HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 23LAHECC_FINALMinutes_20190723.docx 1
Emergency Communications Committee Minutes
Tuesday, July 23, 2019, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
LAH Council Chambers: 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Members Call Sign Attendance
Dru Anderson, Co-Chair KG6LAD P
Eduardo Arias, Co-Chair KM6LSX P
Bob Anderson KC6ZWG P
Jim Heintzelman KD6Y A
Ben H. L. Hu, Secretary KK6HH P
Edwin R Jones W7WPO P
Terry Kearney KM6LTQ P
Andrew Kirk WB6CLS P
Scott Overstreet N6NXI P
Jay Sutaria KN6JAY P
Sam Wood K6MSR P
Council/Staff
Kavita Tankha,Council Liaison P
Associate Members
Larry Carr KE6AGJ P
Andy Fawcett KI6MAF P
Bill Gibbons K6GH P
Robert Johnson KG6UWZ P
Neil Katin, EC K2LL P
Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P
Greg Olsen K6XM P
Guests:
J. Logan, LAHCFD P
Capt. Denise Gluhan KM6IFY P
Marsha Hovey KG6CYV P
1.ECC call to Meeting: Co-Chairs Dru Anderson KG6LAD/Eduardo Arias KM6LSX.
(a)Roll Call: At 19:00 hours, Dru KG6LAD started the meeting. Ben KK6HH took roll:
Attendance: 20 including 10 members, 1 Council Liaison, 6 associates and 3 guests. Kjell
KD6BPP joined the meeting at 20:00 hours, increasing the attendance to 21.
(b)Minutes approved: Scott N6NXI made the motion to approve the June minutes, Andy WB6CLS
seconded, all ten members present approved the minutes by voice vote.
2.Council Liaison Kavita Tankha Update
Kavita indicated nothing to report because the July Council meeting was canceled, and the June
meeting was fully consumed with discussion of the Town’s Green Waste garbage service changes.
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3.Public comments from the floor:
(a)Roster Update: Dru KG6LAD welcomed new member, Jay KN6JAY to the ECC.
(b)Neil K2LL, EC, reported that the following drills/exercises would take place in the coming
weeks. He would send out email asking for sign-up’s:
1.August 10: Radio Fox Hunt sponsored by County at Cuesta Park. Scott N6NXI said that his
experience with the hunt was indeed outstanding.
2.August 17: Quarterly county/city drill. Neil K2LL would determine what to do in the drill
based on the number of sign-up’s he would receive.
3.September 28: County communication exercises. Neil K2LL has chosen the Cross-band
repeater exercise for the event.
4.July 31 19:00 at the Town council chamber: workshop on the further testing of developing
Disaster status report with an APP on Smartphones, rather than the current paper form.
He also reported that the upgrade of the two Yaesu DR-1X to DR-2X Repeaters had been
completed, in response to an inquiry from Sam K6MSR.
(c)Larry Carr KE6AGJ donated a collection of Radio equipment, including a 6m FM Transceiver,
an SDR and others to the town for use by the ECC to promote interests in radio communication
in the Town.
(d)Marsha KG6CYV reported that, in this fire season, a new PG&E policy that would involve
possible power shut-downs in potentially hazardous wind or fire danger, might last up to 7 days.
This new policy has kept her busy updating the contact information on the data base, as well as
making sure that communication channels would still be functional during a power-outage. For
example, she said that the Town’s emergency generator might provide charging facilities for
radios during a power outage.
4.New Business
(a)Dru KG6LAD reminded full ECC members that they are required to complete a bi-annual 2-hour
online ethics training, as detailed in an email sent out by Town Clerk Deborah Padovan. The
completed certificate needs to be sent to the Town clerk- by August 31, 2019.
(b)Election of Officers: Co-chairs Dru KG6LAD, Eduardo KM6LSX, and Secretary Ben KK6HH
were re-elected for 2019/20 by a unanimous vote of the members.
5.Old Business
(a)Dru KG6LAD asked for help in locating past pictures of ECC/EOC activity for a joint LA/LAH
emergency preparedness history exhibit at the History Museum in Los Altos that will launch in
October. Eduardo volunteered to confirm with Alice Sakamoto, CERT unofficial photographer,
that her photos of past CERT/ECC activities have been submitted. ECC/EOC historical photos
are also needed.
6.New Business:
(a)Eduardo KM6LSX reported that Dave Stewart KJ6JQT and he had worked to have the ARK
moved to its new permanent location with all communication gear restored to its proper places.
The equipment still needs to be properly cleaned, setup, and tested.
(b)The telephone and the internet connections between ARK and the LAHCFD El Monte fire
station are being re-installed.
(c)The status of connection/conduit/cables between ARK and the roof Antenna of the new building
is not available at this time and likely not until the Foothill administration assumes occupancy of
the new building. This is targeted to occur before or by January 2020. In the meantime, Captain
Denise Gluhan KM6IFY and J. Logan of LAHCFD described that they are trying to find
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alternatives to place antennae. They requested technical support from the ECC community.
(d)Terry KM6LTQ proposed appointing a sub-committee to assist Denise and J. with the effort.
Scott N6NXI would be the sub-chair to assist on the 2m ham bands, and Neil K2LL, the Wifi
(WEBEOC). Sam K6MSR, Greg K6XM, Jay KN6JAY, and Terry KM6LTQ are all ready to
help with the effort.
7.Reminders: Please check online schedules for activities in the following:
(a)LAH town events: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/calendar.aspx.
(b)County ARES/RACES courses & events:
http://www.scc-ares-races.org/aresraces.htm
(c)CERT activities:http://www.lahcfd.org/community-programs/public-classes
(d)EMERGENCY ALERTS:
1.LAH: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/381/EMERGENCY-ALERTS
2.AlertSCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx
(e)ECC QRG (Quick Reference Guide):
(f)SPECS Monday Night Net information: www.Specsnet.org Northern SCC emergency ham
radio volunteer activities.
8. Adjourn: At 20:40, the meeting was adjourned on a motion made by Bob KC6ZWG, seconded by
Andy WB6CLS, and approved unanimously.
Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, Secretary