Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Radio interference causes static Local emergency communications hampered

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2003 21:14:43 -0400

Radio interference causes static Local emergency communications hampered

By JENNIFER FUNK
Staff writer

PORT CLINTON -- Off and on interference on countywide emergency radio channels has
prompted local Emergency Management Agency officials to ask for help from the
federal government.

Ottawa County EMA Director Jim Greer wants the Federal Communication Commission to
pinpoint the source of the interference and "take the necessary steps to stop" it.
He asked county commissioners Tuesday to sign a letter to the FCC asking for the
measures. They agreed, and that letter will be forwarded to state and federal
legislators, as well as Gov. Bob Taft and others.

"This is a public safety system, especially since 9-11 and the attention to
homeland security, it is essential this system remain clear for emergency
services," Greer said. All fire, emergency medical services, police, schools, EMA
and Davis-Besse personnel in the county use the 800-megahertz radio channels to
communicate amongst each other.

About 10 years ago, Greer said, the advisory board that oversees the 800 system
granted the University of Michigan permission to operate off of some channels on
the frequency. The company that serves the Ottawa County system pinpointed the
interference as coming from the Michigan campus, Greer added. "The advisory board
had asked the FCC to intervene some time ago. Supposedly they did that, but the
interference hasn't stopped," he said.

The recent interference likely isn't coming from the university, however, said Tom
Metty, foreman of maintenance services there. Metty said there was software put in
place a few years ago to avoid putting what he called "data" on the shared
frequencies -- which had been found to cause some interference. The culprit for
enhancing interference, he added, is likely Lake Erie. "Because on the lakeshore
the frequency is shared every 75 miles across the country, there's interference
from Sault Ste. Marie, or Toronto or anything that comes across the lake," Metty
said. "The problem, in my opinion, is the system they're using is not immune (to
those signals)."

The county's system is sensitive enough to pick up transmissions on the shared
frequencies, whereas Metty said his university's system typically can ignore
outside noise. And aside from an incident a couple of months ago where a software
upgrade accidentally put data on the frequency, his university hasn't done that
for years. Reggie Strauss, also on the Ottawa County advisory board, said that
although the interference hampers the local emergency communications, it doesn't
cut it out completely. "We've never had a case where communications absolutely cut
out," he said. "We've had scratchy communications, but the system is operating as
designed and bypasses the interference.

Originally published Wednesday, August 27, 2003

http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/news/stories/20030827/localnews/140864.html

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