A.R.E.S. Newsletter September 5, 1998

Minutes of the August 1, 1998 Meeting

The next meeting will be Saturday, September 5, 1998 (Labor Day Weekend) at 9:00 AM
at Leona Lodge 4444 Mountain Blvd. off Redwood Road/Carson St.

Attendance Sheet

<Announcements / Calendar>

<ORCA>

It was perfect barbecue weather and attendees brought just enough of every traditional BBQ food item. The Oakland Radio Communication Association received incorporation documents back from the Secretary of State. We are also trying to achieve 50% ARRL membership so that the club can be affiliated with the ARRL. Please update the information in the roster with David, WB6NER.

<RACES Report>

Monthly meetings with OES has resumed. Discussed were antenna matters such as Station 17's SWR problem, and plans to replace backup batteries in 1999. Fire danger last month was not as high as in prior years. A report on last month's Mutual Response exercise is forthcoming. It was noted that the Police Dept. EOC on Edgewater is on landfill, and that the construction of the new EOC at Station 1 has finally begun. Thanks to Mike W6UIB and Willy KE6EMX for radio installation in the comm van. And thanks to Henry Renteria for speaking to the group this month.

<Special Events>

ARES/RACES Training: The first in a series of training sessions will be held immediately after the September 5th meeting. Bring your radio & manual and learn how to program your radio.

Simulated Emergency Test: Details for this annual exercise will be discussed at the meeting.

American Diabetes AssociationWalkathon: This event is concurrent with the October meeting.

Regatta: Once again, packet radio will be used to relay start times of the various rowing races to the judges at the finish line. The event runs from 0600 to 1300, but it occurs after daylight savings ends so it's not as early as it sounds.

Field Day: The final tally was 1350 points.

Pacificon: The location of this annual ham radio convention has moved to the Concord Airport Sheraton Hotel. Admission is $5 in advance and $7 at the door. Send an SASE to Pacificon 98; Box 272613; Concord 94527. Mike KB6MP will be conducting an internet forum.

Guest Speaker

Henry Renteria, the Emergency Services Manager of the Oakland OES described the new EOC being built with Measure I funds. It's a 3-story extension to Fire Station 1. The first floor will house 911 dispatch, with 6-18 dispatcher stations, eventually servicing Emeryville, Piedmont, Alameda and Berkeley, as well as Oakland. Police, Fire and Public Works will be dispatched via the 800MHz system using computer aided dispatches (CAD). A computerized deployment status system, EIS, will be able to answer the question, where is a particular resource? The second floor has a similar layout to the Alameda County EOC. Our RACES room moved from the original design. So far, the pilings are done and the concrete was poured. We're looking at about 18 more months before move-in. The goal is to keep the existing dispatch fully functional until the crossover. A separate building houses emergency generators.

Henry also spoke about the latest reorganization proposal: to merge OES with Fire Prevention, currently with about 16 employees each. He foresees increased vegetation management programs and more scheduled RACES fire patrols. He is also committed to continuing CORE no matter what.

FCC & ARRL Propose Changes>

The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, WT Docket 98-143 on August 10. The commission proposed phasing out Novice and Tech Plus and asked hams to express their opinions on Morse code requirements for licensing and testing and what to do with the Novice bands. The commission also wants to phase out RACES station licenses (none were issued in the last 9 years), allow Advanced to give General and Tech exams, and addressed changes in the administration of CW tests to handicapped individuals.

Two weeks prior, the ARRL published a comprehensive restructuring proposal, allowing 5 wpm Generals and 12 wpm Advanced/Extras and promoting Novice and Tech Plus to General, naming the classes A, B, C, and D. Nobody loses privileges. Written exams would increase in difficulty. Reaction to the proposal has been mixed, mostly positive.

Full details of both proposals are at http://www.arrl.org/news/restructuring/Additional information about the proposal is at the Pacific division site http://www.pdarrl.org/ The comment period to the FCC is extra long. You have until January 15, 1999 and can comment only once either electronically or by mail. Expecting a deluge of responses they actually prefer electronic copy only. Web filing is at http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html Compose your reply offline in a word processor and paste it into the form. To get filing instructions for e-mail comments, send an e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov, and include the following words in the body of the message, "get form <your e-mail address>." By mail, send 5 copies to the Commission's Secretary, Magalie Roman Salas, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M St., N. W., Room 222, Washington, DC 20554.

<Tidbits>

Web sightings: USGS earthquake monitoring http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/

Hayward Air Fair: Communications, medical and SIMS/ICS volunteers are needed for this Labor Day Weekend event. A minimum 5 hours commitment. Contact Rick Paige at 707-468-7466 or mesaofc@pacific.net

Thanks: If we ever accidentally leave out your name from a thank you list, please let us know and we'll be sure to correct the situation. A hearty pat on the back goes to Brian W6LL for his volunteer efforts in June/July.

<Attendance Sheet>

The ORCA ARES meeting came to order at Leona Lodge at 9:00 AM. Present were:

Robin Bartoo

KF6CZL

Bob Firehock

KE6IUE

Tim Roberts

KF6BYG

Adele Bertaud

KE6HKY

Eliza Greene

KE6EHD

The Roberts Family

pending

Herbert Bowen

WA6CUY

Richmond Harding

EL2BG

Bernard Schormann

KE6TYY

Chris Burgardt

KQ6JZ

Dave Harnish

KF6EQA

Donald Street

K6EHQ

Jim Carter

K6LWA

Art McLaughlin

W6THD

Jim Tiemstra

K6JAT

George Chong

W6BUR

David Otey

WB6NER

Mark Tiemstra

pending

Louis Cobet

K6MDH

Jim Ploss

KB6MYV

Robbie Tiemstra

pending

Rick Davis

N6ZWI

David Pompa

pending

Rem Van Tyen

KE6JNM

Genevieve Davis

pending

Ellen Pompa

KE6EMU

Mark Violet

N6RCG

Willy Denninger

KE6EMX

Mike Pompa

KB6MP

Carly Violet

KF6LOH

Doug Faunt

N6TQS

Henry Renteria

pending


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