Meeting called to order 19:06
Present
Kathy
Pam
Bert
Bill
Dave
Gary
Dan
Penny
Vince
William
Nets:
December:
11th Bert
18th Dan
Treasure’s Report:
Collected 300$ in dues recently
1738.33$ balance in the account
Dues stand at 40$/individual, 50$/family and 25$/student
Equipment Report:
KC6TYG functioning correctly
AE6KE also working correctly (in years past sensitivity dropped when the weather turned wet)
AB6VU still not sending received audio to AE6KE
Suggest documenting the wiring harness on the repeater (this might be documented on the Santa Cruz website)
Penny volunteered to help document and service the repeater
Much of the existing wiring is solid copper (instead of stranded)
Bert requests up to 100$ to upgrade wiring (multiple colors and stranded). Motion passed with unanimous consent.
iCom 2730 radios from county would be welcome. Bert submitted a grant proposal to FEMA to purchase these radios. These will match our existing radios at the EOC. This will make adding radios very simple because the club is already trained.
KC6TYG does not have battery backup. This will result in a loss of TYG during a power outage. This should be fixed.
Suggestion from club, use a PWRgate or similar to charge the battery without the radio.
President’s report
President asks for comments on achievements during the past year.
Membership is greater than last year
Treasury balance is greater than last year
New transceivers for EOC
Participated an exercise nearly every month
Cleaned up shack
Provided a shelter for yellow command
Several members took classes to improve their skill
Dan did a lot of work setting up exercises. His contribution is recognized,
Participation in exercises is very important. It helps you become familiar with the equipment and operations.
Goals for upcoming year
Radio tree (use weekly net to determine who can talk to whom via simplex.
This could be very helpful in the event of an emergency.
Each member should have a basic go-bag that includes repeater frequencies and other emergency kit
Santa Clara website has a list of documents that would be helpful in a go bag.
EOC should have binders that includes the required documents.
Make sure each member can operate an ICom 2730 and the EOC
More exercises at the EOC should be undertaken to enable proficiency with the equipment
An exercise that would be helpful for folks who can’t come to the EOC would include contacting home stations
Make sure each member has net control experience
Increase membership
More license classes
We could meet at the community center (bigger)
December eighth members can get DSW cards for Santa Clara county. Sheriff is holding a review this weekend from nine until noon. See webpage.
ICS-214 video is excellent on Santa Clara ARES website.
Santa Cruz county EOC would like to know how many hours you spend supporting them (e.g. nets, using county equipment)
Note that if we choose to participate in field day we will have insurance coverage
Much of what we did this year focused on Santa Clara county. Should we focus on Santa Cruz county this year? Finding the right contact in Santa Cruz has been difficult.
Gary presents some information concerning ARES. ARES is being revamped. At the ARRL website there is a requirements document for ARES membership. Three levels of membership. FEMA training is available to advance membership.
Proposed requirements:
Entry (?)
Level 2 (EC001, FEMA courses 100, 200, 700 and 800)
Leve 3 (EC16, FEMA courses 300, 400, ECO management courses 120 through 288)
ARRL wants a sub-tech level license but the FCC is not interested in that. Four classes is to many.
Election:
President: Penny
Vice President: Will
Treasurer: Bill
Board member at large: David
EC: Bert (note: not an elected position)
Secretary: Vince
We voted for the entire cohort, passed by unanimous consent.
Next meeting, Thursday the third at the fire station (aka, the usual place). We should set up something at the community center (but we have not, yet)
David shows a complete portable HF station (sans antenna). Very nice rack mount in a box.
Will delivers a report on cube sats (Slug Sat). One of the features of the cube sat is an HF repeater.
Discussed the Hubble space telescope and follow ons.
Meeting adjourned at: 20:14