Friday, July 22, 2005
AS THE MEGA HURTS - II (the series)
Good Morning All !
I realize that it is Late Afternoodles however I just woke up not too long ago and the world clock doesn’t mean that much to me at this point. I know the damn clock (the one at Hoover) is there but still doesn’t mean that much.
FINALLY
I have good news and I have bad news.
The good news is that I finally got to speak to my long time friend that works at 911 today about some of the issues I’ve been writing about, someone who is “in the know”.
The bad news is that the stuff he knows about is confidential and he can’t talk about it. Now that sucks !
On the other hand this Booger can understand. The 911 Center is the heart beat of all Westmoreland County (WC) and talking about what goes on inside the heart and how it (the system) works would be like asking George Bush for the launch codes (8675309). At this point I’d be happy for the lunch codes !
Either way I was “basically” told that I’m not a bad writer. Hmmm, he didn’t comment on my speling though.
The issues we talked about included the WC 911 System CRASH that occurred around the 5th of this month, all the dead spots not covered by the WC 800 radio communications towers, the differences between the old Pittsburgh / Allegheny County 800 Mhz system that failed and ours, system backup, and why he hadn’t taken me to dinner yet.
PLEASE READ:
What I already know for a fact and what I was told by my friend are two different things.
For example, I KNOW where the tower site is for “my” area of coverage… I was there ! I have photos of it on my website ! I know where most of them are, I have maps posted on my website. I KNOW how these radio work, I WAS radio maintenance...
I know part of the Radio System CRASHED earlier this month, I’ve reported on it.
These are things that I knew going into the conversation, not things that were told to me.
Will I be less critical of 911 now that my “friend” has called me ?
NO. A friend is a friend and it is not his fault that the 911 Center has had all these problems (but if you knew him you might think otherwise, lol). If anything, he is in a position to make corrections and fix things.
Do I expect him to tell me everything I want to know because we are friends ?
YES, but he won’t so I’ll get over it. I guess the things that are public knowledge I’ll be told about, the other things will remain a secret until someone else slips me a tip.
Lastly. Some things I would not want to put in this Blah-g.
I know my electronics, I know how things work ! Sadly, with everything going on in this world, if I found out something that would compromise the WC 911 System (or any system) in any way, it would NOT be reported.
With that said lemme get back to being the BOOGY BLAH-GER and see if I can put some light to some of the things I’ve been writing about for the last few months.
CRASH
As I have been reporting, the System Crash that happened on the 5th of this month was the fault of the telecommunications company and not 911’s equipment.
This was confirmed to me last week in an email by someone at a telecommunications company however I was withholding posting that information until I spoke to 911. When I ask my friend about it his only comment was that their equipment was working.
Even a dummy (and yours truly) can figure out that if their equipment was working AND if someone else had reported to me that thier telecommunications system was down THEN that is why the system CRASHED.
What the 911 WC Department of Emergency Management is going to have to do is learn from this problem, fix it, then move on.
If the telecommunications caused the system to fail, back up communications is needed. Simple.
PENN TOWNSHP
I reported and even posted audio on my website on the problems Penn Township Police were having reaching the 911 center. One night Penn Township Police called over and over and 911 never answered or heard them.
I did manage to get a semi-satisfying answer on that. I was told that partly because of the BLAH-G the whole matter is under investigation.
Now, that might not mean anything to you, especially if you just happen to be the cop that was calling 911 and not getting an answer – however if I have brought light to the subject AND it's now in the hands of Westmoreland County Emergency Managements AND they are looking into it… I’m ok with that.
I would rather know the exact details… like they were all in the bathroom smoking, one of the dispatching consoles was stuck on WDVE or the pizza just came, but I guess I can live with knowing the matter is under investigation.
DEAD SPOTS
When this system was brandy new, not even officially on line, massive testing had to be done to find the dead spots, spots where two way communications were not working and needed to be addressed and corrected.
Over 4,000 individual spots were tested on the fly. Indeed there were dead spots, which is expected. Each one was noted and then it was up to Management and Radio Maintenance to make the corrections.
I know areas around Ligonier, Wilpen, Markle and the Westmoreland / Indiana County Line that still have dead spots. Some of those dead spots are only associated with portable radios because their power output is less then what a mobile radio is. Either way, portable or mobile the problem has to be addressed !
Again, 911 is aware of these problem locations and they are still working on them. From what I understand, if you are in one of those areas and there are dead spots, you were already told about them and 911 is working on a solution. If that is not the case, let me know and again, I will tell them.
800 MEGA HURTZ
I fall back on my own knowledge about this county and radio communications. It is very hard (almost impossible) to cover this type of terrain with 800 Mhz signal communications. Why the county selected 800 over 400 Mhz I’ll never know, but they did. In fact they could have just had a major upgrade of the current VHF system.
Allegheney’s Department of Emergency Management (and Pittsburgh) attempted to cover their county with only TWO (2) towers. That, in my opinion was the main reason why they dropped 800 Mhz and went back to 400 Mhz. Two towers were just not enough.
Westmoreland County however is using at least 24 tower sites and they need each and every one of them. The tower site in Scottdale is completed and hopefully testing will finish soon. That should bring District 6 Police onto 800 Mhz. Another one was just finished and put into operation in near Mamont.
It is my guess that at least two more tower sites will be needed, perhaps more. The Westmoreland / Indiana County Line is going to need something to improve the signal and reduce the dead spots, and it’s not a new Eat ‘n Park.
You see, the lower the frequency.. like 155 Mhz, the longer the signal wavelength. The fire dispatch frequency of 33.70 Mhz has a longer signal wavelength than the 155 Mhz mentioned above because it is even lower in frequency. KDKA is on 1.02 Mhz and Boy is that frequency wavelength long ! because it's lower in frequency. In fact, KDKA’s full wavelength is over 917 feet !
Can you imagine seeing a Penn Township Police Car with an antenna on it that is 917 feet long ! I can, but this Booger is strange.
WHAT IS THE BOOGER GETTING AT ??
What I’m trying to make you see is that an 800 Mhz signal is very high in frequency, so the frequency wavelength is very short, unlike that of KDKA. If KDKA transmitted on 800 Mhz using the one tower they have, they would NOT get their signal out of the Pittsburgh Area… even at 50,000 watts ! The shorter the wavelength the shorter distance it’s wave will travel (line of sight).
Thus the need we have for so many towers. Again, if KDKA was on 800 Mhz, they would also need 20 plus towers so you could hear them here. If WC was on KDKA’s 1020 (or 1.020 Mhz), frequency they would only need one tower (and they could dispatch for approximately 38 states and 4 countries at night due to propagation !).
There are many reasons why we are on the frequencies that we are, if you want to know more, drop me an email and I’ll write about it.
Shuckles, I’ll write about anything as long as it involves electronics, Westmoreland County, 911, MooseMilk or the roast beef sandwiches the New Ken Cops had at the Eat ‘n Park today.
WOW – Think I’d better stop now. As far as my friend buying me dinner someday... I think that's a pretty good bet. Denny's or the Ground Round ?
Just as long as he doesn't buy me one like the one I have described below !
DINNER TONIGHT INCLUDES:
Leg of Lassy Soup with Waverly Crackers, Breast of Bear Bacon, Tomato Squares on Rye, Tony the Tiger Flakes on a Soybean Salad with Barium Bits, and Raccoon Cookies with Powered MooseMilk.
No animals were harmed in preparing this meal, although the Moose was a little MAD.
DECODED,
K3SAM
Send your tips to me so I can Tell Others !
Listen Live - Streaming 911 Audio From GMan
Your One Stop WC 800 Mhz Guide
The Boogers New Messaging Board - Post Your Own Thoughts !
I realize that it is Late Afternoodles however I just woke up not too long ago and the world clock doesn’t mean that much to me at this point. I know the damn clock (the one at Hoover) is there but still doesn’t mean that much.
FINALLY
I have good news and I have bad news.
The good news is that I finally got to speak to my long time friend that works at 911 today about some of the issues I’ve been writing about, someone who is “in the know”.
The bad news is that the stuff he knows about is confidential and he can’t talk about it. Now that sucks !
On the other hand this Booger can understand. The 911 Center is the heart beat of all Westmoreland County (WC) and talking about what goes on inside the heart and how it (the system) works would be like asking George Bush for the launch codes (8675309). At this point I’d be happy for the lunch codes !
Either way I was “basically” told that I’m not a bad writer. Hmmm, he didn’t comment on my speling though.
The issues we talked about included the WC 911 System CRASH that occurred around the 5th of this month, all the dead spots not covered by the WC 800 radio communications towers, the differences between the old Pittsburgh / Allegheny County 800 Mhz system that failed and ours, system backup, and why he hadn’t taken me to dinner yet.
PLEASE READ:
What I already know for a fact and what I was told by my friend are two different things.
For example, I KNOW where the tower site is for “my” area of coverage… I was there ! I have photos of it on my website ! I know where most of them are, I have maps posted on my website. I KNOW how these radio work, I WAS radio maintenance...
I know part of the Radio System CRASHED earlier this month, I’ve reported on it.
These are things that I knew going into the conversation, not things that were told to me.
Will I be less critical of 911 now that my “friend” has called me ?
NO. A friend is a friend and it is not his fault that the 911 Center has had all these problems (but if you knew him you might think otherwise, lol). If anything, he is in a position to make corrections and fix things.
Do I expect him to tell me everything I want to know because we are friends ?
YES, but he won’t so I’ll get over it. I guess the things that are public knowledge I’ll be told about, the other things will remain a secret until someone else slips me a tip.
Lastly. Some things I would not want to put in this Blah-g.
I know my electronics, I know how things work ! Sadly, with everything going on in this world, if I found out something that would compromise the WC 911 System (or any system) in any way, it would NOT be reported.
With that said lemme get back to being the BOOGY BLAH-GER and see if I can put some light to some of the things I’ve been writing about for the last few months.
CRASH
As I have been reporting, the System Crash that happened on the 5th of this month was the fault of the telecommunications company and not 911’s equipment.
This was confirmed to me last week in an email by someone at a telecommunications company however I was withholding posting that information until I spoke to 911. When I ask my friend about it his only comment was that their equipment was working.
Even a dummy (and yours truly) can figure out that if their equipment was working AND if someone else had reported to me that thier telecommunications system was down THEN that is why the system CRASHED.
What the 911 WC Department of Emergency Management is going to have to do is learn from this problem, fix it, then move on.
If the telecommunications caused the system to fail, back up communications is needed. Simple.
PENN TOWNSHP
I reported and even posted audio on my website on the problems Penn Township Police were having reaching the 911 center. One night Penn Township Police called over and over and 911 never answered or heard them.
I did manage to get a semi-satisfying answer on that. I was told that partly because of the BLAH-G the whole matter is under investigation.
Now, that might not mean anything to you, especially if you just happen to be the cop that was calling 911 and not getting an answer – however if I have brought light to the subject AND it's now in the hands of Westmoreland County Emergency Managements AND they are looking into it… I’m ok with that.
I would rather know the exact details… like they were all in the bathroom smoking, one of the dispatching consoles was stuck on WDVE or the pizza just came, but I guess I can live with knowing the matter is under investigation.
DEAD SPOTS
When this system was brandy new, not even officially on line, massive testing had to be done to find the dead spots, spots where two way communications were not working and needed to be addressed and corrected.
Over 4,000 individual spots were tested on the fly. Indeed there were dead spots, which is expected. Each one was noted and then it was up to Management and Radio Maintenance to make the corrections.
I know areas around Ligonier, Wilpen, Markle and the Westmoreland / Indiana County Line that still have dead spots. Some of those dead spots are only associated with portable radios because their power output is less then what a mobile radio is. Either way, portable or mobile the problem has to be addressed !
Again, 911 is aware of these problem locations and they are still working on them. From what I understand, if you are in one of those areas and there are dead spots, you were already told about them and 911 is working on a solution. If that is not the case, let me know and again, I will tell them.
800 MEGA HURTZ
I fall back on my own knowledge about this county and radio communications. It is very hard (almost impossible) to cover this type of terrain with 800 Mhz signal communications. Why the county selected 800 over 400 Mhz I’ll never know, but they did. In fact they could have just had a major upgrade of the current VHF system.
Allegheney’s Department of Emergency Management (and Pittsburgh) attempted to cover their county with only TWO (2) towers. That, in my opinion was the main reason why they dropped 800 Mhz and went back to 400 Mhz. Two towers were just not enough.
Westmoreland County however is using at least 24 tower sites and they need each and every one of them. The tower site in Scottdale is completed and hopefully testing will finish soon. That should bring District 6 Police onto 800 Mhz. Another one was just finished and put into operation in near Mamont.
It is my guess that at least two more tower sites will be needed, perhaps more. The Westmoreland / Indiana County Line is going to need something to improve the signal and reduce the dead spots, and it’s not a new Eat ‘n Park.
You see, the lower the frequency.. like 155 Mhz, the longer the signal wavelength. The fire dispatch frequency of 33.70 Mhz has a longer signal wavelength than the 155 Mhz mentioned above because it is even lower in frequency. KDKA is on 1.02 Mhz and Boy is that frequency wavelength long ! because it's lower in frequency. In fact, KDKA’s full wavelength is over 917 feet !
Can you imagine seeing a Penn Township Police Car with an antenna on it that is 917 feet long ! I can, but this Booger is strange.
WHAT IS THE BOOGER GETTING AT ??
What I’m trying to make you see is that an 800 Mhz signal is very high in frequency, so the frequency wavelength is very short, unlike that of KDKA. If KDKA transmitted on 800 Mhz using the one tower they have, they would NOT get their signal out of the Pittsburgh Area… even at 50,000 watts ! The shorter the wavelength the shorter distance it’s wave will travel (line of sight).
Thus the need we have for so many towers. Again, if KDKA was on 800 Mhz, they would also need 20 plus towers so you could hear them here. If WC was on KDKA’s 1020 (or 1.020 Mhz), frequency they would only need one tower (and they could dispatch for approximately 38 states and 4 countries at night due to propagation !).
There are many reasons why we are on the frequencies that we are, if you want to know more, drop me an email and I’ll write about it.
Shuckles, I’ll write about anything as long as it involves electronics, Westmoreland County, 911, MooseMilk or the roast beef sandwiches the New Ken Cops had at the Eat ‘n Park today.
WOW – Think I’d better stop now. As far as my friend buying me dinner someday... I think that's a pretty good bet. Denny's or the Ground Round ?
Just as long as he doesn't buy me one like the one I have described below !
DINNER TONIGHT INCLUDES:
Leg of Lassy Soup with Waverly Crackers, Breast of Bear Bacon, Tomato Squares on Rye, Tony the Tiger Flakes on a Soybean Salad with Barium Bits, and Raccoon Cookies with Powered MooseMilk.
No animals were harmed in preparing this meal, although the Moose was a little MAD.
DECODED,
K3SAM
Send your tips to me so I can Tell Others !
Listen Live - Streaming 911 Audio From GMan
Your One Stop WC 800 Mhz Guide
The Boogers New Messaging Board - Post Your Own Thoughts !
