Saturday, August 13, 2005
10-9
Another Saturday Night and Poop, They Just Don’t Get It !
As I said in my morning Blah-g, I had just received the US Mail and there was a letter from Tom Balya, Westmoreland County Commissioner. Well here is a brief update, if that’s at all possible.
The letter was NOT from Commissioner Balya, but from his Secretary of Staff, Ted Kopas. I can’t get rid of this guy. I want to correspond with the Commissioner !
This is the same guy that told me he would have the Commissioner call me right back, and he never did. That was a MONTH ago.
Do I have to paint myself purple and parade back and forth outside his office door in order to talk to him ? Hey Mr. Commissioner, I voted for you, don't let me down.
Mr. Kopas starts off immediately by saying that there would be an expected “minority that is adverse to change”. This guy must NOT have read my letter at all !
CHANGE ! We have needed a change since the 70’s when the Greensburg State Police moved from Low Band VHF to High Band VHF and the fire companies remained on 33.70 Mhz Dispatch.
He goes on to say that “overwhelmingly, police chiefs, fire departments leaders and other valued first responders have summarily supported this project and sang its praises”.
Mr. Kopas, what color is the sky in your world ?
The police and fire chiefs that I have spoken to are all for a change but NOT this kind of a change, one where nothing works right.
In a recent conversation I had with the Fire Chief of Latrobe he said “it will be a cold day in Hell before we switch our main fire service over to 911 and 800 Mhz”. Latrobe Fire Department has had one of the most professional fully self dispatching centers for years.
A police chief in this same area said “nice portables when they work”.
Does not sound like much of a “praise” to me.
MARKLE FIRE DEPARTMENT has been having problems with 800 Mhz since the day it was Installed !! Their base radio just CRASHED during an emergency transmission and they had to run out and turn on a truck radio to complete the emergency transmission !
Staley Communications now has to REPLACE or FIX a BRAND NEW RADIO ! This is not the first occurrence of new radios going dead that I’ve heard. The Markle Fire Department coverage area is filled with dead spots where their radios will not work with 800 Mhz.
That to me doesn’t sound much like a “praise”.
LIGONER TOWNSHIP POLICE have areas where they have to use their cell phones to communication with 911 because their 800 Mhz Radios DO NOT WORK. When the radios were installed in Ligonier Township some of their other equipment failed, brake lights not working, problems with light bar operation, etc…
That to me doesn’t sound like much of a “praise”.
Mr. Kopas also indicated that AREA POLICE AND FIRE Personnel helped design this system. In his words “Part of the radon for their enthusiasm is that they played a key role in designing and implementing it”.
If you are a policeman or fireman reading this, did you play a role in designing this ?
If so, I would like to know your company or station, who you are, and what role you played. I doubt if I’ll get any replies. news@k3sam.com
Mr. Kopas repeats in his letter to me that the Commissioners and Director Rich Matason have been openly available to any and all “end-users” of this system to answer questions at anytime. The keyword here is END-USERS.
I guess because I do not have a radio and I am not a first responder I do not qualify to ask a question about the SYSTEM I HELPED PAY FOR ! It doesn’t matter either that I am over qualified to see the flaws in the design and engineering of the system and would like to see this system FIXED before it CRASHES AGAIN !
Mr. Kopas states that he has “discussed your letter, as well as your preceding phone call to our office, at length with Rich Matason. I remain convinced that the system is operationally effective, is meeting all expectations, is superior to the previous radio system, and is, without a question, a worthwhile investment”. HA
Is that why they are afraid to answer my questions ?
I have to get my answers from “insiders” and others out in the field.
The Department of Emergency Management really kept the RADIO CRASH of 5 July 05 a big secret. I had to dig to find out that the NEW KENSINGTON PHONE COMPANY had a lightning strike and took out a T1 control circuit line. Without that, 911 CRASHED in that area.
911 Placed NUMEROUS calls to the phone company for help and it took ALMOST 24 HOURS before they had EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS back up in the New Kensington, Allegheny and Washington Townships, Lower and Upper Burrell, Avonmore, Bell Township, and Delmont Areas.
This was POLICE and FIRE COMMUNICATIONS !
WHAT WOULD IT HURT TO CHECK OUT THIS HUMBLE BLAH-GER’S CLAIMS ? Isn’t worth ONE LIFE ?
I'm not going to go over all the faults this system has AGAIN here, but I just wanted to let you know that I did receive a letter, but NOT from Commissioner Tom Balya.
Sorry Scotty J., No Funny Letter Tonight.
DECODED,
K3SAM
news@k3sam.com - email
TAC 2, and call me in the morning
TGINM
Sit back and relax. Have a nice Saturday.
After cutting audio clips all night and them uploading them to my website, my fingers and ears and brain and feet and eyes and elbows hurt. Ouch !
So I m writing this Blah-g to tell you I’m not going to write a Blah-g today unless I happen to get any more tips, anything new that I don’t already know. (send your tips to: news@k3sam.com)
I could use this space to review all of the 911 Mr. and Miss Management that has been exposed in the last month or two, but I’ve been writing about that all week.
Oh oh oh oh... got a rush there. I have a copy of the Radio Contract with Staleys that I will be posting. It's not uploaded yet but perhaps if I get some time later on.
What you can do is go to my website and look / listen to the very last audio clip posted on my Audio Clip Page. It’s called FNF for Friday Night Funnies.
THIS AUDIO FILE WAS ALTERED. I think you will enjoy it.
Perhaps I’ll write something tomorrow or later on tonight if any big tips come in. I could write about my last trip I had to the WC 911 Center, but then I would be giving too much away !
DECODED,
K3SAM
http://800.k3sam.com
A LATE PS: Received in today's mail was a letter from the office of the commissioners. After I review the letter (and get some rest) I will most likely provide an update to the BLAH-G this evening.
