"Al Klein" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 03:14:22 -0400, "jm" said
in rec.radio.scanner:

"Al Klein" wrote in message
. ..

That's implementation-dependent. The systems can be set up with TACs,
so they can talk without repeaters.

Please forgive my rant.... but it is worth thinking about - even if you
find
yourself disagreeing.

Question is - is were they set up as such?

I have no idea, but that's irrelevant. If the mechanism exists, and
the department chooses to not take advantage of it, it's not a problem
with the technology, it's a problem with the department. Give them
*any* technology and they'd probably refuse to implement it.

....... And the next question is - if they were - then what could be the
reason for "not" using them? A likely reason is all battery power is
exhausted - and that could be the case if the only radios left were the
ones
being carried by the officers at the time. All the rest "may" have been
destroyed. With no power, they couldn't recharge any if they had a charger
left to do so - at all.

Generators. Solar chargers. Again, the technology is there. If the
department chose to not take advantage of it ...

Tell me again, after enough time has passed that they would have run
out of any realistic amount of fuel for the generators, and it's
impossible to truck in more. (It isn't - NG trucks have been bringing
in fuel since the NG got there.)

The only building(s) that I'm aware of which had
anything left to it with a generator - was "a" hospital or so and the
arena.
They could probably have "tried" to recharge the radios there - IF they
had
a charger - which again - was probably gone. There ARE reasons why no
radios
were left behind or now usable. Lets face it, this hurricane put them back
a
few hundred if not a thousand years.

But, with proper advance planning, they would have had everything they
need (as far as communications goes). All they had to do was to move
their fully equipped, snorkel-engined commo van - with a generator,
full fuel tanks, chargers for every type of radio they use, spare
radios, spare batteries, etc. - to a high, protected spot before the
hurricane struck. Then drive it back into town after the hurricane
passed.

Instead of blaming people, we ALL need to sit down and re-evaluate the
situation before the next one comes - just what "would" we do - for
ourselves, our family. In any event like this - you LEARN. Just like 911 -
the city of New York's Public Service radios were swamped beyond use.

Nothing like that at all. There were problems, but the system wasn't
"swamped". Talk to the people actually involved in NYC commo - FDNY
commo supervisors and run board supervisors. (And supervisors of the
commo bureaus of other departments. Ham radio was operating as well
as people in total shock can be expected to operate all day, so why
wasn't a professional service like FDNY? I'm not knocking FDNY -
there were problems, but being "swamped" wasn't one of them.)


I won't argue the point that they "could" have been better prepared. Why
they weren't, is the question. As to FDNY - my info differs from yours, but
so be it. The point is, we all need to learn from the mistakes to be better
prepared for the next event. Otherwise, I think we basically agree! The
bigger the problem is, the worst it is going to get. Everyone needs to take
an active role in the positive to make sure things go much smoother for them
and everyone else. The "system" can't do it all - as much as some would like
to think.

jm