Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPSC)

            Weekly Net Thursday at 8 pm on 146.900 MHz/100pl

                        Hospital Radio Net on the last Thursday of each month

                                    Web Site: http://www.arpsc.com

 Meeting Minutes for 3 October 2007 :

             On 3 October 2007 at 7:00 pm , Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM, Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) for the Oakland County ARPSC, called the meeting to order in the County Emergency Operation Center (EOC).  The order of business included:

 (I). Introduction of Attendees and Secretary's Report by Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM, AEC:

             New attendees were introduced.  Barry mentioned that the September 2007 secretary's minutes are posted on http://www.arpsc.com.  If there are any corrections or comments, please let him know.

 (II). Emergency Coordinator Comments from Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM, AEC:

             Recently, an amateur radio member was turned away from entering into the EOC by personnel in the EOC office.   The reason was that Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness (ER&P) Department was busy with other county business.  Should this happen again, please call Barry or Joel Goldberg, W8HIU or the EOC office if you have any business or questions.

             This Saturday, 7 October 2007 , there will be a siren test at 1 pm . 

             The Annual Flu Clinics are coming up Saturday, 27 October with seven locations being:

(1) Clarkston Junior High, 6595 Waldon Road , Clarkson*

(2) Hazel Park High School , 23400 Hughes Road , Hazel Park *

(3) Lake Orion High School , 495 E. Scripps Road , Lake Orion *

(4) Rochester Older Person's Commission, 650 Letica Drive , Rochester *

(5) Southfield Pavilion, 26000 Evergreen, Southfield

(6) Walled Lake – James Giesler Middle School , 46720 Pontiac Trail

(7) Summit Place Mall, 315 N. Telegraph Road , Waterford which needs cross-band*   They are asking for amateur radio back-up from these sites to the EOC.  The clinics are open from 9 am to 2 pm .  Orientation meetings take place at 8 am .  

             Barry asked for volunteers for the (*) locations.  The following Volunteered: Clarkston – Tim Pepper, K8NWD;  Hazel Park – Bob Adams, W8BHF; Summit Place – Murph, N8SML; Rochester – Don Ledwith, K7SDF and Murray Scott, KE8UM.   Information will be sent to volunteers about where to report, etc.   Randy Love, WF5X asked that hams using cross bands to let him know what 440 frequency will be used.           

 (III). Comments from Steve Iannucci, Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness (ER&P):

             Steve reminded members that the year was drawing to the end.  Hopefully, there would be no more severe weather or emergencies.  Two more siren tests are scheduled and members are needed to complete the coverage.  There have been some citizen complaints that some two-way sirens have poor volume.  When checking your siren, do check for volume and whether the siren shows overgrowth by weeds or other obstructions.  A general membership meeting will be scheduled before the year's end, so please let Steve or Joel Goldberg know what subjects might be used for the meeting. 

 (IV). Comments from John Fleming, K8UP, District 2 Michigan Section ARPSC Emergency Coordinator:

             The Michigan Section ARPSC is having their Stimulated Test Exercise (SET) on Saturday, 6 October 2007 , which is run through the State ARPSC EOC until 4 pm .  More information is at http://www.mi-arpsc.org and http://www.mi-nts.org.  This is a statewide SET requiring two pieces of traffic from each county EOC .  One is passed into the regular traffic system and the other by packet.    Oakland County 's Siren Net will occur at the same time.

             The Digital Radio Group (DRG) had a meeting on 29 September 2007 .  They would like to see greater use of packet in our area.  Randy Love, WF5X commented that the Oakland County ARPSC packet equipment is operational, but there seems to a frequency problem.  

 (V-1). Comments from AEC's - Bill Bond, W8WRB, Hospital Radios:

             Our 30 September 2007 Hospital Net used a simplex frequency to test its success should repeaters fail.  Twelve hospitals checked into the EOC with strong signals.  On the following day, two more hospitals checked in; Botsford's simplex was rough copy and Pontiac DOH in Clarkston was weak.  Huron Valley Sinai failed to check in.  The new Oxford Medical Center does not yet have a radio but does have plans for one.  Genesys Hospital in Genesse County has a logistics problem for us.  They operate under the Genesse County ARPSC who is having difficulty finding volunteers. 

             Query:  If some emergency happens in Oakland County but not in Genesse County, what happens with this radio?  Or what happens if Genesse ARPSC can't muster volunteers?  Answer from Bill Bond: It is possible to get an Oakland County team there in about 30 minutes, if agreeable by Genesse ARPSC.   

             Walt Van Gorp, WD8RCH stated that he and Bob Joye, AB8PD, both of Holly, could assist upon request.

(V-2). Comments from AEC's - Jim Poehlman, K8ABZ, Membership:

            Last month, Jim sent a letter to everyone instructing them to send copies of FEMA certificates for classes they passed.  Some members were unsure which classes they had taken.  Jim made available an application to FEMA for these class certificates.  This month, he had four such transcripts arrive certifying certain members.  Jim's current list was passed around to members so that they could determine if their classes were accurate.

             Query: Is the county interested in CERT and ARRL training classes being listed on membership credits?  .  From Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM: Yes.   From Jim Poehlman, K8ABZ: We are mainly interested in the class requirements of the county and ARES.   From John Fleming, K8UP: ARES requires new members to have FEMA IS-100 and IS-700 within their first 6 months. 

             Query: If ARES requires certification of IS-100 and IS-700 within 6 months, should Oakland County give these classes twice a year?  From Jim Poehlman: FEMA has these classes on website and allows anyone to take them whenever they want. 

 (V-3). Training Announcements from Joel Stanley, W78Y, AEC, Training:

             Joel Stanley could not be at the meeting, but wrote the following:

             National Weather Service (NWS) Detroit/Pontiac office offers Winter Weather spotter classes in October and November.  At this point in time, those classes scheduled nearest to us are:

            (1). Thursday, 1 November 2007 at 7 pm – Lapeer County Annex Building on 287 W. Nepessing Street.  Contact http://www.lapeercountyemd.org.

            (2). Saturday, 3 November 10 am and 1 pm, Wayne County at the Detroit Public Library on 5201 Woodward Ave.  Contact point not given.

             Oakland County ARPSC will hold classroom sessions for the FEMA Independent Study Courses:

            IS-22, "Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness"

            IS-100, "Introduction to Incident Command System"

            IS-700, "National Incident Management System (NIMS): An Introduction."

             All classes will be from 8 am until about noon on Saturdays in the EOC meeting room.  If there's an active emergency occupying the EOC, the class will be cancelled.  Students should monitor 146.900 MHz on the morning of the class.  Pre-registration is required and accomplished by calling Loretta at ER&P – phone 248-858-5300 or e-mail - oakerp@oakgov.com.

             IS-22 will be on Saturday 13 October 2007; persons with credit for IS-2 need not take this course.  IS-100 will be on Saturday 10 November 2007; persons with credit for IS-195 need not take this course.  IS-700 will be on Saturday 15 December 2007, but IS-100 or equivalent must be completed before taking this course.          

 (VI). Public Service Announcements and Events from Gary Sklar, K8IKW:

             The August Special Event Station at Cheboygan Days Festival had 98 contacts; 4 with lighthouses and 4 with foreign counties.  A bulletin board was purchased to display a map showing the location of each contract.  This board was brought back and will be available for future county events.  Also, we now have a high capacity copper ground rod which is also available.  In the future, Gary will attempt to schedule the lighthouse event sometime in July or early August, so that it doesn't conflict with the Woodward Dream Cruise.  He will bring the QSL cards and certificates to a future meeting.  Anyone interested in volunteering for this event next year, please contact Gary.  

 (VII). New Business:

             Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM, stated that the Oakland County ARPSC needs a calling tree for first responders and asked for a volunteer to set this up.  Marsha Fleming, N8FE volunteered.

 Respectfully submitted,

James R. Murphy, N8SML

Secretary, Oakland County ARPSC

4 October 2007