St. Louis County ARES® Minutes of the March 10, 2008 meeting

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Minutes of the March 10, 2008 Meeting

Steve Wooten, KC0QMU, the Emergency Coordinator presided over the monthly meeting of the St. Louis County ARES^® group on March 10, 2008. The Meeting was held at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital.

Steve noted that the group currently has 75 members.

Steve gave a status update on the Veterans Administration Medical Center. He said that the VAMC was awaiting confirmation from the safety engineer regarding the installation and completion of the amateur radio stations at the remaining sites. The station at Jefferson Barracks Hospital has already been completed.

St. Louis County ARES^® will have a V.A. Operations Manual for basic information and station operation use and issues at each location. The group can use the stations at anytime. All we need to do is contact the VA administrator 36 hours prior to the use of the stations for his approval. If we plan to use the stations after business hours, he will notify the VA Security Office.

St. Louis County ARES^® has advised the VAMC that volunteers wishing to handle communications at the VA will have taken the ARECC (Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course) Level 1. The group is currently considering holding an ARECC Level 1 class sometime this year. Contact Gary KBØH@arrl.net if you are interested.

Steve said that new ARES^® ID cards were being made. He passed out cards to members present at the meeting for them to sign. Photos were taken of those members who had not yet had one taken.

Steve indicated that he was looking for more members to join and help out on the Planning Committee. He said that the committee meets every other month to plan and discuss activities and other issues that the group faces during the year. The Committee meets at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital.

Steve gave the schedule of hamfests that St. Louis County ARES^® plans to attend:

Lewis & Clark Amateur Radio Club Hamfest: Saturday, April 26, 2008. Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois.
Egyptianfest: Sunday, June 8, 2008. Southwestern Illinois College in Granite City, Illinois.
Zero Beaters, Washington Hamfest: Sunday July 20, 2008. Washington, Missouri.
St. Charles Amateur Radio Club Hamfest: Sunday, August 3, 2008. St. Charles, Missouri.
Halloween Hamfest: October 2008. Kirkwood, Missouri.

Steve passed out a list of TNCs (Terminal Node Controllers) that have been used and verified to work on the MEPN (Missouri Emergency Packet Network) system.

There was a discussion about the exercise planned for Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 1:00 PM. Steve handed out copies of the exercise instructions and maps.

Craig Hirsh, K0CMH, gave a presentation on PSK31 mode.

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