Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPSC) Weekly Net Thursday at 8 pm on 145.250 MHz/100pl Hospital Radio Net on the last Thursday of each month Web Site: http://www.qsl.net/w8oak Meeting Minutes for 3 May 2006: On 3 May 2006 at 7 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: (1). Comments from the Emergency Coordinator (EC) – Joel Goldberg, W8HIU: There are now major efforts by government to prepare emergency responders. These include FEMA training classes which will be offered throughout the year. By October, we will need two or three of these FEMA incident courses. Last Thursday, Joel attended an IS-700 (National Incident Management System – NIMS) seminar. Part of their presentation focused on self preparedness. They asked him how prepared he was personally as a family to handle an emergency and still take part as a first responder. Was he, as a family, prepared with emergency supplies of water, a medicine kit, prescription records, key records, a place to gather, a plan for evacuation, and many other details? This sounds very critical, but if we are to be emergency responders, we must secure our family first. Knowing where the wife and children will go and that they will be safe is important. Things like this are not usually considered before we come here to work an emergency for two to three days in a row. Does one have a change of clothes if he can't get back home? The Department of Homeland Security at http://www.dhs.gov/ has all kinds of useful information and pamphlets to help, such as "Preparing Makes Sense," and "Your Family's Emergency." Please look at this seriously and give this real thought. Steve Iannucci added that when key people don't quickly show up at the emergencies and disasters, it is because they are off taking care of their family. First Responders and emergency helpers need better pre-planning to prevent this. At this same meeting, a Kelly Services Associate pointed out that some companies now have several emergency 1-800 phone numbers for their employees. One number is for employees to call in their status and another is for the company's messages and instructions. On 7 June 2006, Oakland County ER&P will host a Homeland Security Conference. We have been asked to set up an ARPSC display to let people attending know who we are and what we do. Larry Hornsby, KB8POD mentioned that he will set up this display to include several tables at the meeting with a communication demonstration using solar panels, gel cell batteries, and a portable antenna. Also, a slide show is being considered. New ID badges are still in the works, waiting for a new software program. We need new photos of every ARPSC member. Current RACES cards expire this year. We are making every effort to get out the Newsletter by way of e-mail. With this last mailing, there were 30 bounces. So please everyone, let us know of any e-mail address change so that we can stay in contact! (2). Comments from Steve Iannucci, Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness (ER&P): Saturday, 6 May 2006, there will be Siren Testing with the pre-net beginning 12:30 noon and sirens at 1 pm. Tuesday, 22 August 2006, there will be a Region 2 - North exercise across SE Michigan, including Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair Counties. This will mostly be a test of Health Services, but can expect some degree of activation at the EOC. Please let Steve know if you can serve as a non-ham volunteer. (3). Comments from Larry Hornsby, KB8POD, AEC and Net Manager: Our weekly nets on 145.250 will continue with training information. Last Thursday's Hospital Net used a simplex frequency of 147.51 to test our communication capability without the use a repeater. Larry demonstrated a 2 meter portable antenna that could be easily set up and used. The mast for this antenna is telescoping and can be raised approximately 20-30 feet. Net Control for the next 4 May 2006 W8OAK Net will be Mike Vander Meer, KD8ATK. (4). Comments from Jim Thompson, N8USP, AEC and Training: Jim attended an OCC Auburn Hills Campus class which focused on preparing people to be self reliant during an emergency or disaster. Should bird flu occur in pandemic proportions, first responders are encouraged to use the N-95 face mask. N-95 is a government efficiency rating which means the mask blocks about 95% of particles that are 0.3 microns in size or larger. These are sold at medical supplies and paint stores such as Lowe's where they can be used for painter's masks. For the long term use of 8 hours, one will probably need 2 masks. In cold weather, these get wet and quickly lose effectiveness. By the year 2008, enough antiviral drugs should be available to be helpful. In such a pandemic, one can expect sporting events and schools to close. Upcoming classes being pushed by the Department of Homeland Security are: IS-22 (formerly IS-2) - Emergency Preparedness IS-100 - Introduction to the Incident Command System IS-200 - ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (Need IS-100 first) IS-700 - National Incident Management System IS-800 - National Response Plan, an Introduction The class IS-195 – Basic Incident Command System should count towards IS-100 and IS-200. IS-195 no longer exists. All these courses can be found on-line at http://training.fema.gov/EMIweb/IS/crslist.asp. These courses can be pulled up on your computer for training and one can even take the on-line test for credit. The ARRL now wants to know about our training certification here at Oakland County, ARPSC, as with other ARPSC locations. This information goes to the national, which is then used to request governmental funding. Joel added that when one takes an on-line exam, keep a copy of the answers in case you don't pass. This way, you can go back and check what was wrong. Coming up in October will be an Oakland ARPSC Set (Simulated Emergency Exercise) which will feature a wide area power failure. This tests us on using the simplex frequencies and emergency power. (5). Comments by Bill Bond, W8WRB, Hospital Radios: Twelve of fourteen hospitals reported into our last (April) Hospital Net. There was a 13th from St. John - Oakland, but the transmission was dead due to an antenna or coaxial cable problem. Last week, Bill went there to repair an unsoldered coax connection on one of two antennas, but apparently picked the wrong antenna. He will go back next week to fix their Diamond X50NA antenna connection and hopes the problem is not in the coaxial cable. Bill comments that it is fine to have your crew at the Hospital Net, but this is not necessary. One person is all that is needed. The important issue is that when an emergency occurs, one person will be present. Additional help is needed at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital and North Oakland Medical Center. Allan Craddock, KA8PEH did volunteer, but is ill and cannot assist at this time. Providence-Novi has a full team, and is now looking to develop a backup team(s) which may prove useful to give better coverage. The last Hospital Net used a simplex frequency and all 12 hospitals could be heard by net control. Because the various hospital couldn't always hear one-another, a question arose whether less "doubling" would occur if the hospitals waited until net control specifically called them. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU noted that Gail Novak, ER&P requested we leave alone the old ICOM IC-2800 transceiver at St. Joseph – Pontiac. He added that any radio repair would be done per EOC and other problems such as antenna and coax belonged to the hospital. (6). Comments by Gary Bouwkamp, H8HMP, Web Master for W8OAK: The website training information page now has links to FEMA and Department of Homeland Security. Swaps and nearby activities are now included. Meeting minutes can be found on the website, usually within a few days of the meeting. (7). Comments by Randy Love, WF5X, Repeater: Digital APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System), its software program, with a digipeater is now ready to operate at the EOC. The APRS program can now run in the main console. This APRS is good for tracking supplies, vehicles, and people to resources and into and out of emergency scenes. Last Monday morning, the 2 meter repeater stopped working. Steve Murphy, N8NM, County Radios, fixed it quickly. It had something to do with the audio from the controller to main repeater. You will currently find the audio levels a little lower at this time. Our 146.900 frequency will be on the air in about a month. Steve, who is also a trustee of the repeater, received permission from the repeater council to use this frequency. Randy finds the 440 machine reception weak as one nears the county line. This repeater was never intended to cover such a wide area. A Canadian station continues to use this frequency. So far, its call letters have not been identified. Joel Goldberg, W8HIU added that the Oakland County Road Commission is selling the Bald Mountain tower site and will move all antennas to a new site(s), not yet identified. The old MICON antenna site for EOC – National Weather Service (NWS) reports has been sold to Johnson Controls. These weather nets are closed to amateur input, but can now be heard at 442.350 MHz and in Wayne County at 442.175 MHz. (8). Comments by Gary Sklar, K8IKW, Public Service: Upcoming Events: (See April –May Oakland County ARPSC News for more details) Saturday, 6 May 2006 – Cadillac Amateur Radio and Computer Swap. Info at http://members.forunecity.com/wexaukee/ Saturday, 13 May 2006 – NWS Office at Glasgow, Montana Contact Contest, callsign W7G from 1800Z to 0000Z, Thursday, 18 May 2006 – Skywarn Training - Macomb County area hams. Register by phone to 586-469-5270. Friday-Sunday, 19-21 May 2006 – Dayton Hamvention. Info at http://www.hamvention.org Saturday, 3 June 2006 – Independent Repeater Association, Hudsonville, Michigan. Info at http://www.w8hvg.org Sunday, 4 June 2006 – Chelsea Area Swap Saturday, 17 June 2006 – MARC Annual Hamfest, Midland ARC. Info at http://www.qsl.net/w8kea Sunday, 18 June 2006 – Monroe County Swap. Info at http://www.mcrca.org/hamfest.htm Saturday-Sunday, 24-25 June 2006 – Oakland County ARPSC Field Day. More info later. Please let Randy Love, WF5X know if you are interested in taking part. Saturday-Sunday, 15-16 July 2006 – MS 150 Bike Race. Info at http://ms150.moses.bz and ham radio volunteers to fred@moses.bz Friday-Sunday 18-20 August 2006 – Lighthouse Special Event Station K8S at Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse. Contact Gary at K8IKW@aol.com (9). Comments by Joel Stanley, KC8DQH on the Michigan QSO Party: On 15 April 2006, the Oakland County ARPSC participated in the Michigan QSO Party with the following individuals: (1) KB8POD – Larry Hornsby, (2) KC8DQH – Joel Stanley, (3) K8ED – Mark Shaw, (4) KD8ATK – Mike Vander Meer, (5) N8KSL – Jim Dow. This group's contacts included 25 Michigan counties, 151 QSO's, and earned 1782 points. (10). Comments by George Schutte, K8GEO on Vests: George believes he has a reasonable vest compromise to offer. This vest is a one size fit-all, orange vest with pockets, reflective tape for nights, ventilated for summer, and in winter can be worn over a jacket. The back side will say "Emergency Radio," and the front "Oakland County ARPSC." The front labeling will not be included to those purchasing the vest, but will instead get an ARPSC badge usable for official functions. These vests can be purchased privately, in addition to those purchased by Oakland County ARPSC. They will be ordered together as one purchase to get the best price. If you want to purchase your own vest, be ready to pay George with a check when he is ready. Respectfully submitted, James R. Murphy, N8SML Secretary, Oakland County ARPSC 4 May 2006