Cover Story

Filling in the Blanks

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

With most of the commercial opportunity in the 700 MHz band being claimed in a landmark auction earlier this year, the wireless industry already has begun focusing on the next frontier, the so-called TV white spaces spectrum....

Features

A different type of weapon

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mary Rose Roberts

A gun fires on an Oakland, Calif., street. Residents assume the sound is city din — perhaps a truck backfiring — and ignore it. At the same moment, a sensor-based location system detects the sound and wirelessly transmits it to 911 dispatchers....

Different strokes

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jay M. Jacobsmeyer, P.E.

In the U.S. and Canada, 911 is the official national emergency number. When 911 is dialed, the caller is connected to a public-safety answering point, or PSAP, where a dispatcher routes the call to the appropriate emergency personnel....

Oil and water

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Doug Mohney

First-responder communications interoperability has numerous challenges ranging from agencies operating on disparate radio frequencies and using different waveforms to the verbal shorthand such organizations use in their daily operations....

First Word

Name dropping

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Glenn Bischoff, gbischoff@mrtmag.com

Cousin Billy was a Chicago firefighter and our family's favorite son. Part icon, part hero, part myth, he became a larger-than-life legend the day he climbed out of the rubble....

News

D Block picture gets murkier

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

FCC commissioners' task of determining what to do with the 10 MHz D block in the 700 MHz band and the adjacent 10 MHz of public-safety broadband spectrum could become increasingly complex,...

FEMA assumes key role in emergency-alert system

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Glenn Bischoff

The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would perform the unified aggregator/gateway role for the fledgling Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) after all....

APCO announces PSAP winners

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials announced the 2008 Public Safety Award Program winners....

Peeling back the onion

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

Digital radios often are not compatible with fireground settings or equipment used by firefighters, according to a national laboratory test and recommendations...

A changing world

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

Last month's National Emergency Number Association conference in Tampa showcased several changes — technological, political and operational — occurring in the 911 arena nationwide....

FCC grants rebanding waivers

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

The FCC gave Sprint Nextel an expected waiver from completing rebanding as originally scheduled for June 26. Meanwhile, the wireless carrier asked the commission to relieve it from a deadline regarding other 800 MHz frequencies that a federal court recently upheld....

Congress passes 911 bill

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

Both the Senate and House passed legislation designed to help public-safety answering points (PSAPs) migrate to next-generation 911 by clarifying some policy issues that have been considered barriers to the transition....

View from the Top

The significance of user-centered design

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Bruce Claxton

Advancements in mission-critical radio communications have progressed at a steady pace. A look across the industry reveals a host of new capabilities...

Products

Vehicle builders improve 911 access

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

General Motors and Ford Motor Co. recently announced some enhancements to their in-vehicle communications systems for this fall that are designed to improve access to 911 services...

Harris multiplexer supports interoperable communications

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mary Rose Roberts

Interoperable communications long has been a buzzword in the public-safety community. To satisfy the craving for technologies that connect disparate land-mobile-radio systems for reliable communications during emergency incidents, the city of Bangor, Maine, deployed Intraplex NetExpress multiplexers from Melbourne, Fla.-based Harris....

Products

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Donny Jackson

Base stations, subscriber units, bridges Proxim Wireless launched its Tsunami MP.11 HS line of base stations, subscriber units and bridges targeted to...

Final Word

What rebanding needs is a dictionary

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Alan Tilles

Recently, I was having a conversation with the TA at an IPS. I was lamenting that we've now added a CRW to the list of rebanding documents for NPSPAC licensees. In case you didn't know, the CRW is...

Correction

Correction

Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM

In the June Tech Speak, Using directional couplers, the labels for signal generator and 50-ohm termination were reversed in Figure 4....