Good evening. This presentation has minor changes from the one distributed in your packets by Deborah one exception is slide #7 where member activities have been updated. Also notes have since been added to the PowerPoint file. A good portion of those notes are for background, which you are encouraged to review, if interested in a few more details. Background & the Alphabet soup: We take advantage of an association with ARRL, the Amateur Radio Relay League, an association of >161k radio operator in the US, 100 years old this year and the largest such organization in the world. Within that structure is ARES, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service organization, consisting of hams who volunteer to provide services in time of emergencies. SPECS, the Southern Peninsula Emergency Communication System, exists within the ARES structure, which provides a radio network in our area. The purpose of the [SPECS] net is to train and maintain a crew of Amateur Radio operators who are ready to furnish communication services in a time of need. Courses are offered from basic operations to emergency management within ARES, which we encourage our members to take advantage of. 1
There are, at present, more than 100 licensed amateurs living in town, 53 who we know from a little to very well of these, the ECC has 23 members/associates and needs more active participants. Also, we need to provide survivability for our EOC radio service and enhance the communications between the EOC and the ARK at Foothill. 2
This reduces what is probably one of the longest committee charters from 325 to 65 words, hitting the high points. We are amateur radio operators, licensed by the FCC to use certain bandwidths within the radio spectrum; We function as the radio room and field radio operators for the LAH EOC in its communications mainly with the SCC OES and CERTs operating out of the ARK at Foothill College, including acting as radio operators for field CERT teams; We perform simulated drills, some County run and some sponsored by your CERT organization run by the LAHCFD; We also help out individually in such things as the Festival of Lights and the annual Fun Run at Westwind; We are building a stronger group of Associates including CERT hams and casual hams ; lastly, another charter is maintaining radio equip, which I will discuss more later concerning backbone issues. 3
Our lower roster of members and associates this year compared to last is more realistic to those who participate regularly in ECC activities. Last year we started tracking participation in check ins, drills, as well as meetings and moved out some associates/retrieving their Town loaned equipment. 3 members have moved to associate status over the year. We are continuing to increase metrics and this year will be collecting participation in ARES training courses and SPECS net control duty, the latter being assigned rather than relying on volunteers. 4
This is the same slide as last year. Miles withdrew to associate status at the end of the year due to his workload as a senior at Stanford but I wanted to mention the excellent job he did as secretary over the past 2 years. Going forward, Bob Rowe and I will be alternating on the minutes and secretarial duties. As a reminder, the repeater we use falls under the license/control of the LAH Emergency Group, a separate organization but associated with the ECC in practical terms, Jim Abraham and Scott Overstreet being examples of players active in both groups. 5
Attendance at monthly meetings is the same as 2012, reflecting no loss for the changes in member/associate status (reduced for both in 2013) Tracking Monday night check ins has improved our average to almost 12 hams on average, sometimes surpassing our larger neighbors. The 9/28 24 hour drill pointed out that we need more hams in whatever category to handle a real emergency. For instance, we need 5 hams to open the ARK and EOC for starters and then have to worry about shifts, plus an initial surge checking certain keep infrastructure (e.g. overpasses and exchanges). More on this at the end. 6
This gives a perspective on our connection to the CERT organization and participation in other Town volunteer activities. ¾ of members and ½ of associates are CERT trained. Re: Purissima Water, Bob Anderson KC6ZWG is also assigned to the District as their ham in an emergency/drill. IC refers to Incident Command, a higher level of CERT activities, Dave Stewart KJ6JQT. Member CERTS (9)= Jim Abraham W6EB, Bob Anderson KC6ZWG, Dru Anderson KG6LAD, Ray Egan W6FQY, Andy Fawcett KI6MAF, Andy Kirk WB6CLS, Duncan KI6VMY, Scott Overstreet N6NXI, Bob Rowe AF6LD Member Traffic Safety = Dru Anderson KG6LAD Member Ed Committee = Duncan KI6VMY Member PHWD = Bob Anderson KC6ZWG Associate CERTs (6) = Bill Gibbon s K6GH, Bob Hall KF6DHX, John Pfefferle KJ6CBX, Miles Seiver KI6LDU, Dave Stewart (also IC) KJ6JQT, Jerry Tomanek AF6HY 7
Key infrastructure checking is now mostly a zone/cert responsibility; hams serve the zone/cert teams; hams under EOC dispatch continue handle certain infrastructure items, e.g. overpasses and exchanges mentioned earlier. Standing Associate requirements = (one meeting + one emergency drill) / year; one Monday night net/ qtr; now, working Associates into net control rotation for LAH Monday night nets; Members being assigned to SPECS net control duties rather than falling on the usual suspects (LAH = 2 months per year). Also, UHF/220 net control. Enhanced info on Town website (Monday night nets on Town Calendar, casual ham info behind Marsha Hovey s Be Prepared home page button, Ham section Instructions for non ECC Amateur Radio Operators in the event of an actual emergency...also on ECC page, including Modified Mercalli intensity scale (Mike Mike procedure). June2013 article in Our Town newsletter When phones don t work 8
Scott Overstreet N6NXI putting the final touches on our dual band antenna (Diamond X 50, 2m/70cm) on the roof of Building 1900 at Foothill College, where Foothill operates their EOC. The case (Pelican Storm Case, im2450) contains a dual band 144/430 MHz radio (left, Kenwood TM V71A, 2m/70cm, 50W) and 20A power supply (right, Astron RS 20M) 9
3 efforts for 2014 survivable EOC radio operations, enhanced ARK/EOC communications, more hams Tuesday night net is an idea suggested by Larry Carr KE6AGJ, SPECS section emergency coordinator: a starter net for CERT/hams. The hope is that getting CERT/hams together for a separate net on Tuesdays, mainly to discuss CERT centric subjects, will get them used to PTT without having all the veteran hams present on Mondays. There are about 10 new CERT/hams who we hope to interest in a Tuesday net. We had a few CERT/hams participate once or twice in our Monday night nets (still welcome) but no regular participation. Recruiting from the Youth Commission: An introductory presentation is planned at their March 18 meeting, including Duncan and Miles Seiver KI6LDU (Miles joined the ECC as a high school student, now a senior at Stanford, and great example for these middle/high school students). Thanks to Sarah Gualtieri for her interest. 10