Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Arkansas Wireless Information Network -County to get $2.5 million for radios

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 15:15:42 -0400

Arkansas Wireless Information Network
County to get $2.5 million for radios
by Ed Galucki
staff writer

First-responders in Lonoke County will soon share a state-of-the-art
communications system and, best of all, they will not have to share the
$2.5 million price tag. Funds to install the equipment, to tie into the
Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN), will come from a grant
from the Department of Homeland Security administered through the
Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, Charlie Troutman, county
judge, said.

The award of the funds was confirmed Tuesday, April 27, but the details
of the transaction remain to be finalized. “Oh, I had a lot of ideas of
what I could use that money on, but they told me that was out of my
hands; it is for the radio system,” he quipped. Jimmy DePriest, director
of the county Office of Emergency Services, said that Lonoke County is
one of five counties chosen for the pilot program that will begin the
changeover by all counties to the new system. Lonoke County’s size,
proximity to Pulaski County, and number of response units played a part
in the county’s selection, he said.

Changeover will replace the patchwork of radio systems now used by law
enforcement and fire fighting agencies with a single system, DePriest
said. “Right now, someone can’t even go between cities and still talk,
much less between counties. With this new equipment, someone could go
anywhere in the state and be able to tie in,” he said.

Though inherently simple, the system is difficult to explain, DePriest
remarked. All the frequencies now being used by response units will be
replaced by a single 800-megahertz, digital system. While all agencies
will be able to tie together, communication within each department will
be uninterrupted by others using the system, he said.
“It sorts it all out, somehow,” DePriest said. “Right now, when the
weather is right, we can hear what goes on in the other county [sharing
the radio frequency] on that,” he said, motioning to the base station of
the county’s radio system, installed in a corner of the county judge’s
office.

Local agencies will be able to use AWIN for their daily business without
interrupting each other; yet, should the circumstances call for it, each
could instantly be part of the larger network, DePriest said. “I will be
able speak with any agency in the county, alone, but with the flip of a
switch we will all be able put them all on one line,” he said.

The grant even provides for equipping the individual agencies with
radios, DePriest said. Every response agency in the county will be
included, though separate provisions are being made for ambulance
services because they are commercial operations, he said.

Troutman said that he would like to see the system in operation as soon
as possible, though it could take some time. “I worry about what is
going on in Pine Bluff,” he remarked, referring to the scheduled
destruction of chemical weapons stored at the arsenal there.

“That’s a touchy thing that they are doing; they are already behind on
what they said their schedule was going to be,” Troutman remarked.

While the delay notes the caution behind the tests of the incinerator,
it also underscores the danger of what is being done at the arsenal,
Troutman said. If something were to go wrong, the plume could reach
Cabot, odors from the paper plant prove that, he remarked.

http://www.lonokedemocrat.com/Pages/05-05-04/County%20to%20get%20radios.htm

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/