Friday, November 04, 2005

 

NFPA - ISO - DLPS



A number of topics to discuss and throw on the table for this Frightful Friday. Yeh I know Halloween is over but NOT if you have any connection with this 800 Mhz radio system !

Before the first item I hope you had a chance to check out the new audio clips posted on my website. Just go to http://800.k3sam.com and click on audio clips. Hope you find them interesting as I put them there for you.

The first item I would like to address is MARK BRAMMELL.

This is in reference to a department in Allegheny County that is on a FIRST ALARM STRUCTURE ASSIGNMENT for some of Westmoreland County (WC) and wanted to buy their own 800 Mhz radio so that they could talk to our fire departments during a Fire Call.

Remember, NOT EVERYONE WANTS STALEYS TO SERVICE THEIR ACCOUNT AND NOT EVERYONE WANTS A MOTOROLA RADIO. EF Johnson and a few other brands will work with this system just fine !

I understand that Mark Brammell told this Allegheny County Fire Department that they COULD NOT BUY their own radios and he told them that HE would not program them to work either.

They HAD TO BUY MOTOROLA or Mark would NOT PROGRAM that radio to work ! Here is the actual email that I received HOWEVER I had to edit it as the email sender wants to remain anonymous.

** email received and edited as follows **
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A department in Allegheny county that is on FIRST ALARM STRUCTURE ASSIGNMENT in a Westmoreland territory wanted to purchase an 800 radio on their own, but the holier-than-thou crew at Westmoreland DLPS (Dept of Lack of Public Safety) told them that they would not program it on their system. How's that for interoperability? I suppose that the truck crew will just have to guess their orders?

Maybe they can buy a set of those nifty Disney FRS radios and give one to the Westmoreland department so they can talk across county boundaries.

Or if they were to pay someone off (like Motorola did), they could get it programmed.

** email received and edited - end **
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The email basically says it all. If I could only figure out WHY everyone has to have a MOTOROLA RADIO.

I remember when I sold Motorola Cell Phones, I received (personally in cash) a $100.00 CASH KICK BACK. I don’t know if this is what Motorola is doing now and if they are, WHO IS GETTING THE CASH KICK BACK ?

Next ---

Normally I have a rule that I follow.

I talk about things that I know about, the things I know nothing about I am silent.

Today I am going to have to deviate from that rule and hopefully someone reading this will be smart enough to tell me what the hell I am talking about.

You see, I am getting emails from Fire Chiefs and Firemen all concerning the NFPA, and I do not understand the NFPA at all !

What I know is this. The NFPA is the National Fire Protection Association ( www.nfpa.org ) and they have guidelines that all fire departments are suppose to follow. For example you wouldn’t take a garden hose and connected it to a fire tanker and hope to put out a fire. There are STANDARDS by which each and every fire department should be following.

From what I understand, WC does not follow the NFPA. That was told to me by a Fire Chief. Is that true or not, see I don’t know.

In the case that WC does indeed follow the NFPA rules and regulations then everyone should know that this 800 Mhz Radio System that was forced on all fire companies is NOT NFPA APPROVED. I repeat, this 800 Mhz system is NOT NFPA Approved !

From what I know the two biggest NFPA areas that are violated are during a working fire all transmissions MUST be on FM Analog Audio Simplex transmission channel that does not rely on a tower and repeater.

As it is set up now ALL Fire Ground Transmissions are on Digital Audio Duplex Trunked channels that rely on a tower and repeater.

That covers each and every Fire TAC Channel.

In my conversation with the Department of Homeland Security it was TOLD to me that part of our GRANT specified FM Analog Audio Simplex channels and if that is not how it is set up the GRANT money is void.

The person at Homeland Security also told me that he will be making another trip to visit with Rich and Mark to make sure these changes have been made.

I guess when he was here for his initial inspection 911 Management made a demonstration on our single talk around channel which is FM Analog Audio, that is why the system passed. If he would have seen the REAL Fire TAC Channels the system would have FAILED.

That is called SNOOKERED, making the Department of Homeland Security think that the whole system worked that way. ( If you’ve ever played 9 ball you’ll know what that word Snookered means. )

The second item that I believe violates the NFPA rules is the fact that WC uses telephone lines to connect the audio and control information from 911 to each tower. I believe the NFPA requires that each tower be connected using Radio Frequency Microwave Links.

Microwave links to all 26 towers we have ! That would never work in WC BECAUSE of the mountains, hills, valleys, dips, etc… especially the DIPS !!

Those links are LINE OF SIGHT and operate in the Giga-Hertz range. We have enough problems with 800 Mega Hertz, 1200 or 1500 Mega Hertz, or 1.2 and 1.5 Giga Hertz sure as HELL isn’t going to work. That statement is coming from a Radio Engineer !

The actual email that I received on that, and again it has been edited so the writer remains anonymous is as follows:

** email received and edited as follows **
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Please do not use my name, but I have been lead to believe that the new 800 system in WC is not even NFPA compliant because it relies on phone lines and not on RF links to the satellite towers….

If you can, why not try to talk to the fireman’s assoc of wc county and the fire chief’s assoc? I do not know what response you would get but maybe they would let you speak/ask questions?

Why don’t you run for commissioner on a platform of public safety…..

Ps I am a ff in wc county.

** email received and edited - end **
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Actually I didn’t have to edit that at all as the only info you don’t see is an email address which would protect the writer. As far as an answer, I would gladly speak to the Fireman’s Association and the Fire Chief’s Association if they invited me and my health permitted. Perhaps Mark would even have a chance to hear me speak and he could even ask questions !??

As for running for Commissioner I have given it some thought however there are many GOOD people out there that can replace Tom Balya should he decide to run again.

Like I had mentioned at the start of this Blah-g, I normally do not bring up items that I don’t know about, so if you are a Fireman or Fire Chief and have comments on the NFPA and whether or not WC follows these rules, please drop me an email – news@k3sam.com.

= = =

I always thought that when a fire company went through an ISO (Insurance Service Organization) Inspection, whether or not they passed had a lot to do with following NFPA guidelines. If the radios being carried and (half assed) installed in the trucks, and they are NOT NFPA approved, wouldn’t that go against the ISO inspection ?

Wouldn’t that also increase your fire insurance coverage amount ?

Just another thought…

Next ---

One other item you should be aware of concerning these $3,000 portable radios EVERYONE is carrying around. Do NOT use them when there has been a Natural Gas Leak Reported.

These radios are NOT Intrinsically Safe although Motorola could have given you radios that were at that price (plus sent you to Disney World for a week).

I always use the term MIL SPEC which is short for Military Specifications. Others say Intrinsically Safe. Either way because of the electronic circuitry inside the radio unless extra care is given to each radio and gaskets and a few components are added then keying your radio or even having it turned on when there is a natural gas leak could cause an explosion.

MOST OF THE RADIOS YOU RECEIVED ARE NOT MIL SPEC, or INTRINSICALLY SAFE. What a rip off. I personally do not know of ONE radio that has either rating that is out there !

Next ---

If you have seen any of the 911 Management lately with their XTS-2500 Radios you will now notice a BIGGER, LONGER Antenna on them. This is because THEY were having problems getting their signal back to 911 through these repeaters on our towers. The NEW ANTENNA is a Gain antenna which will help get the signal out.

HOW MANY POLICE OR FIREMEN were issued this newer antenna ?

My guess is that if you got one, you are important. If you didn’t, 911 Management doesn’t care whether you live or die as your life is not worth the extra few dollars and boost in signal strength.

If the system was planned properly those antennas would not be needed. I still would like to know WHAT NUMBSKULL designed this piece of Junk system.

Have a good weekend.

DECODED,
K3SAM

http://800.k3sam.com – website
news@k3sam.com – tips / comments

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