HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 61
Minutes
Town of Los Altos Hills
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
May 6, 2014 @ 7:00 PM, LAH Council Chambers
Roll call (9 members + 3 others): P = present, E = excused, no mark = absent
Member Call Sign Attendance
Jim Abraham W6EB
Dru Anderson KG6LAD P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E
Ray Egan W6FQY E
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
Larry Carr KE6AGJ P
Greg Olsen K6XM P
Carol Starbuck K6PIG P
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm by chair Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY, who
took roll call via attached ICS 211A Check-in List.
2. Review and approve past meeting minutes – Upon a motion by Jim Heintzelman KD6Y ,
duly seconded, the April 1, 2014 minutes are unanimously approved as written.
3. Public comments from the floor – Andy Kirk WB6CLS mentioned that the Baofeng HT
can access frequencies stored in memory by entering a 3-digit number on its keypad.
This is not covered in the manual.
4. Pathways Run – Larry Carr KG6AGJ pointed out that there would be 9 GMRS radios and
6 hams, which would be quite a challenge for one net control with limited experience.
Two separate net controls would be awkward, so Andy Kirk volunteered to act as sole net
control based upon his considerable experience. Duncan suggested that the new hams
participating in the May 10 run event represented a recruiting opportunity for the ECC.
5. Update on County and State – Ed Jones W7WPO pointed out that it is possible to
communicate by packet with Sacramento by using the 6-meter band.
6. Comments by Council Liaison – No comments since Gary was absent
7. Old Business
a. Town EOC/CERT drill, 5/14 – CERTs will be sending messages to the EOC to
provide practice for town management. Ray Egan W6FQY will handle packet at
the ARK. Andy Fawcett KI6MAF and Ed will be stationed at the EOC, handling
packet and voice, respectively. Duncan will manage the resulting messages at the
2
EOC. If all goes well, we will use Andy's new Outpost-like code for faster
message transmission over packet.
b. Our Town newsletter – Duncan showed the final draft for the Q&A article featuring
Miles Seiver, which will appear in the June issue of Our Town.
c. Back-up EOC – Questions were raised about what weak links are we trying to
address: How earthquake-proof are our antennas on the cell tower? On the HH
roof? Should be assuming the Council Chambers will fare better than the HH
when neither are rated for occupancy after a major earthquake and neither are
going to be upgraded by the Town? Could we reinforce the EOC wall where the
antenna cables enter the building and provide outside access to antenna
connections? Apparently, the HH water heater is directly over the radio room.
Shouldn't the EOC water heater be strapped and an earthquake gas cut-off be
installed? Are there other marginal improvements that would increase the survival
chances for the HH? Duncan will draft a memo to Gary and Carl Cahill, asking the
Town to address these mostly civil engineering questions, before we go further in
planning alternative arrangements.
d. Increasing ARK/EOC connectivity – Andy Fawcett suggested that packet could be
supported at 220 MHz at a cost of about $1,000 for both ends. See Andy's
handout for more details, attached.
8. New Business
a. Town Picnic – The picnic is set for Sunday, June 1 and we will again borrow space
from Mike Sanders' CERT setup. Ed and Dru will come early to set up and will
seek volunteers to staff the booth. This could be a significant recruiting
opportunity given the timing of the OurTown article, to be distributed in May.
b. July elections – Duncan reminded everyone that new ECC officers will be elected
at the July meeting and that both he and Bob Rowe are termed out.
9. Upcoming Events – The following were briefly reviewed.
a. Packet Ops Type III, Part B, 05/10, 0900, El Camino Hospital
b. Town Pathway Run, 05/10, 0800 - 1100, Westwind Barn
c. Town EOC/CERT drill, WEDNESDAY 05/14, 1400 - 1730, ARK & EOC
d. Intro to Emergency Communications, 05/14, 1800, 1000 Villa St, MV
e. Los Altos Pet Parade 5/17, 0930 - before noon, downtown Los Altos
f. Ham Cram - Amateur Radio License Testing, 05/24, 0800 - 1700, Saratoga FD
g. Town Picnic, 06/01, 1100 - 1600, Purissima Little League Fields
h. Packet Ops - Type II, Adv/Troubleshooting, 06/07, 0900, Cupertino
i. Message Passing - Tabletop, 06/21, 0900, SV Public Safety HQ
j. Fundamentals of Emergency Comm. NIGHT, 06/25, 1800, 1000 Villa St, MV
10. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:16 pm upon a motion
by Dru moved, duly seconded and unanimously approved.
Prepared and respectfully submitted by Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY