Friday, September 09, 2005
BILL O'REILLY ?
Ug. Is there such a word as discussedatimedid ? If there isn’t there should be !
I had a few “high level” meetings Wednesday with people that are more well known than I am (which isn’t saying much) and all we discussed was the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety, the Department of Emegency Management and the faulty 800 Mhz Radio System.
We discussed the time-line of events that led up to signing of the Motorola Contract which included the “two day notices” sent out by the County Commissioners and the Department of Emergency Management and we could only figure out that they rushed the police and fire into a radio system that was NOT thought out or planned with safety involved at all.
There was a bunch of BS about losing 800 Mhz frequencies assigned to the county - that is crap and the FCC controls that and those can be renewed without any outside Consultant or Motorola acting for us.
Losing the "free" equipment by not having some companies “join” the list of those going on the system was also BS according to everyone I've spoken to.
Either way it was a bunch of crock being passed out and such a rush to get this system on the air that in my opinion 911 didn’t care if the frequency was 9 MBz, if the towers were all bunched together, or if everyone was going to be safe using this system.
The system was just not matched to our terrain, period. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told me that their GRANT was for a RADIO SYSTEM.
DHS could care less if it was 400 Mhz, 800 Mhz, or even 33.70 Mhz as long as the system worked according to their guidelines.
If anyone tells you otherwise they are lying !
I have it. Have you ever seen a little boy that sees a new toy in the window of a store and from that moment on he makes his Mom’s life living HELL until he has that new toy ? Well there you go.
When 911 Management saw photographs or even a demo radio of this new system they just had to have it !
Until the kid has the toy the Mother will be bugged about it and I think that is what happened.
Another thing that was talked about with several people is that this GRANT money was for Department of Homeland Security Issues, not Parks and Maintenance.
I brought this up a few times in earlier Blah-gs. Next time I speak to DHS I will definitely ask them about it.
It’s not fair that Fire Companies like Markle and Police Departments like Derry only receive five 800 Mhz radios, and then have to sell 2,500 cakes or submarine sandwiches to buy each additional radio when Park and Courthouse Maintenance Employees receive these FREE and they could have stayed on the old PERFECTLY GOOD VHF frequencies.
Not fair at all !
AND WHAT DOES DOMESTIC RELATIONS HAVE TO DO WITH HOMELAND SECURITY ?
Why do they get 800 Mhz Radios... besides taking radios away from First Responders they are also taking away AIR TIME.
And can anyone tell me WHY the BAT MOBILE (Mobile Command Center) needed those 2,000 portables assigned to it ?? Ok, so it’s not 2,000… more like 50 but all those portable radios just for a command center... they are sitting there when they could be in firemen's hands !
Would seem to me that anyone inside the Mobile Command Center would have access to a radio built into the Mobile Unit and anyone outside the Command Center that might be involved in an incident would also have their own radios.. so why ALL THE PORTABLES when they could be going to places like Markle VFD and Derry PD.
These smaller Police and Fire Stations just can’t afford to go out and buy more radios and they need them just as badly as Greensburg and Latrobe. They certainly need them more than the Park and Courthouse Maintenance and Domestic Relations. HELL, Domestic Relations starts more fires then it will ever put out.
I know, two enraged husbands that are being sued by Domestic Relations for back child support decide to sneak into Northmoreland County Park and Terrorize A Beaver… that’s about as close to a Homeland Security incident I can think of that would involve those two departments.
At lease if the fire and police departments had their radios the police could make the arrest while the fire department is repairing the Beaver’s DAMN. (that’s what you call a Damn Radio!)
Also I thought it was funny that someone actually compared me to Bill O’Reilly of Fox News. Bill as you might know is always looking out for you. O’Reilly I’m not, however I appreciate the comparison.
All I am doing is trying to look out for our Firefighters, EMS Paramedics / Emergency Medic Technicians and Police officers and our residents here in Westmoreland County. (plus I don’t have a TV / Radio Show or any employees like O'Reilly)
I am the GOOD in this good vs. the evil radio demons of Westmoreland County Example...
BLAH-GER GOOD 
EVIL BAD
This Blah-g started out as a JOKE giving you blow by blow details of Frick and Frack’s Mad Adventures in Washington Township but quickly turned out to be a daily plea to Westmoreland County 911 Management to further investigate all of these Radio Frequency Dead Spots (areas where the radios will not work) and radio system problems in general.
It was also a plea to Motorola for better Quality Control on their Radios. It appears as if one out of every three radios given to the police and firemen were not working and had to go in for repair. 1 out of 3 NEW RADIOS brand new in the box not working !! This is still the case with new radios arriving and being DOA out of the Box !
Staley Communications, winners of the Westmoreland County Radio Bid are not to blame as far as the quality of the radios however when it comes to repairing their mistakes on installations or getting to a location that needs service has been extremely slow (as reported to me).
You have to be prompt when you have Police, EMS and Fire radios that are broken and someone needs to tell them that.
To sum up the meetings that I had, it is concluded that:
- Westmoreland County 911 Management moved too fast implementing this project
- Westmoreland County 911 Management Did NOT investigate their FREQUENCY OPTIONS carefully
- Terrain Maps and Tower Placement is incorrect with more towers erected or leased in the Western half of Westmoreland County while leaving the Eastern half almost bare
- Radio distribution was not correctly examined and executed
- Radio grant money was not allowed to be spent properly
- Not enough GRID spots checked while making radio tests
- GRID spots checked did not include inside of buildings, different floors and basements
- Preliminary radio system tests were not performed using the proper set up equipment, power levels, antennas
- 100% of all radios were not programmed correctly resulting in reprogramming almost guaranteed
- Current system allows for only one brand of radios to be used with no outside companies being able to bid against Motorola. This allows Motorola to set higher prices without worrying competition
- Almost impossible for smaller fire and police departments to buy extra radios at Motorola prices
These are just some of the topics that everyone that I spoke to agreed upon. Amazing huh !?
Pretty bad that now more and more Police and Fire Chiefs are agreeing with the Blah-ger when it comes to this 800 Mhz system.
If this BLAH-G has any WINNERS it will be the RESIDENTS of Westmoreland County who paid for this system and rely on it AND the Police / EMS / and Fire Public Servants who put their lives in jeopardy and Rely on their radios each and every day they work.
One other thing of interest. I had the unique pleasure of "playing" with a Motorola xts2500 for about a half an hour and may I say I was NOT impressed at all. I was expecting to see the quality of Motorola from years back and what I found was Motorola giving in to cheaper manufacturing costs.
I was also looking at the mobile radios too and NOW I CAN UNDERSTAND why EMERGENCY BUTTONS are being pressed by mistake.
What was Motorola thinking when they placed the Emergency Button on top of the portables near the bank / talkgroup selection switch on the Portable Radios and next to the Channel Up / Down switches on the Mobile Radios ?
You now have the BLAH-GER'S PERMISSION to press these buttons ! Not really, but when you do it is COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDABLE WHY THIS IS HAPPENING SO OFTEN !! Very Poor Design by Button-in-the-wrong-place-Motorola !!
Oh well, as MOTOROLLA once said, time to get the L out of here.
DECODED,
K3SAM
http://800.k3sam.com – website and guide to our 800 Mhz system
news@k3sam.com – report tips and send comments
www.gmans.net - listen to LIVE WC Broadcasts thanks to GMAN !!
www.Was400MhzReallyAnOptionOrWereWeForcedInto800MhzThatWontWorkInOurAreaVeryWellAndShouldWeReallyCareIfTheRadiosWorkOrNot.com – can’t guarantee this site will work as I understand it might have been designed by the same people that designed this radio system.
