[MRIC] Minutes for 4-26-08

[brettham at aol.com]

All Maryland RACES Officers:

Please find below the proposed minutes for the MRIC meeting held this 
past Saturday April 26, 2008. Thank you all for attending. We had a 
very good turnout of 17 jurisdictions.

Unfortunately we did not get as much accomplished as we have at 
previous meetings due to the very long debate over motions to reverse 
the actions of the previous meeting, and over quorum. Both of which 
failed to pass.

We also did not complete our review of the "Recommended Amateur Radio 
Capabilities for Maryland Jurisdictions" document, which means that 
jurisdictions implementing new Winlink2000 email capabilities this year 
to support the Maryland RACES Data Network (MRDN) will have no guidence 
material from MRIC.

It was also the first time our meeting ran 30 minutes late. I hope our 
next meeting is more productive.

Sincerely,

Brett Hammond
Chairman, MRIC

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Maryland RACES Interoperability Committee (MRIC) Meeting Minutes for 
April 26, 2008:


James Devilbiss (Frederick) hosted the meeting at the Frederick EOC. 
Thanks James. Also thanks to Fred Bader (Montgomery) for bringing the 
projector.


The meeting was called to order at 10:30. The following ROs (or their 
representative) were in attendance:

Allegany - Bill Tucker
Anne Arundel - Frank Winner
Baltimore County - Joe Krysztoforski
Baltimore City - Lou Linden
Caroline -
Carroll -
Calvert - Les Dickey
Cecil - Ted Wallace
Charles -
Dorchester -
Frederick - Jim Devilbiss
Garrett -
Harford - Pat Scolla
Howard - John Wilson
Kent - Bob Lovell
MEMA - Al FitzSimons
Montgomery - Fred Bader
Ocean City
Prince George’s - Dan Blasberg
Queen Anne’s - Chuck Hodell
Somerset -
St. Mary’s - Ray Brown
Talbot - Brett Hammond
Washington - Bob Long
Wicomico -

The jurisdictions listed above with no name, did not send a 
representative.

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The following agenda was reviewed and approved by unanimous consent, 
without objection:


Welcome
Attendance
Review Agenda
Approval of Minutes
Updated MD RO Contact List
COMMEX Admin Report
Update on Yahoo group for file sharing - Fred Bader
Presentation on when to use 40/60/80-meter bands by Chuck Hodel
Lunch
MRDN Network Architecture
Existing Winlink Equipment and Cost
MRDN Recommended Equipment List and Cost
MRDN Technical Support Group - Call for volunteers
EOC Recommended Equipment List and Cost
Next Meeting Agenda
Adjourn

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Motion by Pat (Harford) that we vacate (make null and void) the votes 
for Chairman and Winlink2000 recommendations, and any other votes that 
occurred at the January MRIC meeting.
Seconded by Joe (Baltimore Co).

Roll call vote was taken:

Abstain - Allegany - Bill Tucker
No - Anne Arundel - Frank Winner
Yes - Baltimore County - Joe Krysztoforski
No - Baltimore City - Lou Linden
No - Calvert - Les Dickey
Abstain - Cecil - Ted Wallace
No - Frederick - Jim Devilbiss
Yes - Harford - Pat Scolla
No - Howard - John Wilson
No  - Kent - Bob Lovell
No - MEMA - Al FitzSimons
No - Montgomery - Fred Bader
Yes - Prince George’s - Dan Blasberg
No - Queen Anne’s - Chuck Hodell
No - St. Mary’s - Ray Brown
No - Talbot - Brett Hammond
No - Washington - Bob Long

12 - No
3 - Yes
2 - Abstain
Motion Failed.

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Motion by Bob Lovell (Kent) to accept the minutes. Seconded by Pat 
(Harford).

Roll call vote was taken:

yes - Allegany - Bill Tucker
yes - Anne Arundel - Frank Winner
no - Baltimore County - Joe Krysztoforski
yes - Baltimore City - Lou Linden
yes - Calvert - Les Dickey
yes - Cecil - Ted Wallace
yes - Frederick - Jim Devilbiss
no - Harford - Pat Scolla
yes - Howard - John Wilson
yes - Kent - Bob Lovell
yes - MEMA - Al FitzSimons
yes - Montgomery - Fred Bader
yes - Prince George’s - Dan Blasberg
yes - Queen Anne’s - Chuck Hodell
yes - St. Mary’s - Ray Brown
yes - Talbot - Brett Hammond
yes - Washington - Bob Long

15 Yes
2  No
Motion passed. Minutes are accepted.

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Dan (PG) motions that we request the Maryland Emergency Management 
Association to revise our charter to reflect that all interoperability 
issues require a 2/3 vote of a quorum, and that a quorum is defined as 
2/3 of the average of the attendence of the previous 3 meetings.
Seconded by Pat (Harford).

A roll call vote was taken:

Abstain - Allegany - Bill Tucker
Yes - Anne Arundel - Frank Winner
Yes - Baltimore County - Joe Krysztoforski
No - Baltimore City - Lou Linden
No - Calvert - Les Dickey
No - Cecil - Ted Wallace
yes - Frederick - Jim Devilbiss
Yes - Harford - Pat Scolla
Abstain - Howard - John Wilson
No - Kent - Bob Lovell
No - MEMA - Al FitzSimons
No - Montgomery - Fred Bader
Yes - Prince George’s - Dan Blasberg
No - Queen Anne’s - Chuck Hodell
Yes - St. Mary’s - Ray Brown
No - Talbot - Brett Hammond
No - Washington - Bob Long

6 yes
9 no
2 abstain

Motion failed.

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The RACES Officer Contact Info was updated, reviewed and accepted by 
unanimous consent.

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Al FitzSimons (MEMA) explained how to properly fill out a 
Communications Exercise (COMMEX) Administrative Report to be sent to 
MEMA following our monthly drills.

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Fred Bader (Montgomery) presented and demonstrated the MRIC web site he 
created on Yahoo.com for storing our documents. He agreed to distribute 
the instructions and links via the MRIC email reflector.

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There was some discussion on interference on our 80-meter net 
frequency, so Dan (PG) agreed to look for new 80-meter frequency for 
discussion at our next meeting.

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Chuck (QA) provided handout material with recommendations on what times 
of day to use which band (40/60/80). Chuck also agreed to provide the 
material in electronic form. Ray (St. Marys) motions to accept Chuck's 
report on propagation with one change: 2KHz to 3KHz. Seconded by Ted 
(Cecil).
Passed. Unanimous voice vote.

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There was discussion on the network architecture of the Maryland RACES 
Data Network (MRDN) established in the January MRIC meeting, and that 
employes Winlink2000 email. Most jurisdictions present expressed a 
desire to create a local VHF or UHF Winlink network in their area, with 
one or more HF links to provide a fail-safe Internet connection outside 
the affected area during a communications outage. Harford and Baltimore 
counties indicated they would not be participating.

This information provides guidence or a path to move forward with 
deployment of equipment as manpower and money permits. A more detailed 
report will be distributed separately from these minutes.

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MRIC discussed the "Recommended Amateur Radio Capabilities for Maryland 
Jurisdictions" document distributed earlier for review. There was much 
discussion and debate about the Appendix providing guidance material on 
what equipment is recommended for Winlink and voice operations. The 
debate was not focused on what equipment to recommend, but on whether 
to recommend specific equipment (or comparable), or not to list any 
specific equipment by name at all.

Motion made by Ted (Cecil) to table discussion on Recommended Amateur 
Radio Capabilities document. Seconded Dan (PG).
Motion passed by unanimous voice vote.

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Volunteers were solicited to provide Technical Support to those 
attempting to establish a Winlink station for the MRDN. Dan (PG) and 
Ray (St. Marys) volunteered.

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Lou (Baltimore City) motioned to change the November meeting date from 
Nov 15 to Nov 22, 2008. Seconded Dan (PG).

10 yes.
0 no.

Please update your schedules. The November 22, 2008 meeting is 
currently scheduled for QA EOC in Centerville. If you have any 
objections to the location, please express them now.

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Pat (Harford) will send email about operating field day from the EOC 
for those interested.

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The following Agenda was proposed by the group for the November MRIC 
meeting:

Discussion on HF net time-of-day per band
Discussion on HF Net schedule
Discussion on whether or not to use 60-meters.
Discuss Recommended Amateur Radio Capabilities document
Winlink Frequency List - Ray
80 meter frequency - Dan
Elections (nominations via email in advance or at Nov mtg)
Update Freq list
2009 Meeting Schedule
Discussion on interoperability drills (including simplex)

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Dan (PG) motioned to adjourn, James (Frederick) seconded. Motioned 
passed at 15:30.

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