Syosset's radio crew [if you recall - the "Teletubbies"] seam to be paddling a row boat with no rudder over a water fall. Its been about three years since they were granted five UHF freqs. They though they would set-up a county wide tactical rescue com network on a system no one could access without a large capital out lay. I believe the voters turned down a bond issue for this system. If they want to serve the residents of their district, they could set-up a multi-receive site repeater system with one of those channels and use another for tactical fire ground. Give the other three channels back for others on LI to use. Nick
Good afternoon, we hope to clear up some misconceptions on Nick's behalf. We want to clear them because we agree (in part) with Nick and would not want to see him armed with inaccurate information.
COUNTY-WIDE SYSTEM FOR TECHNICAL RESCUE -
There was no great interest on the part of other agencies to construct any such system, therefore, it was not. Most modern radio systems require a large capital outlay. Certainly if they are to be public safety grade. The need for such a system, specifically, for technical rescue has changed. Some departments have disbanded their teams for lack of manpower (Syosset is among them).
BOND ISSUES -
To the best of our knowledge, the Syosset Fire District has never proposed a bond. However, there have been several public referenda held to finance a variety of projects in the past year from radios to LOSAP to fire trucks. All necessary financing for communications improvements have been secured.
SERVING THE DISTRICT WELL -
Your suggestion regarding a mutli-site voting system is duly noted and that is what is being built. We offer you thanks for the compliment.
FREQUENCY USE -
You suggest that needs could be served by one repeater channel and one fireground channel. Maybe they could. We followed the lead of one of our distinguished neighbors: the Melville Fire District. They demonstrated that a busy department may, in fact, be well served by having two repeater channels. (We'll skip commenting on the fireground channels as simplex channels are readily available.) Since this agency covers more square mileage and a larger exposed population, we assumed that two channels would be smart here, too. (It's only fair for us to say that analyses were conducted by professional engineers to determine what is actually needed, too.)
There was also a comment that three of the other channels should be given back for other Long Islanders to use. We couldn't agree more. But, first, there's something you should know in the interest of fairness, completeness of story, and accuracy: if those channels were instantly returned to the FCC, they would not just be available. Any eligible agency would need to obtain a waiver from the FCC to use them.
We have been urging our neighbors across the Island to utilize the waiver process to get channels, but no one wants to do it with the exception of Melville. (They did it successfully and that makes them pretty smart; not just because they followed our lead or anything...Syosset is only about the 200th agency in the region to get a waiver).
Well, here's the reason why they cannot just be given back: each already has a home. One pair is currently in use by the County of Westchester's Department of Emergency Services (it's the control channel for the southern half of the County's trunked system). The other two will be utilized by the Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue, & Emergency Services.
(Here's an interesting thought: Westchester has been working on their system for a few years now and it's currently going on-line. Thus, whatever arragement exists between Syosset, Westchester and the FCC is clearly not that new. So, while all sorts of assumptions and statements were made on earlier websites about those "extra" channels, they were already a done deal. Imagine if someone who was genuinely concerned just picked up the phone and called the Syosset Fire District? How does anyone think these agencies got in the mix? They were not only concerned, but intelligent, too. They picked up the phone and asked. If anyone else would like to ask for something please call 516-921-0728, ask for the fire district secretary and leave a message for the Communications Division. History proves we'll call back.)
Wow, the channels will collectively help a residential population of over 2 million people. You said they should help Long Island, and they will. Like we said, we agree.
Some people get things done. Some people just complain about other people who get things done.
