Oakland A.R.E.S. Newsletter June 1, 1996

<Announcements / Calendar>

• Meeting schedule: July 13 Aug 3 Sept 7 Oct 5
• Bring your radio emergency kit to the June 1st meeting
• Field Day at N6OIK's June 22 1800 UTC (11AM PDT) - June 23 2100 UTC (2PM PDT)
• National Night Out August 6, 7-10 PM

<Races Report>

We now have an official protocol for getting access to the fire stations. On the day you plan to visit, call dispatch 444-3322 and have them transfer your call to the fire station. Ask the company officer for permission to visit that evening. Only one person needs to call per station. If there is an Oakland-wide station visit, one person should handle the arrangements.

<Measure I Radio Installation>

Stations 5 and 19 had radios installed on May 18. Each station was done in record time of 1.5 hours thanks to preplanning. We plan to make a documentary video of a fire station radio installation. Volunteers experienced in video production are needed. The video could be used for training purposes. Contact Jim, N6OIK or David, WB6NER .

<AEC Reports>

Training: Brian, KJ6LL says the City of Oakland drill sparked observers' interest in ham radio training. Kathy, KE6SSY and Doug, N6TQS will probably have a September class. HRO has other class listings.

Show off your go-pack at the June meeting. This kit holds radio/food/clothing supplies to set up a station for a day.

Liaison: Tim, KD6CTG is exchanging info with other groups who need participants for special events and classes. Mike, KD6PLN offered to post all special events on the web. San Leandro RACES has a business card with their contact info and net schedule.

The last order for Jackets were taken.

Administration: Debbie, KE6MRK reports slow progress on the new database. Adele would like us to contact members before they are dropped from our lists. Please check your mailing label. If it says 12/96, then our records show you as a paid member. To correct your label, contact Bob Firehock, KE6IUE who will straighten things out and pass on the info for the mailing labels. We do make mistakes, but we're good at correcting them. Welcome new members and participants: Lisa, KF6BYI, Denise, KF6BIO and Barbara, KF6CWW.

Special Events>

Field Day: This year we will be participating in Field Day, Saturday-Sunday, June 22-23. Contact Jim, N6OIK or David, WB6NER . This event will operate on all simplex frequencies and will be located at Jim Tiemstra's home adjoining city property up in the hills. Once we get permission from the city, there will be room for everyone to pitch a tent.

Block Captain's meeting: Brian KJ6LL , Chris KE6MQW, Debbie KE6MRK, Adele KE6HKY, and Paulette KE6CFW , brought their radios to an Oakland Block Captain's meeting May 18. The keynote address was most relevant for our organization: "Disaster Preparedness: Surviving the First 72 Hours" by Henry Renteria who concluded his speech by recognizing ARES members in attendance and praising ARES effusively for our supporting role in general and for our participation in the April 25 drill in particular. Chris, making the most of the situation, had us show off radios at break time, took names and addresses from 28 interested folks, Paulette took some names also and Debbie pointed out Brian as the 'trainor'. Printed flyers were sorely needed for handout. Brian displayed our banner. A card table would have come in handy. Brian will work with Mike KD6PLN to update the flyer used at the Festival at the Lake 2 years ago.

National Night Out: Chris, KE6MQW proposed amateur radio participation in a street safety program called National Night Out. On August 6 from 7-10 PM everyone across the country is encouraged to "take to the streets." Sit on your front steps, stroll around your block, meet your neighbors, enjoy the weather, and demonstrate amateur radio: Generate third-party traffic linking neighborhoods. Hold a net to see how many communities participate. More info as the date approaches.

Debriefing by KE6MRK

All those participating in the City of Oakland Drill on April 25th not only should give themselves a pat on the back, but the city also sent out a nice thank-you letter along with a button recognizing participation. I was stationed at Red Cross Headquarters with Marvin K6GHE following Leroy KE6USF in the 'ERV' using the Red Cross radio and the Ham frequency. We remained out of the real action of evacuations and train derailments but found it a very rewarding experience. Hearing all the radio communications makes me appreciate the community that is formed in this 'other' dimension. As I get to know more of the players, I realize what a great group of people they are. I also had the opportunity to participate in the Bay Area Hospital Net for the Alameda County Disaster Exercise on May 5, 1995 when another Earthquake scenario occurred with all its inherent crises, with the use of forms and improved communications practices, tons of information was passed over 2 or 3 frequencies all in 2 hours! Kudos to Dave WB6NER and everyone else who made this work.

MS Walkathon Debrief: This event held Sunday, April 14, 1996 was a huge success. However, suggestions for improvements are included in the following list:

• Use magnetic mounted antennas with a 25 ft. cable
• Use tactical rather than call signs
• Identification badges and clothing
• Magnetic mounted (Amateur Radio) placards for vehicles
• Need ARES/RACES handout to give to the curious

April 18 Fire Station Activation:

• Provide training for changing frequencies
• Access to radios
• Headphones / retrofit package
• Sign to keep non-ham firefighters from using equipment

April 25 City of Oakland Drill: Again, this was a great success but there's always room for improvement. Cathy Burgardt gets credit for scribing all this at a breakneck pace as suggestions spewed forth:

• Use tactical call signs instead of multiple use of "net control" label
• Stick with tactical call sign
• Resource net was located in the wrong place. This person should be with those who allocate resources
• Tactical sign 'EOC' not used and caused confusion
• Messages must have a source and a destination
• Preemptive traffic (info gathering) needed? Policy shift?
• Wait for acknowledgement before passing message
• Speak slowly, wait after PTT so words aren't cut off
• Don't give out info that no one is asking for
• Be specific about who is to receive each message
• Deborah Reisman is authority for OFD installation & problems
• Drill needed to be in place by 9:00a
• Some couldn't get into City Hall
• Showing up is important
• In a real emergency you get sent to the wrong place. After finding right place you sit & wait
• Need important info only. What is big picture? Send brief messages. Write them first.
• Decision makers should not operate radios
• Frequency confusion: focus on one radio; need 12 or more simplex frequencies; allocate each neighborhood with its own frequency; Pass on to county?
• Working on plan to support CORE
• Cheap CB's good option for CORE
• Stay on your assigned frequency
• Use "break" for priority traffic; "break - break" for emergency traffic; "comment" or "info" followed by tactical sign for routine break in.
• Check with net control for assignment in designated area
• Secondary net controls should only contact EOC
• Net control should ask for assistance if lots of traffic
• Need more VHF to monitor all at once
• Need to organize frequencies

<Tidbits>

Upgrading? Brian has a 900 page self-paced study guide for the General License that he is willing to lend out to people who are actively studying for their upgrade. It includes code tapes that take you from 0 to 13 wpm and covers theory from scratch.

Oakland Antenna Ordinance: The telcom policy is primarily for commercial antennas. We are monitoring their promise to exempt ham radio antennas. The issue was scheduled to go to the Planning Commission May 22. Chris, KE6MQW will interview Calvin Wong and Willie Yee to gauge their support. Deborah, KE6MQV received a letter from the fire chief supporting us. The Pacific Division of the ARRL offered legal assistance to us if necessary.

<Attendance Sheet>

The Oakland ARES meeting came to order at the Oakland Red Cross at 9:00 AM. Present were:

MacNoel Alvarez	KE6MLQ		Doug Faunt	N6TQS		Bob Mayes	KE6DVT
Lisa Askew	KF6BYI		Bob Firehock	KE6IUE		Art McLaughlin	W6THD
Debbie Barragan	KE6MRK		Curtis Floray	KA6MJO		Chris Peeples	KE6MQW
Adele Bertaud	KE6HKY		Glenn Hammonds	KE6YLT		Barbara Pickering	KF6CWW
Herbert Bowen	WA6CUY		Tim Ingham	KD6CTG		David Pompa	pending
Chris Burgardt	KE6SSW		Roger Jung	KE6STB		Mike Pompa	KD6PLN
Kathy Burgardt	KE6SSY		Marvin Kay	K6GHE		Deborah Reisman	KE6MQV
Elaine Carter	K6SZT		Edward Kilmartin	KE6WPG		Theodore Stewart	W6NPB
Jim Carter	K6LWA		Denise Kimball	KF6BIO		Donald Street	K6EHQ
Willie Denninger	KE6EMX		Paulette Leston	KE6CFW		Brian Treusch	KJ6LL

Meetings are normally held on the first Saturday of each month.

The next meeting will be Saturday, June 1, 1996 at 9:00 AM
at the Red Cross Headquarters, 2111 E. 14th Street, Oakland 535-2800