the BLAH-G

MAYBE IF WE HIT THE DAMN THING WITH A HAMMER ?

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:31:00 +0000

HEY FRIENDS and those that do not like me because I spent a YEAR inside the Westmoreland County Pennsylvania 911 Center without them knowing it, exposing how corrupt and confused things really are… GOOD MORNING.

I just had to write a few paragraphs this morning, unfortunately I don’t have enough time to do an update article, just a NEWS FLASH.

So…

NEWSFLASH !

Hey 911, Hey Danny boy, Hey Mark and Dicky… WAKE UP And Call Mr. Staley, your RADIO SYSTEM HAS BEEN SCREWED UP ALL NIGHT ! In fact, it’s been screwed up since the very first friggin’ tower was put up, but last night was really really really BAD.

Thank God I live in Butler County now where they have a GOOD RADIO SYSTEM installed and ( honest to God ) working !!! I still have yet to hear ONE COP, or ONE EMT, or ONE FIREFIGHTER ask Butler County Dispatch to repeat themselves.

EVERYONE CAN HEAR EACH OTHER !

WHY, you ask ?

BECAUSE IT’S A RADIO SYSTEM !

Yes, Butler County Emergency Management uses radios to communicate, not a stupid computerized pooling system using towers, phone lines, towers and wasted computer parts and equipment and towers. Butler is Radio to radio communications, not digital radio to tower to computer equipment to phone lines to more computers to digital to analog converters to amplifiers to speakers like Westmoreland. Grrrrrrr !

Did I mention TOWERS ?

I have never been able to prove that anyone from Westmoreland County TOOK A BRIBE from Motorola or Staley Communications to install that junk they call a radio cy-stem, but if I can I will shout it from the PEAK of the COURTHOUSE ROOF in Greensburg while calling the District Attorney’s office with my cell phone.

OK, time to go but I had to get that news flash out to everyone. Remember today’s NEWSFLASH, again… the Westmoreland County 911 Emergency (yes folks, Emergency) Radio System was not working last night. No one could talk to anyone All you could hear was “repeat”, “what” and “10-9”. 911 kept telling everyone that THEIR RADIOS were broke. Get real County Radio, the WHOLE DAMN SYSTEM INCLUDING THE MANAGEMENT (except Joe N.) IS BROKE.

DECODED,

K3SAM

Sam W. Jacobs CET
(Certified Electronics Engineer – Communications Specialist / Designer / Repair Lead Technician)

OPS... Not In Westmoreland You Say ?

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:20:00 +0000

Yes, the Blah-ger no longer resides in Westmoreland County ! I'm sorry but I couldn't take living in the same county as Compissioner Tom Balya anymore, it was just too much. I moved to Butler County and the air now smells better and I see a lot less Motorola vans driving back and forth to the different 911 tower sites. ( and I no longer need those Valium pills ! )

In fact BUTLER COUNTY did exactly what I was attempting to do in Westmoreland County, they installed and are using 400 Mhz radio equipment ! They have FULL COUNTY COVERAGE with less than half the tower sites. Gee, sounds like some insane technician might have been right about 400 Mhz communications ?

What does that mean ? In the month or two that I've lived here I don't believe that I've heard one police officer or fireman ( or EMT for that matter ) ask to have a transmission repeated.

NO MORE 10-9's or " PLEASE REPEAT ". Everyone hears everyone else.

It is a DAMN GOOD EMERGENCY RADIO SYSTEM and best of all, IT WORKS !!! If fact I heard one police car report that he just arrived in Pittsburgh. Nice coverage.

I can still listen to the Westmoreland County system up here thanks to GMAN's 24 hour rebroadcasting of the WC 911 system on the internet... but I do that rarely.

The Westmoreland County 911 radio signals are too weak to reach Butler County directly on my Bearcat or Radio Shack scanners, even with an outdoor antenna mounted 15 feet above the peak of my roof, that's why I use the broadband internet feed.

Westmoreland County got cheated in every way, poor equipment, very inept County Commissioners, and because of using 800 Mhz they have a poor signal. That means if a COP car is in pursuit of a vehicle heading into Butler County, they will lose all radio communications at the county line.

But then again, isn't that what I've been saying all along ?

IF YOU ARE A FIRST TIME READER OF THE BLAH-G and you live in Butler County, stop by and say hello on my website and drop me an email at webmaster@k3sam.com. I am going to design a website for the BUTLER CO. PUBLIC SAFETY very shortly, much like the one I already have for Westmoreland County's 911 system and since I do not know shit about the inter-workings of Butler Co.'s 911 I could use some help. ( visit Westmoreland Co.'s site @ http://800.k3sam.com )

While living in Westmoreland County (most of my life) I got to know many of the 911 dispatchers and department chiefs. That was a BIG advantage in writing the Blah-g. The information that I delivered to the readers was timely and actuate. Hell, I use to know exactly which towers were down and which ones were targeted for service. I hope someday I will know the inter workings of Butler County as well is I do Westmoreland.

In the meantime if I hear of any breaking news for EITHER county I will surely post it here, or at least I'll try... if I can... perhaps a bit late but better late then never... or at least I'll tell my German Shepard about it. ( He listens a lot better than the Westmoreland County Compissioners ever did ! ).

Happy Fourth Of July, Please Don't Drive and Drunk !!

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs
FCC Licensed Commercial Communications Engineer

WARNING - Please HELP Westmoreland County !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 14 May 2007 18:31:00 +0000

IN 2007, DO NOT VOTE FOR TOM BALYA FOR WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMISSIONER !

(Of course he is smiling !)

For too long BALYA has "acted" the role of a County Commissioner when in fact all he has done is WASTE our tax money and make Motorola RICH at our expense.

Because of Balya, we now have a radio system that puts each and every one of our first responders in HARMS WAY each and every day. For more information please read all of my back issues of "the Blah-g".

VOTE BALYA OUT !
He offers NOTHING. No Leadership, No Accountability and only BAD RESULTS.

Please note, I am NOT backing anyone in this race for Westmoreland County Commissioner... I am just WARNING YOU of more wasteful spending and NO Improvements with our 911 system.

USE YOUR HEAD - VOTE RESPONSIBLY !

Decoded,

K3SAM
"the Blah-ger"

These are the PROFESSIONAL views of
Sam W. Jacobs - Radio Communications Engineer
and Backed by years of insider information and absolute proof.

SYSTEM IS DOWN

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:44:00 +0000

23 Feb 2007

911 is not receiving District 5 PD on any channels. All dispatches are being made by

CELL PHONE !

What a Wonderful Friggin' Billion Dollar Radio Cyst-em (System) our Compissioners have given us, you can call Tom Balya at the court house and thank him personally.

Decoded,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs CET

NEW FILE

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:10:00 +0000

Greetings !

Nothing has changed, unfortunately.

The ( 911 ) Westmoreland County Department of Emergency Management's 800 Mhz radio Cyst-em is still full of bugs, glitches and digital mumble and nobody cares... so why should I ?

Check out the new audio file I just posted, it's a winner ! < click here >
Plus a lot more BS at the bottom of the Audio Clips URL page... enjoy.

Regards,

K3SAM
The Blah-ger

http://800.k3sam.com

VOTE vote VOTE

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 04:49:00 +0000

Blah-ger Pre-Election Alert:

A normal Blah-g is in the making however I would like to leave you with something for Tuesday, Election Day in Pennsylvania.

Just as it would be a sin to put Tom Balya back into a County Commissioner position of unchecked power (or any position of power at all !), it would also be a sin to re-elect John Murtha.

I will not list everyone who I think should or shouldn’t be in office, but that weasel is worth singling out.

Until the next Blah-g, one which I think will open everybody’s eyes… get out and vote Tuesday.

DECODED,

K3SAM

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

MATASON'S MARTYRS

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 11:10:00 +0000

OPERATION
TURBAN
BLUNDER

Yeah Right !

This Blah-ger has witnessed a Million Dollar Blunder by Home Land Security and the Westmoreland County (PA) Department of Emergency Management. What a joke and farce ( READ: A Ridiculous Phony Situation ) that (is) was on County Wide Tac 12 of our Emergency Radio Cyst-Em during the weekend of October 20-22, 2006.

After I get my thoughts together along with some audio I will make a more in-depth posting on this Blah-g, for now though I can't stop laughing. This "event" was as thrilling as listening to the Pennsylvania Live Stock report on radio.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, for he didn’t do that well as the Thunder King !

Decoded,
K3SAM

Sam W. Jacobs, CET
Certified Electronics Engineer and Consultant

http://800.k3sam.com – web
news@k3sam.com – send your tips and comments to this Blah-ger
AUDIO CLIPS – click to listen

OPERATION URBAN BLUNDER, Countywide Fart ?

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:44:00 +0000

Let’s get right to the point, this Blah-g was started to get Westmoreland County PA a better radio system than the 800 Mhz Crap the County Commissioners and 911 Directors were able to regurgitate. If this is the best they can do, a crappy Motorola system that no one can understand with transmissions being missed left and right and the other ones being severely garbled, we are really in deep shit.

I haven’t written about this Emergency Radio System for more than a few weeks because there isn’t anything new to tell, just the same old crap with system failures everywhere... until the other day when Talk Group 394 was activated !

TG 394 is for the Westmoreland County Transit Authority, another NON-EMERGENCY carrier now hogging up space on an all ready over crowded trunked EMERGENCY radio system.

Lets now count the WASTE that is cluttering the FIVE available frequencies being used with our EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RADIO CYST-EM:

County Courthouse Maintenance: non-emergency, could be handled with the old VHF radio system or a large pair of lungs.

County Parks Maintenance: non-emergency, could be handled with the old VHF system or bull horns.

County Road Maintenance: non-emergency, could be handled with the old VHF system or cell phones.

County Public Safety: non-emergency most of the time. Matason, Brammell, Tantlinger and Stevens Love their PIZZA, but Tantlinger, Inc. found out it’s not a tax write-off. For Pete Sake, they all carry Blackberry Boy Toys so they don’t need to hog up the 800 Mhz Radio Frequencies with their PIZZA orders ! Use the damn Blackberries !!

Weights and Measurements: non-emergency all of the time. They don’t need radios, they need another job.

Mutual Aid Ambulance Service: Even though this PRIVATE COMPANY does a fantastic service saving lives, they also run a SHUTTLE SERVICE for patients. That Shuttle Service is all non-emergency and should be confined to their 155.715 Mhz privately FCC issued frequency they are licensed to use. Damn Man, use the 800 Mhz system for emergencies… transfer Mrs. Rash via your own VHF frequency !

And now…

Westmoreland County Transhit Authority: non-emergency. Use morse code on the air horns ! How did they manage to communicate before this 800 Mhz system ? After all, the county has had buses running for years ! You should hear these guys on the emergency radio system, using it exactly like CB’s Good Buddy, Pedal to the Metal, and Catch Ya On The Flip Flop.

If you (Moe, Larry and Curly in the Court House) have to have the above services running on an 800 Mhz system, BUY ANOTHER ONE FOR THEM, but keep them off the emergency trafficking network set-up for the Police, Medics and Firemen.

They need this radio system, as bad as it is, to handle vehicle chases, license checks, heart attack victims, vehicle accidents, house fires, etc…

Our county is just throwing away money by the fist full, paying for stuff we don’t need and creating 911 positions that are not really needed, Right Chris ?

At least if we are going to put someone in a position of authority, make sure they are qualified !! Chris Tantlinger does not have the qualifications to be in the position given to him. He is only there because his WIFE is the SECRETARY to our wonderful COMMPISSIONER PHIL LIGHT. And they both live in the Ligonier Area.Talk about GIVING A JOB TO A FRIEND !!!

Next…

OPERATION GARBLED MICROPHONE was held this weekend in Ligonier with the Million Dollar Command Center in operation. Just about everyone was there looking important and a good bit of the actual important communications were held over NON 800 Mhz radios. Da ! Many a times I hear the command center say “Go to your VHF frequency and call … “.

All in all only 2 scratches were put on the command center and one cup of coffee was spilled. Not bad. Next time maybe they will take enough radios. Fort Ligonier Days was not handled any better than in the past. In the past they didn’t have any problems.

The point is, dragging out that BIG BUS was NOT NEEDED.

Looks pretty but what a Waste !

And then next…

Next weekend should be really fun !! I understand the BEACH BOYS might even be performing as Rock ‘N Roll Fatalities. Please Read The Following, and for what it’s worth, the name URBAN THUNDER was thought up by Richard Matason as he was entering 911’s Bathroom…
- - -

Planning Underway for “Urban Thunder” Exercise

The initial planning conference for Exercise Urban Thunder was held on March 15 in Founders Hall on the main campus of the Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

The county’s Department of Public Safety briefed more than 80 persons, representing dozens of departments and agencies on the exercise goals and objectives, required training, and exercise budgetary issues. Urban Thunder is the most ambitious and complex exercise in a series of full-scale field exercises conducted by the Department of Public Safety since 2001 that includes Mallstrike 2001, Crimson Lion 2004, Kopper River 2004 and Twisted Rail 2005.

Urban Thunder will comprehensively exercise and evaluate the participating agencies’ and jurisdictions’ capability to manage and/or respond to an all-hazard disaster emergency that may include act of weapons of mass destruction terrorism. Urban Thunder is a multi-jurisdictional, multi-hazard exercise conducted in a no-inspection, no-fault, learning environment and will include participants from throughout the functional spectrum (incident command, fire, bomb squad, law enforcement, HazMat, EMS, dispatch, hospitals, coroner, public affairs, elected officials, emergency operations centers).

Departments, agencies and organizations that have submitted their exercise registrations and paperwork as the end of March include Murrysville Police Department, Lloydsville VFD, Washington Township Emergency Management, Smithton Borough Emergency Management, Torrance State Hospital, City of Johnstown IEOC, North Huntingdon Township Emergency Management, North Huntingdon Township Police Department, the Regional Joint Readiness Center/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Allegheny Energy, Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Western Area, Hazardous Materials Team 800, the Westmoreland County Commissioners and numerous county departments and agencies. Exercise planners expect dozens of additional departments, agencies and organizations to be submitting their exercise registration and paperwork in the upcoming weeks.

The exercise will cover a 24-hour period, beginning at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, October 20, 2006, and ending at 12:00 noon on October 21. Exercise participants will select the type of exercise they wish to play (BLAH-Ger Note: Wish we could do that in real life, eh ?), the scenario they wish to use, the time period during which they want to play, and the capabilities/tasks/outcomes on which they wish to be evaluated. Exercise types include both basic and advanced tabletop exercise and operations-based drills, functional exercises and full-scale exercises. Exercise scenarios include a terrorist/WMD event; a HazMat event; emergency operations center operations; LEA task force operations; a bomb squad event; an urban search and rescue event; emergency relocation of government services; a severe weather event (tornado, flood, etc); a mass casualty incident; or a combination of any or all.

The County emergency operations center will operate continuously throughout the 24-hour exercise period. All participating agencies will pick a time period during which they intend to play. It may be as short as an hour, as long as 24 hours, or any time period in between. The capabilities that will be exercised and evaluated during Urban Thunder include the following:

• Onsite Incident Management
• Emergency Operations Center Management
• Public Safety and Security Response
• Firefighting Operations/Support
• Citizen Protection: Evacuation and/or In-Place Protection
• Law Enforcement Investigations and Operations
• Emergency Public Information and Warning
• Triage and Pre-hospital Treatment
• Mass Care (Sheltering, Feeding, Related Services)
• WMD/Hazardous Materials
• Response and Decontamination
• Restoration of Lifelines
• Continuity of Government

Training classes for the exercise will be conducted during the May to September timeframe. An exercise working group has been formed to do the planning and organizational tasks necessary to make the exercise a success.

This group will meet monthly at the county’s emergency operations center. Any department, agency or organization wishing to participate in the Urban Thunder program may request these forms by contacting Rich Matason at 724-600-7301 or by email at rmatason@co.westmoreland.pa.us. Exercise Urban Thunder is sponsored by the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety and the Region 13 Counter-Terrorism Task Force.

--------

New Emergency Management Committee Plans for Catastrophes

The hospitals of the Excela Health System in Westmoreland County – Westmoreland Regional, Latrobe and Frick – have joined with the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety and numerous emergency response organizations to form an emergency planning working group that will concentrate on hospital and emergency management response to a variety of potential scenarios.

Members of the Emergency Management Planning Committee include the Department of Public Safety, Excela Health System, the Westmoreland County MH/MR Program, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army Western PA Emergency Disaster Services, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Department of Health-SWDistrict, the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department, the Greensburg Police Department, the Greensburg Emergency Management Agency, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, the Ligonier Valley Ambulance Service, Excela Health Mutual Aid EMS, and the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit.

The committee is currently working on developing a series of contingency plans for a variety of “large scale” to “catastrophic” events that would result in mass casualties. Contingency plans will be “tabletop” exercised as they are developed and, when validated, will become the operational plans for specific types of incidents/events. Among the scenarios to be developed in the near future will be a contingency plan for a pandemic flu outbreak in the county.
---------
Drill to prepare crews for the worst
By Rich Cholodofsky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, October 16, 2006

Weapons of mass destruction will be discovered at the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Saturday during the largest disaster drill ever conducted in Westmoreland County, officials said.

Called "Urban Thunder," the two-day event will involve about 50 agencies and more than 700 participants to assess the county's ability to handle a major disaster.

"The goal is to get as many activities as possible at the same time to see how we respond to it," said Rich Matason, Westmoreland County's public safety director.

The drill is scheduled to begin at noon Friday, when law enforcement personnel are called out to handle a situation at Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood.

While officials haven't disclosed the exact script for the drill, Matason said much of Friday's activities will involve emergency workers and public safety officials searching for the location of what is believed to be weapons of mass destruction somewhere in the county.

The courthouse will be open to the public as usual on Friday.
On Saturday, the scene shifts to Greensburg and the courthouse, where those weapons eventually will be discovered, Matason said.

Meanwhile, county emergency workers will have to deal with severe weather scenarios in the Ligonier and West Newton areas, and a law enforcement situation in Murrysville. Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township will hold its own drill and act as a shelter for the disaster.
Rescue workers, police, hospital workers and hazardous material crews throughout the county will be dispatched during the drill. Volunteers will be used as victims.

Matason said all aspects of a disaster will be acted out, included media coverage. Students from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and Seton Hill University will pose as reporters covering the disaster, he said.
"It's a very ambitious exercise," Matason said.

--------------
(Blah-ger note: This document will not post properly on the Blah-g. If you would like a copy of the actual form used by 911, download it by clicking HERE.)

Exercise “Urban Thunder”
Public Safety Agency Participation Form

RETURN THIS FORM BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Name of Agency:______________________________________________________

Primary Contact for Exercise:________________________________________ Title:_____________________

Phone # ( ) ______________
Cell Phone # ( ) ______________
E-Mail _______________________________

Level of Participation Desired (indicate the levels in which you expect your Organization to participate)

_____ Pre-Exercise Training Sessions
_____ Specialty Equipment Drill
_____ Tabletop Exercise
_____ Full-scale Local Field Exercise
_____ Functional EOC Exercise

The chart below contains scenarios and a 24-Hour schedule for the Functional and Full-Scale Exercises to be conducted in “Urban Thunder”.

 To facilitate Exercise planning, please choose a maximum of three (3) scenarios in which your Agency may be interested in participating.

 Choose a timeframe ( 2 hour, 4 hour, 6 hour etc.) between 1200 Hours Friday, October 20, 2006 and 0800 Hours Saturday, October 21, 2006 for participation (1200-1600; 1600-2000; etc). There is also a potential scenario that will occur between 0800-1200 Friday, Oct. 20. Please list at least two (2) preferences.

 If your Agency wishes to be involved with another Agency or Agencies for the purposes of Exercising Mutual Aid Responses in accordance with local Emergency Response Plans, please indicate which Agency or Agencies, and in which jurisdiction you would like to conduct the local Field Exercise.

 For each scenario, the participating agency or agencies MUST assign a minimum of two (2) individuals who will serve as Exercise Staff Members (Evaluator, Controller, Liaison Officer). These individuals are required to participate in all training and planning sessions that may be required of their particular Exercise function. If an individual is not able to participate in all of these sessions, please do not assign them to those roles.

Scenario Scenario Choice
In Order of Preference (Maximum of 3)

Preferred Timeframe in Order of Preference
(Please choose 2)

Other Agency or Agencies You Wish to Directly Participate With If Multiple Agency Exercise, Name Hosting Municipality Local EOC Activation Only

Pre-Exercise Law Enforcement Tactical
(0800-1200 Friday, Oct. 20)
Field Hospital Activation (Tentative)
Bomb Squad / Explosive Device
Mass Casualty Incident
Scenario Scenario Choice
In Order of Preference (Maximum of 3)

Preferred Timeframe in Order of Preference
(Please choose 2)

Other Agency or Agencies You Wish to Directly Participate With If Multiple Agency Exercise, Name Hosting Municipality
HazMat
Law Enforcement Tactical
Radiation Response
Fire Suppression
Urban Search & Rescue (Tentative)
Continuity of Government (COG)

If there is a scenario in which your Agency would like to receiving training but is not listed above, please indicate that scenario, preferred timeframe and preferred location. The “Urban Thunder” Planning Staff will make every effort to accommodate your request if it can be added to the Master Scenario Events List.

OTHER

Thank you for your interest in “Urban Thunder”! The Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety looks forward to your involvement.

----------

OPERATION URBAN BLUNDER

This should be some JOKE, just like the others. For those involved please don’t mis-understand this Blah-ger. Your work for OUR COUNTY is greatly appreciated and in NO WAY is this Blah-ger putting YOU down.

The JOKE is with the EQUIPMENT you are given to work with, ie... the RADIO CYST-EM.

I sure hope the county invested another Billion Dollars in backup batteries for all those portable radios. If you want to see how we would really come out in an actual emergency, half of the people involved should take radios that are in need of charging, as they normally would be.

What the hell good is an exercise if everyone is given advanced notice. Think about it. When was the last time you had a month warning that you were going to be in an accident, plus given the details of your accident including where it was going to happen. Really swift Mr. M.

If the users of this crap would like a better radio system in the 400 Mhz range for example like you keep telling me in your emails, YOU have to speak up. Let your voice be heard !! Call the Westmoreland County Commpissioners, YELL AND SCREAM at them as they are hard of hearing...

I had better go before Moe, Larry and Curly try and revive Shemp.

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs, CET
Licensed Communications Consultant / Communications Specialist

http://800.k3sam.com – website
news@k3sam.com – tips / comments
www.k3sam.com/800/AudioClips.html - new clips added

Testing... Hello... Testing 1,2,4

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:31:00 +0000

TESTING, TESTING !
Fire Dispatching... Testing !

Aren't we past that phase ?

The Westmoreland County 911 Emergency Radio Cyst-Em was put on line way to soon and they shouldn't need to do any testing !

911 is requested "signal" reports from services from all over the county and they are receiving POOR reports back.

HOW MANY TOWERS SITES ARE OUT TODAY ?

WHY CAN'T THE POLICE / EMS / FIRE COMPANIES HEAR YOU ?

TESTING...

Tom Balya's pet project has turned on him and the dispatchers, biting them in the ass.

Come on Mr. Matason, Please Mr. Brammell... pick up the BAT PHONE and call Staley Communications or The Dollar Store.

Tell them they need more string to go between the tin cans we are suppose to call Radios !!

I guess I'm going to have to come back out of my cave and start bitchin' again. I was really hoping for a miracle, replacing the Three Stooges at the courthouse, a new 911 director and assn't director and new equipment but I see nothing has changed except we now have Phil Light's secretary's husband ( Mr. T ) working at the 911 center.

WOW ! Too bad I don't have a wife who is a secretary for someone in the White House, I might be in charge of NORAD or something.

Time for the Blah-ger to make some phone calls in hopes of finishing the JOB of getting some GOOD COMMUNICATIONS for the county. Time for another visit from the Department of Homeland Security and Senator Regola !

This Fisher Priced crap is getting old real quick.

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs
FCC 1st Class Radio Engineer

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

NEW AUDIO CLIPS ADDED TO MY WEBSITE ! - click there

PI ei ei O... ei Oh

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 06:50:00 +0000

Ok, I have been a busy beaver so I’m going to make this Blah-g pretty much cut and dry.

I’ve been busy with putting audio clips together for your listening pleasure, I know 911 is depending on these… at least most of the dispatchers download them. You would think that they could pull these clips right off their own digital recorders but at this point only two people have access to them.

At least with the new digital recording equipment and phone system being installed the 911 Center should have a quicker access time to all the info that is needed both DURING an emergency call and later for reference.

I managed to get 3 new clips posted in the last few days so go ahead and listen, download and / or save them, they are free to all.

http://www.k3sam.com/800/AudioClips.html - click on the link and see what you think !

Next thing…

Too many irons in the fire for Dan Stevens ! I guess you could say that he has had a promotion within ranks now becoming the “Voice of 911” as their Public Information Officer (PIO). Perhaps that’s why we have been seeing more and more of his mug on TV. I’m surprised my TV Set still works.

Back to the point. Not only does he have that title but he has been dragging around the title of “Addressing Coordinator” for years and he is in HEAP BIG TROUBLE as of late.

The fact is (notice I said FACT) that Dan Stevens is suppose to be working with all of Westmoreland County Fire Chiefs and the Supervisors, Mayors, Police Chiefs and the like to make sure we have correct information in the 911 CAD Addressing System (CAD – Computer Aided Dispatching). If that information isn’t right then the fire, police and EMS first responders don’t know where the hell to go. Kinda like it is now.

Well, the information in the mapping program that Dan Stevens is in charge of is all F*)K’ed up !! He is getting tons of calls from these Chiefs and Supervisors and he is REFUSING TO TAKE THEIR CALLS.

His voice mail box is full of unanswered calls and the other employees are sick and tired of covering for him. When the TCO’s (Dispatchers), 911 Management and Secretaries take down messages for DAN he is REFUSING TO CALL THEM BACK.

HELL DAN, FORGET ABOUT MAKING A RADIO SYSTEM WORK, YOU CAN’T EVEN MAKE A PHONE SYSTEM WORK !

Call these people back so they stop calling and emailing me (not that I mind hearing from our fine first responders, but I would rather hear about other stuff… Lately it’s all been about DAN !).

Dan has one helper in his department, and she does a DAMN GOOD JOB however she can only take down the information, make sure it’s correct, then double check it for accuracy. SHE CANNOT MAKE THE COMPUTER CHANGES, ONLY DANNY CANNY !

This doesn’t seem right to me as she is DOING DAN’S JOB for him… might as well let Debby finish the job Dan can’t find time to do. ( You Go Girl ! )

Then, some more …

Again I find myself between a rock and a hard place. I have in my internal hard drive (brain) some information about someone inside 911. This is information that should be made public however I cannot say anything because that would “burn” my source. So hopefully look for some interesting news soon, perhaps someone else will expose this.

Lastly I just want to thank everyone again for the phone calls and emails. If it wasn’t for your tips I wouldn’t have anything to write about and the residents of Westmoreland County Pennsylvania would not be informed.

Keep in mind that just because I’m not writing about T1 phone lines and tower sites going down doesn’t mean they aren’t. This has to be THE MOST UNRELIABLE RADIO CRAP I’ve ever seen and nothing is going to change, so why write about it all the time.

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs - FCC License Radio Engineer

Thought for the day:
It is nice to be copied. It is a wonderful form of flattery. However copies are copies... always rely on the original.

http://800.k3sam.com – official website for 911 info
news@k3sam.com – send in those juicy tips, just make sure they are true and correct as I double check them all !
www.k3sam.com/800/AudioClips.html - Link to the Audio Clips

A Buoy named SUE !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 20:13:00 +0000

It is only a matter of time... MARK, my words (not yours).
----------------------------------------------------------
Firefighters' families file suit

The lawsuits allege that Motorola's faulty radios led to two deaths in a basement marijuana farm.
By Julie Shaw
Inquirer Staff Writer

The families of two firefighters who died after being trapped in a smoky fire in a Port Richmond basement where a man had been growing marijuana have sued Motorola Inc., claiming the company's faulty radio equipment led to the deaths.

Two civil lawsuits, filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, each seek more than $50,000 jointly or separately from Motorola, another communications company and Daniel Brough - the man who had set up the pot farm. The suits also seek a jury trial.

Philadelphia Fire Department Capt. John Taylor, 53, of Northeast Philadelphia, and firefighter Rey Rubio, 42, of North Philadelphia, both died of asphyxiation in Brough's basement on the 3600 block of Belgrade Street while responding to an Aug. 20, 2004, fire.

The lawsuits, filed on behalf of Charlene Taylor, Taylor's wife, and Amelia Hyden, Rubio's daughter, contend that "the malfunctioning Motorola radio system prevented Capt. Taylor from communicating with other firefighters while he was in the basement" to let them know that he and Rubio needed assistance.

Taylor's repeated attempts to use his radio to signal for help were not heard by firefighters outside, the lawsuits say. Meanwhile, in the burning basement, Rubio, then Taylor, collapsed on the floor after each of their air supply packs ran out.

"Both men suffered agonizing and horrible deaths from asphyxiation, before they could be rescued," the lawsuits say.

Taylor's radio was part of the city's new $62 million emergency communications system, purchased from Motorola, for use by the police and fire departments.

Installed in 2002, the digital radios became the source of numerous complaints, many from firefighters whose calls were blocked by busy signals.

A Philadelphia Fire Department spokesman yesterday said he would not comment on the lawsuits because of the pending litigation.

Spokesmen for Illinois-based Motorola and Wireless Communications and Electronics Inc. of Philadelphia, a codefendant in the lawsuits, also said yesterday they had no comment because of the pending litigation.

At Brough's criminal trial last year, the prosecution contended that the fire was caused by the intense heat from the 1,000-watt lamps Brough used to grow marijuana plants in a small plywood basement closet.

Brough, 37, was convicted of two counts of involuntary manslaughter and other offenses and sentenced in December to 15 months to four years in prison. He is currently serving his time at the State Regional Correctional Facility in Mercer.
---------------------------------
MY QUESTION IS,
HOW SOON UNTIL WE SUE ?
CLASS ACTION ??

Decoded,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs
Government Licensed 1st Class Communications Engineer

[BLAH-GER NOTE] Please see the earlier POST on this BLAH-G which included a letter to the Blah-ger by Rillton Fire Station 14 Fire Police Officer Joe Minkel concerning these same issues. I have been warning you for over a year now that it is just a matter of time unfortunately until we (GOD FORBID) lose one of our own ! My sourses say that we have already lost 8 EMS Patients due to poor radio communications and mapping problems ! [end NOTE]

http://800.k3sam.com - website
news@k3sam.com - dispatcher's comments / firemen, chief's comments welcome / policemen, chief's information wanted / EMS and IRP EMT, Director's Comments appreciated / 911 Supervisor's INSIDE INFO needed / Staley Technician comments welcome also !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:59:00 +0000

I am taking a break from castrating Matason, Brammell, The Three Stooges (Tom Balya and his two cronies Tom Two and Phil Light), Stevens and now adding a Light on, Tantlinger Lite.

A large number of people read my Blah-gs so I thought I’d throw up (geeesh) a personal note and see if it gets to the proper person. It is only going to mean something to ONE person because the rest of you weren’t there. Besides, if the following doesn't make sense to you then you can tell your friends. Perhaps someone else will understand it !
- - - - - - - - * - - - - - - - -

To the person that had to help drive the last few miles to the Poconos
The same person that was baptized into Christ in Greensburg
You were the magnet, I was the steel
The ’56 Chevy
The laundry chute and
Yes, same person who might remember some wild sex on New Years Eve back in the‘70’s

Is this meant for you ?

So it is written:

If you LOVE someone
You MUST let them go free
If they come BACK to you
Then they are yours FOREVER
If they don’t
They NEVER were…

Were you ?

CLICK HERE IF THIS WAS MEANT FOR YOU… SEND ME AN EMAIL
Otherwise… tell your friends. Will that mystery person see this ?
- - - - - - - - - - - -
I’m not starting a dating service here, however if you would like something like this posted here for yourself, perhaps directed towards a long lost love… just let me know.
NORMAL BLAH-GS TO RESUME SHORTLY...

Mo Money... 10-4 !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:09:00 +0000

Good Afternoon. I believe the following will interest all of the Blah-g's readers... so I will get right tuit !
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Overtime -- and then some

By Rich Cholodofsky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Michael Kalp, a 911 dispatcher with a salary of about $33,000 a year, is among the highest paid Westmoreland County employees.

That's because Kalp nearly tripled his salary last year by working overtime, earning almost $90,000 in base pay and overtime, according to a Tribune-Review analysis of county payroll records.

And Kalp is not alone. Dispatchers in the 911 center, nurses at Westmoreland Manor and guards at the county jail over the last three years have collected more than $6.1 million in overtime since 1994.

Last year, Kalp earned more than his boss, Public Safety Director Rich Matason. With his overtime, he collected more than each of the three county commissioners, who earn about $60,000 a year.

Only three county workers -- District Attorney John Peck, Chief Detective Michael Brajdich and Computer Information Systems Director Phil Svesnik -- earned more than Kalp in 2005.

Timothy O'Donnell has worked as a dispatcher for the last six years. The 54-year-old husband and father of three from Hempfield Township said he relies on overtime to pay his bills.

O'Donnell nearly doubled his $28,000 salary and last year pulled down more than $23,000 in overtime. He estimated he worked more than 1,200 extra hours last year.

"You do it to make a living. You can't survive on what the county pays you for a straight shift. I'm married, my wife doesn't work and I have three kids. I couldn't pay the mortgage without overtime," O'Donnell said.

In all, the county's overtime budget has steadily grown each of the last three years and is expected to top $3 million by the end of this year.

Since 2004, county taxpayers have spent more than $7.6 million in overtime payments to workers, a figure that reflects 2 mills of property taxes for each average homeowner. That translates to about $40 per county taxpayer.

It's a necessary and unavoidable expense, county officials say.

"Unfortunately, we have a lot of 24-hour-a-day operations around here," said Commissioner Tom Balya. "We can't leave posts unmanned, especially at 911, the prison and the nursing home. It just doesn't work that way."

Those three departments account for 81 percent of the county's overtime.
Department heads insist that overtime has become the only available method to ensure the vital functions of the county government are fully manned at all times.

Matason said he requires a full complement of 52 dispatchers to man 10-person shifts around the clock. For the last year, he has averaged just 46 dispatchers on the payroll.

"We have to maintain a certain level of staffing. It's just a matter of feeding the requirement," Matason said.

Training classes were conducted earlier this year, and more dispatchers are expected to be on the job by the end of 2006, he said.

Nursing shortages have plagued the Manor for the last several years. So much so that administrators have waived residency requirements for nurses to help new recruits.

Last month, the county officials authorized the Manor to contract with an outside agency to provide temporary nurses to ease the overtime burden on existing staff.

The Manor topped the list over the last two-and-a-half years in overtime expenses, at more than $3.3 million.

Overtime also has been increasing at the prison, where Warden John Walton attributed the growing employee costs to sick leave and holidays, leaving gaps in staffing levels that require some guards to work overtime.

"Certain individuals here will work it every time you call them. For a lot of guys with kids in college, it's a good thing. They need the money," Walton said. "It's not feasible to cut overtime."

County officials also appear in no hurry to curtail overtime costs, saying it is just the cost of running around-the-clock services.

"I'm never comfortable with overtime, but a reasonable expectation is that our managers are looking at personnel costs. I'm sure we have not been ignoring it," said Commissioner Phil Light.

Light said that in many cases it is cheaper for the county to just pay overtime than put on additional staff, for which health benefits and payments into the pension plan would increase the county's costs.

And for employees such as O'Donnell, overtime is a necessary tradeoff to avoid financial hardship and making ends meet.

"My family and home life suffers because I work most of my scheduled days off, and I work many 15-hour shifts. It doesn't allow you to have an outside social life," O'Donnell said.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
I only have twenty seven comments concerning the above article but I will limit it to just one.

"WOW"

In other news...

A while back I wrote that Bill Reese was going to be hired by the county to replace Bob Ceroni, 911's Deputy Director. Bill is more than qualified to hold any position at OUR 911 Center including Matason's Director Position however the Blah-ger has learned that when it came time to replace the retiring Ceroni, 911 bypassed Bill's very qualifing resume to hire Compissioner Phil Light's secretary's husband !

HOLY MONKEY PITS, talk about keeping it in the family !

Chris Tantlinger, who lives in the same area as Phil Light and who has no experience in running a 911 center, nor has any experience with HAZMAT was basically handed this job that Bill Reese should have gotten. It's that enough to make you throw up your lunch ?

( Prior to writing this article I spoke to two fire chiefs and a reporter concerning Tantlinger's qualifications. I placed a call into the 911 center for comments however it was not returned... lol, did you think it would be ? )

Like I said a long time ago, it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know !

That is scary... because if Terry Marolt were alive today, I would probably be the 911 Director ! Geeeesh !!

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs CET
Certified Electronic Technician and Chief Blah-ger

http://800.k3sam.com - website
news@k3sam.com - comments and other junk
911 Audio Clips are at www.k3sam.com/800/AudioClips.html

Congratulations !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 21:33:00 +0000

CONGRATULATIONS to the County Parks Police and Maintenance and Mutual Aid Ambulance Service for HOGGING UP the entire 800 Mhz Emegency Radio Cyst-Em with useless and / or non-emergency information.

I'm sorry but parking cars, cleaning up dog crap and picking up scheduled patients at Dr. Fungus's office are NOT WORTHY of being broadcast on this radio Cyst-Em.

Fire, EMS and Police Departments are trying to use the EMERGENCY RADIO SYSTEM and they cannot when you have it tied up.

I guess we should just be glad there isn't an emergency on the scales in the county being off by an ounce or we would have the entire Weights and Measurement team out there !! Oops, I think Danny just gained a pound !

DECODED,
K3SAM

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

A NEWS STORY and NEW AUDIO CLIPS !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:16:00 +0000

QUESTION ? (and my faithful readers will know the answer)

WHO AT 911 IS IN CHARGE OF ADDRESSING ?
In other words, when you call 911, a map is displayed to the call taker and dispatchers at 911 of your home or business location so the proper first responders can be dispatched. SOMEONE has to put all that information together. That job is called "Addressing". It is also a high paying job !

When you do not have a valid address, like RR5, then 911 has to assign you a new address like "911 Sohelpme Drive". That is called "Readdressing" and the job is handled by the same person.

So again, WHO AT 911 IS IN CHARGE OF ADDRESSING ?

Of course, the Blah-gers FAVORITE CLOWN,
DAN STEVENS...

Now, Read on.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Agency: 911 readdressing led to errant tax bills

By David Hunt
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Address changes to help dispatch emergency crews were the reason for a mix-up that led a tax-collection agency to seek thousands of dollars from Salem Township residents, the agency said.

Keystone Municipal Collections, of Irwin, sent notice to nearly 1,800 Salem residents last week that they owed Greensburg city wage taxes from 2003. The confusion caused a flurry of phone calls during tax collector Becky Maruca's normally slow season.

"It's been a nightmare," Maruca said. "We've had quite a few people calling. ... People were saying, 'Where am I going to get the money? I already paid this.' Some people were really irate. I would be upset."

Greensburg wage taxes are levied on city residents. Salem residents pay wage taxes to the township. Keystone issued a statement on Tuesday saying that some Salem names crept into the Greensburg database because of the county's 911 readdressing project.

County officials have been working since 1998 to change unnamed streets, rural-delivery routes and duplicated road names in an effort to correctly dispatch police, paramedics and firefighters to emergencies. Because Salem Township has a Greensburg mailing address, the new addresses were considered city addresses when they were placed in the tax collector database.

"A computer is only as good as the people using it," said township Supervisor Ron Martz, who was angry after receiving a faulty delinquent tax notice for $1,200. "It's not just the 911. This happened once before. Someone put the wrong information in the computer."

Martz said a similar problem occurred several years ago when Salem's rural delivery routes were given street names.

Keystone officials say Salem residents should ignore the recent mailing for Greensburg wage taxes. Martz said he hopes there are no repercussions.

"It's an old debt. If that screws up your credit, that could be a mess," Martz said.
Keystone asks residents with questions about the mailing to call 724-552-0150.

- - - - - - - - - - -
NO REPERCUSSIONS ? ! ? If the addressing (or readdressing) is screwed up for TAXES then they are SCREWED UP for the DIRECTIONS to your home or business. Same system. Dial 911 at your own risk !

Next Topic:

Normally when I write the Blah-g, I usually get between 5 and 20 emails thanking me for such a good job of staying on top of our 911 system. I just want to personally thank you for all the nice emails received, and also all the kind words that came during the passing of my Dad.

It's funny, even at the age of 88, even my Dad knew 911's communications system was screwed up... however he didn't use quite those words.

To that end...

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs - Chief Bottle Washer and Licensed Technician

FLASH - NEW AUDIO CLIPS POSTED ! CLICK HERE
http://800.k3sam.com - website
news@k3sam.com - tips / comments / hot leads

TOWERS DOWN - MANAGEMENT SLEEPING !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 08:19:00 +0000

Although in this writing would love to sit here and explain AGAIN how our 911 system operates through the regular TELEPHONE LINES, and that any number of possible issues could knock the ENTIRE CYST-EM (read system) OFF THE AIR, I will not. If you wish to learn more, just read my back issues.

Remember, I've been writing this Blah-g for well OVER a year now with hopes of getting our first responders a better communicaitons system. To date the only thing I have been sucessful in doing is making new friends and giving myself some God awful headaches.

This Cyst-Em was thrown together so fast that the 911 system we paid for and expect to operate during EMERGENCY CONDITIONS might as well not even be there. This Cyst-Em has proven over and over again that even with a single drop of rain and the appearance that a thunderstorm is on it's way, it will begin to shut down.

IF THAT IS HOW SOME SO CALLED RADIO ENGINEERS DESIGNED IT, THEN IT WORKS FINE AND AS SPECIFIED.

In other news, Ligonier and Ligonier Township Areas were without 800 Mhz coverage last night as that tower was out of service, AGAIN. Fire Departments were forced to use the old trusty 33 Mhz frequencies. Gee, those frequencies never stop working unless 911's BEARCAVES TOWER goes down.

In more other news, Penn Township areas were without 800 Mhz coverage yesterday when their 800 Mhz remote tower site went down. Remember, there are many ways to stop a tower from transmitting so why it went down is anyones guess. Personally I think one of the Managers at Westmoreland County 911 placed a toxic boogy on the telephone line in the 911 equipment room (DNA TESTING NEEDED).

Do you, as a reader of this Blah-g, understand what the word "inter-operability" means ? Richard Matason, the 911 so called Director uses this word a lot to describe our radio system.

Well, the word means "the ability to function with other systems". That does not come from any dictionary, but from yours truly. Mr. Matason says over and over again that the purpose of putting in this piece of shit radio system was so we would have better "inter-operablity" between systems.

DID YOU KNOW that Fayette county has threatened to SUE Westmoreland County because Mr. Matason and Mark Brammell (the Ass Director) has refused to allow their emergency management first responders to use our system ? Allegheny County has also threatened legal action as they are NOT ALLOWED on Westmoreland County's radio system. Somerset County is just plain pissed. (sorry, cannot give up my sources for this information, highly top secret !)

HOW IS THAT FOR INTER-OPERABILITY ?

DID YOU KNOW that earlier this week, ALL FIRE STATIONS were advised to have someone man their stations all night BECAUSE 911's device that sets off fire sirens (encoder) FAILED. Actually it was a tower issue again, but telling you that way is much easier. One of the POLICE STATIONS that has a working encoder was setting off FIRE SIRENS when 911 couldn't (verified). Again, the police to our rescue !

I don't know HOW Richard Matason, Mark Brammell, Dan Stevens, Staley Communications, or Tom Balya can go home at night with a clear conscience (the sense of right and wrong). Pehaps they don't have one ??

Compissioner Tom Balya should NEVER have approved this Motorola Radio System, the same system that has been thrown away by countless other Emergency Communication Centers around the country. We have over 25 Million Dollars invested in this piece of crap system and I'm here to tell you that even another 25 Million Dollars will NOT make it any better !

This photo was Tom when he was younger and smarter.

Perhaps the management of the Westmoreland County Pennsylvania 911 Center Should Learn How To Speak English ?
- - - - - - - -
PRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE AMATEUR RADIO RELAY LEAGUE (ARRL)
K3SAM IS A MEMBER

* Interoperability called vital to public safety first-responder missions:

California Department of General Services Senior elecommunications Engineer Glen Nash, K6GSN, told a Radio Club of America (RCA) breakfast meeting August 9, that wireless communication among public safety first responders is a critical tool to satisfying their mission requirements. The meeting was held during a national convention of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO) in Orlando, Florida. An APCO past president, Nash chairs the Technology Committee of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC). ARRL has a relationship with both organizations. Nash explained that the need for interoperability comes into play during police chases crossing jurisdictional lines and mutual assistance among neighboring fire departments to multi-agency drug enforcement and major emergencies involving multiple -- and sometimes distant -- agencies. Nash believes interoperability is not simply a technology problem. In addition to technical barriers to wireless interoperability, he cited cultural, social and language or terminology differences. "There are many areas where we need to approach the problem, and many factors to resolve to make it happen," he concluded.

More than 100 attended the breakfast meeting, one of a series held every year by the Radio Club of America at conventions. Founded in 1909, the Radio Club of America is the world's oldest radio communications society. It promotes cooperation among those interested in the advancement and scientific study of radio communication.
- - - - - - -
Enough is enough and enough for now.

If you have any tips, comments, or a letter you would like to see published here on the Blah-g, please send everything to news@k3sam.com. I would love to include your name with the information that I use however if you wish to remain anonymous just let me know. I however have to know who your are so I can validate the information you give me, so a "fake" user name from Hotmail will not work. *

Until next time, have a safe Labor Day... and please try not to go into Labor !

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs - Licensed Communications Engineer

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

* HOW THIS WORKS: When you send a tip, I will personally call a dispatcher, police chief,fire chief or the proper authority at home to check on the information you provide. When verified, your tip will be published. Just as an example, if you send me an anonymous tip telling me that R. Matason used the county credit card to buy Steeler tickets for him and a friend, I will disregard it. If you tell me who you are, I will then investigate your claim and publish the results. You can remain anonymous to the world, but let me know who you are. Crank emails are deleted !

YOUR THOUGHTS...

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 01:39:00 +0000

Blah-ger Note: Email From Someone NOT Afraid To Stand Up And Tell The County To Get Things Repaired. Note, the letter is signed !
--------------------

Dear Blah-ger,

I am a station 14 firefighter for Westmoreland county. Station 14 is Rillton VFD. My chief was one of the first contacted tonight when 911 notified us that the North Huntingdon dispatch tower (and others, by what I’m hearing) is down and that we will not have our tones activated by 911.

I see this as a serious problem. Since that time, I have heard MANY MANY MANY other fire chiefs told to contact 911 because of towers being down (I presume). I have also heard on the hempfield fire operations channel from chief 61 that they will have to have one of their own personnel on stand-by ALL NIGHT to listen for calls and activate their pagers from their OWN station.

My Brother is a firefighter at Station 8, Circleville VFD. He informed me of what I already knew. North Huntingdon Police are dispatching the fire departments in that township for the time being. I presumed this already because I had heard, and I quote, “North Huntingdon Dispatch to station 8, did your siren and minitors activate?”

I hope this issue can be resolved promptly and accurately. If not, I feel that major incidents will have major consequences, especially for major fires and major car wrecks. Lives could be at stake, and this needs to be solved NOW!!!

-Joe Minkel
-Fire Police 14-3
-A.K.A. “Down In Flames”
--------------------------------------
Blah-ger Note: Thanks Joe for the "signed" Letter. More people need to do this to WAKE 911 Management Up !

Decoded,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs - Certified Electronics Engineer License #PA-291

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

FLASH FLASH FLASH this 911

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 01:01:00 +0000

911 is down and crippled !

OVER HALF OF WESTMORELAND CO. IS DOWN DUE TO THEIR 800 Mhz RADIO SYSTEM. Tune to Hempfield Fire, 154.355 for some nice comments !

REPEATING:

911 IS DOWN !

MULTIPLE TOWER SITES, DOWN.
T1 PHONE LINES, DOWN.
AMBULANCE SERVICES CANNOT BE DISPATCHED.
FIRE COMPANY'S SIRENS CANNOT BE ACTIVATED.

GOD HELP US !

Who the F*)K IS in charge ? THEY MUST BE SLEEPING or FISHING !

NOT ONE CALL INTO RADIO MAINTENANCE HAS BEEN MADE.

DAMN !!!!

This information is both first hand (myself recording) and second hand from DISPATCHERS !

Hempfield Fire is even talking about dispatching their own services all night. ALL STATIONS WOULD BE ADVISED TO HAVE SOMEONE STAY THERE ALL NIGHT WHILE 911 IS DOWN, AGAIN !

DOES SOMEONE ELSE HAVE TO DIE FOR 911 MANAGEMENT TO GET OFF OF THEIR ASSES AND DO SOMETHING ?

Decoded,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs - Retired Radio Maintenance Engineer
http://800.k3sam.com - website
news@k3sam.com - tips / news

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:53:00 +0000

Good Morning.

It has been a while since I posted anything to the Blah-g and there are two good reasons for that, at least in my official Blah-ger opinion.

The first reason was the passing of my Father. Those that know me know of my bond that I had with my Father and his passing has had a very pronounced effect on my life. I also lost my Mother 11 months and 17 days prior to losing my Father, so both going in one year is a lot to handle, but handle we shall.

I would like to thank all those that sent me cards, emails and especially those that came to the funeral home to pay their respects to my Father. I will say one thing, as much as I put Staley Communications down for different reasons ( this is not the time to reflect ), two employees of Staley Communications came to the funeral home and met with me during this sad time. A special thanks also to Dan Stevens from 911 for not coming.

Ok, the second reason for not posting to the Blah-g in the last few weeks… Not A Damn Thing Has Changed !

That is sad.

I was listening to a district 4 police officer in a marked car (lights/sirens/emblems on the car) yesterday who was following a DUI driver but couldn’t pull him over because he was out of his jurisdiction. Wait a minute, a cop is a cop, right ? Anyhow, according to 911 Management the whole idea behind this NEW Piece of Crap 800 Meggy Hurts radio system is INTER-OPERABILITY. This district 4 car was attempting to get in touch with a State Police car and was unable to. 911 had to do the relays from OVER THE PHONE.

PRIOR TO INSTALLING THIS FRIGGIN’ Miracle Radio Cyst-Em, that same district 4 police officer would have been able to communicate directly with the state police cars. Now they can’t. IS THAT A STEP FORWARD or do you wear your underwear inside out ?

That district 4 car followed the DUI driver for almost 10 miles as he was weaving in and out of traffic before a state police car could stop it. That was a 10 mile CHANCE of the DUI driver killing someone. With permission, the district 4 car could have stopped the DUI driver 10 miles back instead of putting Mothers and Fathers and their kids at risk. Interoperability my ass.

GREAT RADIO SYSTEM MR. MATASON, NICE JOB MARK BRAMMELL.

Also I just finished reading Mark Brammell’s updated Q & A section on the official 911 website and I couldn’t stop laughing. One of the questions was “Will 800 MHz work in this area” and his reply was something to the effect of “Yes if…”. There was a lot of if’s listed and each one takes the reliability of the system down. He also stated that it was the BEST choice for us because we already had ten (10) 800 Mhz frequencies that belonged to us. What he failed to mention was that we are only using FIVE (5) of those frequencies. Ha Ha Ha ! Just because he might own 10 junk cars is that the best choice for selecting a county vehicle ?

The last laugh will be on the county residents when someone is smart enough to file a lawsuit against the 911 Management and MoodyRolla.

If you have found this website by doing a Google for the 800 Mhz system, and you have had a loved one DIE or even have had a slow response to a fire at your home or business, ANYTHING dealing with the response time of Ambulance / Police and / or Fire Departments feel free to contact me.

Chances are the mapping system for your area is screwed up ( a Dan Stevens project ) or your location falls in one of those dreaded DEAD SPOT areas ( a Mark Brammell – Dick Matason Production ).

Besides that I have one more email that I would like to post for you to read, it’s a dilly however I have yet to receive permission from the author to do so. Should I receive the ok to post, I’ll add it to my next Blah-g. Remember, you can feel safe sending me critical and sensitive material, you are always Anonymous to others although I need to know who you are to verify events, news@k3sam.com.

Keep checking my website for new audio clips and until next time or when the 911 Management Changes... ( wishing )

DECODED,
K3SAM
The Blah-ger
Sam W. Jacobs

PS: Should you see Judi Jacobs today wish her a Happy 39th Birthday !

http://800.k3sam.com – web sight
news@k3sam.com – tips / news / comments
CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO CLIPS

SPECIAL EDITION

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:25:00 +0000

SPECIAL EDITION
Obituary Notice

Samuel L. “Sammy” Jacobs
Former Latrobe Clothing Store Co-Owner

Samuel L. “ Sammy “ Jacobs, 88, of Latrobe, the oldest active tailor in Westmoreland County, died Saturday, Aug 5, 2006 in Excela Health Latrobe Hospital.

He was born Feb. 13, 1918 in Mount Pleasant , a son of the late Jabur and Faye (Ghantous) Jacobs.

Mr. Jacobs, working out of his residence in Latrobe was still very active in clothes alterations for his repeat customers and flag restoration for the American Legion, VFW and other organizations. He was extremely proud of working with and restoring the U.S. flags for different veterans associations.

He moved to Latrobe to work for Kennametal Inc. of Latrobe, where he was responsible for inventing many carbon-based tools that are in use today by the mining industry. He later left Kennametal to join the family business.

Sammy, as called by his numerous friends, was former co-owner of the J. Jacobs’ clothing store in Latrobe with his father, Jabur, his two brothers, Ernest and John, and his sister Genevieve “Gen”, where he learned his alteration skills. They had two stores located on Ligonier Street and on store in Mount Pleasant.

After Latrobe’s downtown renovation, his store was purchased by the borough, and he consolidated his store located across from the library in downtown Latrobe. After the death of his father, Jabur, and brother John, he and his sister Gen ran the business for many years, serving the Westmoreland County residents and providing uniforms for nurses, the many school districts and clubs in the area.

He was a graduate of Ramsay High School in Mount Pleasant and was a life member of the Tony Angelo FOE Aerie 01188 in Latrobe.

Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his wife Coral Atkins Jacobs, two sons, Robert T. and David R. Jacobs, a brother, John Jacobs, and tow sisters, Ida Yesbak and Betty Donnelly.

He is survived by three sons, John A. Jacobs and wife, Elaine, Daniel J. Jacobs and Sam W. Jacobs, all of Latrobe, a brother Ernest Jacobs of Mount Pleasant; a sister, Genevieve “ Gen “ Sopcisak of Latrobe; six grandchildren, Scott A. Jacobs, Jodi L. Groba, Mathew C. Jacobs, Jennifer Alexander, Michael Jacobs and Mark Jacobs, two great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

His sons would personally like to thank his nieces Nancy Betz and her daughter Tina Girt and Phyllis Sheehy for making his last days comfortable.

Family and friends will be received 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 PM Tuesday in John J. Lopatich Funeral Home Inc., 601 Weldon Street, Latrobe.

Services and interment are private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Latrobe Volunteer Fire Department Communications Fund, 1 Main Street, Latrobe, Pa. 15650

Shame.. Shame.. Sham ... !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:54:00 +0000

Radio Towers Down
911 Testing All Day
Sirens Not Going Off

Isn't this Radio Cyst-Em Wonderfuk Commpissioner Balya... ? What's The Matter With The Other Two Commpissioners, Can't They Vote... Override... Or Order A Working Radio System ?

As I Type This, Fire Pagers Not Working and Sirens Failing (18:55 Hours 01 Aug 2006)

Oh How I Remember When Things Were Simple.

Before Big Contracts When ONLY Motorola Could Bid On A Radio System And One Would Think... Big Kick-backs !

NO INTEROPERABILITY WITHIN THIS DAMN COUNTY. Today It Took EMS Over 5 Minutes To Get A Message To A Fire Department Using 911 As A Relay... What The F*#K Happened To County-Wide TAC Channels ?

DAMN !

DECODED,
K3SAM

http://800.k3sam.com - website
news@k3sam.com - email
CLICK HERE to listen to real 911 audio clips !

New Audio Clips For The Taking...

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:35:00 +0000

Good Morning to all the Blah-g readers !

I don’t know how many of you are “ care takers “ however I would like to say God Bless You !

These last few weeks have been very trying for this writer as I am now Care Taker of my 88 year old Father whom I love dearly. Being new to the world of Care Taking, most of my days and nights are devoted to caring for him and even though these are trying times they are also very rewarding times too. I am almost always in ear shot of one of my scanners and I could write about so many things that are going banans with our Emergency Communications Cyst-Em, the Blah-g now has to take a back seat.

I was able to put together a few new audio clips for you and they can be found on my website… so please check them out. I also received an email worth posting and with the email authors permission I am going to post it at the end of this short Blah-g.

I now have two more Westmoreland County Dispatchers emailing me and I want to express my thanks to them… they know who they are, and with the information that I am now receiving from them along with the information from the other dispatchers who have been sending me emails for the last year or so I am really being kept informed !

I have to be careful about what I print here in the Blah-g because I do not want the mafia style bosses at the 911 Center to find out who my informes are. I know soooo much about 911 and the management and can only print so little. Damn that picces me off !

Now and then though someone who is not a dispatcher will send me an email that exposes some of the problems 911 has and with that persons permission I will publish the info. Just like the email I'm about to post is stuff that I've known about however couldn't post until it was confirmed by a third party.

EXAMPLE: If a dispatcher emails me and tells me that the EMS ( ambulance) Desk’s communications stopped working for two hours at 5PM and they could not talk to any of the medics… I couldn’t write about that because R. Matason and M. Brammell would know that it was the EMS Dispatcher that emailed me. However if a Medic would email me with the same info and give me permission to use his email, then I could report it.

Am I making sense ? I only get about five hours of sleep a WEEK now... it's hard to think and write at the movie theater, ya know. But the popcorn is sure good !

But if it’s something as simple as the MAIN GATE at 911 being broken then I can write about it because it could have come from anyone at 911, or even the pizza or beer delivery man.

Just the things I KNOW ABOUT DAN that I haven’t published would probably get him fired in a heart beat !

Then there is Richard Matason. He has me stumped. I’m still wondering how he got his job. His last Harrisburg trip that we paid for was suppose to be for “learning”. The only thing he learned was how to use his new Blackberry ! I can say that because I have witnesses that sat and watched him. During critical classes he attended all the others were taking notes, he was entering phone numbers in his Blackberry !… zzzzz

IMO, Mark Brammell is another wild bird. I think he could do a good job if he wouldn’t PLAY UP TO the commissioners, he just might be a good Assistant Director if he would do the things he is suppose to and use his own brain instead of relying on others. For example, each and every FIRE RADIO is suppose to have SIMPLEX FIRE TAC CHANNELS however he insists on making them DUPLEX… in English, instead of talk-around like they are suppose to be they are Trucked through the repeater system. That is a NO NO. If the repeater goes down then all communcations at the fire grounds are lost, gone, finished, KAPUT !!!

And who is in charge of having everything go through those DAMN PHONE LINES ? That’s also a NO NO. If Joe Tech decides to run a FULL system test which would include the dedicated 911 lines... ALL 911 COMMUNCATIONS ARE LOST for the whole county !

These are things NOT APPROVED by the Department of Homeland Security AND NFPA. If I were the director of our Department of Public Safety, THINGS WOULD CHANGE ! In fact, if I were director the first thing I would do is HIRE A GOOD DIRECTOR, then step down or become 911’s technical advisor.

Of course I would replace myself with someone qualifed to run our county ! I'm not qualified, nor are the people that are there now ! I am qualified on how to set up and properly maintain the radio system, something Westmoreland County lacks now. Damn, there I go blabbering again...

WE ARE IN SERIOUS NEED OF GOOD 911 DIRECTORS !

Well again I am repeating myself. If you are new to my Blah-g, please go back and read the previous posts and catch up ! There is a YEAR of reading to go back on, download them all and make a book !

Well, as promised, here is the email I received. The only thing edited out was the authors name and his EMS station affiliation.
= = = =
I didn't know if you heard about the counties new policies for EMS. In a memo we received from Sandy Smithe on all MVA's (Blah-ger Note: MVA = Motor Vehicle Accident) EMS is to request a County Wide Tac channel. Also for Fire Stand-by's we are to monitor the FD TAC channel, but as you are aware those cheap XTS1500 radio's that the county gave everyone we aren't able to listen to the FD TAC channels so I guess instead of being at the actual scene we are suppose to stay inside our rigs and listen to the FD TAC channel as well as our EMS Tac channel. And 2 days after the memo was issued to the EMS departments we had 2 MVA's and both times when asked for a County Wide channel the dispatchers seemed like they had absolutely no clue what we were talking about (Imagine that). Oh well, and if you have noticed listening to this BS with the new response levels Omega-Echo I think 911 has one of those carnival wheels that they spin to see what the call is because they send diabetic emergencies and other ALS responses as Alpha calls and vehicle accidents with unknown injuries are per protocol a Bravo response (non-emergency). And now county seems to think they run EMS services when the call should have a paramedic on-board sometimes they aren't always available to respond and you have to run the call with 2 EMT's but county wants to question us about what we are doing. Last time I checked they were suppose to dispatch not be the law of EMS like they are trying to become.
= = = =
This is absolutely NOT a made up email, it is from an honest to God EMT who cares enough about saving lives that they took the time out to share their thoughts with me.

911 is so screwed up that sometimes I wonder why they aren’t playing music over that damn radio system and dispatching all of there emergency calls by messenger pigeon. Ah, stupid me. They wouldn’t play music over the 800 Mhz system because the quality would be so poor, it wouldn’t be in stereo and there would be so many DEAD SPOTS that only 50% of the county would be able to receive it.

Lets see, if we did convert that 911 radio Cyst-Em into a Music Station we could have the following line-up:

Brammel’s BeBop from 6 to 10 AM
Matason’s Melodies from 10 AM to Noon
Fleming and Steven’s Swap and Shop from Noon until 8 PM
Pat and Glenn’s Polka Show from 8 PM to Midnight
Tony and Ed’s Underground Sound from Midnight to 3 AM
Clayton and Sally’s Cooking By Numbers from 3 to 5 AM
From 5 AM until 6 AM Staley Communications would have to come in and jump start all the towers that have gone down during the previous 24 hours. During that time Elevator Music would be heard hosted by Joe Poinski, Motorola’s Polka Man.

HEY, I MIGHT BE ON TO SOMETHING HERE!

Ok, the main reason for the Blah-g this morning was to share that email with you and to let you know there are NEW AUDIO CLIPS now on my website ! One audio clip is so small that even dial up customers can listen to it and it happens to be the BEST audio clip I’ve managed to CAPTURE so far !

BREAKING NEWS:

Last night there was a fire at my old house in Derry. Why is that important ? Well, that house is now the residence of (Millwood - Station 92) Eastern Derry Township's Fire Chief !!! There was a fire in one of the Bedrooms and he managed to put the fire out but not before receiving major burns to his face and back. Life-flight flew him to the Pittsburgh Burn Center. The Blah-g wishes him a very speedy recovery.

BREAKING NEWS:

Ligonier and Ligonier Twp Police Departments are getting their Mobile Data Terminals programmed and installed in their police cars today. (MDT as they are commonly called,to allows the police to look up information on their own without waking up Management at 911)

I hope it’s not “what’s his name” from Staley Communications that installs it. The last installation I saw him do, the microphone was connected backwards. Anyhow, that area is so full of DEAD SPOTS I’ll be surprised if it works at all. Perhaps if Motorola loads Donkey Kong on it they will have something to do in their spare time.

BROKEN NEWS:

911.

Until the next Super Duper Pooper Scooper Blah-g…
DECODED,

K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs CET

http://800.k3sam.com – website for all your grocery needs
news@k3sam.com – regular tips what-ever email address

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY AUDIO CLIPS OR I’LL SICK GOMER ON YOU !

MAP THIS !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 07:30:00 +0000

Good Morning Blah-gees !

Your Blah-ger has been very very busy behind the scenes although you wouldn’t know it by reading the Blah-g… it has been over a week since I made a posting here.

I will say one thing, just when you are about to throw in the towel… a few “new” VIP’S Email me and tell me to keep it up, they say I'm doing a good job and for me to continue on until 911 is set up properly. I just want to thank them for the kind words !!! It sure does mean a lot !

It is because of you, the reader, that this Blah-g continues on. To be specific, it is because of the 911 dispatchers, police officers and PEOPLE IN HIGH PLACES that keep me up to date with HOW POORLY 911 IS RUN, AND ALL THE EQUIPMENT FAILURES that I keep writing !

Ok, some meat.

You have to understand something. PHONE LINES are not the way to send the control data and digital audio to the remote tower sites on an Emergency Radio System. I have been saying this for a long time so I wont get into it in detail again here, however SEVERAL TOWER SITES HAVE BEEN DOWN as of late AND IT’S WORTH REPORTING, again !

Does anyone care ?

It is a daily happening. So if you wish to catch up on the telephone line issue, scroll back over the back issues of the Blah-g.

Also, I have had THREE Westmoreland County 911 DISPATCHERS tell me in the last day or two that DAN STEVEN’S is really SLACKING on the ADDRESSING PROGRAM. This is one of the MAIN reasons that I am making a post today.

Listen up FIRST RESPONDERS and CITIZENS of Westmoreland County PA… When you call 911 and call-takers or dispatchers type in your initial information, a MAP pops up on a computer screen at the 911 center. This map shows the dispatcher where you live. This is how the dispatchers know the proper AMBULANCE, POLICE and FIRE Services to send to your house, business or a wreck on some road. It’s the MAPS that count.

IF THERE IS A F(#K-UP, IT’S NOT THE DISPATCHERS FAULT, IT’S THE MAPPING PROGRAM AND DAN STEVENS !!

WHEN THIS MAP IS WRONG the wrong emergency services are dispatched to your house.

Most recently there was a local FIRE DEPARTMENT assist here in my City of Latrobe. When the home owner called in for HELP the 911 MAP showed the person living in New Alexandria, a totally different town about 6 miles away. DAN STEVENS gets paid to make sure THIS INFORMATION IS RIGHT, and IT'S NOT !

NO ONE DIED over this incident however in the past year my sources tell me the EIGHT Westmoreland County Residents have died because of the MAPPING PROGRAM not being maintained correctly. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE DAN ! PLEASE, FOR ALL OF OUR SAFETY, STEP DOWN AND FIND A JOB AT WALMART !!

Dan is also the person I wrote about before. WE gave him a brand new specially equipped TRUCK so that he could go to all the HAZMAT CALLS. The Blah-ger found out that he was using it for personal use and did not go to ANY HAZMAT CALLS !

After reporting that, he began to respond. Why is it that it took PRESSURE from the Blah-ger for him to begin to respond to the calls he was suppose to be at and where he was NEEDED ? Actually they didn’t need HIM, they needed the TRUCK… STEP DOWN DAN, PLEASE, others can drive that truck… HELL, EVEN I CAN DRIVE IT !

Other news…

Recently the Blah-ger had the chance to USE the new Pennsylvania State Police Radio System, commonly referred to as OPEN SKY made by Tyco.

I must say that I was impressed.

What the State Police have for an In Car Monitor (screen) most likely cost more than most people would pay for a good second car ! The keyboard is slick and well designed and for the most part the software is excellent.

The Monitor is a TOUCH SCREEN MONITOR. Wow says the Blah-ger. Just touch the label for PSP Car 15 and send an Email.

It's That Easy !

All PSP cars are running Microsoft’s Mobile version of the Internet Explorer to launch these programs so their computer screens look just like yours and mine. Any PSP car can look up where the other cars are, just by touching the screen a few times ! What a mapping program in those cars, I KNOW DAN STEVENS didn't have his hand in that program because IT WORKS !

NO WONDER ALL THE PSP CARS ARE SEEN EATING AT THE SUBWAY AND WE DON’T HEAR ABOUT IT ON OUR SCANNERS ! Sweet !! Of course I’m kidding however it is possible, because one car can send out a single EMAIL to all the cars currently out on patrol to say "Meet everyone at Subway at 10". Again, Sweet !!

Another thing that impressed this Blah-ger… almost NO DEAD SPOTS. The only bad spot is Sleepy Hollow which is understandable, however everywhere else where our Westmoreland County 911 System has dead spots, the Open Sky System does NOT !

The county needs to find out what the Pennsylvania State Police is DOING RIGHT and incorporate that system into theirs !

Anyhow, to make a long story short, AND the old saying… a picture is worth a gazillion words, here are a few photos for my Blah-ger Readers.

Just like those that email me anonymously, the Trooper that allowed me
to take those photos wishes to remain anonymous... So to that end, I will
just thank him for allowing me to take the photos, for the time spent educating
this Blah-ger and for his friendship !

Just a note for Westmoreland County’s Commissioners and the Westmoreland County 911 Management:

JUST BECAUSE I HAVE TAKEN AN INTEREST IN THE NEW OPEN SKY STATE POLICE SYSTEM DOESN’T MEAN YOU ARE OFF THE HOOK.

Please, if you are a new reader to my Blah-g… take a few hours to go back and read all the back issues. I hope I didn’t spend hundreds of hours writing these for nothing (although Rich, Mark, Tom-Tom and Phil would have you think otherwise) !

DECODED,

K3SAM – the one and honest
Sam W. Jacobs
FCC 1st Class Licensed, Certified Electronic Technician,
Amateur Radio Extra Class, and full of the TRUTH about
This Radio Cyst-Em And Why It Has FAILED.

website - http://800.k3sam.com
email me at - news@k3sam.com

Come see all the photos and listen to the new audio clips !! Everyone is invited except for my second and third ex-wives !

Oh it's the same... old song

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 02:34:00 +0000

If my memory serves me correctly, it was July 5th, 2005 that OUR new Motorola Junk that is connected to an "on again / off again" Verizon Data Line system went down for over 24 hours due to a thunderstorm.

Deja Vu.

Today, almost a year to the date, the Westmoreland County 911 Radio Cyst-Em went through a series of "quirks" causing multiple problems for the users of this Cyst-Em and at the 911 HQ.

Helter Skelter.

It got so bad that several times 911 had to tell fire departments to go to Channel 16, which is their talk-around frequency. That way all transmissions bypass the 911 computer equipment (in other words, the radios work just like radios... not some computerized piece of crap) and the 911 dispatchers and the Motorgola Radio/Computer Equipment doesn't have to do any work.

In fact, most fire departments were on Channel 16 most of the day for fire ground operations. Actually, this is how it is suppose to be set up. Now someone has to tell Mark that.

At this writing, operations are still not back to normal but that is to be expected... in Mayberry RFD but NOT IN WESTMORELAND COUNTY Pennsylvania after TENS of MILLIONS of DOLLARS have been spent for the purchase and maintenance of this BEAST.

No Excuse deCommissioner Balya, No Excuse Deputy Matason, No Excuse Ass Instant Deputy Brammell !

I'm sorry, I showed disrespect to two of the above. It should have been all three.

Listen folks... and listen carefully.

WE, THE PEOPLE had NO SAY SO in what these people did with MILLIONS AND MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS of TAX PAYER MONEY, We TRUSTED THEM to ACT ON OUR BEHALF IN PROVIDING OUR FIRST RESPONDERS with the very BEST COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM SO WE COULD BE PROTECTED.

They did everything but. Just listen to the AUDIO CLIPS, they don't lie. And if that isn't bad enough, they rub the whole thing in our noses by driving around in COUNTY VEHICLES, CARRYING COUNTY CREDIT CARDS and using COUNTY BLACKBERRY CELL PHONES ! They even carry around the MOST EXPENSIVE MOTOROLA RADIOS while most of our police and fire chiefs carry the cheapest radios. WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW COMMISSIONER BALYA FIGHT A FIRE ?. They have outragous work hours (when they show up) and fantastic paid vacation packages.

It almost appears as if these people are above the law !

RESPECT IS EARNED !

I leave messages for the above 3 people to call me, and they don't. This has been going on for over a year. They are afraid to answer simple questions about the CONTRACT they made with the DEVIL ... er I mean Staley Communications and Motorola... over this 800 Meggy Hurts Cyst-Em... and why they continue to waste taxpayer money on equipment that is not needed and service contracts on an older system no longer in use.

I THANK GOD THAT SENATOR REGOLA IS NOW INVOLVED. Not only is Senator Regola deeply concerned about getting the BEST communications system for our first responders, he is also an active member of a Westmoreland County Fire Department ! He knows that we got the shaft and HE WANTS TO KNOW WHY !

No need for me to go any further with this. I've said it all before. If you are a new reader it might be wise for you to sit back and read and read and read my past Blah-gs.

Everything I write about is also "backed up" by actual audio clips that are posted on my web site, http://www.k3sam.com/800/AudioClips.html. If you hear an audio clip you like, go ahead and download it for yourself. They are all in .mp3 format and they are all free.

I have well over 100 audio clips showing examples of;
* Digi-Crap
* T1 Phone Lines Down
* 911 Consoles Broke
* Open Microphones due to faulty equipment
* 911 Receive Out
* 911 Transmit Out
* Car to Car communications down
* Incorrectly programmed radios
* Police Encryption Mode not working (sorry guys)
* 800 Digital Siren Decoders not working
* Tac Channel Confusion ( oh man ! )
* Most commonly used word on the Cyst-Em is "What"
* Second most commonly used word used is "Repeat"
* and that's just for starters...
* Lot's of comedy too...

That's it for now however just a note... in the next few days or even perhaps a week or two I will be preparing my biggest Blah-g yet. It is going to be my most important Blah-g to date so please keep checking the audio clips daily for audio updates and keep an eye open for my next Blah-g !

DECODED,
K3SAM
(the one and ...)

http://800.k3sam.com - website
news@k3sam.com - tips / comments
www.k3sam.com/800/AudioClips.html - listen for yourself !

(the above comments are those of the Blah-ger and shared by a multitude of Westmoreland Co. first responders and County Citizens - as well as a few no name dispatchers !!)

PS: Those of you that know me personally know that my father just came home from the hospital. THANKS for all of your kind words, emails and prayers. He is doing much better now that he is at home and gaining strength each and every day ! THANKS AGAIN !! k3SAM

NOT DAN !

noreply@blogger.com (Blah-g) — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 13:06:00 +0000

Good Morning Gentle People ! It’s another Blah-g !

With summer here and other things going on at Blah-ger Central this will be a short Blah-g, however guaranteed to be full of meat, so relax and unbuckle your belt.

AUDIO CLIPS: New ones added regularly, keep checking daily. I should be posting another one later on today.

RICHARD MATASON: Off work and recuperating at home after surgery. Mr. M, you know this Blah-g is very critical about the way you run Westmoreland County’s 911 Center… in fact it SUCKS however I do wish you a speedy recovery. I will not mention the type of surgery that you had here with respect to your privacy however I will say that modern technology is wonderful and I’m glad all is ok now.

You might want to take a hint from this writer to either change things at the 911 center when you get back to work OR think about a new job. Mr. M is due back at work in July… the latter half.

MARK BRAMMELL: Is on vacation. Also critical of Mr. B’s work at Westmoreland County’s 911 Center, Mr. B may take the rest of the year off with the Blah-g’s permission.

DAN STEVENS: Is now in charge with Mr. M and Mr. B off work. GOD HELP US ! Being in charge of “addressing”, sometimes I wonder if Dan can find his own house after what he calls "work".

JOE N: Back at work after a long medical leave. I don’t normally write about Joe as he is a friend of mine and I refuse to let him talk “911” to me. I would rather get my 911 tips through the dispatchers themselves. When Joe and I speak it’s usually about gardening, fly fishing and NASCAR… none of which this Blah-er knows a damn thing about. (BTW, Joe is next in command after Danny… so if Dan would only go on about 3 years of personal days we would be ok. I would even be ok with leave with pay for Dan, hell we blow money on stupider things than that !)

SANDY: New secretary replacing Saundra Singer, the old Executive Secretary (not that you are old Saundra…). The Blah-g wishes you the best in your retirement Saundra and I still wonder how you made it all those years training Mr. Matason on what it means to run a 911 center. Too bad he didn’t listen. But that’s ok, it took Mr. M a paid trip to Harrisburg just to learn how to operate his county purchased Blackberry Phone !

Good Luck Sandy in this new promotion… the money will be great, just keep that bottle of Ass-burn close at hand, especially now that Danny is in charge !

WELCOME: We now have six new Dispatchers out of the last 911 class, 6 new people I can pick on… Sorry, 6 new Graduates to the level of DISPATCHER !
Wear the patch proudly ! (not on a lime green jacket, please!)
With these six new dispatchers our county now has a FULL 52, that would be one dispatcher on duty each week ! Just do a good job and your name will NEVER appear here on the Blah-g, like when you see Pat’s name pop up here.

Just remember, you can’t sleep on the job… or at least sleep lightly. Those 12 hour shifts are murder, the 16 hour shifts are killers.

BLAH-GER TIPS CONTEST: Getting back on the regular schedule of picking a name at random for their fine tips to the Blah-g, we have a winner for June.

The winner is a Westmoreland County 911 Employee again and I have been in contact with this “person” and they do not want their name mentioned, not even initials. So I have to respect that.

Out of the last 8 winners, 2 have been 911 employees, 1 is an insider, 1 is employed in the EMS field and other 4 are firemen. So far no policemen have been selected as winners in the Blah-g Tips contest, probably because they turn in the fewest tips and have less of a chance of winning. Come on WC Cops, send in your tips ! news@k3sam.com

The next drawing date for a FREE BLAH-GER CD of AUDIO CLIPS from our 911 system is July 17, 2006.

MOTOROLA: Well, it appears as if this same system we are using WAS LAUGHED out of GERMANY ! No shock to the Blah-ger. Germany went for the TERA system which is made by Nokia, and is a TRUE interoperability communications system.

If you would like to read more about this, it is on the Batlabs Batboard, sponsored by Batwing Laboratories. http://batboard.batlabs.com/viewtopic.php?t=57676

Thanks for that anonymous tip (see, that’s how you get on the Blah-ger Tips Contest List !).

That’s it, enjoy this wonderful (yuk) 90 degree weather, thunderstorm season is upon us.

DECODED,
K3SAM

http://800.k3sam.com – website
news@k3sam.com – tips
Don’t forget to listen to the audio clips, the AUDIO DOESN’T LIE !!