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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 2LAH_ECC_FINAL-Minutes_Feb-2-2016 1 ( Emergency Communications Committee Minutes DATE: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016, 7 – 9 p.m. Council Chambers: 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Member Call Sign Attendance Jim Abraham, Co-Chair W6EB P Dru Anderson, Secretary KG6LAD E Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P Andy Fawcett KI6MAF A Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P Ben H. L. Hu KK6HH P Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY P Scott Overstreet, Co-Chair N6NXI P Sam Wood K6MSR E Council/Staff Call Sign Attendance Gary Waldeck, Council Liaison K6AIR A Associates Call Sign Attendance Bill Gibbons, associate K6GH P Neil Katin, associate AI6FI P Greg Olsen, associate K6XM P Bob Rowe, associate AF6LD P Ray Egan, associates W6FQY P Kjell Karlsson, public KD6BPP P Peter Evans, associate AI6MV P Craig Miller, public WA6OXK P Bill Lattin, associate KK6PCA E 1. Roll Call: Co-chairs: Co-Chair Jim W6EB called the meeting to order @7 pm. 2. Minutes: Jan 5 Draft minutes were approved after motion submitted by Bob KC6ZWG, seconded by Ed W7WPO and supported unanimously. 3. Public comments from the floor. a. Co-chair Jim: Work will begin late summer on ECC annual report to council, slated for November. b. Scott reported highlight at SPECS annual meeting last Saturday (1/30/2016): i. Neil is elected to be 1st VP of the SPECS ii. Neil is in charge of 3/12 flea Market sponsored by SPECS. iii. Discussion of repeaters and coding. c. Ed reported that at SPECS annual meeting, the assistant fire chief of the County fire district has stated a plan to put antennae together with radio equipment in the fire stations of all districts. The cities of Cupertino and Los Altos have done so. LAH_ECC_FINAL-Minutes_Feb-2-2016 2 4. Reports: a. Ed, as EC, reported: i. There is an county EC meeting next week (week of Feb. 8). ii. Due to the Super-Bowl 50, the county has activated ARES. Ed has monitored county resource net since yesterday and will do so tomorrow as well. A few cities also have activated. iii. Ed also called attention to Feb 27 ARES/RACES Communications Drill with City participation. iv. Ed reported that he will get together next Monday with CERTs Carr and Starbuck to plan a joint ECC/CERT Ham drill with date TBD. Neil commented that all future drills should use the new EC forms. b. Gary Waldeck K6AIR, Council Member & Liaison, was not present but Co-chair Jim reported that LAH councilman Roger Spreen was appointed by County supervisors to the County Fire district commission, replacing Rich Larson. c. Roster report: Duncan KI6VMY stated that an updated report was sent to all ECC members in an email dated 1/12/2016. d. Member/Associate report: Ray Egan W6FQY asked for help on records of past activities of the group because of his computer problem. 5. Old Business: a. ECC QRG (Quick Reference Guide): Neil AI6FI stated that he would report on progress at the next meeting. b. LAH Antenna ordinance update, Planning Commission Report: Jim W6EB gave a summary on the status: i. The revision is still to be reviewed by town attorney. Significant changes are: ii. The height of a fixed antenna, measured from the base ground level, should be no more than 48 ft and retractable antenna, no more than 75 ft measured from the base ground level, when in use. There was a discussion about “in use”, especially when the antenna is used for a repeater. iii. The construction setback requirements on the sides and back of the property are still in effect for the antenna mast and structure but not so for the guide wires. The setback restriction in the front of the property remains. 1. The application fee should be no more than $600. 2. Administrative review with notice is needed if the height of the fixed and retractable antenna exceeds 48’ and 75’, respectively. 3. Details will be released after approvals to be made first by planning commission and then town council, hopefully in March or late February. 4. During the report and discussion, Duncan made a motion, seconded by Jim KD6Y, for a reconsideration of the committee’s support for the ordinance (as revised) at the ECC March 1 meeting, after copies are be provided to all the members. A roll call for vote took place; it was defeated 2-5, with one abstention. Aye: Duncan, Jim KD6Y; Abstention: Andrew WB6CLS; Nay: Jim W6EB, Bob KC6ZWG, Ed, Scott, Ben. The motion did not pass. c. Status: Cell Tree modification: Jim asked whether there is room for an antenna and Scott responded in the negative. d. Repeater: net monitoring – Scott reported a few times he got on the radio without any response. LAH_ECC_FINAL-Minutes_Feb-2-2016 3 e. Status: suggested by Andy KI6MAF to purchase a 220MHz station for packet at EOC. Scott mentioned that he had a discussion with Andy KI6MAF to buy one from Alinco in consideration of its serviceability. Duncan checked and said there are spare TNC’s to work with the radio. There is a question whether a Triplex is needed to share an antenna. All these considerations will be settled before Jim W6EB and Scott submitted the proposal to the council. 6. New Business: a. Neil asked for volunteers to help 3/12 Flea market sponsored by SPECS. He stated that there is a link at SPECS website for the sign-up at ARES site, in responding to Scott’s request to have the sign-up at SPECS website as well. 7. Tech Talk by Jim W6EB about the accuracy/speed of radio communication a. Scott distributed a sheet with Phonetics and urged everyone to practice. He also suggested during the net, only one question should be asked each time and the speaker should not talk so much to over-saturate the audience. b. Jim W6EB gave the following salient points: i. Our goal is to pass on important information to someone. ii. Saying once accurately is far better than multiple times. iii. Speak speed should be at a slow and steady pace for someone to listen and take notes. iv. To ensure accuracy, do use phonetics. v. Never speak more than 3 pieces of information at a time. He cited examples between control tower and pilot in flight. vi. A good listener could anticipate what he/she could hear, but be careful to listen to the exact transmission. c. Advice for Net control: i. Scott stated to take legible notes while acting as net control. ii. Scott urged everyone to use phonetics in their transmissions. iii. Jim W6EB stated that net-control could slow down the check-in if needed, e.g. say “wait”. Jim also advised people not to put in useless chattering, such as reporting twenty-three check-in’s and then follow with figure two three. iv. Ed said that Net control should always acknowledge the check-in. v. Neil suggested that the County ARES has a class on message passing. In turn, he was asked to give a brief presentation at a later meeting. d. Scott asked each and everyone around the table about his/her suggestions on the future technical talks and wrote a list. Scott asked whether everyone is still interested in the subject of Go Kit and got a positive response. e. Bill K6GH suggested a wiki website to facilitate the communication, as is the case for the CERT website set-up by Bruce Martin. 8. Upcoming: a. The next ECC meeting is Tuesday March 1, 2016, 7 p.m. 9. Adjourn: moved by Bob KC6ZWG, seconded by Ed W7WPO. With unanimous approval, the meeting was adjourned at 9 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Secretary Dru Anderson KG6LAD from Notes from Ben Hu KK6HH. My thanks to Ben for taking notes in Dru’s absence.