HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 2
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Minutes
Town of Los Altos Hills
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
July 2, 2013 @ 7:00 PM, LAH Council Chambers
Roll call (11 members + 1 other): P = present, E = excused, no mark = absent
Member Call Sign Attendance
Jim Abraham W6EB E
Dru Anderson KG6LAD P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P
Ray Egan W6FQY E
Andy Fawcett KI6MAF P
Bill Gibbons K6GH E
Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P
Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P
Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P
Duncan MacMillan, Chair KI6VMY P
Scott Overstreet N6NXI P
Bob Rowe, Vice Chair AF6LD P
Miles Seiver, Secretary KI6LDU E
Maynard Stevenson W7MVT P
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Others Present Call Sign Attendance
Greg Olsen K6XM P
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by chair Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY, who took roll
call (see attached ICS 211A Check-in List).
2. Review and approve past meeting minutes – Duncan led review of the minutes of the 06/04/2013
ECC meeting. The minutes were unanimously approved, upon a motion by Dru Anderson
KG6LAD.
3. Public comments from the floor –Scott Overstreet N6NXI and Ed Jones W7WPO discussed the
severe interference that Ed encountered while attempting to open SPECS net on 07/01 and the
ultimate taking of the net by Jim Clark (Los Altos). Scott did not have the script available, Andy
Fawcett reported the same black-out, Duncan was handling UHF/220 net. The lessons gained
were that members were encouraged to keep the SPECS script handy so they can step in, as
necessary, and that we need to get more members who are comfortable with acting as net
control, rather than relying on a small set of old hands. Ed will send a thank you note to Jim
Clark. Bob Rowe AF6LD will assign open UHF/220 and SPECS slots for July as he does for the
local LAH net.
4. Update on the County and State – covered during public comments, Item 3 above.
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5. Comments by Council Liaison – Mayor Gary Waldeck was absent, no report.
6. Old business –
a. ECC page updates on LAH website – Duncan reported that Ray's draft of web changes is
in draft review by Deborah Padovan, Marsha Hovey KG6CYV and Dru.
b. Back-up EOC (deferred to August meeting) – Duncan noted that Jim Abraham W6EB is
in travel and will meet with Town engineer, Richard Chiu, upon his return and Richard's
return to his office from vacation.
c. 3.5 GHz radio application 5/25/13 clock – Andy Fawcett reported on the visit to Foothill
on Friday, June 14 by himself, Ray Egan, Jim Abraham and Duncan to verify lines-of-
sight. Building 1900 can see the Black Mountain antenna farm (used by KFJC and
others) but the ARK is in a blind spot. The need of another relay point to support the
ARK all but eliminates the usefulness of the 3.5 GHz radios. Duncan noted that he has
an inquiry to Foothill on the possible use of Buildings 8500-8700 (Biology & Health
Science buildings) which may have emergency power and whose roof lines include vents
and stacks useful for camouflaging an antenna. Andy/Ray favor trying to increase the
data rate achievable with packet but noted that a signal level of S9 would be needed for
9600 baud, not likely. More at the August meeting.
d. Vests & helmet update – Duncan noted that, after reviewing URLs provided by Marsha,
that a vendor has been asked to provide a sample. He will let those in line for vests know
when it arrives. The suggested vest can be viewed at:
http://www.safetystore.com/radio_multi_pocket_vest.aspx
e. Missing IC-7000 radio – Duncan presented the missing radio, which had been returned to
Town Hall (Deborah Padovan) today at about 3:00 pm by Rick Ellinger KJ6NU. Duncan
noted that deputy Rob Rutten (sp?) of the Sheriff's office had received a call from Rick,
saying that Rick had recently returned home from a trip to find the radio (in its original
carton) on his front porch, a mysterious reappearance, and that he would deliver it to
Town Hall. Duncan turned the radio over to Jim Heintzelman KD6Y,who owns/operates
an IC-7000 and had volunteered to check out the unit. The manual is missing.
7. New business – None.
a. Election of ECC chair, vice-chair and secretary – The incumbents were nominated to
continue in their positions for the next year. Hearing no further nominations, Duncan asked
whether there was a motion to elect by acclimation. Upon a motion by Ed Jones, duly
seconded, the following were re-elected by acclimation:
i. Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY, chair
ii. Bob Rowe AF6LD, vice chair
iii. Miles Seiver , secretary
b. Membership changes Duncan reported that Bill Gibbons K6GH has resigned as a member
due to his travel schedule not allowing him to attend meetings and call-ins. He hopes to be
able to apply for associate member status in the fall.
c. UHF/220 repeaters support for July – Duncan described the relative ease of acting as net
control for the UHF/220 repeaters and showed the sign-up process, script and cheat sheet
of call sign suffixes. He suggested members check the following:
http://www.scc-ares-races.org/cgi-bin/UHFnet-res.pl?pass=1
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8. Upcoming events (https://www.scc-ares-races.org/activities/events.php)
a. LAH July 4th Parade, 7/04, 8:30 - 10 am, Town Hall to Gardner Bullis School; Andy
Fawcett, Jim Heintzelman, Andy Kirk, Duncan, and Bob Rowe will assist. CERT contact
= Franz Kratz <a_kratz@sbcglobal.net>
b. CERT Large Animal Evacuation Drill, 7/10, 6 - 8:00 pm, El Monte Fire Station
c. EC Council Quarterly Meeting, 7/11, 7:30 pm, Santa Clara County EOC
d. 'Ham Cram' FCC licensing class, 7/13, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, Redwood City
e. CERT Urban Search & Rescue Drill, 7/24, 7 - 9:00 pm, LAH Town Hall
f. Gilroy Garlic Festival Communications, 7/26 28, Christmas Hill Park
g. Introduction to Emerg. Comm. night classes, 7/31, 6:00 pm, 777 S Main, Milpitas
h. Net Control in Disaster Comm - Type III/ A, 8/03, 9:00 am, SV Pub. Safety HQ
i. SPECS-sponsored Electronics Flea Market, 8/10, 5:00 am - noon, DeAnza College
j. CERT 24-hour Drill, 9/24, 10:00 am - 10:00 am 9/29, various LAH
9. Adjournment – There being no further business, Bob Anderson KC6ZWG moved adjourn at 8:00
p.m., which was duly seconded and unanimously approved.
Prepared and respectfully submitted by Duncan MacMillan for Miles Seiver, KI6LDU, secretary.