This is the final installment in our 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery Four Decades and Going Strong! Four decades of service have not dulled the skill or dedication of the MMSN. While many amateur radio operators see their time on the air as “just a hobby,” the members of the Maritime Mobile Service Network see their time on 14.300 MHz as the place “Where Emergency...

This is the Fourth installment in our 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery Not all emergencies happen at sea. It was the fourth night after Hurricane Katrina, and nearly a thousand patients, doctors and staff were trapped at Medical Center Louisiana in downtown New Orleans, surrounded by floodwaters. Outside, reports were grim. People were drowning in their attics. Inside...

This is the third installment in our 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery Medical Emergency in the Caribbean On Wednesday January 30, 2008, at approximately 09:00 EST, SV Silent Passage came to 14.300 MHz and declared an emergency.  At this time the vessel was in the Eastern Caribbean, at approximately 14º N x 062º W.  There were two persons-on-board.  The radio operator...

This is the second in a 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery Maritime Mobile Service Net members know that piracy didn’t die with Blackbeard! On Friday, April 13 2007 at 4:45 PM EST (0045z 2007/04/14), a MAYDAY call was made to the net frequency.   The S/V Argonauta was in distress, actively being stalked by a power vessel with 4 males on board.  The ARGONAUTA had made...

This is the first in a 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery Forty Years Is A Long, Long Time…… …to keep a volunteer organization alive. Forty years is a much longer time for volunteers to consistently save lives and property, year in and year out. The Maritime Mobile Service Net is a group of sixty to seventy volunteer licensed amateur radio operators in North and Central...