St. Louis County ARES® Minutes of the September 11, 2006 meeting

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Minutes of the September 11, 2006 Meeting

Steve Wooten, KC0QMU, the Emergency Coordinator, presided at the monthly meeting of the St. Louis County ARES^® group on September 11, 2006.

Steve said that the group currently had 61 members.

Steve mentioned that St. Louis County ARES^® would have a table at the Halloween Hamfest on October 28, 2006.

Steve invited anyone interested in joining the group's Planning Committee to do so.

Steve recommended that all ARES^® members regularly check the group's "Team Members" Web page, as it is frequently updated. The most recent changes have been in the "Resources" sub-pages.

Steve said that the group was still recruiting people to work on the Survey Team, and that anyone interested should contact him.

Steve gave an update on St. Louis County ARES's^® developing relationship with the St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center. He said that the V.A. was currently looking into liability and HIPAA compliance issues. He also said that the V.A. had generated a Memorandum Of Understanding, and that ARES^® now had to look it over and see what needed to be changed.

Craig Hirsh, K0CMH, the Assistant Emergency Coordinator - Planning and Development, said that he had planned to run a S.E.T. (Simulated Emergency Test) on October 7 or October 8, in concert with the American Radio Relay League recommended S.E.T. dates. He wants to perform the Test at the V.A. Medical Center properties. The problems so far are that -

The group does not yet have permission to operate on V.A. properties.
There are not enough volunteers to run an effective Test.

If necessary, the Test will be held near the V.A. Medical Center properties, so that propagation paths can be tested. As far as recruiting, Gary Hoffman, KB0H, the Assistant Emergency Coordinator - Operations suggested a promotional blitz to see if more volunteers can be found. The S.E.T. will be mentioned on the group's Web site and weekly net. The situation will be reassessed at the group's Planning Committee meeting next weekend.

Gary presented Steve with an oak call sign desk ornament. He also presented Chuck Wehking, KC0QKS, with an "O.L.M. - Official Lawn Mower" button. Gary then handed out key chain LED flashlights to the attendees. Chuck handed out ink pens made in "difficult to lose" colors.

Gary stated that the exercises and the weekly nets were meant to be learning experiences. He described a few mistakes that were made during the previous weekly net and said thet we could learn from those errors.

Steve said that the group had passed 68 formal messages during August, which had caught the attention of the Section Traffic Manager, the Section Manager, and the League itself.

Craig Klimczak, K4LSU, the Training Coordinator, said that he had speakers for the next two meetings.

Craig had participated in the MS-150 Bike Tour. He described the event and said that it had been a tremendous opportunity to witness a lot of different amateur radio operations and equipment.

Guest speaker Lou Harken, WA0CW, gave a presentation on QRP operations.

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