Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPSC)
Weekly Net: Thursday at 8 pm on 145.250 MHz/100pl
Web Site: Http://www.qsl.net/w8oak

General Membership Meeting Minutes for 2 November 2005:

 On 2 November 2005 at 6 pm, Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, Emergency Coordinator (EC) for the Oakland County ARPSC
 called the General Membership Meeting to order in the County Emergency Operation Center (EOC).  The order of
 business included:

(I). Comments from the Emergency Coordinator – Joel Goldberg, W8HIU: 

 The ARPSC members thank the Oakland County's Emergency Response and Preparedness (ER&P) Department for the
 dinner tonight.  We are most appreciative of their kind support.

 Outdated e-mail addresses are a real problem when the ARPSC newsletter is sent. If you have a new e-mail
 address or not sure which one we have, please check with Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM as soon as possible.  For
 those individuals not using e-mail, please let us know so that the newsletter can be mailed to you.

 Next Saturday, 5 November 2005 is the last Oakland County siren test for the year.  Even the self reporting
 sirens require some monitoring to determine if they are fully functional.  The siren net starts 12:30 noon
 with the sirens sounding at 1 pm.  Please check in to one of the subnets or contact us on the main net on
 145.25 MHz.   Gail Novak, ER&P reminds us that the sirens are designed to warn people who are outdoors to
 seek cover.

 Last Saturday, 29 October 2005, the Oakland County Health Department had a smallpox stimulated exercise test. 
 During the exercise, they gave out flu shots to participants at 3 of their 6 sites.  Amateur radios were
 assigned at each site to assist the county government's 800 MHz radios.  Two sites reported difficulties
 communicating with their 800 MHz radios which were solved with ham radio.  Even Barry Kaufman's 500 milliwatt
 two meter handheld worked.  At the EOC, we had three ARPSC members to handle and run messages, but found we
 needed a fourth member to log in messages.  A grab-and-go transceiver was used to communicate actions within
 the EOC while the main radio continued to communicate with the health department sites.  Over 100 messages
 were transmitted by us.  

 A trustee of the Milford Repeater, Bob Myers, NW8R has assigned us their 146.90 MHz frequency.  A repeater
 with this frequency will soon be active on the airways in Milford.  Later, we plan to move our 145.25
 repeater operation over to the 146.90 MHz frequency which has less interference.  The old 145.25 frequency
 would then be turned back to the OCARS club.  

(II). Comments about the forth-coming Oakland County Simulated Emergency Text (SET) by Justin Stabenow,
 KC8UQF:

 The Oakland County ARPSC SET is scheduled for Saturday, 19 November 2005 from 10 am to 1 pm.  Our last SET
 took place in 2002.  Justin is in charge with Ralph Greenberg, K8CAR planning the hospital radio side.  Sign
 up sheets were passed around and volunteers were given specific instructions.  Even if one has no assignment,
 Justin requested ARPSC members to check into the net.   

(III). Up-coming IS-700 Class by Jim Thompson, N8USP, DEC:  

 An IS-700 Class – National Incident Management System (NIMS) is scheduled for Saturday morning, 12 November
 2005 from 9-12.  Reservations can be made with Loretta at 248-858-5300.  If interested, please call quickly
 since the class is nearly filled.  FEMA requires this from us to secure Homeland Security grants. 
 Steve Iannucci, ER&P had previously reported that to achieve these grants, a certain percentage of county
 workers and volunteers are required to pass these classes.

 Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC added that NIMS should have worked during the Hurricane at New Orleans, but not
 everyone was using it.  Joel Colman, NO5FD, Emergency Coordinator for Orleans Parish reported that at one
 point he was the only ham operating there, but eventually had to evacuate both he and his family to Michigan. 
 At a previous meeting, Joel reported his experiences to us.  He will be the speaker at the next Hazel Park
 Amateur Radio Club meeting.  

(IV). W8OAK Net and Hospital Net operations by Larry Hornsby, KB8POD:

 Larry has a list of 420 names of people that have checked into the W8OAK net during this year.  He pleads
 for more ARPSC members to volunteer to operate Oakland County's hospital radios.  Two to three volunteers
 are needed for each hospital radio.  They need to become familiar with the radio, the location, and hospital
 personnel.

 Comment from a member:  We, the amateur radio community, need to provide this hospital radio service.  This
 serves to reinforce our need to preserve the frequencies designated for our use.  Our hospital radio service
 can be our show piece for others to see our worth.

 Comments from several members:  There is a movement to make channel one on the FRS radio to become an
 emergency channel.  Having such a radio may become an important part of our kit.   

(V). Comments from Randy Love, WF5X:

 Not only volunteering is needed, but we also need to train and then train on training.  We are lucky nothing
 big has happened since the electrical blackout.  The up-coming SET is our major training session which allows
 us to review for improvement.  We need more operators to step up and help.  Eventually, we may be able to
 add a TNC to the hospital radio equipment.

 Skywarn Recognition Day is Saturday, 3 December 2005 and Randy requests help on contesting, which begins at
 7 pm on the Friday and continues on Saturday.  Please contact Randy at wf5x@arrl.net.     

(VI). Training Class for Members:

 After the meeting adjourned, ARPSC members went to the county Information Technology Auditorium for "Winter
 Spotter Training," by Grant Montgomery from the White Lake NOAA.

Respectfully submitted, 
James R. Murphy, N8SML
Secretary Oakland County ARPSC
3 November 2005