[MDC-EC] Status Update

[n3sb at qis.net]

July SEC Letter

Hi Folks;

I thought I'd take a few minutes and provide an update on the status of ARES
here in the Maryland-DC Section.

All the section EC's are now subscribed to the MDC-EC Email reflector. That
means that we now have a simple and efficient method for communicating with
each other. Please feel free to use the reflector for exchanging ideas, and to
ask for help. That's what the reflector has been established for. Also, Jim
WI3N has access to various resources such as ARRL member mailing lists, that
you can use as a tool to recruit new ARES members. Jim will be providing more
details about that soon. Also don't forget to invite your AEC's to join as
well.

One of the things that I've been busy working on is a new Section ARES Plan.
Right now it's in outline form, so there's a fair amount more work to be done
before it's ready. What the plan does have, however, is a lot of detail about
roles and responsibilities, for everyone in the organization. I hope this
detail will give people an idea of what's expected from them, and what they can
expect others in the organization to do. And that will hopefully make everyone's
life easier and less stressful.

One thing that became obvious very quickly is that EC's are responsible for a
great deal in the ARES Organization. In fact an EC is likely to either get
burned out very quickly, or just not be all that effective in their position,
without the help of several AEC's to take some of the workload. So I'd like to
start a discussion on this reflector to hear how many AEC's each EC has, and
how EC's are involving their AEC's in the process.

Another project that has just gotten started is the development of a High-Speed
Digital Backbone to cover the MDC Section. The purpose of this backbone would
be to pass digital data (packet, email, digital voice, and pictures, for
example) through the section. The network would have several points where it
connects to the internet, so that if local internet connectivity is lost in one
county, it could still be obtained by sending traffic into an adjacent county.
Since most of our customers would be happy to have email communications
connectivity within the section, the backbone could provide that capability
even if the rest of the internet is not functional or bogged down with traffic.
It would also be possible to conduct echolink-like voice communications without
being dependent on commercial systems.

Right now we're trying to establish the basic requirements. For example, I'd
like to have a data rate of at least 56K. Faster data rates are possible, but
they come at a price - reduced range and higher equipment costs. There is also
the option of using 802.11 Wi-Fi hardware, but that approach also has certain
problems that would have to be worked out. So, a trade study will have to be
performed to fully explore all the options. After that, a committee will be
formed to work out the implementation details of the backbone. Anyone
interested in participating in any of these activities should please let me
know.

The Simulated Emergency Test is coming up in October. This year we need to focus
on communications with adjacent counties. Also, we need to go beyond sending NTS
Traffic by voice or CW. You will be asked to send more detailed information such
as lists of names, maps, and pictures, into adjacent counties. So start thinking
about how you would accomplish these goals. October is not all that far away.

Please don't forget to send me your monthly reports by the second of each month.
One thing we do with that data is determine how many ARES members we have in the
section. Right now, since less than half the EC's sent in a report last month,
we have no idea how big the ARES organization is! 

73; Steve, N3SB
SEC-MDC