Monday, October 24, 2005
Monday Summary
Summary Time:
From time to time as I get new readers that tap into the Blah-g I throw in a Summary, basically a “Mission Statement” as they call them. Along with that some comments of course.
I am not blowing my own whistle here, just giving you some facts.
I am just a person who devoted all of his adult professional and private hobby life as an engineer in the field of Radio Communications. From being an Amateur Radio Extra Class Radio Operator to having served as Chief Radio Engineer for several local Radio Stations.
From owning and operating two former radio maintenance Service, Installation and Authorized Sales and Repair Center for multiple brands of professional radios brands to Servicing Multiple Communities as their Chief Radio Maintenance representative.
Plus I’ve also designed and installed low power radio systems for the Hearing Impaired at different churches.
Plus I worked for and on the St. Vincent College Student Radio Station WSVC Line Powered Radio System.
Oh, and I was the area Official Field Signal Strength Tester of record for several FCC Licensed Stations.
In my spare time I can talk a little ways with 2 ( TWO ) watts of power… like to Spain, Italy, Mexico, Ships at Sea (honest) and all 50 states. Of course I could use 1,500 Watts, the legal power allowed by the FCC to Amateur Radio Operators however it’s more fun to do it on low power, more bragging rights.
I am a Lifetime FCC First Class License and a Lifetime Certified Electronic Technician's License holder.
With that may I say that I know something about radios and frequencies and how they operate, from 1 Hz to 3 Ghz (as in 3000 Mega Hertz). That covers BELOW frequencies that the human ear can hear to frequencies 3 times HIGHER than the 800 Mhz system Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety (WCDPS) uses now.
I’m not a writer (thus explains my humor and jokes at times), I AM someone experienced in Radios, Radio Theory, and Radio Engineering with over 35 years in the field.
The radio system Westmoreland County (WC) was using for the past 20 years or so was very good and was liked by all HOWEVER had major limitations, and just hearing about a new system put a warm fuzzy in everyone’s pants.
Remember I had mentioned Amateur Radio ? Well, about 20 years ago I was part of a very excellent organization that was and is known as the Chestnut Ridge Amateur Radio Club of WC. A few devoted Amateurs erected a 100 foot tower on Chestnut Ridge overlooking Latrobe and at the top we put a simple 140-150 Mhz antenna (145.150 is the frequency you can hear them on now from that same location).
From that single tower and antenna, I could and still can talk from Blairsville to Mt. Pleasant, New Kensington, Irwin, Penn Hills, anywhere in WC and further from my hand held radio to someone else’s hand held radio.
Kind of like what the Police are so happy about being able to do now. The cost, well… next to nothing as most of the equipment was donated or given to the organization at little cost however if I had to put a price tag on it at TODAYS prices I would say about $3,000 plus or minus a small amount. That’s less than a Motorola xts-2500 Portable Radio !
Why can I do so much with one tower at one location for so little money and it is taking Motorola, WCDPS and Staley’s $14 Million dollars to do and it doesn't work half the time ?
FREQUENCY !
With the terrain we live in 150 Mhz is perfect. Although the Amateur Bands are slightly lower for VHF it’s basically the same thing. As frequency INCREASES it gets harder and harder to work around all these hills and dales, inside building, around corners, trees and leaves, and other obstacles we face living here. So, 400 is higher than 150… right ? Yes of course and 800 is much higher than 150, right ? 800 Mhz will NOT work properly in this area.
Where 150 Mhz police radio was working in this area for district operations, 800 Mhz will NOT without the use of repeaters and many towers. That is why we are using 26 towers now, 14 more than what was originally planned for this area, so 911 can hear the Police, EMS and Fire units.
But the problem is that 26 towers are still not enough.
IF WCDPS insists on keeping this 800 Mhz system most of the other engineers I have spoken to all say that around 49 to 51 towers will be needed. That’s another 24 towers and more tax payer money.
None of this would have been needed if proper initial reports were made such as pre-testing and topographical map vs. frequency studies. I don’t know a single HONEST engineer that would have attempted to put this system in without STOPPING and insisting to the Commissioners that they discontinue this useless effort.
In fact from the information I am hearing, WCDPS did not do ANY TESTS prior to getting this system. If that is true, that might be a CRIME ! (and I am not speaking of the rides around the county in a car making tests back to the 911 center, that was done AFTER the system was ordered, plus the tests were highly rigged (for lack of better words) from what I heard from my sources)
On the other hand, if the pre-testing and especially the topographical map reports were made I believe WC might have gotten away with a 400 Mhz system that would have done everything this system does and it might have worked !
Some people have been brain washed into thinking that ONLY THIS system will do digital, or secure channels, or trunking, or mobile data terminals, or any of the stuff we should have or be getting. Most systems can do that.
Motorola was probably telling those without brains that their system is the only system out there. WRONG AGAIN. Several companies out there are capable of doing EVERYTHING this one does, one way or another. It might have a different patent name but what they hey, I always thought a MOCOM was a cross between MO-nkey and COM-post.
One such company that does provide excellent equipment is Daniels Electronics Ltd. (http://www.danelec.com/) Another one is E.F. Johnson (http://www.efjohnson.com/). I bet neither company had a change to bid on this system, or perhaps they thought it was a JOKE !
Our system will accept equipment from other companies IF Mark, the Deputy Director of 911 allows.
He is the one that programs the radios as to which ones can be on it and which ones cannot. If you are a bad boy he can PULL THE PLUG on your radio so fast that your head would spin your lunch. Just think, 911 could start charging “per radio” to be on the air and if you didn’t pay you would be shittcanned.
I apologize if I got slightly off topic however I did want the new readers to get a feel for this Blah-g. The residents and first responders of this county have been fooled into buying something that isn’t worth it’s weight in Moose Milk.
The reason for the Blah-g is that I hope I can save a life or two.
HOW ? By warning everyone that this system isn’t working properly and is certainly not cut out for a public safety communications system. Each day this system stays on the air is one day closer to a county disaster !
What do I want in return for all of my work ?
NOTHING !
What do I expect to come out of writing the Blah-g ?
At first all I wanted was this system changed. To put in a system qualified to handle emergency radio communications. At this point besides wanting the system changed I honestly feel that MANAGEMENT should be changed along with it.
I have nothing personal against Director Rich Matason or Deputy Director Mark Brammell however they know about this Blah-g, they READ it daily in fact so they KNOW of the problems and troubles it has. All they had to do was listen to my audio clips which I KNOW they have. How do I know, my inside contacts that work at 911 tell me.
So, they read this… and they listen to the problems BUT they do NOTHING. NOTHING !
Some people ARE listening though and GOD I’m thankful. I’m still getting positive emails from police and fire chiefs from all over WC, and Directors of EMS services. They are all in favor of a new system, just NOT THIS ONE !
Some police in particular think I’m out to take away something better than they had before. I know they want the new Mobile Data Terminals and the spiffy new radios, but I’m not after taking away anything from them. In fact I’m trying to get them BETTER RADIOS, ones that will work BETTER, or in some cases just WORK !
Newer ones that are BETTER and have the Mobile Data Terminals, Emergency Buttons, Digital Displays, the whole 9 yards.
I am hoping God and you out in the field with some power… Police, EMS, or Firemen will start helping out more. The bigger the voice the louder we are ! Send me your emails with offers to help… news@k3sam.com and anyone going to talk to Commissioner Tom this morning ?
So to end for this Monday morning, if you are a loyal reader I’m sorry to have repeated myself however to the new readers, welcome to the Blah-g and feel free to email me anytime with your questions, comments and tips – news@k3sam.com. That is how this Blah-g survives, from tips received from Dispatchers, Police, EMS, Fire, Brothers and Sisters of employees of WC, you name it.
Although I like to know who is emailing me, you will ALWAYS REMAIN ANONYMOUS to others here.
I do have one email that was received while I was preparing this that I would like to post. It reads as follows:
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I love how miserable the 911 dispatchers are anymore.
Did you listen to 102's structure fire last night? Fire Operations were assigned Tac 3. During the fire there was so much radio traffic that Fire Dispatch could not contact Chief 102 because of all of the traffic. They had to switch to Zone 2 Fire Command just so Chief 102 could activate his 2nd alarm for tankers. They placed the tankers on Fire Tac 4 which was probably a smart move due to the fact that Tac 3 was already clogged up with radio traffic. It was also interesting at one point, everything went dead silent on Tac 3, Tac 4, and Zone 2 Fire Command... Was this a system problem? All you could hear is 911 repeatedly calling for Chief 102 or Safety Officer 102, and getting no response. I find this crazy due to the fact that if there was emergency traffic during that time, nobody would of heard it! Especially due to 5 minutes before the "problem", it was reported that the one part of the structure was getting "wobbly" and they were considering evacuating the structure of interior crews.
I sure hope something is done to correct these issues soon!
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A quick answer that I sent was that the system WAS having problems during that period of time that I’ve already reported. That might account for those 5 minutes of DEAD SILENCE, plus I think the Firemen might want a bit more control over the frequencies they use, I don’t think I would want my left nut twisted every time I happen to transmit on Talk Group 200 by mistake (just ask a fireman) !
DECODED,
K3SAM
http://800.k3sam.com – website
news@k3sam.com – tips / comments / news
