Urgent Communications Today

In This Issue

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Wavelengths

Eye-openers occur, even when one can't see

Mark Krizik is a systems engineer for Motorola and a lieutenant in the Posen, Ill., fire department outside Chicago. He’s also a prophet. A couple of weeks ago, Motorola held a one-day firefighting training seminar for its product engineers, designers and marketing managers, which Krizik led. The idea behind the event, which has been held annually for the last nine years at the University of Illinois’ Fire Service Institute, is that experiencing what firefighters experience will result in products that work the way firefighters need them to work.

During the orientation that preceded the exercises, Krizik mentioned that slips and falls were the most common injury suffered by firefighters. Shortly thereafter, I nearly tumbled down a flight of concrete stairs. It was, dark, smoky and my SCBA mask was fogged — I couldn’t see a damned thing. So, in a feeble attempt to find the first step, I commenced something of a tap dance. Big mistake. My heel hit the top of the step and immediately slid off, which nearly catapulted me down the stairs. Fortunately for me and the other members of my team who I would have wiped out, I managed to somehow arrest my fall AND hang onto the heavy crowbar-like device and flashlight I was carrying. (In that brief moment of panic I uttered a rather colorful expression of my terror — which, thank goodness, was muffled by mask.) Read More

In the News

NENA alters D Block position

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) yesterday said it would support public-safety efforts to reallocate the 700 MHz D Block for first-response usage if a sustainable funding model is established at the same time. Read More

FreeWave unveils radios for military OEMs

FreeWave Technologies unveiled the MM2-M13 and the MM2-MU. The radios were developed for government and military OEMs that needed devices to support communications from command-and-control to remote sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned ground vehicles, said Tim Stevens, product manager of embedded systems for FreeWave. Read More

Reporter's notebook

A roundup of items from the world of public-safety, utility, transportation, military and enterprise communications. By Glenn Bischoff

Andrew upgrades signal scanner

Raven offers interoperability solution

Radio IP mobile VPN provides single-point access to multiple networks

Daniels compact base station/repeater now available in higher-power version

Datron portable radios operate in multiple bands

On the Web

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