Will Walsh

VHF Update for Infinity Radios

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:44:00 GMT

As you may know, the quality of VHF radio transmission is deteriorating as surrounding agencies convert to narrow banding. As a result, we have been looking at ways to improve our VHF radio quality. In a test conducted with Mobile Radio we found Infinity Radios with a VHF 136 – 174 MHz antenna have roughly 25 times greater transmission power than a UHF antenna. Armed with this information we converted several VHF radios and tested successfully in the field.

We are now ready to convert all our remaining Infinity Radios. You can help with this effort by unscrewing your antenna and looking at its base to determine if you have VHF (red base) or UHF (white base). If you have a VHF antenna there is nothing more you need to do. If you have UHF, there is a box of VHF antennas, located next to the kitchen sink at Station 1 and 3, from which you can you can swap out your antenna.

If you have any questions about this please contact me directly.

More ...

Technical Rescue Training

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:32:00 GMT

The likelihood of needing to put our low angle technical rescue skills into operation is increasing as colder darker weather is approaching. To that end two trainings are scheduled:

Sept 10 at 7:00 PM Station 3 a review of rigging for low angle rescue with our new stokes basket. Tech rescue team members can benefit from the review. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
In October (TBA) a simulated low angle rescue on CR 125 in which full patient care and packaging will be included. Since an incident of this nature requires significant resource, the more hands attending the better.

More ...

Our Website

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:23:00 GMT

Based on feedback from the member survey taken earlier this year, our FLM website (http://flmfire.org) has been refreshed with the latest calendar, newsletter, board minutes, etc. The FLM website is collaborative, which means registered users can contribute content and also see additional content the general public cannot access. Most everyone in our organization has a registered user name consisting of first initial and last name (i.e. jsmith) and there is a "Forgot Password" feature. For those who are interested in knowing more about the website plan to attend a demonstration on Sept 24, 2009 at 7:00 PM at Station 3.

More ...

Narrowbanding

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:25:00 GMT

What is Narrowbanding?

Without getting too technical, it simply means that the spectrum (VHF: 150 -174) on which we communicate will be split in half. The general reasoning behind this is to create more frequency capacity from that which already exists. The net result is a doubling of radio spectrum in these identified bands.

The impact comes in how our radios operate. Older radios certified before February 14, 1997 may not have the capability of narrowbanding while those certified after February 14, 1997 were required to meet this narrowbanding mandate. This affects transmitters and mobile radios alike.

In 2011, the FCC will no longer accept new or modified applications that exceed the narrowbanding guidelines. In 2013, all radios will be mandated to meet the FCC narrowband requirements.

What are we doing?

• Take inventory and identify equipment that must be replaced. 15 of our 19 mobile units are affected by this mandate.

• Identify the impact and the alternatives available. VHF units are required to communicate with federal agencies (Forest Service, BLM, etc). Some of the deficient VHF units can be replaced by 800 MHz units, while others require replacement units.

• Develop a migration plan to strategically replace equipment over time. 6 new narrowband compliant Motorola CM300 VHF mobile radios have been installed in the following apparatus:

CHIEF

E-71

BT-73

BT-71

T-73

B-72

The VHF mobile radios in the following apparatus/locations are targeted for replacement with new radios or reusing compliant units from apparatus not responding to wildland fire incidents:

SRU

Base Station 1

Base Station 3

B-75

E-74

B-74

Our target completion date to be FCC compliant is 2010, the exact date depending on availability of budget, award of grants, transition to 800 MHz, and deployment of equipment.

More ...

800 MHz Update

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:13:00 GMT

HANDHELD UNITS

Our current inventory of handheld units have been deployed to all officers and some members of the department. Because of their superior coverage and clarity in our area, compared to VHF, we are starting to use these units for internal communicaitons. One example of the exceptional coverage was reported between 702 in La Plata Canyon (below the chimney) and 701 in Dolores.

MOBILE UNITS

We recently completed the installation of our current allotment of 800 MHz mobile radios. The following apparatus have been outfitted:

M-71

M-72

CHIEF

E-72

SRU

T-73

B-71

R-73

The following apparatus are on the waiting list:

E-71

R-71

B-72

E-74

E-73

FUTURE

We have a pending grant request for additional mobile and handheld units. The same grant requests a consolete which faciliates commuiniction with Durango Dispatch.

A budget item has been proposed for an extension radio for M71, M72, and SRU to supplement the existing radio in the back of the apparatus.

We are also part of a regional grant request for an 800 BDA unit which would be installed at the FLM radio facility above Hesperus to complete 800 MHz coverage for our district.

More ...

Computer Server Donated

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:18:00 GMT

In early August 2009 the La Plata Country Sherriff's department donated a computer server to FLMFPD. The server is an HP Prolient ML370 with four 36.4 GB disks. This link full describes the options and specifications of this computer. The server is rack configured (it lays on it's side).

The FLMFPD Technology Committee is evaluating the server for use with such applications as incident tracking, mapping, and docment management.

More ...

Engineer's Short Course

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Thursday August 13th and Friday August 14th Steve delivered the Engineer short course that we had a couple of years ago. It was a good opportunity to learn how to operate the pump panel on the structure engines and a good refresher for those who have already taken the class.

Click here for power point presentation used during the class.

More ...

Updating the web site...

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:59:00 GMT

In the exploration of ways to make the web site easier to update I took a closer look at the concept of blogging as a means for posting announcements, articles, etc. This is how it works:

· Anyone in our department who has a valid account on our web site AND permission can create a blog.

· The blog can be moderated if desired, comments can be posted, etc.

· User can post to their blog from the web site, or from tools such as Windows Live Writer (FREE) or Word 2007 ($$$). Posts can be public or private.

· The blogs are displayed in a common viewer on our web site. We can make that viewer private or public. The blogs can also be filtered by name of the blogger and by month. The blogs are also searchable.

I defined a new tab on the web site called BLOG so you can see a few examples. I took the liberty of creating an FLMFPD Blog (for overall types of entries), as well as one for Steve and myself. I encourage you to login to the site, create your own blog, and post something. I’d be interested to read your thoughts on this.

More ...

FLM Mapping Standards

wwalsh@flmfire.org — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:47:00 GMT

With Wildland Fire season coming upon us it is a good opportunity to review our mapping standards. For our purposes most of us do not need detailed geospatial training but we can benefit from an understanding of two topics: Grid Systems and Reference Datum. I know this is starting to sound like your 7^th grade math class, so bear with me.

A Grid System allows the location of a point on a map to be described in a way that is meaningful and universally understood. The common Grid Systems used in the United States are:

Geographic - uses degrees of latitude and longitude.
Public Land Survey - used in Colonial America for surveying. You might know it as Township/Range.
UTM - Preserves shape, and allows for precise measurements in meters.
State Plane - Developed for local surveying, with minimal distortion.

For our purposes we use a Grid System to tell someone where we want them to land to pick up a patient or drop a load of water or retardant. When communicating location use the Geographic Grid and provide LATITUDES and LONGITUDES in Degrees, Minutes and Seconds (DMS). The following examples show how different GPS units positioned at Station 1 might display coordinates in DMS:

· 37° 8' 24.312"N 108° 71' 21.761"W

· N 37° 8' 24.312" W 108° 71' 21.761"

· 37° 8' 24.312" -108° 71' 21.761"

· 37 8 24.312 -108 71 21.761 (no units)

A Reference Datum is defined as a known and constant surface which can be used to describe the location of unknown points. On Earth, the normal reference datum is sea level. On other planets, such as the Moon or Mars, the datum is the average radius of the planet. The term "reference datum" was used rather than ‘above (or below) the earth’s surface’ or ‘above (or below) sea level’.

As with Grid Systems, there are numerous Reference Datum. Most of the Topographical Maps still in circulation use the NAD-27 Datum. (North American Datum, 1927). However, the WGS 84 datum is the most widely used datum in the world and is what we use in our GPS units.

To give you some background, WGS 84 is based on the combination of Doppler satellite images and 1980 Geodetic Reference System (GRS 80) to create a new, more accurate world geodetic system. In terms of reference, WGS 84 uses what is called the "zero meridian" but because of the new measurements, it shifted 100 meters to the east from the previously used Prime Meridian in Greenwich. WGS 84 replaced WGS 72 and is valid until 2010.

In summary, our GPS units located in our apparatus are programmed to use Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds based on and WGS 84 datum. If you have a personal GPS unit used during incidents, please make sure it is programmed the same way.

By complying with these standards we know we are providing proper information to Durango Interagency Dispatch, Fire Dispatch, Care Flight, and Air Care. We also know the data we collect during an incident is consistent for mapping analysis purposes.

More ...