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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 15Minutes Town of Los Altos Hills EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE February 15, 2011 @ 7:00 PM, Town Council Chambers Roll call: Member Call Sign Attended Absent Jim Abraham W6EB P Dru Anderson KG6LAD E Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E Ray Egan, Chair W6FQY P Andy Fawcett KI6MAF E Bill Gibbons KJ6IRA P Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P Scott Overstreet N6NXI P Bob Rowe AF6LD E Miles Seiver, Secretary KI6LDU P Terry Smith K7YNO Maynard Stevenson W7MVT P Jerry Tomanek AF6HY E Al Whaley KV6U Sam Wood K6MSR P Other Hams present Dave Stewart KJ6JQT P Council Liaison Gary Waldeck K6AIR P Chairman Ray Egan called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm. Jim Abraham introduced a presentation from Edwin Jones on Santa Clara County ARES/RACES and its use of radio communications. The group offers, among other things: 1. training, 2. a way to access government assistance in an emergency, and 3. mutual aid. There will be a drill for mutual aid communicators on March 12, 2011. Jones read an email from Larry Carr, district emergency communicator, regarding a current initiative to change frequency coordinations. Jones requested that ECC members provide to the County updated information on DSW and CERT status by logging into the SCC ARES/RACES site. Jim Abraham reported that he has had issues accessing his account. Ray Egan described an upcoming Verizon antenna installation on the radio tree by the LAH EOC. Jim Abraham did not feel that the new antenna would interfere with the amateur radio antennas currently on the tree. Jim Abraham reported on a recent NARC meeting during which the Board bored to allocate band space for digital radio operation. The next NARC general meeting will take place on May 7, 2011. Dave Stewart asked about the status of his request to become an associate member of the ECC. Andrew Kirk moved to add Dave Stewart as an associate member to the EOC, Edwin Jones seconded, and the motion passed. Stewart requested to be added to the ECC mailing list. Edwin Jones reported that he had difficulty communicating on the command net during the January 22, 2011 Santa Clara County ARES/RACES drill. Dave Stewart described the January 29, 2011 LAH CERT drill. One of the most significant challenges faced during the event was poor handwriting. The issue of pathways blocked by chains was raised during the meeting. Council member Gary Waldeck thought it may be useful to have keys to the locks on these chains available at the ARC. Waldeck will report on the status of this effort at the next ECC meeting. Ray Egan proposed to abandon the current ECC site and instead distribute the ECC roster (the most important resource on the current site) in an abridged form through email. Duncan MacMillan suggested adding a link to the County ARES/RACES site on the ECC page of the official LAH website. Scott Overstreet suggested assigning to the chairperson of the ECC the responsibility of keeping the roster updated and sending it out periodically. Bill Gibbons suggested using Google Docs to manage the roster. Jim Abraham reported that the LAHEG has acquired the call sign WA6LAH, a new call sign to be used at the LAH EOC. The W6LAH repeater will remain W6LAH. Jim Abraham asked for ECC members to refer to the W6LAH repeater as the “W6LAH repeater” not “the Town repeater” or “the Los Altos Hills repeater.” Ray Egan reported that the packet radio system in the LAH EOC had been recently updated and reviewed. Council member Gary Waldeck reported that it is difficult to reach the W6LAH repeater from 280 and Magdalena. Ray Egan asked for net controls for the March, 2011 W6LAH weekly nets. Scott Overstreet reminded the group that it is the net control’s responsibility to check in as LAH during the relevant part of the SPECS net. Bill Gibbons informed the group that he had created a new map of amateur radio stations in LAH. This map will replace the outdated one currently in the EOC. Jim Abraham asked for a lock (preferably a combination one) on the door to the radio room within the Heritage House. He has frequently found the building unsecured at night. Ray Egan suggested that he put this request in writing and/or send an email to Carl Cahill. At 8:03 pm Jim Heintzelman moved to adjourn the meeting. Andrew Kirk seconded and the motion passed. Respectfully submitted, Miles Seiver LAH ECC Secretary