Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPSC) Weekly Net: Thursday at 8 pm on 145.250 MHz/100pl Web Site: http://www.qsl.net/w8oak Meeting Minutes for 5 May 2004 On 5 May 2004 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 Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC: All but 3 or 4 recent applications for RACE cards with background checks have been cleared and returned. The ARPSC needs more volunteer leaders to backup some of our single staff positions. If interested, please contact Joel. At Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, plans are now underway to place the emergency amateur radio installation in the security area. Funding for ARPSC equipment is temporarily on hold until new county funds become available in August. Updated information is requested from members changing phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The Ryder Cup, per se, does not need amateur radio assistance. Steve Iannucci and Mike Loper, both of Oakland County Emergency Response and Preparedness (ER&P), believe county staff including ARPSC may be needed for associated safety concerns. The ER&P may extend this into a functional emergency exercise. The State and District ARRL organizations require monthly reports of volunteer hours worked by amateur radio volunteers. In turn, the ARRL releases this information to governmental agencies. For instance, Rory Locke – KC8SZR, net control reports net activity. Currently, every ARPSC in our District 2 has submitted monthly reports. Joel requested Jim Thompson, N8USP, DEC and Training Manager, to order a complete set of current ARRL emergency training manuals. The next issue of the Oakland County ARPSC Newsletter is being put together, and members are requested to inform Joel about special items to be added. The next newsletter will include Skywarn conditions with an explanation of the color code, siren tests, newest ARPSC training checklist, a spotter guide, latest criteria from the weather service, and the date for the next general membership meeting. (2). Comments from Mike Lopar, Oakland County ER&P: CERT Public Awareness Day, 6 May 2004 On 6 May 2004, the City of Pontiac will present Community Emergency Response Team Public Awareness Day (CERT) at the Pontiac Silverdome Main Event from 4 pm to 7 pm. Randy Love, WF5X, has volunteered to set up a display. More on CERT can be found on http://www.citizencorps.gov and http://www.co.oakland.mi.us/ems/info_pub/CERT_Mission.html Oakland County ER&P plans to provide twenty hours of CERT training at county level. This class training is planned for Thursday and Saturday nights, but no dates have been set. The local communities will be responsible for developing their own CERT organization to provide actual services, such as the City of Pontiac. Mike emphasizes that he considers volunteer services provided by ARPSC to be of primary importance, and their activation will be for amateur radio services and not CERT. Also the county is looking for help from retired pharmacists and other specialty groups. For those interested in the CERT program, one should take the community training and then go to their community for their CERT activities. (3). Comment from Steve Iannucci, ER& P: Siren testing took place last Saturday, 1 May 2004. There was a good turnout and everyone's efforts were greatly appreciated. (4). Comment about revised ARPSC Training Checklist from Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC: A revised ARPSC training list now exists and was passed out to the members. This list will be reproduced in the next newsletter. New or changed on the list includes: Level #1: Operational 2 meter radio, "minimum of 5 watts output." Level #2: "Minimum of 25 net check-ins (local, national, weather, siren) over 24 month period (self kept log)." Level #3: participation in a minimum of "two" public service events annually. Level #6: (new): Complete training "with certification" for Operations Center Radios, including VHF, UHF, HF, Grab and Go, APRS, packet radios. Credit will be recognized for previously completed courses with completion certificates, such as given by ARRL training courses. (5). Comments about earning an ARPSC logo polo shirt by Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC: As many as possible of these ARPSC polo shirts should be given out to deserving members. One can earn such a shirt after completing Level #3 of training. Joel asked the members about their opinions for a second color polo with a call sign for a higher level of completed training. Members voted in favor of one color polo shirt for everyone after level #3. (6). Comments about hospital net activity by Joel Goldberg, W8HIU, EC: Efforts are being made to have emergency amateur radio equipment at all Oakland County hospital sites including Genesys Hospital in Genesee County. Equipment already exists in 6 of these hospitals. Ralph Greenburg, K8CAR, and Harry Austin, KC8TEV are in charge and are recruiting ARPSC volunteers who will go to their assigned hospital and will check into the net, possibly at least once a month. This allows the volunteers to become familiar with and to test the hospital equipment for readiness. Ralph Greenberg, K8CAR requested the hospital net to take place on the last Thursday of each month. A question was asked on how to first introduce the volunteers to their assigned hospital. Hospitals with radios in place are: 1. Henry Ford Hospital – West Bloomfield: Radio is in Emergency Room (ER). 2. Beaumont Hospital – Troy: 3. Botsford Hospital: Radio is in ER. 4. Providence Hospital – Main Campus: Radio is in office on main hallway. 5. Huron Valley Hospital: Radio is in Security Office. 6. St. Joseph Hospital – Pontiac: Radio is in Doctors Lounge next to ER. (7). Help for the CERT amateur radio table at Pontiac Silverdome: A request was made for table personnel to assist Randy Love, WF5X for the 6 May 2004 Pontiac CERT program at the Pontiac Silverdome. Bill Wallace - KC8JAY, Jim Walden - N8DHZ, and possibly Gary Sklar – K8IKW volunteered. Help was needed to set-up from 1-3 pm and to be present at the table and to answer questions from 4-7 pm. (8). Comments from Jim Thompson, DEC, training: The following are planned classes: IS-2 Class – Emergency Preparedness On 22 May, 2004, there will be an IS-2 Class from 9 am to 1 pm Saturday at the EOC. In order to be RACE's certified, one must have an IS-2 certificate. The test can be taken immediately after the class or later at home. Please register with Loretta at 248-858-5300. Barry Kaufman – WD8JWM, Joel Goldberg – W8HIU, Jim Thompson – N8USP, and John Moore – K1DE will teach the class. IS-3 Radiological Emergency Management In the fall, the next class will be the IS-3, Radiological Emergency Management. Ralph Greenberg - K8CAR and Bill Wallace – KC8JAY have volunteered to teach the class. (9). Comments from Murray Scott, KE8UM, Logistics: Audio outputs are being built to accept 4 headphone sets with the main VHF/UHF transceiver at the EOC. Needed is a LM-380 chip (2 watt amplifier) to solve the problem. (10). Comments from Rory Locke, KC8SZR, Net Manager: Our net is every Thursday night at 8 pm. Net control assistance is needed. (11). Randy Love, WF5X, Repeater Operations: The antenna for the UHF repeater machine is now up. Active voice cut-outs were thought resolved, but a recent complaint suggests this may not be so. The Road Commission is planning to sell the Bald Mountain site and a search has started for another tower site for the repeaters. A packet network with nodes is going up on the 220 frequency. Use of the 220 offers a relatively quite unused band. Oakland County ARPSC Field Day, 26-27 June 2004 Randy Love, WF5X stated that there will be an Oakland County ARPSC Field Day on the weekend of 26-27 June 2004. Organization and details will be available later. (12). Comments from Gary Sklar, K8IKW, Public Service Information: Gary's June E-mail newsletter will add contest dates for main events. Please let Gary know about activities of local amateur radio clubs. (13). Comments from members: Suggestions were made to improve the Skywarn certificate card. The current card does not give a name, a call sign, a Sky-warn number, nor is it laminated. Respectively submitted 6 May 2004 Jim Murphy, N8SML Secretary, Oakland County ARPSC