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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 211 Minutes Town of Los Altos Hills EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE February 21, 2012 @ 7:00 PM, LAH Council Chambers Roll call: P = present, E = excused, no mark = absent Member Call Sign Attended Jim Abraham W6EB P Dru Anderson KG6LAD P Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E Ray Egan, Chair W6FQY P Andy Fawcett KI6MAF P Bill Gibbons K6GH E Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P Duncan MacMillan, Vice Chair KI6VMY P Scott Overstreet N6NXI P Bob Rowe AF6LD P Miles Seiver, Secretary KI6LDU P Maynard Stevenson W7MVT P Sam Wood K6MSR P Council Liaison Gary Waldeck K6AIR E 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chair Ray Egan W6FQY. Roll call and minutes were taken by Secretary Miles Seiver KI6LDU. 2. Tech Talk – Sam Wood W6EB a. Sam Wood reported he had to solve some hardware and software issues before being able to program W32A handheld radios. He would also need a copy of the final LAH ECC frequency list. Andy Fawcett said he would send the frequency list to Wood in Excel format. Dru Anderson suggested that radio programming be combined with the next County drill. 3. Review and approve minutes of 1/17/2012 meeting a. Scott Overstreet noted an error in the 1/17/2012 minutes: rechargeable W32A batteries were not suggested to be purchased as indicated by the minutes. Minutes of the 1/17/2011 meeting were approved unanimously with a correction addressing Overstreet’s concern. 4. Public comments from the floor: a. W32A handheld radio status (Scott Overstreet N6NXI, Maynard Stevenson W7MVT): Overstreet and Stevenson reported that their W32A handheld radios issued by the ECC were broken. Ray Egan requested that they return the radios to the ECC for repair. 5. Update on the County and State – EC Edwin Jones W7WPO a. Jones reported that D-STAR radio operators in Santa Clara County have set-up a repeater on the primary County packet frequency. The ARRL has declined to get involved in repeater coordination affairs. Jim Abraham reported that he and others are planning to make a complaint to County Sheriff 2 Laurie Smith regarding harmful interference. Scott Overstreet added that radio manufacturer Yaesu is also now implementing a digital modulation scheme. 6. Comments by Council Liaison - Councilmember Gary Waldeck K6AIR a. Not in attendance (excused). 7. Old business a. Equipment selection for grant (Jim Abraham W6EB): Abraham distributed an updated listing of the equipment suggested for purchase with grant money. Abraham discussed the various items listed and reported that the grant will be a yearly event. He said that the portable electrical generator on the list could be used in various locations. If the grant money does not cover everything proposed on the list, Ray Egan suggested that the ARK laptop not be purchased. Dru Anderson suggested that some items could potentially be moved off the list and purchased with money from other grants. Egan also asked to include the list of grant-money purchases proposed for the W6LAH repeater. Abraham declined this request “because the repeater is not managed by the ECC.” b. Report on county communications drill (Edwin Jones W7WPO): Jones reported that the County drill which took place on 1/21/2012 was very successful. He sent a packet message to the County listing LAH participants in the drill. Participants from LAH were: Duncan MacMillan, Dru Anderson, Gary Waldeck, Bob Anderson, Andy Fawcett, and Ed Jones. c. Report on LAH-CERT drill (Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY): MacMillan said that 7 people participated in the 2/4/2012 LAH-CERT drill: Edwin Jones, Duncan MacMillan, Andy Fawcett, Ray Egan, Bob Rowe, Mark Bailey, and Jim Heintzelman. Field radio operators were directed to priority Town facilities and their reports were transmitted to the ARK using packet radio. The majority of priority facilities were checked within 1.5 hours. The exercise pointed out the value of surveying priority facilities and taking “from the road” and close-up photographs of important locations in the Town for an EOC reference manual and training purposes. MacMillan suggested that Purissima Hills Water District and Cal Water be contacted for training on how to evaluate the status of water assets. 8. New business a. Jim Abraham reported that there is some talk of moving EOC functions out of the Heritage House where they are currently located. Dru Anderson suggested that the ECC make a resolution supporting the continued use of the Heritage House for EOC operations. Anderson made a motion that ECC members dressed in vests and hard hats attend a Town Council meeting and describe the amount of time and money that has been spent making the Heritage House a suitable EOC. The motion was not voted upon. Scott Overstreet described the history of how the ECC gained some space within the Heritage House. Ray Egan said he would raise the issue with Town staff and report back at the next ECC meeting. b. Dru Anderson reported that she is now on a Town traffic safety committee. She asked for any ECC members with comments on traffic safety to contact her. c. Dru Anderson reported that she had delivered printed copies of the Quick Reference Guide to Mike Sanders for distribution. d. Duncan MacMillan said he would begin reminding ECC members responsible for upcoming Town net control duty. e. Ray Egan reported that he had purchased a laser printer for the ARK. 9. Adjournment: At 8:21pm it was moved by Jim Abraham, seconded by Edwin Jones, and unanimously approved to adjourn. Prepared and submitted by Miles Seiver, KI6LDU, secretary.