[MRIC] Welcome back from the summer break!

[BrettHam at aol.com]

All Maryland RACES Officers:

Welcome back to MRIC after a well  deserved summer break. I want to thank you 
all again for the hard work you put  in this spring. We accomplished a lot:

1. Assembled contact info for all  Maryland ROs.
2. Coordinated frequencies for all MD RACES  organizations.
3. Identified frequencies for initial contact during an  emergency for each 
jurisdiction.
4. Standardized the inter-jurisdiction RACES  traffic format to be ICS-213. 
This has subsequently been ratified by the  Maryland Emergency Management 
Association. Congratulations!
5. Started work  on a state-wide HF net.
6. Started work on a web site and repository for our  documents.
7. Identified future priorities (HF net, then state-wide digital  
communications).

By the end of the year, we should have a state-wide HF  net in place and be 
well on our way toward identifying a technology (mode) for a  state-wide 
digital network. This is a huge accomplishment for any organization  in just one 
year, let alone their first year. You should be very proud of the  work you have 
done at MRIC. Thank you for your hard work and cooperation. You  have exceeded 
my expectations.

As I have said many times before, you  decide what direction we go, and I'll 
keep things moving along in that  direction. To that end, it is time for me to 
start pushing again.

Per  earlier agreement, we will be voting on frequencies for an HF net at our 
next  meeting on November 10. As discussed during the last meeting, we should 
attempt  a state-wide HF voice net before our vote. Perhaps we could try this 
during or  after the COMMEX on October 9, which will be the last COMMEX 
before our meeting.  If this is not possible, then perhaps another time before 
November 10. I will  defer to Dan to take the lead here.

I think it was Dave that was working  on a web site for our approved 
documents. Hopefully we can have something in  place before the next meeting. Let us 
know if you need help.

The  following folk offered to make presentations at the next meeting:

Dan  Blasberg - Proposal for state-wide HF net (including freqs)
Joe Krystoforski  - MT63
Associate of Brett Hammond - APRS packet
Associate of Dan Blasberg-  WinLink
Associate of Dan Blasberg - ATV
Associate of Joe Krystoforski -  DSTAR

Since our last meeting, we at Talbot County RACES have worked out  the kinks 
in our Winlink system, and have a fully operational PMBO and 4 remote  
stations operating 9600 baud over UHF. This is the highest speed in Maryland and  one 
of two PMBOs in Maryland (only about 30 EMCOM PMBOs in the US). We operated  
4 stations during the Pandemic drill in August and had one station operating  
from the hospital parking lot off of batteries sending email to the Internet 
via  our EOC. I have done several Winlink presentations lately based on the 
slides  from Steve Waterman's presentation that many of you have seen, but I 
greatly  simplified them to make it easier to understand. I can replace or 
supplement  Dan's Winlink presentation. Also, we could move the ATV presentation to 
the  following meeting if needed.

I very much look forward to the presentation  on DSTAR. This is a very 
exciting new technology that offers huge potential to  link all the jurisdictions 
with a backup broadband IP network for voice and  data.

The next MRIC meeting is scheduled for November 10, 2007 at the  Howard 
County EOC from 10:30 until 15:00. I do not have an address or directions  yet. 
Perhaps our host can give us the address so we can mapquest it for detailed  
directions from our homes.

The 2008 MRIC meeting schedule will be  discussed and decided at the November 
10 meeting. Please bring your  calendar and be prepared to make commitments 
on dates.

A detailed agenda  will be sent out about a week prior to the meeting. If 
anyone else would like to  make a presentation on a proposed digital mode for 
state-wide communications,  please let me know. All are welcome.

Thank you for your commitment and  continued support.

Sincerely,

Brett Hammond - K3TAL
Chairman,  MRIC
 
p.s. - remember in order to send email to MRIC, it must be from your  
registered email address, and in plain-text format.
 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com