Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 4LAH_ECC-FINAL-Minutes_Aug-4-2015 1 Emergency Communications Committee: Meeting Minutes Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 Los Altos Hills City Council Chambers. 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Roll call: (8 members; + 6 others): P = present, E = excused, no mark = absent Member Call Sign Attendance Jim Abraham, Co-Chair W6EB P Dru Anderson, Secretary KG6LAD E Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E Andy Fawcett KI6MAF P Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P Scott Overstreet, Co-Chair N6NXI P Sam Wood K6MSR P Others Present Call Sign Attendance Gary Waldeck, Council Liaison K6AIR P Neil Katin – associate AI6FI P Greg Olsen - associate K6XM P Larry Carr – CERT Recon KE6AGJ P Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P Carol Starbuck - associate K6PIG P 1. Roll Call: Co-chairs: Meeting called to order at 7:04 p.m. by Jim W6EB and Scott N6NXI. 2. ECC Minutes: July 7. Neil AI6FI, Associate, took minutes notes on behalf of Dru KG6LAD, ECC Secretary, who was out of state. One correction was requested by Greg Olsen, Associate to Item 5b, removal of Greg as attending antenna tour. Motion for approval, with change, was made and seconded. Roll call vote of members. Approved: Jim Abraham, Andy Fawcett, Jim Heintzelman, Ed Jones, and Andy Kirk; Abstain: Duncan MacMillan, Scott Overstreet, Sam Wood. 3. Public comments from the floor: NONE. 4. Reports: a. SCC EC: Ed W7WPO, EC. Ed reviewed the results of the July 25 drill. He thanked the ECC officers for running the net, and thanked those members who participated. He advised that the data is available from him either in a spreadsheet, or one can access the database. Discussion comments included: Jim W6EB suggesting that we need better headsets. Radio room equipment could include foot switches and better chairs. Scott: Jim, Scott, and Greg) will form a group to recommend new headsets and cables. Duncan pointed out that there are 7 headsets in the closet that are available. Greg, speaking as a frequent contest participant, noted that ear buds work better than headsets for long term usage. b. LAH City Council Report: Gary K6AIR, councilman. He reported that the Heritage House site proposal was made to council last month. In the proposal was the concept of the radio room, and ECC activity, being “piggybacked” into the proposed new parks and recreation building, which would leave the Heritage House to the town’s history committee. He reported that architectural concept drawings were shown to council, with LAH_ECC-FINAL-Minutes_Aug-4-2015 2 the proposed new building being sited between the Heritage House and the street. There was no council vote on the proposal at that meeting. Councilman John Radford will chair a committee to study the options. The thought was that changes will take some time to work through the needs and details. c. Update on ECC Roster. Duncan KI6VMY. Duncan reported that there is a new roster with two small changes; but he will re-issue it when he gets any new phone number changes, or other significant information changes. d. Update on the QRG: Neil AI6FI. He said that the QRG committee is making slow but steady progress. He said there is a need for a new section on procedures for opening the ECC and the CERT ARK. This section would be separate from the equipment section and be more to meet a “getting started” process, as in “which nets to start with, and whom to notify.” The frequency list is updated, and we need to get cables in order to reprogram the various radios. In reference to the Alternate EOC, he said there is nothing is in the QRG about setting this up, should it be necessary. Scott said Duncan and Scott are the folks who know the procedures, and the QRG team can get the information from them. Gary pointed out the contact person at Foothill has changed, and that we need to re-introduce ourselves in regard to the alternate EOC facility. There was a question about building access to the alternate EOC (at Building 1900 on the Foothill campus) and no one was aware of anyone in the ECC having keys to access. e. Other comments that related to the overall update of the Quick Reference Guide: Larry Carr KE6AGJ raised the issue of interference between frequency used by CERT Recon ham and the frequency used by the ECC at the ARK in communication with the EOC. Suggestions included using the 1.25m (220 MHz) band for ARK/EOC. Since there are only two stations, that would leave the VHF for CERT/Recon usage. There was a discussion of how many 220 radios we have and it is thought that there is just one in a portable case. Scott N6NXI was not in favor of using that one, as he’d prefer to have a portable case with 3 bands in it - 2m, 1.25m, 70cm. Duncan noted that the 3-radio suitcase still exists (in the radio room closet) but has not been used to his knowledge at least since circa 2009. If we intend to use it, it should probably be tested and the procedures documented. f. In an addition to equipment discussion, Gary K6AIR asked that manuals or quick reference for Baofeng radios be included in the QRG, since many hams now have them. g. Update on the town’s Antenna Ordinance Development: Jim W6EB. Activity is waiting for a meeting with the town Planning Director Susan Avila, and Planning Commissioner Kavita Tanka before presenting to the Planning Commission, followed by the City Council. 5. Old Business: a. Antenna discussion relative to the ICOM 7000 radio for UHF. Jim KD6Y asked for feedback on the level of interest in UHF capability at the Radio Room. What bands do we want to have access to, would it be for local use, or for DX? Gary K6AIR suggested that when needed, just lay a dipole on the EOC roof. Jim W6EB noted that for emergency use, having the capability would permit us, if necessary, to talk to Sacramento state emergency facilities. Scott N6NXI asked, as an action item that Jim KD6Y survey the EOC site, figure out what is possible for an antenna, and present his findings at the next meeting. b. Distribution to members and associates of closeted extra emergency flashers supply: Duncan KI6VMY said that at the last meeting, it was decided to make the distribution. He noted that there are 38 of them. The agreement was to make 2 each available to LAH_ECC-FINAL-Minutes_Aug-4-2015 3 members, and 1 each to associates. These will be issued, similar to flashlights, but not tracked. The flashers are several years old and it is better to get them into use, rather than have the batteries deteriorate further from non-use. They are to be used for emergency needs only. Duncan will keep an annotated copy of the sign-in sheet to insure that the flashers are distributed appropriately. Larry Carr expressed an interest in getting some for CERT Recon, since they will be going out at night. Duncan provided samples to Larry and Scott said we’ll forward on the name of the supply company. c. Andy KI6MAF: Radio Room maintenance. He said he programmed the IC-2720, and charged the Wouxun radios for readiness. 6. New Business: a. Co-chairs Jim and Scott discussed the AT&T desire to update the EOC Antenna Tree. Jim and Scott had asked for a plan but the one they received did not match the reality of the existing and needed installation and distances. They have not heard anything further back since relaying the ECC response. b. Future drill plan ideas: Ed W7WPO, EC., said he had nothing to report at this time, and the item will be postponed to the next meeting. c. ID Cards: Dru KG6LAD, who was out of state, had forwarded to the chairs and the EC information from Marsha Hovey regarding the new ID card format for CERT and for ECC members. Marsha said that she wanted to get ECC input on what information, if different, they’d like to include on their badges, such as Call Sign. Dru had asked for a double check of the frequency information on the back of the sample CERT badge that she’d forwarded. There was some discussion, but further response and action was deferred to the September meeting. d. Discussion about activation procedure and self-activating. Larry KE6AGJ said that State rules are that you can only self-activate during earthquake; otherwise you need to be activated by an authorized town staff or government member. Gary K6AIR said that he understood that the town had authorized all ECC members, not associates, to be authorized to initiate activation. ACTION: Gary will research and validate that with the town. e. Jim W6EB said that if the group is activated, it will be announced over the repeater w/activation number. Activation number should follow the format of LAH-dd-mm-yy (date in 6 digits). That will in turn enable activating CERT hams and associates. It was pointed out that these procedures need to be added to the update of the QRG. f. Discussion continued on the different activation models between CERT and ECC, and how the ECC could activate CERT, if needed for non-earthquake emergency. g. Discussion of the tech aspects of the EOC maintenance schedule from Marsha Hovey, and the relay of her request for ECC volunteer assistance on items of interest on the list. Of particular interest to the ECC is the Town’s generator, and its procedure for activation. At the last meeting, Marsha showed the ECC attendees the generator, and its access. But it was noted that it would be helpful if the Town Engineer could advise ECC chairs of the next planned test, so they can observe. There is interest in the generator, procedures, transfer switch, access to power room, and proper testing procedures. Scott N6NXI will contact the City Engineer about what gets tested and when, and for a tour of the power room. Jim W6EB said he had a discussion a few years ago about emergency power. He was concerned about ensuring there was adequate schematics and documentation on the generator functions and operation, as well as on the items in the power room. PV system is of concern because if anything breaks, there needs to be LAH_ECC-FINAL-Minutes_Aug-4-2015 4 readily available documentation and information on the power transfer and the overall power system. 7. Tech Talk: Several topics of interest were covered. a. Review of the EOC tour at July meeting conducted by Marsha Hovey. There was discussion of the essential keys, and their locations, and the need for them to be adequately labeled, documented, and secured. The group was shown the generator but it was advised not to start it, since no one was familiar with its operation. It was not clear how a “real test” under a load is conducted, and how frequently. Therefore, Scott will get together with the town engineer, who manages that procedure, to understand its operation and documentation. b. Sam K6MSR brought up concern as to the reality of town readiness if there was an actual event, since drills with town staff are infrequent. Part of Marsha’s tour and prior operation presentation to the ECC was to build familiarity with the town EOC planning process, and to get input and participation between the ECC and the EOC staff. c. Tech Talk: Scott N6NXI: Scott opened a discussion about field positions for Antennas relative to actions you can take to improve propagation. He said good elevation is key; also, be clear of obstructions. The HT is not going to make it through a stucco or steel building. If you don't have line of sight, then you are likely to have multipath issues. If having difficulty getting into the repeater, move a few feet in any direction and try again. There was a comment about watching your s-meter while receiving. The suggestion was to move to a location that still hears the repeater, but with a somewhat lower s-meter reading than max. Since the frequency is different back to the repeater, this new location might be better. Use max power only when necessary to save your battery and to lessen possible interference with nearby units. As far as types of antennas that offer the best outcome: mag mounts are good; the HT rubber ducky is a lower gain antenna, but is a lot easier to move an HT than your car with a mag mount attached. d. Announcement and call for Volunteers: The SPECS (Southern Peninsula Emergency Communications System) will have its annual Flea Market, to raise funds for SPECS and SPECS repeater support, on Saturday, September 12, at the DeAnza south parking lot. Volunteers are needed, starting as early as 4 a.m., and concluding at 2 p.m. The sign up is on the scc-ares-races.org site. You will need to log in. https://www.scc-ares-races.org/activities/eventdetail.php?id=503 Or contact Andy Rose, KI6SEP at ki6sep@gmail.com or 650-279-1051. 8. Adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Dru Anderson KG6LAD, ECC Secretary. Based on meeting notes taken by Neil Katin AI6FI. Many thanks go to Neil for agreeing to assist while Dru was out of town.