Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp

Corrections to April Minutes:
2 April 2008 Minutes: W8OAK packet frequency should be 144.950 MHz.

On 7 May 2008 at 7:00 pm, Joel Goldberg – W8HIU, Emergency Coordinator (EC) for the Oakland County ARPSC, called the meeting to order in the County Emergency Operation Center (EOC). The order of business included:

The following positions need volunteers for assistance/backup roles (i.e. out of town, illness, general help, etc):

8. National Traffic Liaison: Sean Fleming, K8KHZ has discontinued being our liaison, so a volunteer is needed here.

If our members have enough interest in Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), a training class could be scheduled. Several communities in the county already have these teams, such as Novi, Southfield, and Bloomfield Township.

Our repeaters now have commercial radios to backup the systems. Also, there will be two ICOM IC-2820 radios available to backup any failed hospital radio.

(II). Report from Steve Iannucci – Oakland County Response and Preparedness (ER&P):

During the meeting, Steve exchanged new Oakland County ARPSC identification cards with old ones. These new cards have a fire track bar code which can be run through a scanning machine for documentation.

Oakland County government doesn't have CERT teams, but individual communities do. Classes can be scheduled if there is enough interest. Once a person is CERT trained, he can go anywhere.

(III). Report from Bill Bond - W8WRB, Assistant Emergency Coordinator for District 2 Michigan Section ARPSC:

On Tuesday, 13 May 2008, Genessee County will have their annual stimulated test exercise (SET). Their ARPSC is requesting additional ARPSC volunteers from other counties. The test will be entirely different this year, but will continue the use of amateur TV. Our function is backup communications and some volunteers will go out with two camera crews. Bill would like to share rides in several cars to save gas money. If interested, please contact him.

Larry is planning a cross band repeating class for a Saturday not yet scheduled. There will be emphasis on the use of the ICOM IC-2720. He thinks that certain types of emergencies may cause a hospital to "lock-down," placing our volunteers elsewhere. Should this happen, cross band repeating could be helpful.

There will be an IS-100 class – Introduction to Incident Command System. This will be in June, dated not yet determined. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU emphasized that one cannot over estimate the value of training. There are troubling horror stories caused by untrained personnel during emergency situations. Volunteers need to know and understand the system. Our main purpose is auxiliary communications when activated by the county. If the county activates us, we are covered under their insurance if checked in. If members volunteer to assist some other non-county sponsored activity (i.e. March of Dimes Walk), one needs to check their coverage. Bill Bond, W8WRB added that certain emergencies can overload commercial or county communications and our volunteers can be most useful.

The 10th Annual Lakes Area (Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake) Memorial Day Parade will be held Monday, 26 May 2008. Maury introduced Parade Committee Member, Mel Hager who is requesting up to 14 ham volunteers to assist with the parade, starting at 9 am and parade at 10 am. Buses would be sent to place and pickup volunteers. The parade uses Orchard Lake Road from Commerce Lake Road to Middlebelt Road. If interested, Mel can be contacted at 248-875-9773. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU asked if ham assistance and communication would be coordinated with police safety. Mel will check on this. A call for a volunteer to coordinate ham services was requested at the meeting.

Marsha Fleming, N8FE is putting together the emergency calling tree. A problem exists on determining which persons are not active or not involved enough with the club. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, added that members need to be identified and grouped into areas where they live. For instance, calling members living near a severe weather problem or disaster should get the fastest response for damage assessment.

Query: Could this list be used to determine which IS class or classes are most needed for future training? Jim will follow this up with Joe Stanley – WU8Y or Larry Hornsby - KB8POD, who handle the training program.

Gary Bouwkamp - N8HMP, has begun work to place the membership form on the website. With this form, members will be able to update their own information (i.e. email address, phone, etc.) and then send it to him. This will take place this summer or fall.

(VII). Report from Lloyd Suter – N2NGQ and Maury Davidson – K8SJD, National Weather Service (NWS) Information:

Lloyd reported the NWS had a recent meeting, again discussing how weather polygons more accurately track severe weather. The problem is how best to move people out of harm's way in severe weather and which support groups need to be alerted. Weather alert polygons are thought to save money for county and local governments.

Morey reported that the NWS has a new central Michigan emergency repeater and a new antenna in Milford. There is an interesting website http://terraserver-usa.com which gives/identifies longitude and latitude locations. Aerial photos can be zoomed to great magnification in any U.S. location. It's worth checking out.

Joel Goldberg W8HIU talked with a NWS official and asked about the quality and direction Skywarn might be taking. They are doing a training review and indicated NWS may take more time teaching cloud formations and their significance.

On Saturday, 31 May 2008, there will be an introductory VHF packet class for those persons new to packet. Packet will be explained, as well as the existing system used at the EOC. Call Loretta 248-858-5300 to reserve a spot.

Query: Can we have a packet class this fall? Answer: There will be a class in the future which will be more advanced.

Query: Are there any plans to use the D-Star system? Answer: Perhaps later. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU added that there are conflicts on our funding. D-Star and our currently used packet are not the same. Moving from one system A to (or adding) another system B creates another layer of complexity. Bill Bond – W8WRB commented that the ARPSC needs everyone to have the same system.

Query: How do we get funding? Answer: A proposal is submitted to a certain committee for consideration. Joel Goldberg – W8HIU, Gary Rogerson – N8NTC, and Steve Murphy, N8NM would do the work for packet, but it takes time.

Last month, 100% of the hospitals reported into the Hospital Radio Net. We have been operating for 23 months now. Bill met with a county medical group and recommended they purchase two new ICOM IC-2820 radios to be used as backups for hospital radios. They agreed.

Query: What about radios for new hospital sites? As new hospital sites come in, we will work with them. At Henry Ford – West Bloomfield, the new construction may force us to transfer the radio to a new location. Their EOC has been suggested, but nothing more has been decided. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU commented that hospital radios are independent of the county. We don't own them. Bill Bond added the hospital fixes or replaces the radio.

Query: How do the hospitals know about us and our actions? Answer: Gail Nowak, ER&P sends out letters about one week before a Hospital Radio Net or test.

Last Saturday, 3 May 2008, there were 45 siren check-ins. This included 3 to 4 school locations to observe how well the siren could be heard. We had two new trainees for the siren net, Sam Orlando – KD8DLV and Joe Miller – KJ8O. They offered ideas on how to modernize our siren net. Some sirens are never or almost never checked while others are checked every month – overkill. Perhaps, this can be leveled out. Also, more check-in volunteers are needed.

Our ARPSC by-laws are now on the website. Also on-line is a packet BBS tutorial.

(XII). Report of Michigan QSO Party Results from Joe Miller, KJ8O, Special Events:

On 19 April 2008, our ARPSC participated in the Michigan QSO Party. After getting off to a slow start on Saturday with three stations, there were 270 QSO's for 27,700 points. Those participating were Bill Roberts – K8DXX, Sam Orlando – KD8DLV, Don Ledwith – K7SDF, Mike Vander Veer – KD8ATK, Fred Czubak – KD8CMD, Ted Davis – N8ZSA, Joel Stanley – WU8Y, Hugh Purcell – KE6YRC, and Randy Love – WF5X. Thanks go to all of them for their fine performance and certificates of appreciation were passed out.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, 13 May 2008 – Genesse County SET. Volunteers needed, contact Bill Bond, W8WRB.

Saturday morning, 31 May 2008 – Oak Apple Run and Walk. More Information at http://www.oakapplerun.org. Pre-meeting at Methodist Church, Royal Oak on Wednesday, 28 May 2008 at 6:30 pm. Volunteers needed, contact Mike Van Buren at wd8s@comcast.net

Saturday, 31 May 2008 – VHF Packet Class for Beginners. 9 am at the EOC. Call Loretta 248-858-5300 to reserve a spot.

Early June, 2008 – Classes begin for Extra License. Beginning date reported to be 1 June 2008, but may be wrong. Check with John Fleming, K8UP at john@fleming-photo.com.

Saturday-Sunday, 28-29 June 2008 – Field Day for Oakland County ARPSC. Volunteers needed, contact Joe Miller, KJ8O.

(XIV). Report of Storm Chasing by Lloyd Suter - N2NGQ with Photo Presentation:

Lloyd recently returned from a storm chasing tour group. Ten days were spent in a van looking for tornados in the west. They found wild cloud formations, tornados, and hail as big as golf balls. Travel amounted to as many as 900 miles a day, but never at night or in cities. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU also added several slides of extreme tornados and even one showing the initial 35 foot high storm surge of Hurricane Katrina.