> Marlon,
>
> On the hughesnet, they make self pointing dishes, motorized
> jobs. They work pretty well, I think the one in our CP is
> motostat datastorm.
I thought of that. But if the cost of TV self pointing dishes for boats
(I've been looking at my West Marine cat.) is any indication that'll be WAY
out of the budget. It would sure make live nice though.
How much are the Motostat units that you use?
>
> After we set up we have VoIP as well as internet.
Yeppers, that's the plan. I already have the VoIP box here.
>
> Insofar as your radios, we could sell you a commercial VHF and UHF at
> cost,
> they would be PC programmable.
That would be very helpful. Can I pass your contact info to the emergency
services folks that are going to pick all of those things out?
One question though, do they make any that can be programed via a front
panel? I can certainly see people that aren't all that computer savy bing
the ones to pick up and use the motorhome. They may or may not have the
needed software and/or training to set up the radios in this way. How do
folks handle that?
The biggest problem as I see it is that we won't know what frequency we'll
need to use ahead of time. We can have whatever licenses etc. dealt with
but we won't know if we'll need to help out the fire department from Lincoln
county or Grant. We won't know if we'll need to talk to the Ambulance or
the State Patrol. How do others do this?
> You could use modified HAM
> radios, but that can be problematic insofar as narrowband, P25,
> complexity, etc, not to mention legality. (Please, don't anyone start
> with the "Anything is legal in an emergency")
I don't know what those things are. At this point we're trying to get the
most common and most critical services covered. If it's something that our
local emergency coordinators want/need we'll be trying to find a way to get
it done though.
>
> I would even probably give you a wideband only pair of radios, but
> after the begining of 2013 they will be useless on the commercial
> bands, and many agencies are starting to migrate to narrowband
> already.
A lot can happen between then and now. And we're very small out here
(population wise) so it's certainly possible that we'll need to talk to very
old radio gear for many years to come. That's something that the emergency
folks will know though, I'll see if I can find out if a wideband radio would
be helpful. Thanks.
>
> What about the other public safety bands? Trunking? P25? If
> any of these are in your area of operation, are you going to have that
> capability? You may want to visit with your local Emergency Management
> folks, or SO and FD, see what they can bring to the table.
I've already talked to them. I'm just waiting for the contract that they
said they needed me to sign (deals with insurance issues, responsibilities
etc.). So far we know we need 2 meter and 440. We need some VHF/UHF radios
that will talk to multiple agencies (if we can do this). And we need
broadband access and all that it enables.
Thanks for the help and ideas!
marlon
>
>
>
> Don't take your organs to heaven,
> heaven knows we need them down here!
> Be an organ donor, sign your donor card today.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marlon K. Schafer" <ooe@odessaoffice.com>
> To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 10:20 AM
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Equipment suggestions or donations
>
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> We bought a large motor home this winter with the idea of doing some
>> travel
>> with the kids and to make it into a mobile command post. I already have
>> it
>> set up as a free wifi hot spot. I currently feed it via my existing
>> wireless network and this part of the project is working great.
>>
>> I'd also like to pick up a hugesnet account that I can use in the motor
>> home
>> or for other temp situations. I have the hardware but haven't had much
>> luck
>> in figuring out if they have an account that will let me set up and aim
>> the
>> dish myself. Clearly I can't just bring an installer on site everytime
>> we
>> move. There must be a way to make this work, any suggestions?
>>
>> I'm working with a couple of the counties in my area too. I'll pick up a
>> CB
>> radio and antenna to put in it. Some of the local hams that do disaster
>> relief have offered to help install hardware and antennas etc. I have an
>> equipment manufacturer that will donate the antennas. We still need to
>> find
>> a 2 meter and a 440 radio. Ideally these will be able to act as
>> repeaters
>> so that we can pull up on a hill overlooking an area that they can't get
>> into with their current radios and give them coverage. As they don't own
>> this unit and it has to still be available for my family to use grant
>> money
>> doesn't seem to be much of an option. And as I'll be donating the usage
>> of
>> this more so than not (donated for training exercises, hopefully I can
>> bill
>> for it's time if there is a funded event) I'm unable to justify thousands
>> of
>> dollars in equipment costs. (I am still expanding my wireless network,
>> we'll be adding another 700 square miles to it today!)
>>
>> Does anyone know of any groups or agencies that would donate or deeply
>> discount a couple of radios? Does anyone have gear that's not in use
>> anymore?
>>
>> Also, do you guys know of a VHF and/or UHF radio system that we could
>> install that would work with the existing emergency services agencies?
>> They
>> can deal with any licensing issues, but I need a radio that can be
>> programmed to work with any freq. that they may be using at the time that
>> it's needed. Might be fire, police etc.
>>
>> Any help, thoughts or ideas are welcome!
>>
>
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