Meeting Minutes

Region 19, 700 MHz Technical Advisory Committee

Tuesday December 12, 2006

New Hampshire Department of Natural Resources

Present

George Pohorilak, President. Jerry Zarwanski, Vice-Chairman, James Warakois, secretary. All members present were asked to sign the attendance sheet. Guests

signed for the record. Those present introduced themselves.

The chairman called the meeting to order at 10:15 AM.

1. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of September 12, 2006 were presented for approval.

Mr. Leary moved to accept. Mr. Brown Seconded. There was no discussion. The

the minutes were approved by voice vote.

2. State Update

Connecticut-

Mr. Carbonell reported on the distribution of the portable repeaters to be deployed

during an incident for the purpose of augmenting the system of low power units around a large disaster. These three devices will be strategically placed.

Mr. Carbonell also pointed out a possible problem with Massachusetts ITAC repeaters being left ON thus causing annoying and possible harmful interference

to the adjacent state.

The chairman proposed a meeting among the responsible individuals of

the affected States is scheduled to reach agreement on the operating

procedures for the ICALL and ITAC channels.

A report will be presented at the next committee meeting.

Massachusetts-

Mr. Cady explained the current developments within the five (5) regional Emergency

Communications Councils throughout the State. He made note of the existence of

varied regional agendas.

New Hampshire-

Mr. Kowalik reported that the State is consolidating its Homeland Security and

Emergency Management under a single governance.

He also noted that the TAC interoperability Drill held recently was successful.

MAINE- No Report

Vermont-No Report

Rhode Island- No Report

3. FCC Update

There were no specific items to report.

4. NARPC/NPSTC/CAPRAD

NARPC-

NPSTC-

The Chairman presented a questionnaire he received from Richard Reynolds

It is titled “This is an IMPORTANT QUESTION for all 700 MHz RPC Committees.”

The questions asked for information regarding implementation of

700 MHz State License Channels.

Answers to the questions will be returned to Mr. Reynolds and forwarded

to NPSTC.

CAPRAD-

The chairman reported that funding has been exhausted for the operation of

this committee and its website. Notices and mailings also need to be funded.

Mr. Carbonell noted that funds for future operations of this committee must be sought from other sources or grants. As the operation of this group commences funding will support the software, training, computers, postage and stationary needs.

5. Windows/ Applications

Mr. Zarwanski discussed a conference call between the frequency coordinators group. He described the current options for filing applications.

A. Application is filed with a qualified coordinating agency.

B. The coordinating agency will then submit the application to the RPUC.

for review of the application. Other information to be included will

will be engineering studies, chosen frequencies,

Mr. Carbonell differed in description of the process.

A. Application is filed with the RPUC.

B. After review by the Committee the application is forwarded to one of the

four qualified coordinating bodies (chosen by the applicant)

Mr. Zarwanski noted that the Technical Committee of the RPUC (in the second case) would end up doing all of the engineering before submission to the coordinating body which should be preparing the application for the Committees final approval.

Mr. Derdak pointed out the differences between the applicant engineering the application and the traditional interference engineering performed by the coordinators. He noted that the design work is the responsibility of the

applicant and should be complete before submission to the coordinator.

Mr. Warakois noted that all engineering and interference studies should

be done prior to submission to the Committee using commonly accepted

methods. The Committee should only verify or question the validity of the

results.

Mr. Zarwanski then discussed the scoring process.

The Chairman suggested the discussion be tabled until the next meeting.

MOVED by Mr. Carbonell..to table the issue until the next meeting.” SECONDED by Mr. Kowalik.

The motion was ACCEPTED by voice vote.

6. REGION 8 PLAN

The Chairman reported that RPUC 8 has submitted their plan for the RPUC 19

approval. The question of the allowed turnaround time for a response has to be

answered. The Committee will not be able to act until agreement is reached.

7. ORPHANED CHANNELS.

Mr. Kowalik explained the concept of orphaning channels when an applicant

chooses a bandwidth which leaves splinter frequencies unused. The question

of accessing the data for unused frequency gaps will be explored by Mr. Carbonell.

8. 4.9 GHz

A letter has been sent to all 4.9 GHz licensees in Region 19 notifying them of the

Committee’s submission and approval of the Regional Plan for the band.

Mr. Zarwanski stated that 250 licensees have been sent a copy of the plan.

He states that location of the hotspots within each system. The question of

information storage by way of CAPRAD or other database was discussed.

Mr. Warakois noted that there are potential interference issues already growing

in various areas.

The Chairman will send another letter to the licensees which will hopefully

reach persons associated with the development of systems using the 4.9 GHz

band.

9. NEW BUSINESS

A meeting notice for next year (2007) has been distributed to all Committee members. The notice will be sent to the FCC for publication in the daily bulletin.

Scott Wright, Paul Zito, CT State Police, Department of Public Safety, are potential members of the Committee pending formal notifications.

Adjournment

MOVED by Mr. Leary SECONDED by Mr. Brown to ADJOURN

Motion PASSED 11:40 AM.

Respectfully Submitted

James A. Warakois, Secretary