[South Florida DX Association] WX4NHC Press Release

[Bill]

Julio a long time friend of SFDXA is scheduled to be our Speaker at the 
September Meeting. Congratulations Julio!
Bill Marx W2CQ



Press Release from WX4NHC for immediate publication:

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Julio Ripoll, WD4R, was
awarded the Distinguished Service Award at the National Hurricane
Conference held in Atlanta April 18-22, 2011.

For 30 continuous years he has volunteered his services both as the
co-founder, the Coordinator and an operator of the Amateur Radio Station
WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. During that
time he has unselfishly donated over 10,000 hours of his time and many
thousands of dollars, during operations both in the hurricane season and
in the off season, while at the same time operating his architectural
business. Through his efforts over the years the data gathering amateur
radio station at NHC has evolved from a very simple station into the
modern sophisticated one it is today. Julio has volunteered under every
Director of the National Hurricane Center since 1980 and the station has
been activated for 96 hurricanes to date.

The Amateur Radio Station at NHC collects ground weather reports for
areas that are, or are about to be affected by approaching hurricanes.
It has collected thousands of these reports that are given to the
forecasters. It also broadcasts the advisories to ships at sea and to
those coastal areas that do not have any other means of receiving them.
This has saved many lives over the years.

Julio, together with Dr. Neil Frank (then the Director of NHC),
initiated formal Amateur Radio operations at The Hurricane Center in
1980. The Amateur Radio Station started with very humble beginnings.
Julio Ripoll, WD4R (ex WD4JR, WD4JNS), was the first Amateur Radio
Coordinator and he held that position for many years. Julio, then an
Architecture student at the University of Miami, would borrow the
university club station transceiver or bring his own radio from his
dormitory room in a cardboard box and hand carry it a couple of blocks
down US-1 to the old NHC building. The station radio equipment was then
setup on one of the Hurricane Forecaster's desk and connected to the
coax cable that ran 300 feet to the roof top wire antenna.

During the first Hurricane Season, Julio led a group of 5 volunteer
operators that sometimes operated up to 12 hours per shift. The first
operation at NHC was Category-5 Hurricane Allen. This was one of Julio’s
most intensive learning experiences. He relayed landing permission over
the Ham Radio from the Prime Minister of St. Lucia to the British
Hospital Ship HMS Glasgow to provide medical assistance after Allen had
caused heavy damage and injured many people on the island. As Allen
progressed through the Gulf of Mexico, still a Category-5 hurricane
towards Texas, he was able to maintain communications with NWS
Brownsville during the landfall when all other means of communications
had failed. The group had over 120 hours on the air, filled 20 pages of
the Radio Log and sent more than 90 Radiograms. Most of the WX4NHC
operational functions and goals were tested and achieved.
This proved to Dr. Frank and the staff of NHC the important support
Amateur Radio can provide during Hurricanes to the affected area as well
as receiving valuable surface reports from the people actually
experiencing the Hurricane effects in real time.

Over the years Julio has expanded the station by acquiring and
installing donated equipment and antennas. He has selected and developed
a group of over 30 specially trained volunteer operators that can be
called upon to operate the station in 3-hour shifts for as long as is
needed. During the 1998 season they operated over 500 hours, the longest
time being during hurricane "Georges" when the station was on the air
for 10 days and collected over 500 reports. These "Surface Reports" are
real time eye witness reports and weather information that provide the
forecasters with supplemental data that may not be available to them
through other means.

Bill Read, Director of the National Hurricane Center: “In an era with
increasing reliance on high speed technology, we still need the
capability to relay critical information to and receive critical
information from, those communities in their time of greatest need - in
times of disaster when most technology has failed. Frequently the only
viable form of communication are the dedicated HAM radio operators in or
near the disaster area. We at NHC are grateful for the support of the
team of radio operators staffing WX4NHC during Tropical Cyclone events
and assisting in potentially life saving communications."

There are numerous examples when, through Julio’s efforts, Amateur Radio
has provided the only means of communications to areas devastated by
hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina was one such example when Julio, at the
National Hurricane Center, using amateur radio, was the only one that
had communications with NWS Slidell.

Because of Julio’s unselfish efforts over the past 30 years he was
awarded the Distinguished Service Award at the National Hurricane
Conference held in Atlanta April 18-22, 2011


John Mc Hugh, K4AG
Coordinator for Amateur Radio
National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC
Home page:- http://www.wx4nhc.org