ARRL Michigan Section Digital Radio Group (DRG) Duties of the District Representatives 05/05/05 The DRG District Representative is an appointed position by the District Emergency Coordinator. The DEC may appoint up to TWO representatives, a primary and a secondary. This increases the likelyhood that should one Rep be unable to attend meetings, the counterpart likely will be available, thus increasing the districts representation at the DRG quarterly meetings. An added benefit is that personalities sometimes conflict, and having two individuals as Rep's increases the chances that Amateurs in the district will find a Representative they can work with effectively. The duties of each DRG District Representative is to be the primary point of contact within his or her district with regard to Packet Radio networking, particularly with regard to Emergency Communications. The District Rep is there to represent the needs and issues of the Hams within the district and to assist in the planning and deployment of new nodes and servers, as well as changes made to the network. His/her primary concern is how such changes or deployments will effect the networks ability to serve in times of emergency. The District Representative should: Be in the know with regard to Packet activity in his or her district. Assist in maintaining the Michigan Statewide Packet Node Database. Help to promote Packet Radio in the district. Assist in Training of fellow Hams in the use of the Packet networks, and point them to online resources where appropriate. The Rep should be proficient in the Packet Radio mode, knowledgable in packet networking and message forwarding and delivery. This is not to say that s/he must be an expert. There is far too much for any one individual to know, however the Rep can enlist the resources of the entire DRG to find solutions to problems. The District Rep can also assist in problem resolution where one or more nodes is causing interference or difficulties to an existing coordinated network. While the District Rep has no "policing" authority, s/he may be able to act as a well informed mediator and suggest an equitable solution. The District Rep is expected to attend the quarterly DRG meetings. These meetings enable the entire State to work together towards a common goal. At these meetings the sharing of information, cross training, and awareness of alternate protocols and solutions is paramount to the design, deployment, and maintenance of a managable and dependable network. The Rep should make himself available to the Amateur public as a sounding board for their input to the design goals of the network as well as to their complaints. The Rep can then bring this information forward to the quarterly meetings to help us all decide what is working and where our problem areas are. The above list is NOT all inclusive. The Rep may find himself involved in many other facets of Amateur Packet Radio. The Rep will need to formulate and mold his/her position to best suit the needs of the district s/he serves.

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