Yolo County ARES Meeting Minutes

Yolo ARES Meeting Minutes for 2/17/2009

Yolo ARES Meeting
February 17, 2009

The Yolo ARES meeting was called to order at 19:00 hours at the Yolo County Red Cross.

IN ATTENDANCE:

KG6FJL
K6WLS
KG6GNI
KG6SJT
K6LAV
KE6GCV
KI6OBF
N6KIX
N6KLB
W6KJX
WA6TQJ
WS6Z

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The January 20, 2009 meeting minutes were approved with the following correction.
•  LaVonne (K6LAV) will act as the club’s secretary, public information officer (PIO), and will be responsible for the monthly section EC (SEC) reports, and for communicating information to Bill (K6KN) for the monthly newsletter.

NET CONTROL ASSIGNMENTS
February 23, 2009 net: Rick (N6KLB) will be net control. This is a simplex net. Darrin (KG6FJL) will do the practice message.

March 9, 2009 net: Bill (KG6GNI) will be net control. Bob (KI6BZR) will be asked to write the practice message and forward it to Darrin (KG6FJL) who will do the message on the net.

UPDATE FROM NOMINATING COMMITTEE
LaVonne (K6LAV), Bill (KG6GNI) and Ken (K6WLS) provided an interim report on the recommended process for the replacement of the club EC. Three options for selecting a new EC were outlined:

Option A:
The EC decides (with the SEC’s concurrence) to remain in the position, for another two year term.
Option B:
The EC recommends, to the SEC, a replacement whereupon the SEC confirms the appointment, or the SEC appoints another individual of choice, to the position.
Option C:
The EC directs the nomination committee to recommend one or more qualified candidates. The nomination committee will, within 30 days: proceed to review the qualifications of various ARES members; select potential candidates; contact each to gain an acceptance of each candidate as a nominee; and, present the potential candidates to the EC for review and acceptance of one. Within the following 30 days, the EC will present the potential candidate to the SEC for approval.

Upon discussion, there were suggestions for minor modifications to the report. Additionally, Ken (K6WLS) will send the preliminary report to Ron Murdock and Richard Cloyd for any input they may have. The report will be updated accordingly and brought back to the March 17 meeting for vote.

LaVonne (K6LAV) requested any club member who is interested in becoming EC to email her at LaVonne@CaliforniaHIA.org.

MAPPING PRESENTATION
Wes (WS6Z) gave a presentation on mapping, noting at the onset that the purpose would be do have a discussion and determine what type of maps Yolo ARES needs, what map content is the most critical, and to prioritize. He noted that there should be a key focus on collaboration with first responders (e.g. Fire Departments and Search & Rescue) and the Red Cross. Map data types referenced included:
•  Signal: Simulation maps
•  Signal: Collected data maps
•  Signal: Collaboration maps
•  Knowledge / Augmentation data

Wes discussed the benefits of utilizing OpenStreetMaps.org data. This is a WIKI mapping program so the content can be enhanced to fit the needs of Yolo ARES, and these maps can be utilized without the problem of copyright infringement. It was recommended that club members check out these maps on the Internet.

The presentation included demonstrations of numerous antenna propagation models and measured signal strength examples from various locations in Yolo County and the surrounding area using SPLAT and USGS data. Use of Simplex, BARK repeater, and HT were demonstrated in the simulation models.

At the conclusion of the presentation Bill (KG6GNI) noted that the decisions on mapping strategies should take into consideration the variation in skill levels and equipment of each of the Yolo ARES members.

The consensus was that, while this will be an ongoing project, the most important maps are basic road mapping, topo mapping, and then the augmentation data after that. Also, in the interim, the Compass and AAA maps could be utilized by Yolo ARES members.

It was also recommended that Yolo ARES communicate and collaborate with the Yolo County Red Cross because they use topo maps in their Damage Assessment processes.

Yolo ARES members thanked Wes for putting together useful information and a great presentation.

NEXT MEETNG:
The next Yolo ARES meeting will be held March 17 at 1900 hours at the Yolo County Red Cross, 120 Court Street, Woodland, CA.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Yolo County ARES