BCARES BOARD MEETING----15 JUNE 2006

CALL TO ORDER

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. in a Ball Aerospace meeting room by Jim (KGØHU).

Persons Present

Board status Name (position) Present?
BARC Primary Mike Derr W3DIF (Secretary) Y
BARC Alternate Dave Sharpe KIØHG Y
LARC Primary Dan Hysom KB3CXD N
LARC Alternate Don Bessee KCØQZR N
RMVHFS Primary Len Koppl KDØRC N
RMVHFS Alternate Mike Borenstein NØBP Y
2-Year At Large, Even Year, Primary George Weber KAØBSA Y
2-Year At Large, Even Year, Alternate Ken Kinyon W7TS N
2-Year At Large, Odd Year, Primary Jim Kubitschek KGØHU (Chairman/EC) Y
2-Year At Large, Odd Year, Alternate Mark Huff KBØLRS Y
1-Year At Large, Primary Dale Scott KAØQPV (Vice Chairman/Admin-AEC) Y
1-Year At Large, Alternate Ed Schlichting KBØTVH Y
Office of Emergency Management Justin Dombrowski (Treasurer) N
Boulder County Sheriff's Office Chuck Pringle KCØDGP N

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS BOARD MEETING MINUTES FOR APPROVAL

The minutes of the May 25, 2006 Board meeting were unanimously accepted and approved.

OLD AND NEW BUSINESS

  1. Lyons "Good Old Days"
    Jim (KGØHU) reported that Lynn Huff, who is in charge of communications for Lyons "Good Old Days," asked BCARES to provide one or two volunteers to assist in staffing the County comm. van during this event, on June 23rd through 25th (Field Day weekend). BCARES will be using comm. van equipment and County frequencies. Duties will include coordination of health & welfare radio traffic on multiple public service frequencies, checking out radios to various personnel, and general net control operations.

    Jim (KGØHU) recruited volunteers from among the Board members to serve on Friday (June 23rd) 3 p.m.-11 p.m., Saturday 6 a.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday 6:30 a.m. until no longer needed (the even officially ends at noon). Volunteers included: Jim (KGØHU), Dale (KAØQPV), Dave (KIØHG), Mark (KBØLRS), and Ed (KBØTVH).

    Action Item: Jim (KGØHU) will send an e-mail to the general BCARES membership, requesting additional volunteers.
  2. Field Day Support
    Jim (KGØHU) reported that, again this year, Jim Andrews (WAØNHD) has an interest in running ATV between the BARC Senior and BARC Junior Field Day sites, and is recruiting volunteers to assist. Jim (KGØHU) also reported that the Mile High DX Association will operate two HF stations at the Broomfield Detention and Training Center (11600 Ridge Parkway). They will offer a chance to operate and, also, want to put new hams and Technicians on the air. BCARES members are welcome at any of these sites and are encouraged to participate.
  3. BCARES Equipment Prioritization Lists and Discussion
    1. Boulder County Equipment Recommendations
      Jim (KGØHU) reported that Jim Andrews (WAØNHD) is asking BCARES to purchase a replacement 33/23/13 cm. ATV receiver for the Chautauqua ATV repeater at a cost of about $200. Jim (KGØHU) also suggested that a similar receiver be purchased for the BCARES portable ATV repeater.

      Jim (KGØHU) proposed a motion that BCARES pay for the Chautauqua ATV receiver. The motion was seconded by Ed (KBØTVH) and passed by a unanimous vote of the Board members present.

      Action Item: Jim (KGØHU) will follow-up with Jim Andrews (WAØNHD).

      As follow-up to discussion at last month's Board meeting, an offer by Boulder County (Cmdr. Chuck Pringle) to assist BCARES with equipment acquisition was again reviewed. A recommendation was made that one or more 17", 12 volt flat screen monitors with collapsible support stands be added to the list.
    2. City and County of Broomfield Equipment Recommendations
      Jim (KGØHU) reported that Larry Arndt (KIØRH) has asked for equipment recommendations to fit within a 2006 budget of around $1000. A Kenwood TM-D700A was discussed along with a Diamond dual-band antenna, RG-213 coax and headphones. A Yaesu FT-8800 or FT-8900 was mentioned as a possible alternative to the Kenwood.

      Jim (KGØHU) reported that Kent Davies, Broomfield City and County Equipment Manager, has asked for radio equipment recommendations to fit within a 2007 budget of $1000 - $2000. Packet radio equipment and an ATV receiver were discussed. The Broomfield equipment is planned for installation at the Detention and Training Center EOC.

      Action Item: Jim (KGØHU) will follow-up with Larry Arndt (KIØRH) and Kent Davies. Dave (KIØHG) will coordinate with Pete Goldman (WB2DVS) and Len (KDØRC) to assist.
    3. C.U. Equipment Recommendations
      As follow-up to discussions at last month's Board meeting, requests from Joe Roy, C.U. Police Chief, were again reviewed. He wants BCARES to provide higher signal quality video and feeds from a larger number of cameras (three or four) at football games. He also wants to be able to feed BCARES video to the Folsom Field press box digital video system. C.U. has indicated a willingness to acquire equipment, however, BCARES needs to be involved in planning and installation.

      Action Item: Jim (KGØHU) will consult with Dale (KAØQPV), Mark (KBØLRS) and Jim Andrews (WAØNHD) on equipment list finalization and a site survey. June 28 or 29 was proposed as a possible site survey date. Jim (KGØHU) will check these dates with C.U. and work with Dale (KAØQPV) to coordinate the visit.
  4. F.C.C. Part 97.113(a)(5)
    Concerns received from Ken (W7TS) regarding compliance of BCARES C.U. football ATV activities with F.C.C. rule 97.113(a)(5) were reviewed. The rule in question reads:

    §97.113 Prohibited transmissions.
    (a) No amateur station shall transmit:
    (5) Communications, on a regular basis, which could reasonably be furnished alternatively through other radio services.

    Several questions on interpretation were brought up and discussed. Jim (KGØHU) indicated that it was his understanding that C.U. has unsuccessfully attempted to identify reasonable alternatives. He also indicated that BCARES made an unsuccessful attempt, several years ago (pre-Hollingsworth), to obtain an interpretation from the F.C.C. In response to Ken's concerns, it was suggested that another attempt be made. It was also suggested that a single point of contact be used and that BCARES members not attempt to make personal inquiries of their own without BCARES chairman approval.

    Action Item: Mike (W3DIF) will work with Jim (KGØHU) to develop a concise e-mail inquiry, which can be sent to Riley Hollingsworth at the Federal Communications Commission. Jim (KGØHU) indicated that he would also research the question further.
  5. Hamcon Colorado 2006 Participation
    BCARES manned an exhibit table for all three days of Hamcon 2006 (June 9th, 10th and 11th). BCARES also arranged for a Salvation Army comm. van to be present, and gave live demonstrations of ATV and packet communications. It was interesting to note that BCARES was the only district which had an exhibit table or gave demonstrations at Hamcon.

    Jim (KGØHU) reported on an AirMail 2000 and Winlink 2000 presentation made at Hamcon. Dale (KAØQPV) mentioned that the primary BCARES focus is on services of immediate use to our served agencies, which they don't have themselves (ATV and packet). But, he also pointed out that AirMail 2000 and Winlink 2000 appear to have potential for meeting large-scale communications needs (for example, linking served agencies by e-mail in a wide-spread disaster situation). AirMail 2000 and Winlink 2000 software, operating at 1200 bps, was shown at the Hamcon presentation. The BCARES Board indicated strong interest.

    Action Item: George (KAØBSA) will look further into AirMail 2000 and Winlink 2000 and report back to the BCARES Board.

    Jim (KGØHU) reported on a Colorado Emergency Coordinators meeting held during the convention. He indicated that an EC contact database is under development.

    Action Item: BCARES Board members are requested to send their name, address, phone, and call sign to Rich Walters (KØRAW) at k0raw@arrl.net for inclusion in the database. Board members should indicate that they are AEC's for District 11, mention Jim Kubitschek's name and call sign (KGØHU), and also request access to the database.

    Other EC meeting items:
  6. BCARES Training
    Dale (KAØQPV) discussed a training CD ROM which he prepared and distributed to BCARES members at Hamcon 2006. The CD contains numerous files, including the current BCARES Red Book and NIMS/ICS training materials. Dale also discussed an e-mail he is preparing for distribution to the BCARES membership, which discusses the new NIMS/ICS training courses and their relationship to BCARES and our served agencies.

    Action Item: Dale (KAØQPV) will continue to develop the e-mail and route a final copy to the BCARES Board for comment.
  7. New BCARES Web Page
    A new BCARES domain name and prototype web page http://www.bouldercountyares.com/ developed by J.D. Burke (KCØMWB) were discussed. It was mentioned that the new web page includes a copy of the BCARES By-Laws. Action Item: BCARES Board members are encouraged to review the web page and provide feedback.
  8. BCARES Equipment
    Dale discussed a need to locate and retrieve two laptop computers loaned to members of the BCARES Digital Committee in Longmont. Action Item: Dale will follow-up with Don (KCØQZR).

    Jim (KGØHU) reported that a 40 foot Rohn 25 tower was recently donated to BCARES by Longmont United Hospital. This tower needs some overhaul and is currently stored at Dale's home. It was also mentioned that a second BCARES tower is stored at Jim's home.
  9. BCARES EOC Facilities
    Dale suggested a review of BCARES facilities planned for the new Boulder County EOC. He suggested that consideration be given to adding HF digital to the EOC communications package.
  10. BCARES Fund-Raising
    BCARES fund-raising ideas were discussed. Jim (KGØHU) pointed out that BCARES funding sources are few, somewhat limiting services which we can provide. To-date, there has been no response to a BCARES Department of Homeland Security grant application made at the beginning of 2005, and a re-application made in early 2006. There was a brief discussion regarding the possibility of asking the three local amateur radio clubs (BARC, LARC and RMVHS) for donations.

    Action Item: Jim (KGØHU) asked BCARES Board members to think of fund-raising ideas and share them at future meetings.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Next BCARES Board Meeting -- Tentative Date:
THURSDAY, 20 July 2006 AT 7:00 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:47 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Michael Derr (W3DIF), Secretary