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 7 February 2007: On 7 February 2007 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: (I). Comments from "Frank Couts, City of Southfield Emergency Management Director: Frank came to acquaint members on City of Southfield Emergency Management actions. Already the City of Southfield is looking to amateur radio for emergency communication when other methods fail. Amateur radios and antennas are being purchased and will include a radio for the mobile police van. Frank is asking the ARPSC to assist training. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC, pointed out that certain members could be most useful. Joel Stanley, KC8DQH, AEC of Training is in a position to develop a program including licensing and basic operating skills. Randy Love, WF5X is now a volunteer examiner coordinator and can organize testing. Furthermore, Joel recommended future discussions with Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM and himself. (II). Comments from the Emergency Coordinator – Joel Goldberg, W8HIU: Members should note that the Oakland County ARPSC has a new website at http://www.arpsc.com. On Wednesday 7 March 2007 at 7 pm, there will be a Skywarn class in the auditorium across from the EOC. The regular meeting will not be held. A light supper will begin at 5:30 pm. If interested in either or both, please register on a sign-up sheet or call Loretta at the ER&P office at 248-858-5300. Auditorium size limits us to a maximum of 68 persons. Bill Yake, a reporter from the Oakland Press called the EOC office and requested to meet for pictures with three Skywarn members from different areas of the county. Larry Hornsby, KB8POD volunteered for the Waterford area, Hugh Purcell, KE6YRC for the Auburn Hills – Troy area, and Lloyd Suter, N2NGQ for the Milford – West Bloomfield area. Volunteers are needed to backup our staff, so that more personnel can be available in case of long emergencies. Bill Bond, W8WRB has developed and printed 500 copies of a pamphlet about the ARPSC. Randy Love, WF5X is now a volunteer examiner coordinator and can do testing. Certificates of appreciation were passed out to volunteers for their siren and Skywarn activities during the last year. Last 21 October 2006, Oakland County Health Department held their Annual Flu Shot Clinics with participation by our ARPSC. This can be expected again in 2007. (III). Comments from John Fleming, K8UP, District 2 Michigan Section ARPSC Emergency Coordinator: Coming up is the 2007 District 2-South Flu Exercise for the counties of Monroe, Wayne and Washtenaw. The date has been changed so as not to compete with the 2007 Dayton Hamvention. District 2-South will also be part of test exercise OS 2007 – Fermi Nuclear Plant Disaster later this year. This test affects Monroe County heavily and Oakland County to a lesser extent. Monroe County has a new Emergency Coordinator, Peter Hendricks. (IV). Comments from Larry Hornsby, KB8POD, Assistant Emergency Coordinator (AEC) and Net Manager: Our weekly net is every Thursday night at 8 pm, with the last Thursday of the month hosting the Hospital Net. Work on Net Operator's Training Manual continues with 28 pages completed. Included will be copies of various logs for nets and other activities. Hopes are to have this finished in another month. (V). Comments from Joel Stanley, KC8DQH, AIE, Training: Skywarn training classes take place next month. If interested, please call 248-858-5300 to register or email to ocem@oakgov.com. 2007 Oakland County Skywarn Classes Wednesday, 7 March 2007, 7 – 9 pm at Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness (ER&P) at the Information Technology Auditorium, Campus Drive South (West of Telegraph behind Oakland County Farmer's Market). Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 7 – 9 pm at Oak Valley Middle School, 4200 White Oak Trail, Commerce Township. Tuesday, 20 March 2007, 6 – 8 pm at Southfield Civic Center Library Auditorium, 26300 Evergreen Road, 0.5 mile south of I-696 or 0.5 mile north of 10 Mile Road. Thursday, 22 March 2007, 7 – 9 pm at Groveland Township Fire Department, Station #1, 14645 Dixie Highway, Grange Hall Road, Groveland, Township. Tuesday, 3 April 2007, 7:30 – 9 pm at Covert Center Auditorium, 1150 Scott Lake Road, Waterford. Saturday, 14 April 2007, 10 – 12 pm, Oakland County ER&P at the Information Technology Auditorium, Campus Drive South. Saturday, 14 April 2007, 1 – 3 pm, Oakland County ER&P at the Information Technology Auditorium, Campus Drive South. Monday, 16 April 2007, 7 – 9 pm, Oakland Township Fire Station #2, 1888 Rochester Road, Oakland (One block north of Stoney Creek Road). On 21 April 2007, there will be a HF training event and exercise held in conjunction with the Michigan QSO Party. If interested, please contact Joel Stanley. Places like the Palace in Auburn Hills have poor reception for HT communication. To solve this, crossband training is needed with the Grab-and-Go transceiver. A date has not been set yet. (VI). Comments from Barry Kaufman, Wd8JWM, AEC Administrator: ARPSC file clean-up is finished. Inventory is now being taken of all equipment. Written job descriptions are being made for various AEC positions. Jim Poehlman, K8ABZ is reviewing membership lists. Jim noted that out of 250 members on the list, about 130 of them have not been to ARPSC meetings or other activities in recent years. He will attempt to contact these people either by mail or email, to see if they are still interested. The definition of who should be a member was discussed. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU noted that the executive group will decide. Some members have moved away or are unable to participate. We need to know who these are. Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM stated that names of "inactive" people won't be dropped, because sometimes these people become available and can be used in reserve. The county ARPSC is getting more and more involved in emergency action. Bottom line is to get more members trained and ready for emergencies. Defined training denotes a training level which allows one to work in one's county and in other counties. RACES and county ARPSC cards are becoming a requirement for active service. John Fleming, K8UP added that the Oakland County ARPSC is part of the organization ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services – ARRL). FEMA has told the National ARRL Organization that ARES is considered a "first responder." One only has to have the desire to join, not even have a radio. In the future, training is expected to be part of ARES requirements. (VII). Comments from Randy Love, WF5X, AEC and Repeater Operations: Randy believes funding may be coming to finance the Milford site. In regards to VE testing, he needs to meet with future examiners. Joel Goldberg noted that a very limited phone access has been put on the repeater. This is only for communication from an individual to the EOC office. (VIII). Comments from Bill Bond, W8WRB, Hospital Radios: All the hospitals and one police station checked in the January net. St. Joseph Mercy – Pontiac is missing transceiver parts and is not operational. Its ICOM IC-2800 needs replacement and the antenna has been reported to have a high SWR. Calls to St. Joseph administration have not been returned. Beaumont – Royal Oak microphone needs repair. St. John Providence – Southfield has a broken ICOM IC-2720 and needs replacement. Bill called Providence and asked them to buy a new radio. Providence is in the process of installing a secure cabinet to help stop radio tampering. Bill recently made presentations at Farmington Hills and at Bob Rusk's station to promote the emergency radio activities and recruit more volunteers. Volunteers are needed at Botsford Hospital as well as other sites. Bill called the POH Medical Center in Oxford and gave them a spec-list of amateur radio equipment which they need to purchase. Currently, ARPSC volunteers are operating with their own equipment. (IX). Comments from Gary Sklar, K8IKW, Public Service Information: Upcoming Events Saturday, 17 March 2007 Michigan Crossroad Hamfest - Marshall, Michigan. More information at http://www.w8df.com. Sunday, 18 March 2007 Toledo Hamfest and Computer Fair - Maumee, Ohio. More information at http://www.tmrahamradio.org. Gary was contacted by the Cheboygan County Sheriff's office. Cheboygan Days Festival is coming up July 20 through August 20, 2007 and they are requesting an amateur radio demonstration for one of the week ends. Stations could be placed in their lighthouse and coast guard cutter. However, they have a deadline of 15 February 2007 so that this activity can be publicized in advance. Gary is interested but only can do it with 3-5 additional volunteers to assist. Gary is still having trouble with email addresses from members that use arrl.net addresses. During his last newsletter mailing, 57 out of 87 bounced back, many of which were arrl.net addresses. Please list another email address. Respectfully submitted, James R. Murphy, N8SML Secretary Oakland County ARPSC 8 February 2007