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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 4LAHECC Minutes 170404 Final 1 ( Emergency Communications Committee Minutes Tuesday, April 04, 2017, 7 – 9 p.m. LAH Council Chambers: 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Members Call Sign Attendance Jim Abraham W6EB P Dru Anderson, Co-Chair KG6LAD P Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P Ben H. L. Hu KK6HH P Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO P Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P Duncan MacMillan, Secretary KI6VMY P Scott Overstreet, Co-Chair N6NXI P Sam Wood K6MSR P Council/Staff --- --- Gary Waldeck, Council Liaison K6AIR P Associate Members --- --- Peter Evans AI6VM P Dave Gilmour WQ1K P Neil Katin K2LL P Bill Lattin KK6PCA E Public --- --- Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P 1. Roll Call: Noting the presence of a quorum of 6+ members, co-chair Dru Anderson KG6LAD called the meeting to order @ 1903 hours. Attendance (15): 10 members, 1 liaison, 3 associates, 1 public. 2. Notes & Minutes: Notes from the March 07 informational discussion were noted for inclusion in these minutes. See attachment 1. 3. Public comments from the floor: a. Additional space for multiple operators and scribes in EOC: Neil Katin K2LL reminded the group of the need to provide this space as well as bridged and dual channel headsets.  Neil was asked to resend the specs to Dru for discussion at the May meeting. b. DSW training: Dru described the recent email from Marsha Hovey KG6CYV, LAH Consulting Emergency Manager. In order for the Town to remain National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliant, the City Manager (Carl Cahill) has LAHECC Minutes 170404 Final 2 established a training plan urging all DSW volunteers to take certain online FEMA courses available at http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp. Members and associates are therefore encouraged to take the following 3-hour courses at their own convenience but ASAP: 1) IS-100.B Introduction to the Incident Command System - available now; 2) IS-700.A National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction - available now; 3) G-606 Introduction to the Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) - which should be available online in July 2017. c. Pathways Run: On behalf of Bill LattinKK6PCA , Neil mentioned the need for volunteers to staff checkpoints along the trails. Interested members and associates should message Bill Lattin <bill@williamlattin.com>. 4. Reports: a. Review, ECC Responsibilities: David Gilmour WQ1K reviewed the current ECC charter and took several comments.  David will incorporate the subject comments in another draft to be distributed before the May meeting, at which time the members will vote on whether to send the suggested update on to the City Council for approval. b. LAH City Council Report: Gary Waldeck K6AIR described recent bicyclist signage added throughout Town and enforcement by the Sheriff. He also noted annexation efforts underway which could involve between 55 and 86 properties being added to the Town boundaries. Non-standard lots would be involved if the higher number is pursued. Beyond non-standard lot sizes, the issue of pathways was an issue. c. Emergency Coordinator Report: Ed Jones W7WPO noted the low turnout for the February 18 drill, which was focused on Mike-Mike reporting and that the intention was to continue drills in that area until participation improves. Ed also noted that the new SCC alert system (“Alert SCC”) requires that all members and associates log-in with their vital statistics and desired notification parameters. He mentioned that the new system is much more flexible allowing for changes to member profiles without re-establishing an account and establishing multiple alert patterns depending on such areas as home, work, schools, etc.  All hands should establish their memberships ASAP at: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc. Signing up for the next packet class (Packet Operations Type III, Part A - Sep 09) and Fundamentals of Emergency Communications (night class, Jul 12) were highly recommended.  All hands should consider signing up at: https://www.scc-ares- races.org/activities/events.php.  Ed will work with CERT Recon to develop a suggested list of required classes for various levels of field and NCO functions. d. ARK antenna: An initial estimate of 100 pounds has been provided to FHDA concerning locating the ARK antenna on the roof of the new admin building. Over the next year, details will be finalized. LAHECC Minutes 170404 Final 3 e. Update on member & associate participation: Ben Hu KK6HH presented a bar graph showing drill and Monday-night net sign-ins. Some interest was expressed in developing a report that would provide an early warning of participation trending below minimum requirements. f. New memberships: Upon a motion by Scott Overstreet N6NXI, duly seconded, Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP was unanimously accepted as an associate member of the ECC. g. Status of HF antenna placement: No new input, deferred to the May meeting. h. Roster Report: Neil Katin KK2LL reported that there were no additions/deletions. 5. Old Business: a. Status of laptop purchase for ARK: Upon a motion by Ben, duly seconded, it was unanimously approved that a replacement laptop be purchased to support packet operations at the ARK, with Jim Abraham W6EB abstaining. b. Future purchases: Upon a motion from Ben, duly seconded, it was unanimously approved that the ECC request a budget of $1,500 for the purchase of 3 each fast- packet TNCs. c. Battery plan for current stock of Icom W32 HTs: There being sufficient lithium batteries and battery holders on hand to support our HT inventory, Scott recommended that our stock of HTs be held as is in inventory for distribution with Lithium battery packs if needed during an emergency. No contrary ideas were heard. 6. New Business: a. Report on Kiwi ham community: Duncan provided summary comments from his meeting with the Section Leader of the N ew Zealand’s Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) organization for Canterbury (Christchurch). Duncan will provide the PowerPoint presentations he received on the 2010/11 Christchurch earthquake findings to interested parties at SCC-ARES-RACES. b. QRG: Neil showed the Google docs rendering of the QRG, which is available at https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B21sjqtZiXWIfjM4eWxRcndsQ3RfNUdn Ql8zeFdTdnpyZ05jRnFGbFAwc2s3ZGtMODFoc0k. 7. Adjourn: There being no further business; the meeting was adjourned at 2053 hours. 8. Respectfully Submitted: Duncan MacMillan KI6VMY, secretary Attachments: 1. LAH ECC Notes 170307 Final.pdf LAHECC Minutes 170404 Final 4 ( Attachment 1 Emergency Communications Committee Notes Tuesday, March 07, 2017, 7 – 9 p.m. LAH Council Chambers: 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Members Call Sign Attendance Jim Abraham W6EB E Dru Anderson, Co-Chair KG6LAD P Bob Anderson KC6ZWG E Jim Heintzelman KD6Y P Ben H. L. Hu KK6HH P Edwin R Jones, EC W7WPO E Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P Duncan MacMillan, Secretary KI6VMY E Scott Overstreet, Co-Chair N6NXI P Sam Wood K6MSR E Council/Staff --- --- Gary Waldeck, Council Liaison K6AIR P Associate Members --- --- Ray Egan W6FQY P Neil Katin K2LL P Bill Lattin KK6PCA P Greg Olsen K6XM P Public --- --- David Gilmour WQ1K P Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P 1. ECC roll call: There were only 5 members in attendance, no quorum existed. This is just a note for the March 7, 2017 informational meeting. 2. Minutes for review: postponed to April’s meeting 3. Public comments from the floor a. Dru KG6LAD went thru briefly Marsha’s memo on the requirement for DSW’s of LAH and reminded us that on the March 13 finger printing event, be sure to bring the signed documents attached in Marsha’s email. b. Neil K2LL reported that table 3 of the EOC radio room was too small to accommodate 2-4 operators for the two radios in the last drill. He suggested purchasing a small table to move the 2nd radio to the other side of the room. Scott LAHECC Minutes 170404 Final 5 asked Neil to have a layout sketch ready at the next’s month meeting. Gary K6AIR stated that the Dru should ask City Manager for a small fund for the purchase. He also pointed out that the town’s capital budget might be finalized in April/May period. Any capital item should be submitted to be included in the budget. c. Scott N6NXI requested that all critiques of ECC should be brought to the co- chairs. If any member receives a critique, please do bring it to the co-chairs. Scott wanted to assure each and every member of ECC that his/her volunteer service was appreciated and not to be discouraged by such critique. 4. Report a. David WQ1K was asked by Dru to take up the responsibility to draft a revised ECC charter, which came from the request of the town’s mayor Gary K6AIR. Gary K6Air had asked all the town standing committees to review and revise their charter to be in line with the town’s updated general plan. ECC has additional duty to coordinate and integrated well with CERT Recon team during an actual emergency situation. David had set up meetings with town folk, ECC co-chairs, and welcomed any input from all ECC members & associates thru phones, email or face-face. David is supposed to have a draft ready for consideration by the April’s meeting. b. Gary K6Air reported that the town is looking into ways to improve its operation/services. One part of the process is to compare the town operation/services with other neighboring cities. c. There was no reporting of Feb 18 drill results due to Ed W7WPO’s absence. d. Gary K6AIR reported that the new ARK antenna position would be in the desirable location. Neil stated that two antennae would be placed there, one on top of the other. e. Kjell KD6BPP expressed interest as associated member for now while Dru KG6LAD encouraged him to join as a member. 5. Old business a. Neil K2ll proposed to purchase a new laptop costing considerably less than $1000 for ARK Packet operation, which was approved by ECC earlier. Gary stated that the amount is small enough that co-chairs should ask town’s manager for the approval of expenditure. b. Neil also asked for new budgeted items: new packet radios for 56K packet/data communications to the Santa Clara county. There would be two stations, one at EOC and the other at ARK. Neil asked whether a spare radio should also be acquired and got an affirmative answer from Scott N6NXI. As a result, Neil K2LL would prepare a budget item for ECC consideration at the next meeting before submitting to the town. c. Greg K6XM reported that the W32 HT that he took home to test the performance and the ease of use of the radio. He said that within 5 minutes and without consulting any manual, he was able to hit the repeaters after putting in Energizer LAHECC Minutes 170404 Final 6 Ultimate Lithium AA Batteries. Greg did not think there was any need to test the charging of NiCd battery as these HT’s would be reserved for Ham operators in need in an emergency situation. Unlike Lithium AA battery, NiCd battery could not hold charge after months’ storage. 6. New Business a. Scott N6NXI stated that after Neil had finished the new radio layout sketch, some new radio tools may be needed. Neil pointed out that a split/headset amplifier may be needed for NCO and Scribe when both had to monitor the radio traffic. b. Greg K6XM mentioned that he had awaited a clear direction on locating HF antenna before he would proceed further to check the HF interference at the Westwind Barn. Scott said that La Cresta water-tower was the ideal location and Jim W6EB had been looking into that. He wanted to make sure that Greg K6XM would also be involved in the project. 7. Tech Talk: a. Neil K2LL stated that QRG would be ready to publish. The only one open item is the “antennae tree”, which is supposed to depict or describe the locales of 7 antennae at EOC radio operation. Ray W6FQY agreed that he had done that before and would provide Neil for the description/drawing. Dru reminded everyone again to review the QRG on the Google drive and submit his/her opinions/suggestions. Neil is at ready to help anyone who may run into the difficulty of getting access to the on-line QRG. b. In QRG, Neil suggested that all radios are programmed in such a way that 1-100 channels contain the same stations as shown in the frequency list entitled “QRG- 06-LAHCompositeFrequencyList-2016-02-06”. c. Scott urged everyone to know one’s own radios well so that one could easily hand-program own radios with an appropriate frequency, offset and PL tone. It would also be helpful to keep a cheat-sheet readily available. 8. Others: a. Neil K2LL mentioned that Pathway and July 4 parade are currently not on CERT calendar and asked whether ECC would take the lead. Bill Lattin KK6PCA volunteered to alert CERT’s Larry Carr and Carol Starbuck to support the communication of these events. b. Neil K2LL also mentioned that SPECS would be responsible for April 8 Electronics Flea Market and asked anyone willing to help to email or call him. 9. Adjourn: Upon a motion by Jim H KD6Y, duly seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 2000 hours. Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH