DHS in trials of next generation multiband radio

you down, the extra screens cut down on your efficiency, and the extra cash you spent burned a hole in your pocket. Then, along came a device on which you could do all of these things at one time, boosting productivity and saving money.


Many first responders today are stuck working in a similar prehistoric era, lugging around multiple radios on their belts, just so that they can listen and talk to other first responders at different agencies.


Amateur radio operators are able to communicate across different bands, but unfortunately, their products are not sturdy or reliable enough to be used by first response professionals.


“The value in a multi-band radio is that you don’t have to carry three or four different radios — or buy three or four radios at a cost of $4,000 each,” said Roberts, whose fire department is one of the fourteen that will participate in the pilot projects.


Right now, the new multi-band radio to be piloted this fall rings in at about the same cost ($4,000-$6,000), size (10 inches tall), and weight (less than two pounds) of top-of-the-line single-band radios. It works on the five frequency bands currently used by state and local first responders, and, if necessary, can work on four other bands used exclusively by the federal government, the Department of Defense, National Guard, and the Coast Guard. It even provides weather reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The battery is expected to last in excess of 10 hours in order to meet the realities of longer shifts. It works even after being sprayed with a fire hose.


“If the multi-band radio can be credited with ensuring that just one first responder goes home to his or her family at the end of their shift, then the whole effort has paid for itself,” Chirhart added.


S&T hopes that the introduction of these radios will spur manufacturers to develop their own professional quality versions — much like what happened with smartphones — along with accessories like alternative batteries or GPS chips that departments can purchase separately.


A final version of the radios could be ready for the mass market by the middle of 2010. By that time, supply should meet demand, as many companies are now jumping on the virtual bandwagon to develop these new radios. S&T launched the MBR project with the goal of stimulating the marketplace so that multiple vendors would see the value in developing this technology to provide greater options that meet public safety requirements.


If the technology is as successful as S&T thinks that it could be, interoperability challenges, like cell phones that only make phone calls, may become forgotten relics of the past.


The fourteen organizations participating in the pilot are:


 



  • 2010 Olympic Security Committee (Blaine, Wash., and Vancouver, B.C. Canada)

  • Amtrak (Northeast Corridor)

  • Boise Fire Department (Boise, Idaho)

  • Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (Ottawa, ON Canada)

  • Customs and Border Patrol (Detroit, Mich.)

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (Multiple Locations)

  • Hawaii State Civil Defense (Honolulu, Hawaii)

  • Interagency Communication Interoperability System (Los Angeles County, Calif.)

  • Michigan Emergency Medical Services (Lower Peninsula Areas)

  • Murray State University (Southwest Kentucky)

  • Phoenix Police Department and Arizona Department of Emergency Management (Greater Phoenix and Yuma County)

  • Texas National Guard (Austin, Texas)

  • U.S. Marshals Service (Northeast Region)

  • Washington Metro Area Transit Authority Transit Police (Washington, D.C.)