Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPSC)

W8OAK Repeaters – 146.900 MHz/100pl & 444.325 MHz/107.2pl

   Weekly 2 meter net 8 pm every Thursday

   Hospital Radio Net – 7:30 pm last Thursday of Month

   Packet 144.950 MHz/1200 baud, connects made with Oakxxx or

         Callsign-# to OAKBBS (W8OAK-3) with nodes at

         OAKNOD (N8NM-1 Pontiac – most coverage),

         OAKEOC (W8OAK-7 at EOC) or K8DTX-7 (White Lake)

         APRS – 144.390 MHz

   Web Site: http://www.arpsc.com

 Meeting Minutes for 1 July 2009

            On 1 July 2009 at 7 pm, Larry Hornsby – KB8POD, Emergency Coordinator (EC) for the Oakland County ARPSC, called the meeting to order in the County Emergency Operations Center (EOC).  The order of business included;

(I). Report from the Emergency Coordinator (EC), Larry Hornsby – KB8POD:

            Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) cards and membership will be handled by Jim Poehlman – K8ABZ.  To become a new member of our Oakland County ARPSC, our by-laws state an applicant must first fill out an ARES application.  Next, he/she fills out an Oakland County ARPSC application and must pass a sheriff's background check.  Once this is complete, he/she becomes a new member and will need a Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) card.  To qualify for RACES, the Michigan State Police requires passing an IS-22 class.

            ARES cards were passed out to members.  Sign your name and call letters on the back side and then laminate the card.

            From 9 to 12 July 2009, the Michigan Section ARRL will have a family outing at the Woodlands Conference Center and Campground at 218 South Sage Lake Road near Hale, Michigan.  There will be speakers, forums, breakfasts, and entertainment.       

(II). Report from Steve Iannucci, Homeland Security Division – Oakland County:

            When severe weather winds came in last week, Steve was asked why the sirens did not go off.  For this to happen in Oakland County, wind speeds must be 65+ mph.  After the storm warning was called off, the first report of a 70 mph wind speed came in.  Keep in mind that the National Weather Service (NWS) reports wind speeds at 10 mph intervals, i.e. 50, 60, 70 mph and not 65 mph.  Larry Hornsby, KB8POD also added that spotters can give valuable information to the NWS on problem locations.  

            County officials have just asked Tracy, who handles the county sirens, to place a large painted number on the siren's metal box.  Several complaints by citizens state they have trouble identifying sirens.  Once the siren has its painted number, one will need to identify the community's location.  For instance, one must know that a siren painted with "1" is in Holly or South Lyon or Addison Township.  

            Query:  Will this change affect our siren test coming up this weekend?  Answer: No, our standard siren designations will continue to be used by amateur volunteers.

            Query: Will our siren lists show these changes?   Keep in mind that a local siren's number will continue to be the same.  Painted siren number "1" in Addison will continue to be "ADD-01."    Those with complex designations may need the number added to the siren list.                          

(III). Presentation and Training Session from Ann-Marie Ruder – K8AMR: 

            Michael Smith – N8GUZ introduced Ann-Marie Ruder – K8AMR, who is Net Manager for Macomb County ARPSC and Southeastern Michigan Traffic Net (SEMTN).

            National Traffic System (NTS) is an ARRL organization to pass formal written messages (traffic) from any point in the United States to any other point.   Emails and computers may have reduced the need for NTS traffic, but power outages, disasters, and other emergencies continue to make it a key communication source.  Such messaging includes voice messages, digital packets, PSK-31 and other modes.   It is a radio system to handle messaging (traffic) which is brief in content, is relayed from station to station between NTS affiliates or served agencies such as the Salvation Army and Red Cross, and has messages sent accurately and efficiently.    The 2-meter SEMTN is a local net and is responsible for messages from affiliated nets, such as QMN (the Michigan Net), and meets daily at 10:15 pm on 145.330 MHz.       

            Amateur volunteers need to understand how to read and write NTS radiograms.  Instructions were given to members by Ann-Marie.  She emphasized it is important to use the standard phonetic alphabet (i.e. alpha, bravo, charlie, etc), rather than making up one's own phonetics.  She will return to our 7 October 2009 meeting with more NTS instruction using table-top exercises.   If a member used SEMTN weekly until the October meeting, she believes he/she could become quite proficient in traffic handling.  

(IV) Report from Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) Management Teams:

            (1). Report from Randy Love – WF5X, Repeater and Computers:

            The main computer in the backroom console failed recently.  It seems to work now, but software programming to the internet still needs to be fixed.  If one hears a strange CW identification tone on our repeater, it is probably coming from one of the receive sites.  This occasionally happens and should not be a concern.     

            (2). Report from (AEC) Michael Smith – N8GUZ, Training/VE Testing:

            Mike and the other trainers are working on a table top exercise which involves use of the different IS courses.  Also, a pandemic SET will be coming which will involve solving communication problems.  Mike mentions that he still has some IS-22 and IS-700 manuals.    

(V). Report from Specialty Officers:

            (1). Report from Rory Locke – KC8SZR, Net Manager and Reports:

            Our June monthly report to the ARRL will show our members donated 975 man hours of volunteer service.  If rated at $18/hour, this would amount to over $17,000.  Last week, our Skywarn net was running when it became time to start the Thursday night hospital net and later the regular net.   Because weather activity was so quiet, these nets were allowed to start.  Normally, these nets would be cancelled if the weather was worse.  Two months ago, we had a stimulated test exercise (SET) in which traffic messaging was passed.  We found some members were very slow to copy messages, and think more practice is needed.  The July net control schedule has been published.    

             (2). Report on Hospital Radios from Larry Hornsby – KB8POD, EC:

             Jerry Begel – N9NPI can't be here tonight.  However, he reported to Larry that the June Hospital Net had 100% check-ins.  Larry asked hospital volunteers to plan how they would communicate if a hospital lock-down wouldn't let them inside.     

             (3). Report from Murray Scott – KE8UM, Logistics:

             Murray made two 100 foot coaxial cables for Field Day, replacing four shorter cables.   

             (4). Report from Maury Davidson – K8SJD, National Weather Service (NWS) Liaison:

             NWS in White Lake is now involved in a project called Voltex which is a field program to study tornadoes.  The focus will be to gain new insight about how, when, and why tornadoes form to help improve tornado forecasts and warnings.   They will be sending out teams in cars and trucks with doppler instruments.  NWS is now using one inch hail for their minimum size in the central U.S including Michigan.  Other locations will still use the old ¾ inch minimum size.        

             (5). Report from Jim Poehlman – K8ABZ, Membership:

             A letter will go out to members in August asking them to fill out their membership information using a new format.  Please wait until you receive the letter, as the old one is still in place.  Jim will be handling ARES membership.

             (6). Report from Gary Sklar – K8IKW, Public Service Announcements: 

             Between 31 July and 6 August 2009, there will be a Lighthouse Event with several combined operations near the Straits of Mackinac.  Lighthouse stations will include W9DLN and K8S.  This event will be a good way to pick up a half dozen lighthouses.   Twenty and 40 meters should be the most used bands.  

             (7). Report from Mike Nebel – N3BEL, Sirens:

             There will be a July Siren Test next Saturday, 4 July 2009.  Volunteers will be needed for this busy holiday.   Information about the county's sirens can be found on the website and includes when a specific siren was last covered.   Forty-seven different sirens were reported last month, with several being duplicated.  Be sure to check with the sub-net control operator beforehand to reduce this problem.      

             Mike mentions that when a number is painted on the siren box, he estimates as many as 51 county sirens could have the number "1."  So it will be important to determine the correct community.       

             (8). Report from Joe Miller – KJ8O, Special Events:

             On our field day last 27 June 2009, Oakland County ARPSC worked 26 states and for a total of 274 points.  Coming up is:

            Friday night – 14 August 2009, Berkley CruiseFest Parade*

            Saturday – 15 August 2009, Woodward Dream Cruise*

            Sunday, 4 October 2009, Brooksie Way Half Marathon and 5K Walk/Run

            * There will be an organizational meeting at the August ARPSC meeting.  

 (VI) Other Items of Interest:

             Maury Davidson – K8SJD mentioned that the West Bloomfield Library has requested another Ham Radio Display between the dates of 5 to 25 August 2009.  Maury needs ideas.  Please contact him at k8sjd@aol.com.

 Respectfully submitted,

James R. Murphy

Secretary, Oakland County, ARPSC

2 June 2009

Approved by Larry Hornsby – KB8POD,  3 June 2009