WICEN NSW, is a communications support squad of the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association. Due to COVID-19, administrative and training activities have been moved on-air or online.

At the WICEN NSW training event last Sunday, several members who attended were presented with the NSW Bushfire Emergency Citation. There were 30 WICEN NSW members who volunteered their time in several roles during the 2019-20 Bush Fire season, including providing emergency communications infrastructure for the Bega Valley, radio operators and logistics support in a number of regional RFS Fire Control Centres, and call centre operators in the RFS Bush Fire Information Line.

The NSW Volunteer Rescue Association is undergoing a restructure. Details can be viewed on the shared Google drive, using your VRA email address, in the "Corporate Governance Review 2020" folder.

The first official WICEN NSW field operation in some time is to provide assistance to WICEN ACT in the provision of communications support for the BMSC "National Capital Rally". This is being held south and west of canberra, in the Brindabella and Tidbinbilla areas on November 28th and 29th.
Further information, and the sign-up form is at: https://groups.io/g/vk1-reflect/message/1767

A remote training exercise will be conducted on January 9th and 10th, 2021.

Members have been experimenting with WINLINK and JS8CALL to pass text messages, on Monday evenings, supported by a Google Meeting.

WICEN has a weekly net, each Sunday evening. The main net is at 1800, and a secondary check-in net at 1830.
Today's uses the Kurrajong - Berowra 70 cm FM system, then DMARC Talkgroup 3810.

Members are also encouraged to take advantage of the free courses offered by OEM at: https://www.emtraining.nsw.gov.au/

WICEN hopes to be at the CCARC Field Day at Wyong on February 28th, 2021.

Members are asked to regularly use their vrarescue.org email address. As of January 1st 2021 all WICEN emails will only be sent to the member's VRA email address.

For Facebook users, there is an official WICEN NSW page; and an informal national WICEN group.

WICEN ACT, part of CRARC, can be read about at: http://www.crarc.org.au

WICEN Victoria's weekly net is Tuesdays at 8:30 pm, on 3.6 MHz, and their website is: http://vic.wicen.org.au

Submitted by Julian Sortland VK2YJS, on behalf of the WICEN State Management Committee.