Today was the 2020 Spring Simulated Emergency Test (SET) amateur radio network in western Pennsylvania. The SET is a training exercise involving the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the National Traffic System (NTS), a message-handling service of amateur radio.  Its primary purposes are to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in emergency preparedness and communications and to demonstrate amateur radio to the public.

My simulated position was at The Grays Woods Elementary School Emergency Shelter. However, I was actually operating from my home VHF/UHF and HF base stations. We were all sheltering in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was mainly operating on 75 meters using the Olivia digital mode.

We were sending formal formatted messages to net control. I sent three pieces of traffic containing shelter status. However, it got a bit silly at the end of the exercise. There was a message announcing the touch down of a tornado west of Pine Grove Mills in The PSU Ag fields. Then there was a voice message concerning a hungry elephant found in a closet at Juniper Village.