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Emergency Communications Committee: Minutes of Jan. 6, 2015
Roll call (10 members + 7 others): P = present, E = excused, no mark = absent
Member Call Sign Attendance
Jim Abraham, Co-Chair W6EB P
Dru Anderson, Secretary KG6LAD P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P
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
Gary Waldeck,
Council Liaison K6AIR E
Others Present Call Sign Attendance
Ray Egan - associate W6FQY E
Bob Rowe - associate AF6LD P
Neil Katin AI6FI CERT
Greg Olsen - associate K6XM P
Carol Starbuck - associate K6PIG CERT
Jim Price M5MEZ Guest
Bill Lattin KK6PCA CERT
Raylene Collins KK6DZP PHWD
1. Roll Call. All attendees signed in, form collected by Secretary.
2. Jim W6EB called meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. He and co-chair Scott N6NXI each thanked
those who attended and contributed to the December Annual Ham Bake.
3. Minutes were deferred until Feb. meeting.
4. Public comments from the floor:
a. Dru KG6LAD repeated a call for volunteers to contact her who might be interested in
developing the Ham Bake home creation recipes into a “ham cookbook” in 2015.
5. Regular Reports:
a. SCC EC report: Ed W7WPO, EC. Ed cited the Los Altos Hills hams who are on
SPECSnet duty for January Monday nights, including voice, packet, and 440.
6. Old Business:
a. Scott N6NXI. Discussed intent to continue focus on detail of go-kits for hams. There
will be continued consideration of members’ technical interests, as reflected in the
survery. The February tech talk will be Andy KI6MAF beginning a two-session
series on Packet discussion and details of the LAH Packet equipment and setup.
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b. An update was given on the antenna ordinance topic at the Dec. 4 Planning
Commission meeting. Commissioners Jim Abraham and Kavita Tankha volunteered
to work with Town Planning Director Suzanne Avila to develop a proposal for
consideration.
7. New Business:
a. Discussion of EOC status. Jim W6EB summarized briefly the continued status of the
EOC as in place at its current location.
b. Remote radio access for licensed staff (C.Cahill/M.Hovey). Jim W6EB noted that
staff said it was not a priority. No further discussion.
8. Tech Talk: Two “radio pack” presentations were made with a detailed showing of the
equipment, and description of the creative build process.
a. Carol Starbuck K6PIG and her guest, Jim Price W5MEZ, displayed their custom-
developed “suitcase” radio go-kit for Carol’s LAH CERT RECON Net Control for
drills/emergencies. It is a neatly arrayed Kenwood TM-D710GA,GPS/APRS/ Dual
band/2 M-70 CM/Packet. Jim explained his build process, and described the fittings,
as well as the antenna hookups. For antenna: If Carol is operating at the ARK, she
will use a J-pole with a PVC pipe that telescopes on tripod up to 30 feet high. If she
is in her car, she will use an external battery, and a mag mount on the roof.
• Carol, and Larry Carr KE6AGJ have organized the CERT/ham field teams.
b. Greg Olsen K6XM brought his literal and lightweight “backpack” totally outfitted
and the antenna is an Inverted Vee, supported by an MFJ fiberglass push-up mast,
fed with ladder line. The radio is an Elecraft KX3 with an automatic antenna tuner
built into it. It also has an internal battery pack of rechargeable AA batteries. In an
emergency, those could be swapped for regular AA batteries, if there is no source
available for recharging the internal batteries. He normally powers the radio with an
external Anker 10,000 mah lithium ion battery pack, which will run the radio for
about 4 hours, and he carries two of them in his pack.
• Greg’s last outing with his backpack rig was on a trip to Oregon in
September. He operated from Humbug Mountain on the Oregon coast,
Triangulation Peak, in the Cascades, Grasshopper Mountain in the Cascades,
and Haycock Peak near Shasta Lake. These were all SOTA (Summits On The
Air) operations in which he actively participates and enjoys.
9. Adjourn 9 p.m. Bob Anderson KC6ZWG moved to adjourn, seconded by Andy Kirk
WB6CLS.
Respectfully submitted:
Dru Anderson KG6LAD, ECC Secretary.
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