefilled shelter report. In an actual operation the Emcomm operator would make no changes but for this exercise you will revise the report with your ham call and address. 

DO NOT send the FROST spreadsheet by Winlink.

DO NOT use Save As CSV. Instead create a CSV per these instructions.

The native Excel spreadsheet is too large for Winlink. Instead, extract the data line (line 2) to a CSV file and send the CSV file by Winlink. The receiving station will paste line 2 into a blank FROST spreadsheet and forward it by email to Red Cross.

Download the exercise FROST spreadsheet from:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11fzEODBxUfLYFdnprm7TW14TMAgun_M/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=113988432249692352664&rtpof=true&sd=true

Ralph Moffat KB3UYV has provided a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-mUnU5b3E4 that shows the process.

Conversion process

Personalize the Shelter Report with your specific information

  1. Open the Shelter Report spreadsheet.
  2. Enter your ham call as Shelter ID.
  3. Enter your first name as Site name.
  4. Enter your base station or portable deployed location as the street address, include county.
  5. Save the Shelter report spreadsheet.

Prepare A CSV file for transmission via Winlink.

  1. Open a new/blank spreadsheet.
  2. Open the Shelter Report (the one with your information).
  3. Copy line 2 from the Shelter Report and paste it into the new spreadsheet.
  4. Save the new spreadsheet as a CSV file. Name the file as YOURCALL.CSV (ex: W3ABC.CSV).

Send the Shelter Report.

  1. Open a Winlink session.
  2. Open a new message.
  3. Address the Winlink message to ARC-PCARES with subject YOURCALL SHELTER REPORT (ex: W3ABC SHELTER REPORT)
  4. Attach the CSV file you just made to the message.
  5. Send the Winlink message.

The FROST reports will be received by the exercise team. Metrics will be reported.

Please see below for the full instructions for the SET