Thanks again Josh! We were deployed for 2 days to the Keller Fire in Oakland!! Thanks for the shout out of our group, and was awesome to meet you! Steve K8YIP
Could you get them on a podcast going over how they made the decisions on how to build something like this? What radios they chose and why, how they organized the interior and why, why they chose that vehicle. etc. It's such a complex project i would love to know how they went about picking everything.
Very complex! Our Deputy Fire Chief at the time wanted to make sure we avoided any single point failure of the unit. Our fire district operated it's own dispatch center and we needed a backup. It was entirely grant funded back in 2003. A lot of it is just making sure that if one thing fails it doesn't bring the whole operation down. We need backups for the backup because we are the backup!
@@ryanmahoney5657 curious what is the organization like? How does one get somethign like that started in their area, what was the grant application like, basically I'm interested on everyting someone who wants to get something like this in their area set up. It's awesome seeing volunteers get so integrated into helping their emergency services in their area.
Awesome work! The ability to do cross band operations is huge. Here in Western NY, everyone is on a different band. Having the ability to "plug" everyone together is vital. In my last company's rescue rig, we installed HF, VHF and UHF crossband trunk links. Most of our 911 Fire frequencies operated in the 46 mHz range while PD was in the 148.00 range. While local Federal Agencies were in the 460.00 range. Our apparatus had the capability to link all Agencies onto one usable channel. Communication is key during a MCI or large scale scenes.
One of the few comm vehicle setups(not that there aren't more out there!) that has noise cancelling/noise suppression headsets (David Clark) for the ROs. Appear to be frequently overlooked -- esp when hams are involved in the configurations. Try finding noise cancelling mics in the headsets built for amateur radio use (non-existent). IMHO, they are unequivocal imperatives for operating in the high ambient noise of net control / dispatch centers. Bravo Zulu to the San Ramon folks!
Had a great chat with them and beyond what they do I was impressed on how they engage and get local government to see the value and support them... San Jose (nearby) tells volunteer's (and CERT) they want our support but nothing is really done to prepare. Staff recently told us in September "well in a real emergency that overwhelms us, we would just get state and federal help" I wonder if they would say the same thing this month 🤷
Our district is very supportive of our group, and I’m proud to be a part of it. The compliments that we get from different fire agencies when we’re out assisting makes it all worthwhile. We also do lots of bicycle races and fun runs as well. These events give us the opportunity to keep up on our skills and make sure everything is in working order.
Thanks for the video!!! What see there is the end result of a TREMENDOUS amount of behind the scenes work in terms of organization, funding and engagement to make it a reality. A lot of people outside of government fail to realize just how challenging and difficult it can be for stakeholders in the first responder community to get traction for resources like these to where it becomes material reality. Every jurisdiction is different, some decision makers see the value in this kind of effort, others ignore it. Kudos to the San Ramon Valley first responders for making this happen!
I agree and there are other agencies that have communications rigs that stay parked in a barn all the time. We are very fortunate that our district lets us go out to public service events like fun, runs and bicycle races and provide net control for ham volunteers.
Thanks for sharing this with us Josh! Wow! What a fantastic rig! I'm a Firefighter here in the UK and we have nothing on that scale or capacity! Incidentally, I'm running an exercise next month with our colleagues from Search & Rescue along with RAYNET UK, testing and demonstration communications across different services and radio networks, including fire, S&R and VHF marine with the RAYNET amateur volunteers relaying radio message from the incident ground back to our fire service control room. Thanks again & best 73 Ben de M7FRS
I worked emergency services for nearly 20 years in a major metropolitan area, and I've seen a lot less capability packed into significantly larger vehicles - Somebody really put a lot of work into the planning of this unit.
Most impressive! I particularly like the way the mobile rigs are mounted. Ultra clean, yet easy to remove for replacement/repair. This is top shelf engineering from every detail. Thank you Josh for this great walkthrough and interview. 73 OM
Though the rigs are networked into each dispatch console, if there is a supervisor behind you or if the networking fails, there are hand mics for each radio as a back up. 73
Nice rig. Their new tandem axle rig looks very impressive. I've worked in police and fire dispatch communications and fire service, so this is right up my alley. Hopefully you'll be able to get a tour of their new rig!
I sure miss Huel. Great video Josh, Im part of RACES / ARES in Cochise county AZ. I work the radio room at the local ER in Douglas. Our group gets deployed like these guys do as well as community events. Unfortunately i'm a trucker and not able to get involved as much as I'd like to. I'm currently building an EMCOMM unit of my own that hopefully someday I will be able to go to places that are in situations like the recent hurricanes
This is great! I'm impressed that you have a volunteer team to run it. As a local EM, I'm building a mobile incident command post and communications vehicle and you've given me some great ideas.
This is great, I've seen the truck deployed around here and was always curious what's inside. Will have to show this to my other incident management team folks.
Fantastic. Hope you pass on our/my admiration for the Volunteer work they do. Wonder if there was anything like it for the hurricanes Fla, NC, Tenn, etc. Wow
Nice video Josh. This is a nice setup. Seeing how excited you are seeing this, I do hope someday you get to tour a similar military comms shelter. Amazing what you can do with an "unlimited budget". Plus you can see what a $250k radio looks like. LOL
Funny you posted this video today, as today I got my first look at my department's new MERC (Mobile Emergency Response Command) trailer. I'm tasked with outfitting it with both radio and telephone communications in compliance with our state's interoperability channel plan. Fun stuff! and awesome rig there!
Good video Josh. I am retired now but I used to do this stiff for a larger city Emergency management group. Since I retired, I got into Ham, joined an ARES group in a very small town where I now live. With the hurricane in Florida and a few other states it made me wonder about Those ARRL Radiograms. I have an idea for another video. How about doing one on passing traffic using Radiograms? The ARRL is big on them and I know there are some guys helping after the hurricane disaster. I am sure knowing how to receive/ re-transmit and file(?.. or whatever one does) them somehow would be a helpful skill. Something ham radio is supposed to be all about. I have never done one and I wouldn't know what to do with it after I forwarded the information on to the next station. HF is pretty new to me and perhaps this would be a skill which might help me help others. Does that sound like a topic you might consider?
I first saw that rig at the first Pacificon I attended in 2022, it's still as impressive now, as it was in 2022. I can't imagine the one-upmanship on this rig that 's being put into the new rig.
Wow! What I like to watch is how this technology, and equipment trickles down lower and lower. What I mean is my local volunteer fire Department has better equipment than my station did 40 years ago. What I regret is I can't follow any longer because of trunked nets, or encryption.
Tha is for sharing, Washington Co Pennsylvania has a county comms vehicle similar to this one. And the county let's WACOM ham club operate it because Washington county government knows nothing about the operation of any of the equipment inside the truck. 73 K3CRJ
Very nice! It takes pretty dedicated volunteers to make sure that you’re up on all of the technology and to test and make sure all of the radios are working.
Thank True American , no telling how many this will save ,, Let’s do it every were.
3 місяці тому+1
The biggest problem with one of these rigs is when you have 4 or 5 radios going and 2 or 3 people doing comms in such a small space it destroys the quality and efficiency of the dispatch center it is supposed to be.. Lots of the Amateur radio clubs have communication trailers and they found that having 2 or 3 smaller trailers that have 2 person operating teams dedicated to fewer radios linked by computer networking screens to function best.. Smaller trailers are also far easier to get into areas that have lots of storm damage or are just isolated.. These large mobile setups are best as deployable replacement County level dispatch central offices that can be placed to replace a destroyed dispatch building..
We just used it back in December when our dispatch was moved from one building to another. We had all 911 forwarded to the rig and though a little cramped; worked really well.
That is a most impressive communication rig riding on a 20 year old vehicle. I can only imagine what the new version is going to look like. The existing one doesn't appear to be lacking anything.
This is what municipalities in natural disaster prone areas should have at the ready at all times. I couldn't tell if they could in this video but, it would be really neat if they were able to communicate on the various channelized radio services, as well.
WOW! Makes the old WWI ambulance we converted to a comm rig look primitive! And we had police/fire/EMS radios on top of the ham rigs... nothing this nice though! If we needed to pee it was go find a bush!
As a teenager I was a ground team member for our local Civil Air Patrol unit. When I was at home base I liked hanging around our communication van. We had three radios and a phone that you cranked to make the phone on the other end ring. This 20 year old truck is light years ahead of what we were using.
I really liked this video! Too bad with all the money FEMA has that they cannot do similar things. This is a bunch of volunteer private dudes getting the job done.
Its way cool. I have personally trained with and used AZ DEMAs Emcomm vehicles which consists of 1 " Toad"( based on a Grumman type van) and 3 "Frogs" ( based on motorhomes) that are prepositioned thruout AZ. Hf, VHF,UHF, Satellite up/down link, cellular, video feeds etc , definitely awesome. Beats the " manpack " anyday.
Hello Josh. First and foremost, I hope you're outside of the fire zone. I have a dilemma I'm hoping you can lend your expertise to for a minute. Just for emergency coms for the individual with a technicians license, would you think it better to get my general and an HF radio in the $500 range or get a Starlink Mini setup? Thanks for all your videos.
We use Telex Csoft. Our new rig will have wireless headsets but on the current rig they plug into ADHB-4 at each position and for every 2 radios it uses 1 IP-223.
Now that was a cool rig and every state should have 1 or 2 of those for emergancy and disasrer situation like what has happened with Hurricane Helene. Thanks for making this video Josh because that is money well spent in my opinion on that rig. Hell I want that 20yr old rig they can just donate that bad boy to me if they want lol!
Although there are a few other rigs in the area. It’s really the only rig that has a whole team of volunteers that can operate, maintain, and drive the rig
A rig like this full of radio tech is exactly what one of these companies need to supply you to take to schools and get kids interested. Unfortunately, they have no clue how to market and bring in youth. They have no clue how much gear you get even myself who is luke warm to buy.
Having a pile of gear, however well organized, is nothing but potentially dangerous, absent communications standards, rigorous training, and tight management. It would be helpful to know if any of these are considered when sending radio amateur volunteers out into the field in either public safety or public service.
They allow non-employees to drive a county truck?! And somehow find the money to insure, maintain, operate, and equip it all in top condition?! Either that's one mad rich valley, or someone took hostages.
It's actually a group of Reserves so considered district personnel when responding. It requires a Firefighter endorsement from the DMV with many hours of behind the wheel driver training with experienced fire engineers.
well that's why I have my ham license, because time and time again even the local emergency agencies don't even have reliable communication, anybody's cheap Chinese made Motorola radios now!
In between all the cliche-orange-vest-licensed hams and unlicensed-plate-carrier-mall-cop-prepper doofuses there are always reasonable people like this.
Thanks Josh for stopping by! Hope you'll be able to come up next Pacificon to see our new truck! 73s W6RAM
Are you guys planning to sell this current unit once your new one arrives?
Thanks for helping the communities throughout.
Thanks again Josh! We were deployed for 2 days to the Keller Fire in Oakland!! Thanks for the shout out of our group, and was awesome to meet you! Steve K8YIP
Could you get them on a podcast going over how they made the decisions on how to build something like this? What radios they chose and why, how they organized the interior and why, why they chose that vehicle. etc. It's such a complex project i would love to know how they went about picking everything.
Very complex! Our Deputy Fire Chief at the time wanted to make sure we avoided any single point failure of the unit. Our fire district operated it's own dispatch center and we needed a backup. It was entirely grant funded back in 2003. A lot of it is just making sure that if one thing fails it doesn't bring the whole operation down. We need backups for the backup because we are the backup!
@@ryanmahoney5657 curious what is the organization like? How does one get somethign like that started in their area, what was the grant application like, basically I'm interested on everyting someone who wants to get something like this in their area set up. It's awesome seeing volunteers get so integrated into helping their emergency services in their area.
Awesome work! The ability to do cross band operations is huge. Here in Western NY, everyone is on a different band. Having the ability to "plug" everyone together is vital. In my last company's rescue rig, we installed HF, VHF and UHF crossband trunk links. Most of our 911 Fire frequencies operated in the 46 mHz range while PD was in the 148.00 range. While local Federal Agencies were in the 460.00 range. Our apparatus had the capability to link all Agencies onto one usable channel. Communication is key during a MCI or large scale scenes.
That's the aspect I was most impressed about.
My old ham club had an old ambulance that they set up w/ multiple radios, they called it the Ham-bulance
Hats Off to this Vol group.
I used to live there! So cool. Thanks for showing what these brave volunteers are capable of.
One of the few comm vehicle setups(not that there aren't more out there!) that has noise cancelling/noise suppression headsets (David Clark) for the ROs. Appear to be frequently overlooked -- esp when hams are involved in the configurations. Try finding noise cancelling mics in the headsets built for amateur radio use (non-existent). IMHO, they are unequivocal imperatives for operating in the high ambient noise of net control / dispatch centers. Bravo Zulu to the San Ramon folks!
Had a great chat with them and beyond what they do I was impressed on how they engage and get local government to see the value and support them... San Jose (nearby) tells volunteer's (and CERT) they want our support but nothing is really done to prepare. Staff recently told us in September "well in a real emergency that overwhelms us, we would just get state and federal help" I wonder if they would say the same thing this month 🤷
Bring that up!
Now's the time to push for the equipment that you need.
You may have to hire an interpreter that speaks DE&I to get through to those geniuses , and that is a long shot .
Good luck .
Our district is very supportive of our group, and I’m proud to be a part of it. The compliments that we get from different fire agencies when we’re out assisting makes it all worthwhile. We also do lots of bicycle races and fun runs as well. These events give us the opportunity to keep up on our skills and make sure everything is in working order.
Point out all the help they got from the FED in NC !!!!
Thanks for the video!!! What see there is the end result of a TREMENDOUS amount of behind the scenes work in terms of organization, funding and engagement to make it a reality. A lot of people outside of government fail to realize just how challenging and difficult it can be for stakeholders in the first responder community to get traction for resources like these to where it becomes material reality. Every jurisdiction is different, some decision makers see the value in this kind of effort, others ignore it. Kudos to the San Ramon Valley first responders for making this happen!
I agree and there are other agencies that have communications rigs that stay parked in a barn all the time. We are very fortunate that our district lets us go out to public service events like fun, runs and bicycle races and provide net control for ham volunteers.
I live in N Cal and super happy to see something so solid and well managed! Will be a big help whenever the next disaster strikes!
Thanks for sharing this with us Josh! Wow! What a fantastic rig! I'm a Firefighter here in the UK and we have nothing on that scale or capacity!
Incidentally, I'm running an exercise next month with our colleagues from Search & Rescue along with RAYNET UK, testing and demonstration communications across different services and radio networks, including fire, S&R and VHF marine with the RAYNET amateur volunteers relaying radio message from the incident ground back to our fire service control room.
Thanks again & best 73
Ben
de M7FRS
I worked emergency services for nearly 20 years in a major metropolitan area, and I've seen a lot less capability packed into significantly larger vehicles - Somebody really put a lot of work into the planning of this unit.
Most impressive! I particularly like the way the mobile rigs are mounted. Ultra clean, yet easy to remove for replacement/repair. This is top shelf engineering from every detail. Thank you Josh for this great walkthrough and interview. 73 OM
Though the rigs are networked into each dispatch console, if there is a supervisor behind you or if the networking fails, there are hand mics for each radio as a back up. 73
Nice rig. Their new tandem axle rig looks very impressive. I've worked in police and fire dispatch communications and fire service, so this is right up my alley. Hopefully you'll be able to get a tour of their new rig!
I sure miss Huel.
Great video Josh, Im part of RACES / ARES in Cochise county AZ. I work the radio room at the local ER in Douglas. Our group gets deployed like these guys do as well as community events. Unfortunately i'm a trucker and not able to get involved as much as I'd like to. I'm currently building an EMCOMM unit of my own that hopefully someday I will be able to go to places that are in situations like the recent hurricanes
This truck helps with comms for three major cycling events i help with. They interface with the local amateur radio clubs seamlessly. 🎉🎉 Great group!
Thanks for sharing
That comms truck is really awesome and I cant wait to see the new one next year!
This is great! I'm impressed that you have a volunteer team to run it. As a local EM, I'm building a mobile incident command post and communications vehicle and you've given me some great ideas.
Incredible set of guys, awesome operation.
This is great, I've seen the truck deployed around here and was always curious what's inside. Will have to show this to my other incident management team folks.
Next time you see us out, ask to come in! We get visitors all the time at events
This was a complete nerdgasm! Thanks for posting
Wow that fire/comms truck was so cool are there any more videos on that truck like how they built it?
Fantastic. Hope you pass on our/my admiration for the Volunteer work they do.
Wonder if there was anything like it for the hurricanes Fla, NC, Tenn, etc. Wow
Nice video Josh. This is a nice setup. Seeing how excited you are seeing this, I do hope someday you get to tour a similar military comms shelter. Amazing what you can do with an "unlimited budget". Plus you can see what a $250k radio looks like. LOL
Not the mention the $24,000 128 pin 2 foot cable.
Funny you posted this video today, as today I got my first look at my department's new MERC (Mobile Emergency Response Command) trailer. I'm tasked with outfitting it with both radio and telephone communications in compliance with our state's interoperability channel plan. Fun stuff! and awesome rig there!
Good video Josh. I am retired now but I used to do this stiff for a larger city Emergency management group. Since I retired, I got into Ham, joined an ARES group in a very small town where I now live. With the hurricane in Florida and a few other states it made me wonder about Those ARRL Radiograms. I have an idea for another video. How about doing one on passing traffic using Radiograms? The ARRL is big on them and I know there are some guys helping after the hurricane disaster. I am sure knowing how to receive/ re-transmit and file(?.. or whatever one does) them somehow would be a helpful skill. Something ham radio is supposed to be all about. I have never done one and I wouldn't know what to do with it after I forwarded the information on to the next station. HF is pretty new to me and perhaps this would be a skill which might help me help others. Does that sound like a topic you might consider?
I first saw that rig at the first Pacificon I attended in 2022, it's still as impressive now, as it was in 2022. I can't imagine the one-upmanship on this rig that 's being put into the new rig.
Wow! What I like to watch is how this technology, and equipment trickles down lower and lower.
What I mean is my local volunteer fire Department has better equipment than my station did 40 years ago. What I regret is I can't follow any longer because of trunked nets, or encryption.
Took a long look at this vehicle last year, very impressive!
This is great 😊
Wow they thought of everything 👍
Tha is for sharing, Washington Co Pennsylvania has a county comms vehicle similar to this one. And the county let's WACOM ham club operate it because Washington county government knows nothing about the operation of any of the equipment inside the truck.
73 K3CRJ
Very nice! It takes pretty dedicated volunteers to make sure that you’re up on all of the technology and to test and make sure all of the radios are working.
Absolutely amazing!!
Holly macral it is so well setup and thought out! What an amazing setup. Would be awesome to volunteer with.
The Huell reference... Guest says description, Huell repeats description back to guest, but as a question ... Ye, you nailed it bro, pulled a Howser
Wow that's the old mobile EmComm setup?! 😅😅 That amazing! Can't imagine what the new one will be like.
VERY NICE
That’s impressive!
Thank True American , no telling how many this will save ,, Let’s do it every were.
The biggest problem with one of these rigs is when you have 4 or 5 radios going and 2 or 3 people doing comms in such a small space it destroys the quality and efficiency of the dispatch center it is supposed to be.. Lots of the Amateur radio clubs have communication trailers and they found that having 2 or 3 smaller trailers that have 2 person operating teams dedicated to fewer radios linked by computer networking screens to function best.. Smaller trailers are also far easier to get into areas that have lots of storm damage or are just isolated.. These large mobile setups are best as deployable replacement County level dispatch central offices that can be placed to replace a destroyed dispatch building..
We just used it back in December when our dispatch was moved from one building to another. We had all 911 forwarded to the rig and though a little cramped; worked really well.
Nice rig! I use to do EOC coms stuff and man that rig would have been nice to have.
Dispatch area = kid in a candy store! This is super cool!!! Thanks for sharing!
WoW, wish i had that instead of the Comms Van i have for volunteer marine rescue group.
That is a most impressive communication rig riding on a 20 year old vehicle. I can only imagine what the new version is going to look like. The existing one doesn't appear to be lacking anything.
Even though you’ve had some great content lately, this is probably my favorite in the last few weeks.
Wow, thanks! It was a lot of fun! I love the surprises you see at ham fest!
well that's easily the coolest vehicle I've seen today
Indeed!
I watched your AREDN video from a few years back, and while not prehistoric, I was just wondering if you plan an updated version coming out?
Very cool! Stoked on the upcoming Helium Mobile version with Starlink, should be rad. Well done with the video.
That was super cool. Great video Josh!!!
Wow that's a whole dispatch center and EOC in a truck
Yep
I'm curious how long it takes from when they pull up & park to when they are fully set, ready, & on the air
I asked that. They said 15-20 minutes.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse such a cool asset to deploy
This is what municipalities in natural disaster prone areas should have at the ready at all times. I couldn't tell if they could in this video but, it would be really neat if they were able to communicate on the various channelized radio services, as well.
Very comprehensive. Most comm centers do not have all that.
That is so nice!
Like a kid in a toy store..lol
Amazing is definitely the word here...
Please get them to give you a private showing of the new one once they take delivery.
Similar to squad 16! that's a rig also!
WOW! Makes the old WWI ambulance we converted to a comm rig look primitive! And we had police/fire/EMS radios on top of the ham rigs... nothing this nice though! If we needed to pee it was go find a bush!
As a teenager I was a ground team member for our local Civil Air Patrol unit. When I was at home base I liked hanging around our communication van. We had three radios and a phone that you cranked to make the phone on the other end ring. This 20 year old truck is light years ahead of what we were using.
I really liked this video! Too bad with all the money FEMA has that they cannot do similar things. This is a bunch of volunteer private dudes getting the job done.
Great outro music.
I think that will fit on my XJ
Someone needs to trip to Frontline Comm in Clearwater when they take delivery of the new rig....
3:14 I bet it cost many bands too 😂
😂
Nice
Maybe you could do a ride along day with them, Josh?
Ok Josh, your getting your van when exactly?😁😁
A major wow !
This is the size of my county's pumper trucks. Serious cash went into this rig.
Impressive!!!
Its way cool.
I have personally trained with and used AZ DEMAs Emcomm vehicles which consists of 1 " Toad"( based on a Grumman type van) and 3 "Frogs" ( based on motorhomes) that are prepositioned thruout AZ.
Hf, VHF,UHF, Satellite up/down link, cellular, video feeds etc , definitely awesome.
Beats the " manpack " anyday.
Hello Josh. First and foremost, I hope you're outside of the fire zone. I have a dilemma I'm hoping you can lend your expertise to for a minute. Just for emergency coms for the individual with a technicians license, would you think it better to get my general and an HF radio in the $500 range or get a Starlink Mini setup? Thanks for all your videos.
15-20 minute setup time is insanely fast for anyone who isn’t familiar with the work environment they’re dealing with.
Very cool!
What software are they using to control and send audio to the radios?
We use Telex Csoft. Our new rig will have wireless headsets but on the current rig they plug into ADHB-4 at each position and for every 2 radios it uses 1 IP-223.
Extremely impressive for volunteers.
Thanks for visiting CS131 at Pacificon! See you again in 2025!
you gotta do a ride along!
This makes me feel so inadequate. I'd love to see how all of this was planned out and put together.
Would like to know more about general Bob !
Search for California gold Baghdad cafe.
Now that was a cool rig and every state should have 1 or 2 of those for emergancy and disasrer situation like what has happened with Hurricane Helene.
Thanks for making this video Josh because that is money well spent in my opinion on that rig. Hell I want that 20yr old rig they can just donate that bad boy to me if they want lol!
Although there are a few other rigs in the area. It’s really the only rig that has a whole team of volunteers that can operate, maintain, and drive the rig
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The only thing missing is a double deck with bunkbeds (and the keg).
Would love it. Had to sleep on the floor during one deployment in it.
Jelly.
No joke right?
Did I see an ACU 1000?
Yes you did, it'll be on the new rig as well
Where's the HF station? I was hoping to see a wall of iCom and yaesu HF rigs.
We’re planning on HF in the new rig in some form
@@SendLead That's going to be excellent. Such a cool piece of equipment.
I want one!!!!
Meh.
For real though that is amazing!
What was "General Bob" doing in the middle of the video?😅 At 4 minutes 46 secs.
👏👏👏. Cooool
Can someone point me in the direction to find the whole of clip of “General Bob”.
Omg yes! “Californias Gold - Baghdad Cafe” Adam Carolla did a bit on that episode too, it’s hilarious.
I shall nickname CS-131 “General Bob”
Is this item still for sale? Wait? This isn't Facebook Marketplace?
For real!
I think after the new truck is delivered, the old one will be for sale, and then you can use the code in the description to get a discount.
A rig like this full of radio tech is exactly what one of these companies need to supply you to take to schools and get kids interested. Unfortunately, they have no clue how to market and bring in youth. They have no clue how much gear you get even myself who is luke warm to buy.
Brought to you in part by Neurodivergence.
Having a pile of gear, however well organized, is nothing but potentially dangerous, absent communications standards, rigorous training, and tight management.
It would be helpful to know if any of these are considered when sending radio amateur volunteers out into the field in either public safety or public service.
They allow non-employees to drive a county truck?! And somehow find the money to insure, maintain, operate, and equip it all in top condition?!
Either that's one mad rich valley, or someone took hostages.
It's actually a group of Reserves so considered district personnel when responding. It requires a Firefighter endorsement from the DMV with many hours of behind the wheel driver training with experienced fire engineers.
well that's why I have my ham license, because time and time again even the local emergency agencies don't even have reliable communication, anybody's cheap Chinese made Motorola radios now!
How cheap is a China made Motorola radio today? I should buy some more. Which models are they?
POTA rig
Your post is followed by an offer to translate "POTA rig" into English.
In between all the cliche-orange-vest-licensed hams and unlicensed-plate-carrier-mall-cop-prepper doofuses there are always reasonable people like this.
😂
It’s comes from tax payer money, mostly Governmemt grant