Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPSC) Meeting Minutes: 5 March 2003 On 5 March 2003 at 7 pm, Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, Emergency Coordinator (EC) for the Oakland County ARPSC called the meeting to order in the County E.O.C. The order of business included: 1. Comments from Joel Goldberg, EC: District 2 Coordinators meet periodically, which is our district consisting of six southeastern counties in Michigan. Discussions included training certification and ARPSC training standards for District 2. The purpose is get ARPSC members trained as well as possible. At this time, there is no District 2 Coordinator, now that Jim Wades has moved on to the State level organization. Two weeks ago, members at the State Emergency Management Meeting reported that FEMA will be folded into Homeland Security with the IS-2 instructional program becoming ISS-2. This State organization also came out with training standards similar to our own discussions in last month's meeting. Because of a need for increased security, the State of Michigan is requesting background checks for criminal activity for anyone requesting a RACES card. There is expected to be an appeal process for special problems that might arise. The State Emergency Coordinators would like snow levels reports and are currently considering these be reported to the Rain Gauge Network . The Civil Air Patrol has proposed an additional repeater(s) to be mounted on the Bald Mountain tower site. The Road Commission is checking to see if there will be any interference with our repeater's signals. Mike Cleary, N8EQD, former Oakland County Emergency Coordinator, several years ago moved north and has now become the Antrim County Emergency Coordinator. The Amateur Radio Repeater Council, which coordinates repeater frequencies, has a new change of personnel. The Frequency Coordinator has stepped down, but Bruce, N8UT, is now working to catch up on the backlog of business. Steve Murphy, N8NM, Radio Service Department of Oakland County, is still working on the repeater. Originally, he estimated that a year would be needed to work out problems and we are now into the 5th or 6th month. Steve is requesting volunteers to run field checks from several sites. A sign-up sheet was passed around to the members at the meeting. There will be a GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING on Wednesday, 7 May 2003. At this meeting, the finalized training requirements will be given out. This is excellent chance for members to obtain or update a RACES card. 2. Comments from Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM, Deputy E.C. Oakland County Sirens were tested for the first time this year on 1 March 2003. The Farmington/Farmington Hills subnet did not report. There is difficulty covering certain sirens in the northern part of the county and a special squad is needed to cover them. The next siren test will be Tuesday, 18 March 2003, at 10:30 am, and will be part of Severe Weather Awareness Day. There will be no April Siren test, and the next to follow will be on Saturday, 3 May 2003 at 1 pm. The policy for self-reporting sirens is that these need to be checked once a year. The purpose of these sirens is a warning system for people outdoors to seek shelter, and is not a warning system for those indoors. A request was made to have the monthly hot siren list forwarded to subnet operators at an earlier time. A list of self-reporting sirens can be obtained from Steve Iannucci, of Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness. 3. Oakland County ARPSC Membership and Training Requirements (proposed) were passed out to the members at this meeting. These requirements attempt to establish a training standard for all ARES and RACES members in District 2, recognizing that individual counties may wish to modify some of the requirements. This is only a draft copy and it has not yet been adopted. Different levels of training preparedness will be recognized: (1) Levels I through Level IV and (2) Management Levels I and II. It is important to understand that only Level I, the most basic level, is needed for anyone to participate in ARPSC. As currently proposed, Level I is: (a) Open to all licensed amateur radio operators, (b) registration with Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness, (c) availability of 2 meter equipment with at least 5 watts output, (d) being 18 years of age or older for full membership. 4. Steve Iannucci, Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness, gave the members a preview of new video equipment in the E.O.C. Meeting Room. This equipment displays to a large screen, about 5' high and 24' feet long, which permits up to four separate views at one time. The E.O.C. has access to the 169 cameras in southeastern Michigan along the freeways, and in the future, access to camera images from Oakland County helicopters. The highway cameras are expected to aid in evacuation efforts during a disaster. An ARRL Public Relations promotional video was viewed which demonstrated amateur radio skills used in public service. Clubs can borrow this video from Joel Goldberg, EC. 5. Sean Fleming, K8KHZ, recommended that the annual Amateur Radio Field Day in June have a working station from the E.O.C., which could make points in category F contesting. This can be useful for training ARPSC personnel to become familiar with the current equipment and to develop their skills in making contacts. An ARPSC member is required to take responsibly for the activity and Ralph, K8CAR, volunteered and will take charge. Anyone wishing to participate should contact Ralph at 248-855-6615. Jim Murphy, N8SML Secretary, Oakland County ARPSC 6 May 2003 1