Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Dog Pound - Jan. 3, 2003

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2003 16:51:35 -0500

A hearty "Congratulations!" to pioneering radio company E.F. Johnson Co., which is marking
its 80th year of serving the wireless community, including public safety. At the same
time, Transcrypt International is marking its 25th year of marketing encryption products.
You'll recall that EFJ was formed in Minnesota as a mail-order firm by Edgar and Ethel
Johnson--using Edgar's parents' home! EFJ was purchased several times, but most recently
by Transcrypt in 1997, and the name took a back seat to Transcrypt. Ironic, then, that the
company decided to revert back to its roots, renaming the entire company in June 2002 as
"EFJ Inc.," with EFJohnson Company and Transcrypt International Inc. as subsidiaries.

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A long letter by New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta appeared in the
department's newsletter, detailing the department's work on the radio system, "an issue I
know is on the minds of nearly every member of the department." He said a group of experts
came to two conclusions: "It's not the radios. It's the comm system," and "Nobody in the
world in fact has been able to develop such an infrastructure that is 100% reliable--
especially in high rise buildings and 'sub grade' locations like tunnels, subways &
basements." He said short and long-term plans have been created, and that the portable
fireground radios are "only a small part of a much larger solution." He mentions "larger
solution" several more times, as well as "robust network," "strong backup," and "reliable
and redundant network." Sounds like he's trying to slow down any expectations of a
quick--or even soon--fix for radio problems.

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APCO is internally distributing a very informative bi-weekly "communiqué" to its executive
council members, and posting it behind a password on its Web site. The Sept. 17th edition
was posted in the open, and revealed lots of interesting info that you didn't read in
their publication. Here are the highlights, but surf yourself before it disappears:

http://www.apco911.org/council/execreport/execreport9-18-2002.htm

--Besides $3.75 million from the PSAP Readiness Fund, the APCO Foundation has received
donations from "the Virginia Chapter of APCO and Frederick Griffin," raising the odd
question: Is the Virginia Chapter eligible for a grant? Mr. Griffin is a long-time
consultant on radio engineering matters.

--APCO is paying the DC-based public relations firm MDB Inc. a $15,000 retainer each month
to, "improve APCO's overall marketing, public relations and communications strategies."
They worked extensively on the annual conference, former mayor Rudi Giuliani's appearance
at the conference, and APCO Institute marketing. Read more about the arrangement on the
Web page.

--The association established an "interim" Washington (DC) using donated space subleased
from MDB, Inc., and are looking for a permanent home for a Director of External Affairs.

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No, the Hound has not forgotten Fauquier County (Virg.), who decided to build a $10.4
million 800 MHz trunked radio system, despite the objections of citizen-experts who said
it didn't suit the rolling terrain and was overkill for the county's public safety
agencies. Well, the county is still wrestling with tower sites, spending $200,000 to buy
land and build a new tower, building a 300-foot tower on existing land, and dropping plans
for two other towers because of lease issues. Does this mean the system cost is slowly
creeping upward?

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