HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 41
Minutes
Town of Los Altos Hills
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
March 04, 2014 @ 7:00 PM, LAH Council Chambers
Roll call (12 members + 7 others): P = present, E = excused, no mark = absent
Member Call Sign Attendance
Jim Abraham W6EB P
Dru Anderson KG6LAD P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P
Ray Egan W6FQY P
Andy Fawcett KI6MAF P
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
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Others Present Call Sign Attendance
John Harpootlian P
Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P
Duffy Price P
Bert Raphael KK6GNB P
Carol Starbuck KK6FJW P
Dave Stewart KJ6JQT P
Gary Waldeck W6AIR P
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by chair Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY, who took
roll call via attached ICS 211A Check-in List.
2. Review and approve past meeting minutes – The attached v3 agenda was followed with
Items 7.a & 7.b being moved to 6.a to accommodate Dru's need to leave early and interest in
those areas. Duncan led a review of the minutes of the February ECC meeting. Upon a
motion by Bob Anderson KC6ZWG, duly seconded, the February 07, 2014 minutes were
unanimously approved as corrected.
3. Public comments from the floor – Dru KG6LAD noted that Los Altos is in the process of
resurrecting their ham and CERT organizations, with a all-ham meeting likely in April. Jim
Clark of LA ARES provided spreadsheets of LA, LAH and unincorporated hams (279, 116
and 35 respectively). Duncan will compare Jim Clark's lists to the one we developed last
year.
4. Update on the County and State – Ed Jones W7WPO noted that 4 ECC members/associates
had signed up for the upcoming packet classes (Duncan, Dave Stewart, Jim Heintzelman
and Bob Rowe). Ed also noted that the 4/12 (see below) County-wide Communications
Exercise is primarily aimed a new hams, including such subjects as direction-finding.
Members were encouraged to register and attend this event in Campbell.
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5. Comments by Council Liaison – none from Gary Waldeck W6AIR.
6. Old business
a. ECC annual report to City Council, 2/20 + Youth Commission presentation, 3/20 +
increasing participation & membership –
Duncan noted the three major efforts for 2014 that he mentioned to the Council -
increasing membership, back-up EOC and increasing ARK-EOC connectivity. A copy
of the presentation, including more extensive notes, have been linked to the ECC
page (bullet #4, Annual Report) and asked that members please review it, especially
the notes, for accuracy/comments.
Concerning the Youth Commission, Dru suggested that multiple benefits be
presented to capture those interested in radio technology as well as community
service. Emphasizing that radio is not "old" technology would be useful - elaborate on
hams in recent disasters, moon bouncing, packet, international connections. Also,
putting ham license and participation in ECC could be useful in college apps. Finding
a bell-weather YC member would be a good idea and Duncan will check with Sarah
Gaultier to see if she knows of any YC members who are already hams or who have
expressed interest so far. Based on a show of hands, Duncan will offer ECC mentors
to any YC members who express interest in becoming hams. The 5/24 "ham cram"
licensing session will be highlighted. Dru thought there was another session sooner
and will provide that information after the meeting.
Concerning other participation subjects, Duncan discussed the idea of a "Tuesday"
night net (day of week not important, just different than current Monday night nets), to
encourage CERT/ham participation where CERT-centric subjects are discussed and
not so many experienced hams are present (PTT-anxiety issues). Dave Stewart
KJ6JQT, Carol Starbuck KK6FJW, and Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP noted that the CERTs
are meeting soon to continue developing a ham recon group to serve zones without
available CERTs and/or hams and the idea of a special CERT/ham net might be a
natural for along with that activity. The consensus was that we should re-assemble
the CERT/hams who attendedGetting the CERT/ham students to Larry Carr's
October September 17, 2013 "now Now whatWhat?" class together for a kick-off of
the net received a consensus approval. Attractions could includeThe idea of
providing on-site programming services for CERT/ham HTs (courtesy of Andy
Fawcett and others, with PCs and cables in hand), a quick Carr class review, and
plenty of hands-on practice on the W6LAH repeater would be key ingredients in
getting participation. A Saturday or Sunday event was suggested. More next time.
b. ECC activity summary – Ray Egan W6FQY asked members to update him on any
classes taken over the past year. Ed thought that the County might be able to
provide attendance info on ARES and ARES-sponsored classes. He will check.
c. Associate member criteria – Bob Rowe AF6LD described the current 4 criteria for
associate members and the relatively few opportunities for associates to accumulate
both drill and city-sponsored event participation during a given year. Upon a motion
by Duncan, duly seconded, it is unanimously resolved that the third criteria for ECC
associate membership shall read "Participate in at least one emergency drill OR
participate as a ham in at least one Town activity in each calendar year (e.g. Festival
of Lights parade, Fun Run, 4th of July parade, etc.)"
d. Back-up EOC – Jim Abraham W6EB reported that there has been no action by AT&T
or its vendor regarding changes to the their antenna installation. Andy Fawcett
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KI6MAF reviewed his work to remote the Kenwood radios, used to support packet,
which summary was previously distributed to members. The number of pairs required
is more than needed for the voice-only ICOM IC-2720. The ability to use the
Kenwood radios for voice or packet may have to be restricted to packet-only for cable
noise issues. The issue of complying with the County ARES request to use
223.540/223.620 MHz v. our current use of 433.550 MHz (ARK) and 144.310 MHz
(County) is also an issue.
e. Increasing ARK-EOC connectivity –
Sam Wood K6MSR mentioned that there wasn't anything to do concerning
commercial data service until and unless a relay antenna location is found (Smithwick
Theater roof or El Monte Fire Station.
Duncan noted the same sorts of issues exist in making use of County ARES/RACES
packet backbone but that we really ought to see what connectivity we can get as is,
using the 223.540/223.620 MHz suggestions by the County. In any event, we need
to make packet work as fall back, even if a satellite or other all-digital solution ends
up being the primary method. [After the meeting, Ray said he would help check out
current connectivity to County BBS nodes.]
Dave Stewart KJ6JQT commented on commercial satellite service and potential
SCCFD interest in providing a linkage to their service. Gary noted that a relatively
quick solution might occur due to SCCFD work in process which could involve wifi
connection between the ARK and El Monte fire station secure digital net. More next
time.
7. Upcoming events (https://www.scc-ares-races.org/activities/events.php)
a. CERT drill - K9 demo & small animal rescue, 03/05, 1900, LAH Council Chambers:
Pet First Aid in an emergency or event plus a FEMA dog presentation from Task
Force 3, providing an overview of what these Search & Rescue dogs can do and a
demo of their abilities in the event of a disaster.
b. Brown Act tutorial, 03/13, 1800, LAH Council Chambers; see Deborah if URL for on-
line session needed.
c. Fundamentals of Emergency Comm. NIGHT, 03/19, 1800, Milpitas (MV: 06/25)
d. Packet Operations Type III, Part A, 04/05, 0900, SV Public Safety HQ
e. EC Council Meeting, 04/10, 1900, SCC EOC
f. County-wide Comm. Exercise, 04/12, 0800, Edith Morley Park, Campbell
g. Ham Cram - Amateur Radio License Testing, 04/19, 0800 - 1700; Maxwell Tech Talk
Room, Google US-MTV-CL3, 1300 Crittenden Lane, MV*
h. Packet Ops Type III, Part B, 05/03, 0900, Sunnyvale Public Safety HQ
i. Intro to Emergency Communications, 05/14, 1800, 1000 Villa St, MV
j. Ham Cram - Amateur Radio License Testing, 05/24, 0800 - 1700, Saratoga Fire Sta.
k. Packet Ops - Type II, Adv/Troubleshooting, 06/07, 0900, Cupertino
l. Message Passing - Tabletop, 06/21, 0900, TBD
m. Fundamentals of Emergency Comm. NIGHT, 06/25, 1800, 1000 Villa St, MV
* from Dru after the meeting
8. Adjournment – There being no further business, it was moved and duly seconded to adjourn
at 8:25 p.m., which was unanimously approved.
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Prepared and respectfully submitted by Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY