Public safety radio systems have used computers to control major functions for decades now, and the site manager is one of several our system uses. The site manager controls various functions, chief among which is access: it decides which radios are able to operate on the system, and excludes those that are not authorized.
Our site manager is a DEC MicroVAX 3100-90. This model was released in 1993, the same year Sleepless in Seattle was released. It was installed in 1997, replacing an earlier VAX model. The manufacturer, DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) folded when it was acquired by Compaq in 1998, which also went away, acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2002.
The MicroVAX 3100-90 has a 72 MHz processor. My iPhone has a 1.3 GHz processor. Thus the processor in my phone is 18 times faster than the site manager. The MicroVAX has 128 MB of memory, compared to 1 GB for my phone. If the site manager were to fail, we would be scrambling to find a replacement. Could we quickly find a hardware platform upon which we could install the operating system and application software to take over the function?
During my testimony Monday, I told the council members that while they had been debating other issues on the agenda, I found a DEC MicroVAX 3100 for sale on eBay for $74.95. I wasn't joking. It was in the vintage computer section. My point was emphasize that we have stretched some of our public safety radio infrastructure a long, long way.
11 comments:
Maybe you should buy the 2 that are left.
Cheaper than $20 million.
Do more with less!
Anon 9:55, our new mantra is do less with more. (ARV).........
Maybe you could just donate your i-phone....anyway my other concern is this is being potrayed as a public safety with an apparrent deception, or partial truth to insite or scare people when infact the system provides service for star trans, the dog catchers, public works, parks and rec, this is a muti user system not just fire / ems/ capital security, NSP has their own and only uses it for liason etc and other entities, in the past 25 years we should have been tucking away 1 Mil per year and we would all not look so stupid like we do now, after all we bought and arena, municipal building, converted "P" Street, never mowed the parks or fixed any sidewalks either, "priorites" or lack thereof, that's were the money is / I mean was!...thank you....
9:14,
84.2% of the actual system usage is by public safety agencies.You could add another 6.5% if you chose to include Lincoln Public Schools, which uses their own system for most of their radio communications, but deploys radios on our system for high school security staff and administrators.
is clearly a public safety radio system, upon which we have a some non-public safety users, simply as a means of utilizing an existing resource that has capacity, rather than the City of Lincoln operating several independent radio systems, to the benefit of all.
Tomorrow will be a good example of the benefit of interoperability across agencies, as the Building & Safety and Public Works Department are part of the public safety team for a rather large special event in the City.
Do you think it would make more sense for Parks & Rec, the Health Department, or StarTran to buy, operate, and maintain their own radio system?
No just portray is as a city / county radio radio system and appropriate cost share, do they get to ride for free since apparently it does not matter? Can I use it for my business too since Im paying for it, I would not neeed that many radios either...I never said they should have their own system or repeater, stop scaring people into "public safety" and acknowledge what it is ! Im irritated and voting NO until these things are disclosed and separated as to what they really are instead of just dropping every thing into one huge bucket. Fire station bond approved pass, city (county) radio system approved pass etc.... Till then get a tin can and some string...
Tom... please tell me you have a disaster recovery plan for your IT infrastructure. Having access to Ebay doesn't count as a disaster recovery plan.
I am not an electrinics geek, I have a helluva time even figuring out my "smart" phone but I wonder if maybe a radio system is obsolete.
Is there any way every officer could be issued a "smart" phone and the "central" outgoing communications center could send calls out to the specific people that need the information? Incoming communications numbers could be set up on some kind of a speed dialing setup on the keypad of the phone.
The private sector is always updating their products yet because of competition the prices are affordable. How many smart phones would a million dollars buy? A system like this would not require an update every twenty years but could be upgraded constantly.
Is a dedicated radio system more reliable than our current cellular phone system? Maybe in a rural area where cell towers are few and far between but in our urban environment?
Just curious.
Gun Nut
11:24,
We have Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C, although none of those are as good as getting back up to current technology.
Gun Nut,
Rather than going into excruciating detail about why cell phones can't replace land mobile radio for public safety, just reflect upon what happened after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, or for that matter Lincoln's October 27, 1997 snowstorm and tomorrow's football game: one of the first things that happens in a crisis is that the telephone system is overloaded. When you most need it, it will not be available.
There are many other reasons, but that's the most obvious.
Govt is just a huge SCAM. That's ALL
Would this essentially near rebuild of the system include constructing new equipment to cover areas of the city that may be lacking in radio coverage?
Post a Comment