Cover Story

Remember When?

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM

1968 First 911 systems in the U.S. are established. 1973 Congress passes EMS Act. 1987 FCC dedicates 6 MHz of 800 MHz spectrum for public safety. 1989...

Hang Onto Your Radios

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By John Powell

An early challenge was building a statewide radio system for the University of California police, which covered nine campuses at the time. It was a VHF...

Stuck in the Mud

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Kevin McGinnis

Prior to the early 1970s, an ambulance typically would get dispatched through a red-telephone system to a volunteer service out in the sticks, or you...

Pizzas Under the Door

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Richard Taylor

When I was involved in the leadership at the National Emergency Number Association, at that time wireless 911 was the latest and greatest thing. We had...

Stepping Wise

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Steve Rauter

I came to the industry by way of the fire service. I began volunteering in 1972 and became full-time in 1976 and worked my way up in the ranks over a...

Stutter Steps

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Charles Werner

If I look back at where I came from, beginning in the fire service 34 years ago, we had large portables that were like bricks. They were very simple,...

Coming Together

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Tom Sorley

The first system I encountered was a 450 MHz conventional system when I worked for the city of Orlando police department in 1984. It was a standalone...

Beeps, Bops and Boops

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Vinny Stile

The first systems I encountered were legacy systems that were just regular conventional radio for Suffolk County, N.Y., which I joined in 1965. We had...

Change is in the Air

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Glen Nash

I've always worked with the state of California, starting in 1973. The first system I worked with was the California Highway Patrol System. It's a low-band...

Features

Finally, a real breakthrough

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Lynnette Luna

More than 15 years ago, U.S. governmental and standards organizations began to develop the Project 25 standard for the public-safety community. The primary...

Essential gear

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Merrill Douglas

When Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine suffered a collapse in August 2007, rescuers raced to reach six miners trapped inside and Tunnel Radio of America worked...

A gem of a system upgrade

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Howard W. Newton, P.E.

On March 9, 2008, a heavily armed 27-year-old man allegedly robbed a jewelry store in the Mission Viejo Mall, smashing jewelry cases and brandishing weapons....

Declaration of Interoperability

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Roman Kaluta

The State of Alabama has been working tirelessly to accomplish statewide interoperability. They faced the same communications problem that many other...

Taken for granted

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jay M. Jacobsmeyer, P.E.

Land mobile radio antennas come in two basic types: the base station or repeater site antenna and the user radio antenna. This article focuses on user...

Practical notes about cavity filters

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Harold Kinley

Quarter-wave resonant cavity filters are used in many RF applications. For instance, they are used in duplexers for repeaters, in transmitter combiners...

Don't be fooled

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jim Norton

The masking effect of cable loss may cause your antenna to appear to perform more efficiently than is actually the case. In fact, it is possible to measure...

The Imperfect Storm

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mary Rose Roberts

Hurricanes can reshape cities as high winds, storm surges and flooding cause widespread devastation. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 pummeled New Orleans and...

First Word

We've come a long way

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Glenn Bischoff, glenn.bischoff@penton.com

My favorite television shows always have been police, fire or military dramas. Growing up in the sixties, my favorite show was Rescue 8, which focused...

Dispatches

Digital radios in fireground limbo

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

Amid concerns surrounding digital-radio performance, several public-safety agencies are considering alternatives, including analog radios. Focus on digital-radio...

FCC weighs Sprint Nextel, public-safety input

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

Sprint Nextel and public-safety groups have agreed that the carrier should be allowed continued use of 800 MHz interleaved channels for at least another...

Exalt Deploys 4.9 GHz System in N.Y. County

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

Wireless-backhaul vendor Exalt Communication announced that Orleans County, N.Y., has deployed its 4.9 GHz solution to replace a microwave system that...

D Block auction: Wait til next year?

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

FCC commissioners are sorting through myriad recommendations to change the commission's public/private partnership strategy as they try to establish rules...

EWA Awarded License-Management Contract

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM

Following completion of a formal competitive bidding process, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) was awarded a three-year contract to provide FCC...

Video surveillance catches perps

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mary Rose Roberts

Citizens in Buffalo, N.Y., now have an extra layer of security with the installation of wireless surveillance cameras throughout the city. In fact, the...

DHS, FEMA Announce Grant Program

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM

The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a $48 million program to fund and improve interoperable emergency...

View from the Top

One size for all?

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Bill Fredrickson

A once-popular adage was one size fits all, but enterprises choosing that path will be left behind as innovative competitors move swiftly past them. Henry...

First Response

The Intelligibility Factor

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Charles Werner

A little over a year ago, the International Association of Fire Chiefs received several concerns regarding the operation of digital radios in high-noise...

Gear

All-in-one rechargeable batteries for LMRs

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

At best, the need to recharge an LMR radio is an inconvenience, taking the device and often its user out of action for a temporary period. At worst, the...

Armed and ready

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mary Rose Roberts

Radiation can be found in many forms, from nuclear warheads to crates of bananas. Some forms are life-threatening, while others are not. It's distinguishing...

Talk groups offer quick interoperability

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Dave Plank

Emergency responders looking for interoperability may soon find it in an unlikely spot 23,000 miles up. Having operated satellite radio talk groups for...

Gear

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM

Rugged Mobile Computer Mentor Engineering unveiled the Ranger, a rugged mobile computer with an internal wireless modem that supports data and voice communications...

Final Word

Clearing the Air

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Alan Tilles

The land mobile radio industry is well-known for regulatory confusion. Currently, the most confusing regulatory matter concerns narrowbanding at 150 and...

August 2008 PSAP Supplement

Aug 1, 2008 12:00 AM