[WARC] Infrastructure Brainstorming discussion

[Erik Brom]

Hi All,
Some time ago, we started some discussion on the club's radio 
infrastructure.  Although working well now, our equipment is getting 
old, both physically and technically, and we want to figure out what 
direction the club should take.  Most likely, this will take funds 
beyond what the club members can put together.  With our recent very 
positive experiences with the disaster drill August 4, and now the 
flood, now is the time to move.  We have a great group of talented 
people, in both technical and operations and I know we can make this happen.

I would like to put together a meeting soon, but we will get the 
discussion started here.  Our first topic is to define what our 
communications needs are.  Once those are defined, we will determine 
the equipment needed to get there.

This is a brainstorming session, sometimes called a "green light" 
session.  That is, all ideas are good.  And, to make sure everyone 
has a chance to voice their opinion, (thanks for the suggestion Len), 
I have not included any of my ideas in this posting.  For the next 
couple days, please send your ideas directly to me 
(ewbrom at hbci.com).  Sometime late Sunday or Monday, I'll compile them 
all and send out the complete list.  I won't identify the 
senders.  After that, it will be an open discussion.

Before I get into our communications needs though, I want to briefly 
list some technologies we should consider.  I have not been too 
active recently, so I may have missed some:
-Conventional 5Khz FM repeaters and simplex.
-Extra / portable UHF repeaters
-Remote receivers
-APRS
-NVIS
-HSMM
-D-Star,
-Digital modes.
-Internet connections.
I envision a network that is a combination of these, but working 
together seamlessly.   Before we get too far, we also need to contact 
our neighbors in LaCrosse, Rochester, and Wabasha to see what their 
plans are.  As the flood pointed out, its important that we all be 
able to work together.

Now, on to the major topic:  What are our communications needs?
I want to break that down into two parts:
1. External needs.  This is what we do to support public service, 
Skywarn, other communications emergencies, etc.
2. Internal needs.  These are strictly for the pursuit of our 
hobby.  That includes communicating with each other and experimenting 
with new technologies.

The external needs are what we can sell to help raise funds.  The 
internal needs are what keep us interested, and that we use 99% of 
the time.  Both are important.

Some random thoughts:
-We want to experiment with new technologies, but we don't want to 
make the current equipment obsolete, we want to migrate over time.
-Since the more technical people tend to be busy, we should purchase 
as much as possible.
-What geographic area do we need to cover?  We usually focus on 
Winona County, but Rushford is in Filmore county.  We can help all of 
our neighbors.  I'm bad myself at keeping in touch with other groups 
around, but I know many of you are better at it.  We should work with 
them in our planning, and also in discussions and drills.
-One thing I've been thinking since Katrina, and the flood 
re-enforced - part of our job is to provide communications from 
inside the affected area out to where normal communications are 
running.  We saw this with health and welfare traffic coming out of 
Rushford.  As soon as it got to Winona, it went to email or landline telephone.


Thanks,
Erik