Oakland County Amateur Radio Public Service Corp (ARPS) Meeting Meeting Minutes: 4 December 2002 On 4 December 2002 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: There is a District Two Coordinator Meeting this Saturday (7 December 2002) in Detroit, which will be attended by Joel Goldberg, W8HIU; Barry Kaufman, WD8JWM; and Jim Thompson, N8USP. Over the years, the ARPSC has collected some donated equipment which is no longer needed and needs to be disposed. Some can be sold on E-Bay, with the returned money going to fund future ARPSC expenditures. However, anything listed on the Oakland County inventory must go through their auction process. A review of such unwanted equipment has not yet been done. The EC spoke with a Comcast Cable representative concerning cable interference on the ARPSC 145.25 MHz repeater. He is interested with working with us to resolve any interference, which sometimes comes from cable channel 13. The EC requested ARPSC members inform him of such interference - defined as interference so bad that the repeater cannot be heard. The State ARRL Emergency Coordinator plans to upgrade standards for ARES cards. The new RACES cards from the State should ready in January 2003. Those needing these new cards will require a new photo. "Pocket Checklist for Emergency Communications Personnel" manuals were mailed with the newsletter to members. A correction is needed to the 443.925 repeater listing. The offset should be 0.5 MHz. The Troy Fire Department donated a Motorola Repeater to the ARPSC. Steve Murphy will modify it so it can be used. The 440 MHz repeater has interference from an uncoordinated Canadian repeater, and so far, communication with Canadian amateur radio services has been unsuccessful. Hopefully another frequency will be found. Miscellaneous items: Work is proceeding on making available a complete set of operating manuals for each piece of equipment. The ARPSC Newsletter will mostly go out by e-mail now, and standard mailings only by special request. Of the two back-up repeaters, plans are to make one portable. There is NO JANUARY 2003 ARPSC DIRECTOR'S MEETING 2. Comments from Emergency Response and Preparedness Staff (ERP): Steve Iannucci (by e-mail) sited ARPSC member problems with Dispatch, who monitors and controls the door entrance to the building. At times Dispatch becomes very busy and requests anyone awaiting entry to be patient until Dispatch is able to respond. 3. Comments from Jim Thompson, N8USP, Deputy Emergency Coordination (DEC): IC-271 Classes, "Anticipating Hazardous Weather and Community Risk" is strongly recommended to ARPSC members. This material can be ordered from FEMA on the Internet website ( http://www.fema.gov ). If members state they are associated with Oakland County ARPSC, the course will be sent without charge. SET (2002 Simulated Emergency Test) took place on 9 November 2002. OCARS club was commended for their excellent preparation and setup. There were 22+ Hams using Emergency Power. The test went very well, and possibly there should be greater use of tactical call signs, yet still using plain English so that all levels of volunteers can understand. Abbreviations seemed to cause some confusion. Public Service Events and Classes: 1. Skywarn Tours are available Friday night and Saturday during the day (6 and 7 December 2002) at National Weather Service at White Lake. National Weather Service wireless radio contesting will also take place at this time. 2. Oakland County Emergency Management Class #10, "Winter Weather Awareness" is 12 December 2002 at the Southfield Civic Center at 7 p.m. Richard Bowman will be conducting the class. 3. National Weather Service's Skywarn Classes for 2003 will now combine basic and advanced into one class. National Weather Service requests spotters to be retrained every two years. 4. Boy Scouts of West Bloomfield have their Ham Radio presentation on 15 January 2003. The location was not given. Jim Murphy, N8SML Secretary, ARPSC 12 December 2002