Monday, October 03, 2005
Oh the way Glenn Miller Played...
Good Morning !
Just a couple of quickies…
* Over the weekend there was HAZMAT Comm training at a Harrisburg Area College. I know of ONE WC 911 Director that went to this training class and I would image that we picked up the whole tab for the classes, hotel and trip. I received an email about this from one of my insiders or obviously I wouldn’t know about it however the email was a bit disturbing. I'll just wait to see how many other emails I receive as I don't pass on gossip.
I don't mind paying for the classes and all the PERKS that go with it IF something other then Blackberry Operationg Instructions were learned.
* I also received several emails from reliable sources telling me that the Trucked Repeater System (TRS) controlling software and hardware were having problems resulting in several Police, EMS, and Fire Departments losing their communications with the 911 center over the weekend. I cannot confirm this as I was busy all weekend and did not listen to the WC system (can you believe that ?).
Don't you think that everyone on the system should always be able to talk to 911 ? You have to remember that our radio system is now CONTROLLED by a computer, like the one you have at home. Computers sometimes have a mind of their own, at least mine does....
Scotty J. was at least part of my ears and jolly on the spot to keep me formatted and my sectors optimized. Thanks !
* Driving to Greensburg this weekend I happened to take the long way home which takes me by the 911 Command and Control Center. Although no Space Shuttles were up on the launch pad I did make an observation concerning their CROWN antenna tower.
There are more antennas on that tower than we would have a need for. I did not count them however I could if it becomes an issue.
My point being this, do we own that tower and are we getting monthly revenues from services and companies renting space on our tower OR does CROWN own that tower and are we paying for space ?
If CROWN owns the tower, then how much are THEY paying us to have it on our property ? I do understand that the plot of land our building sits on IS ours and has been PURCHASED by the county with OUR tax money… someone correct me if I am wrong please. Even Meathead was wrong now and then !
* Almost on the same subject I would still like to know HOW HIGH our ANTENNAS are on each of the 25 tower sites we are currently using. I would also like to know how many of these TOWERS do we OWN vs. how many are we LEASING SPACE off of.
You might think this has NOTHING to do with the SIGNAL QUALITY or DEAD SPOTS that are found on our system BUT it actually IS very much related.
HOW ?
An official at 911 told me, and this is a QUOTE “We don’t have enough money to put up any more towers or find all these DEAD SPOTS”.
If I find out that we own 10 or 15 of these tower sites then I would like to know if we are SELLING SPACE on those towers to other services like Mac’s Towing or Bob’s Refrigeration as this extra space could actually bring in an extra $200-++ each-a-month into the county’s revenue.
If handled correctly this system could make us money !
Maybe enough money to find the DEAD SPOTS, erect more towers and increase the coverage that we need.
I STILL STRONGLY FEEL THAT IF WE SWITCHED TO 400 Mhz, the 25 towers we are using now would most likely give us the 95% coverage that 911 has said we currently have, which is nothing more than a lie.
Apparently NO ONE from 911 or the big rooms at the court house is interested in setting up a committee to study all of these items that I have been point out in this Blah-g… and I would love to sit in if they ever did.
If a mechanic told me that the tires on my car were close to blowing out or in serious danger of blowing out and causing a WRECK, I believe I would take his advice and have the tires replaced OR at least seek a second opinion.
I am telling 911 that this 800 Mhz system has serious problems and could be the cause of deaths of first responders or citizens of this county so wouldn’t you think that they would either have it repaired OR at least seek a second opinion by someone who has NO interest in making money off the county or who would NOT profit from the repair of this system ?
* OK, side notes… Scotty J. loves his new Bearcat 397T portable radio by Uniden. Absolutely no problems and the damn thing looks slick.
I have no problems with any of my Radio Shack PRO-2096’s or my PRO-96…
Radio Shack IS ABOUT TO ANNOUNCE a major price reduction in both of their PRO series 800 Mhz WC compatible scanners. I understand they will be in the upper $300 price range which is a price reduction of over $100 from when I bought mine ( waaaaa ! ).
I was disappointed to see the flag at 911 flying HIGH when the President has ordered the flags to fly at half-staff. As I drove away from the 911 center I notice at least one other flag on the D-road that was indeed flying at half-staff.
Not sure if the flag is suppose to be flying at half-staff due to the death of our former Chief Justice or if certain people were having problems learning how to program their Blackberry Cell Phone. Errr…
* That’s it, have a good morning and afternoodle if you can and always listen to that little voice in your head, even if it is encoded sometimes !
DECODED,
K3SAM
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