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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 3LAH_ECC_FINAL-Minutes_May-3-2016 1 ( Emergency Communications Committee Minutes Tuesday, May 3, 2016, 7 – 9 p.m. Council Chambers: 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Member Call Sign Attendance Jim Abraham, Co-Chair W6EB E Dru Anderson, Secretary KG6LAD E Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E 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 P Council/Staff Call Sign Attendance Gary Waldeck, Council Liaison K6AIR E Associates Call Sign Attendance Ray Egan W6FQY E Andy Fawcett KI6MAF P Neil Katin AI6FI P Greg Olsen, associate K6XM P Burt Raphael, associate KK6GNB P Bill Lattin, associate KK6PCA E Public: None 1. Roll Call: Co-Chair Scott N6NXI called the meeting to order @7 p.m. Roll call: 7 members; 3excused absences. Roll Call: Attendance: 11: 7 members, and 4 associates. 2. Minutes: April 5 DRAFT minutes: In Dru’s absence, Ben Hu handled the notes and signin. Minutes for Review: After Duncan KI6VMY asked for some clarifications, then Jim H KD6Y motioned to pass, Andy K WB6CLS seconded, the minutes of April were approved unanimously by voice vote. 3. Public comments from the floor a. Scott N6NXI, stated that Dru KG6LAD, secretary could use some help. Specifically he thought that Dru KG6LAD could use 2 permanent assistants to help her taking notes during the ECC meeting. He asked members to consider volunteering for minutes coverage, and would add this to the agenda for the future meeting. b. Scott N6NXI stated that the town is looking for new leadership of ECC soon. Jim W6EB asked to be replaced. Scott N6NXI is still willing to stay on. Therefore, he asked for all to give serious consideration for positions and other tasks. He asked people interested to call him. c. Scott N6NXI mentioned that ECC and CERT ought to work more closely than before, particularly in joint ham participation. Neil also concurred. LAH_ECC_FINAL-Minutes_May-3-2016 2 4. Reports a. SCC EC Ed W7WPO  Ed W7WPO expressed his deep condolences on the passing of Jerry Haag – Silent Key K6GAC, Mountain View EC, longtime leader in SPECS and County fire volunteers, and other volunteer service. Jerry passed away in April.  Ed W7WPO said there would be a Santa Clara County EC committee meeting next week, and he expected meeting would focus on the 5/21 county drills. He recommended that ECC should focus on the 5/4 joint drill between ECC and CERT.  During Ed’s W7WPO report, Neil AI6FI asked what the drill requirement is for ECC members, given that there is 1 drill/year requirement for the associates. With Duncan’s reminder about the procedure for resolution/decision, Scott N6NXI requested that an agenda item be put on for the next meeting to discuss the drill requirements of ECC members, for example, 2 per year, suggesting that members ought to have more requirements than associates.  Ed W7WPO stated the radio wave propagation mapping within the town of Los Alto Hills had been done and he had submitted the results to Jim W6EB. He requested help to put the results on the town map. Andy KI6MAF suggested that Bill K6GH may be able to put the results on an electronic map.  Andy WB6CLS and Jim KD6Y also are willing to help Ed W7WPO put the radio wave propagation results on the town map. The resulting map with clearly marked blind and good spots could be very useful in drills and emergencies. Scott N6NXI urged the work to start right away and report back to him some preliminary results in the next week. b. LAH City Council report: Gary Waldeck, K6AIR, deferred due to Gary’s absence. c. Roster Report: No change from last distribution, reported by Duncan KI6VMY. d. Member/Associate report: Ray Egan W6FQY: Absent. Deferred to June. 5. Old Business: a. ECC QRG (Quick Reference Guide) : Sub-committee update – Neil AI6FI deferred. b. Status: Cell Tree modifications: Scott N6NXI reported that 3 weeks ago Verizon had done some work on the branches; AT&T had yet to start working on the whole cell tree. c. Update: 220 MHz equipment purchase for packet stations at EOC and ARK: Neil reported that some radios, TNC, and some equipment have been received. d. Andy KI6MAF showed a schematic to connect Antenna, triplexer, diplexer, 220MHz radio and dual band radios in the EOC. Scott N6NXI said he was quite impressed that the insertion loss of a Triplexer was merely 0.3db. e. Neil AI6FI, Andy KI6MAF, and Ben KK6HH would form a sub-committee to install 220MHz Packet stations at EOC and ARK. f. Update: Background/Security check clarification – Jim W6WNB g. Scott stated that the issue was settled and this update should be removed from the agenda in the future meetings. h. 2016 Summer Drill Ideas – Planning Specifics. Ed W7WPO.  Ed W7WPO reported he had a discussion with CERT. He said that CERT’s main concern is that their communication would be disrupted due to the LAH_ECC_FINAL-Minutes_May-3-2016 3 interference from 2m packet stations. Therefore, he would like to see the 220 MHz Packet stations get on line before 5/14.  In the absence of 220MHz Packet stations, the plan for the May 14 joint drill would be 220MHz voice communication between ARK and EOC. Scott N6NFI suggested that the SPECS 220 MHz repeater could be used for the purpose. Thus, CERT is free to use 2m W6LAH for its voice communication for the drill. W6AIR repeater could be used as a backup if it is operational then.  CERT is taking care of field work of the town.  Scott N6NXI asked Neil AI6FI to coordinate with Ed of ECC for the joint drill.  Now that ECC is primarily responsible for the communication between ARC, EOC and County using base station, Greg K6XM questioned the usefulness of the HT’s. Both Scott N6NXI and Ed W7WPO responded that for checking-in and on the road, HT is essential.  Since CERT is using W6LAH repeater, Jim W6EB asked whether there would be confusion between ECC and CERT during a real emergency. Scott N6NXI, Ed W7WPO, Neil AI6FI drew a simple scenario. Whoever is first on the air with a radio would be the net control and he/she could turn over to appropriate members, whether ECC or CERT, at some appropriate time. When ARK becomes operational, it will likely to be half an hour after the activation; it could take over the net control using W6LAH.  For this Drill, Ed W7WPO asked for ECC volunteers. Scott N6NXI, Jim KD6Y, Andy WB6CLS and Andy KI6VMY would pitch in. Neil AI6FI and KK6HH of the ECC would be on the CERT team for the drill. i. Update: ideas for Antenna Design for Icom IC-7000 HF transceiver – Greg K6XM  Greg K6XM asked for the clarification of the objective and got the answers from Scott N6NXI as follows: What kind of HF antenna could be installed on the Westwind Barn? With the antenna, what would be the performance of the antenna and therefore, what could the antenna be used for? 6. New Business: a. Upcoming near term schedule opportunities for volunteer activity. Support needed.- deferred to the next meeting. b. Nomination of new officers: 2016/2017 – deferred to the next meeting. 7. Tech Talk: a. Net Message Passing tabletop drill: Led by Neil AI6FL Continuation of April presentation on net messaging traffic protocol. No radios required. Review notes from SCC link below. Practice phonetics in preparation-deferred to the next meeting when there are more attendees of the meeting. 8. Upcoming: a. May 7: Morning LAH Pathways Run/Walk  Neil AI6FI has sufficient volunteers for the May 7 Pathways run/walk but he would still welcome any new volunteers.  Andy WB6CLS is assigned to a spot where an elevated J-pole antenna is needed for communication. Duncan KI6VMY brought in the tripod, poles, and J-pole antenna for Andy WB6CLS to use. LAH_ECC_FINAL-Minutes_May-3-2016 4 b. June 5 Town Picnic:  Ed W7WPO said he would set up a station for ECC to attract new members, but he needed CERT equipment and set up (tent & chairs & adjacent location) support as he has had from Mike Sanders in past years. Neil AI6FI responded that he would get the help from CERT.  Sam K6MSR volunteered to help take down and clean-up after the picnic. 9. Adjourned at 8:25pm: Andy WB6CLS moved to adjourn, Ed W7WPO seconded. Unanimously approved by voice vote. Respectfully Submitted, Secretary Dru Anderson KG6LAD; thanks to Ben Hu KK6HH for his assistance with notes.