HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 7LAHECC_01072020-FINAL-Minutes.docx 1
Emergency Communications Committee Minutes
Tuesday, January 7, 2020, 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 E
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 E
Council/Staff
Kavita Tankha,Council Liaison E
Associate Members
Larry Carr KE6AGJ E
Robert Johnson KG6UWZ E
Kjell Karlsson KD6BPP P
Greg Olsen K6XM P
Dave Stewart KJ6JQT P
Neil Katin, EC K2LL P
Guests:
J Logan, LAHCFD P
Mauri Okamoto-Kearney KM6LXC P
Capt. Denise Gluhan, LAHCFD KM6IFY P
Victoria Bebee, LAHCFD P
1.At 19:00 hours, Dru KG6LAD, Co-Chair started the meeting.
(a)Roll Call: At 19:01 hours, Ben KK6HH made the roll call. Attendance: 15 including 8
members, 4 associates, and 4 guests.
(b)Minutes of November and December approved: Scott N6NXI motioned to approve the
November Minutes, Andy WB6CLS seconded, and all voted to approve the minutes.
Ed W7WPO then moved and Terry KM6LTQ seconded to accept the Minutes of the
December meeting. It was also passed without any dissent.
2.Council Liaison Kavita Tankha: Unable to attend.
3.Drill and related schedule for 2020 County & City Activities by Neil K2LL, EC.
(a)SPECS Annual meeting to be held starting at 09:00 Saturday 1/11/2020.
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(b)City/County drill in February. The plan is to check radio signal reception around Town.
(c)Working on a CERT drill: An Arm-Chair Activation drill at a future unannounced date.
(d)Neil recommended that all hams take the dual courses of “Introduction to Emergency
Communications” and “Fundamentals of Emergency Communications” every 2-3 years
as the courses are updated frequently.
(e)Neil encouraged hams to listen/participate monthly to the “Training Net - Message
Passing Practice”; the third Tuesday of each month, offered by the County on the radio.
(f)Dru asked, and Neil agreed to give at the ECC February meeting a technical talk on the
“New County Credential program” related to ham radio training. Victoria Bebee of
LAHCFD also volunteered to give an overview of the renewed goals of CERT.
4.Public comments from the floor:
(a)On behalf of ECC, Dru congratulated Dave Stewart KJ6JQT and Larry Carr KE6AGJ on
their December EMA “Volunteer of the Year” award for their emergency volunteer
service to Los Altos Hills and Santa Clara County.
(b)Eduardo co-chair reviewed the December special “Ham-Bake” meeting.
1.More than 30 guests attended. Attendees regarded the venue as more spacious
than those of previous years. It was moved this year from the Parks & Recreation
room to Kitchen area at Town Hall due to more limited space at the P&R facility.
2.Eduardo highlighted the efforts and thanked all including the creative assistance
from Cathy Arias in table decoration, and the generous contributions from members,
associates, and guests of entrees, desserts, appetizers, and refreshments. He
thanked the town for its support and encouragement of the ECC committee efforts.
5.New Business
(a)“Vest Sample Exhibit”
1.Dave Stewart KJ6JQT and Mauri Kearney KM6LXC presented an illustrated, in-
depth, and thoughtful discussion of the various factors used to choose an
appropriate VEST for emergency deployment for CERT and ECC members.
2.Mauri subsequently provided a sheet for each of the 5 Types of the vests for all
present to vote and score their preference.
3.Capt. Gluhan KM6IFY pointed out that the prominent logo on the Vest should be for
the identification of DSW, while reserving the small ones for affiliation, such as ECC,
CERT, LAHCFD, or LAH.
4.For CERTs vests, the final selection choice is hoped to be made in time for
submission for LAHCFD 2Q budget. For ECC, further discussion/agreement with
Marsha and town would take place within the next few weeks.
5.Ed W7WPO motioned to have Neil K2LL represent ECC moving forward with the
vest decision. Ben KK6HH seconded Ed’s motion, and all members present voted to
adopt the motion.
(b)Ben KK6HH gave a summary of 3 years and 1 year general ham participation in the
SPECS frequency Monday night check-in. Hams are encouraged to participate for
practice and operational check of their ham equipment.
6.Old Business
(a)Captain Gluhan KM6IFY and Victoria Beebe of LAHCFD updated their recruiting efforts.
Victoria explained that she has done the following:
1.CERT now has presence on various social media platforms, including Facebook,
Tweeter, Instagram, and Next Door.
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2.Articles are in or planned on Town’s publications.
3.A regular monthly CERT Supervisor meeting has been established.
4.Plans are underway to have a bi-monthly CERT rank and file meeting. A change
from the past is that now the CERT meetings will be open to the general public to
broaden community participation.
5.Captain Gluhan KM6IFY asked ECC to provide some brochures or pamphlets so
that she could broaden the community volunteer awareness at her recruiting targets.
(b)Neil K2LL has purchased a replacement of Kenwood D710 mobile radio. The
replacement is now secured on site.
(c)Neil reported successful microwave link testing between La Cresta Water tower and
Channing house at Palo Alto.
(d)Jay KN6JAY started to take over the inventory job from Mauri. He intends to switch the
current equipment paper check-out forms to electronics ones.
7.Tech Talk(s)
a.Dru KG6LAD and Eduardo KM6LSX called for volunteers for the Saturday, Jan. 11
HAM Station in conjunction with the Los Altos History Museum exhibit focus on the
Emergency Volunteers contributions in the LA/LAH communities
8.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:
i.LAH: http://www.losaltoshills.ca.gov/381/EMERGENCY-ALERTS
ii.AlertSCC: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/alertscc/Pages/home.aspx
e.SPECS Monday Night Net information: www.Specsnet.org Northern SCC
emergency ham radio volunteer activities.
9. Adjourn: At 21:05 hours, Ed W7WPO moved to adjourn; Andy WB6CLS seconded, and all
members present concurred.
Respectfully submitted: Ben Hu KK6HH, Secretary