[MRIC] January 12, 2008 Meeting Minutes

[BrettHam at aol.com]

Maryland RACES Officers,

Thank you all  again for a very pleasant and productive MRIC meeting 
yesterday. It is  interesting to note that all the votes taken were unanimous. Here 
are the  highlights of the meeting:

- The November meeting date was changed from  November 8 to November 15, 
2008. Please update your calendar.
- A procedure  was approved for locating the HF net when the frequency is 
busy.
- A 60-meter  HF frequency (channel 1) was selected with a procedure for 
relocating when the  frequency is busy.
- Winlink2000 email was selected as the mode for the  Maryland RACES Data 
Network (MRDN).
- The MRDN network architecture will  consist of, as minimum, an HF 
Winlink2000 station per jurisdiction.
- Brett  Hammond was elected to serve as Chairman for 2008.

Those are just the  major highlights. For complete details of the meeting, 
please find the meeting  minutes below.

Note that all our interoperability motions are subject to  approval by the 
Maryland Emergency Management Association. They will be meeting  at the end of 
January, and hopefully will review and approve/accept our  recommendations, but 
until then it is not officially approved. Therefore, please  do not widely 
distribute that we have approved Winlink2000 email for our MRDN  until the 
Association has a chance to review our recommendations.

On a  personal note, I would like to thank you all for your confidence, and 
the  opportunity to serve you as Chairman for another year. We have 
accomplished an  awful lot in our 4 meetings (16 hours) to date: compiled RO contact 
info;  standardized message form; created an HF voice net; and now the MRDN. I 
look  forward to implementing the interoperable solutions we approved this past 
year,  and starting work on other objectives noted in our original charter, as 
the  group dictates.

Sincerely,

Brett Hammond
Chairman,  MRIC
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Maryland RACES Interoperability Committee (MRIC) Meeting Minutes for  January 
12, 2008:
 

Dan Blasberg hosted the meeting at the Prince George's County Fire  Service 
Building. The facility was more than adequate for our needs. Thank you  Dan.
 

The meeting was called to order at 10:45. The following ROs were in  
attendance:
 
Anne Arundel - Frank Winner – N3SEO
Baltimore City - Lou Linden (Acting  RO) - KI5TD  
Calvert - Leslie Dickey – N3YR
Charles - Mike  Tackish – KA3GRW  
Kent - Bob Lovell – KB3ENU
MEMA - Al FitzSimons –  W3YRS
Montgomery - Fred Bader – K3CSX
Prince George’s - Dan Blasberg –  KA8YPY
Queen Anne’s - Chuck Hodell – N8ADN
Talbot - Brett Hammond –  K3TAL
 

The following agenda was reviewed and approved by unanimous consent,  without 
objection:
 
Welcome
Attendance
Review Agenda
Approval of Minutes
Updated MD  RO Contact List
Web Site Update
Revisit November 2008 Meeting Date
HF  Net Test Results - Roy Bates
60 meter HF - Dan Blasberg
Discussion and  Vote on Maryland RACES Digital Network (MRDN) mode
Lunch
MRDN Network  Architecture
MRDN recommended Equipment List
Next Meeting Agenda
Vote  for MRIC Chairman
Adjourn
 

A motion was made by Paul Tackish, seconded by Bob Lovell, to approve  the 
November minutes as distributed. The motion passed by unanimous  consent.
 

A motion was made by Dan Blasberg, seconded by Bob Lovell, to approve  the RO 
contact information as presented at the meeting. The motion passed by  
unanimous consent.
 

A Motion was made by Dan Blasberg, seconded by Paul Tackish, to create  a 
Yahoo group as a repository for our minutes, files, etc, but to still use the  
QTH MRIC reflector for email. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
 
Fred Bader volunteered to set it up and administer it, with Dan as a backup  
moderator.
 

A motion was made by Dan Blasberg, seconded by Frank Winner, to change  the 
date of the November meeting from the 8th to the 15th. Motion passed by  
unanimous consent.
 

There was some discussion about the HF net testing:
 
On Saturday January 5, 2008 at 19:30 several stations tested in preparation  
of the COMMEX. AAC and MEMA communicated well. They could hear STMA and WICO 
but  not enough to pass traffic.
 
For the Tuesday COMMEX, AAC, WASH, STMA, attempted to communicate, but were  
unsuccessful. Note there is a Florida Net every day on 3.950 MHz at 19:30. 
7.250  MHz was too noisy to communicate.
 

A motion was made by Al FitzSimons, seconded by Frank Winner, that if  there 
is conflict on the MRIC HF frequencies, that net control will attempt to  find 
an available frequency by going up 3 KHz, if still not available then down  3 
KHz, if not available then down 6 KHz, if not available then up 6 KHz from 
the  original frequency. If none are available, Net control will find an 
available  frequency. Net control  will move the net to the available frequency. Also 
 that MRIC members report any nets found on the MRIC frequencies and the  
day-of-the-week, time, and frequency, be compiled by MRIC and posted on the web  
site for future reference.
 
Motion passed by unanimous consent.
 

Chuck Hodel will look into a procedure for determining which band to  use 
based on conditions at the time of the net (i.e. protocol).
 

A motion was made by Dan Blasberg, seconded by Bob Lovell, to use  channel 1 
on the 60-meter band for Maryland RACES HF communications, in addition  to the 
40 and 80 meter MRIC frequencies. If channel 1 is busy, net control will  
move to successive channels in ascending order until an available frequency is  
found.
 
Motion passed by unanimous consent.
 

A motion was made by Dan Blasberg, seconded by Fred Bader, that MRIC  adopt 
the Winlink2000 platform for the Maryland RACES Digital Network (MRDN),  using 
email as the mode of communications between Maryland RACES  organizations.
 
A roll-call vote was taken:
Yes - Anne Arundel - Frank Winner –  N3SEO
Yes - Baltimore City - Lou Linden (Acting RO) -  KI5TD  
Yes - Calvert - Leslie Dickey – N3YR
Yes - Charles -  Mike Tackish – KA3GRW  
Yes - Kent - Bob Lovell – KB3ENU
Yes - MEMA -  Al FitzSimons – W3YRS
Yes - Montgomery - Fred Bader – K3CSX
Yes - Prince  George’s - Dan Blasberg – KA8YPY
Yes - Queen Anne’s - Chuck Hodell –  N8ADN
Yes - Talbot - Brett Hammond – K3TAL
 
The motion passed unanimously, 10 to 0.
 

A motion was made by Fred Bader, seconded by Dan Blasberg, that the  MRDN 
will consist of, as a minimum, an HF Winlink2000 station per  jurisdiction.
 
A roll-call vote was taken:
Yes - Anne Arundel - Frank Winner –  N3SEO
Yes - Baltimore City - Lou Linden (Acting RO) -  KI5TD  
Yes - Calvert - Leslie Dickey – N3YR
Yes - Charles -  Mike Tackish – KA3GRW  
Yes - Kent - Bob Lovell – KB3ENU
Yes - MEMA -  Al FitzSimons – W3YRS
Yes - Montgomery - Fred Bader – K3CSX
Yes - Prince  George’s - Dan Blasberg – KA8YPY
Yes - Queen Anne’s - Chuck Hodell –  N8ADN
Yes - Talbot - Brett Hammond – K3TAL
 
The motion passed unanimously, 10 to 0.
 

The following items agreed to be added to the next meeting Agenda:
-  Coordinate HF net
- Presentation on when to use 40/60/80-meter bands by Chuck  Hodel
- Recommended Winlink Equipment list and costs
- Winlink Equipment  Inventory and costs
 

Brett Hammond yielded the Chair to Frank Winner to conduct elections  for 
MRIC Chairman for 2008. The floor was opened for nominations, and none were  
made, other than Brett's nomination made at the previous meeting. A written  
ballot was taken and Allan Hubbert (KH6ILR - PG ARO) witnessed the ballot  
counting. The vote was unanimously in favor of Brett Hammond, 10 to 0, with no  
abstentions.
 
Frank Winner yielded the Chair back to Brett Hammond.
 
A motion was made by Al FitzSimons, seconded by Mike Tackish, to recognize  
Brett Hammond for his extremely productive first year as Chairman of MRIC. He  
has overcome obstacles and kept the group focused on achieving the many  
objectives that have enhanced the RACES program in Maryland.
 
The motion passed unanimously, 10 to 0.
 
A motion was made by Dan Blasberg, seconded by Lou Linden, to adjourn. The  
motion was unanimous by voice vote, and the meeting adjourned at 15:23 (7  
minutes early).
 
--- end of minutes ---



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