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It's not exactly rocket science picking the right channel, I am more disappointed that the people we hire for DHS jobs can't figure out how to work a radio. I w

by hnriot 14y ago

It's not exactly rocket science picking the right channel, I am more disappointed that the people we hire for DHS jobs can't figure out how to work a radio. I would bet that the radios are commodity hardware and the manuals are online. I'm also more than a little worried that each radio costs $3500 when even milspec radios don't cost that much. I'm sure a simple FRS/GMRS radio with scrambler chip would have sufficed, and those retail at around $30 each.

jacquesm 14y ago
Yes, but then there would be less pork to go around.
fotbr 14y ago
They don't cost that much. The $430M covered a lot more than just the portable and mobile radios themselves. And no, "a simple FRS/GMRS radio with scrambler chip" would not have sufficed. Public safety radio systems, even on a local level, to say nothing of a national agency's requirements, are a heck of a lot more complicated than most people realize, since there's a lot that most people, including most of their employees never see.
blhack 14y ago
How much do milspec radios cost? I was pretty surprised to find out what "high end" walkie-talkies go for. This year at burning man, a couple of DPW girls were hanging out in our dome and one my my camp-mates started oggling their radios. "Oh! Wow, I sell radios and those things are like $2000!" or something like that. This is what a bunch of dirty hippies are using to talk to each other in the desert. I'd imagine what the Department of Homeland Security uses is probably even more expensive.
antidoh 14y ago
"and the manuals are online." Yeah, but probably not all of the people using the radios have access to computers connected to the internet. Even at my company, they restrict flash over the internet, so people can't watch YouTube, but that means we can't access training materials provided by our vendors in flash. Shooting our feet into the 21st Century, already in progress.
xradionut 14y ago
You have probably dealt with consumer or simple commercial systems. Military, government and even ham transceivers can be a maze of menus and modes. Not to mention the trunking, programming, dispatch, data modes, propagation, fading, interop, etc... One doesn't simply hand grunts and officers a COTS radio and expect success. Training is key.
mbrameld 14y ago
These PRC 152 radios are pretty common in the military, I imagine DHS folks have something comparable. I'd wager that you wouldn't be able to figure one out without training if it was just handed to you. http://rf.harris.com/capabilities/tactical-radios-networking/an-prc-152/default.asp http://rf.harris.com/capabilities/tactical-radios-networking... Add rotating encryption to the mix and I'm not surprised at all the competency level reported in the article.

by hnriot 14y ago

jacquesm 14y ago

Yes, but then there would be less pork to go around.

fotbr 14y ago

They don't cost that much. The $430M covered a lot more than just the portable and mobile radios themselves. And no, "a simple FRS/GMRS radio with scrambler chip" would not have sufficed. Public safety radio systems, even on a local level, to say nothing of a national agency's requirements, are a heck of a lot more complicated than most people realize, since there's a lot that most people, including most of their employees never see.

blhack 14y ago

How much do milspec radios cost? I was pretty surprised to find out what "high end" walkie-talkies go for. This year at burning man, a couple of DPW girls were hanging out in our dome and one my my camp-mates started oggling their radios. "Oh! Wow, I sell radios and those things are like $2000!" or something like that. This is what a bunch of dirty hippies are using to talk to each other in the desert. I'd imagine what the Department of Homeland Security uses is probably even more expensive.

antidoh 14y ago

"and the manuals are online." Yeah, but probably not all of the people using the radios have access to computers connected to the internet. Even at my company, they restrict flash over the internet, so people can't watch YouTube, but that means we can't access training materials provided by our vendors in flash. Shooting our feet into the 21st Century, already in progress.

xradionut 14y ago

You have probably dealt with consumer or simple commercial systems. Military, government and even ham transceivers can be a maze of menus and modes. Not to mention the trunking, programming, dispatch, data modes, propagation, fading, interop, etc... One doesn't simply hand grunts and officers a COTS radio and expect success. Training is key.

mbrameld 14y ago

These PRC 152 radios are pretty common in the military, I imagine DHS folks have something comparable. I'd wager that you wouldn't be able to figure one out without training if it was just handed to you. http://rf.harris.com/capabilities/tactical-radios-networking/an-prc-152/default.asp http://rf.harris.com/capabilities/tactical-radios-networking... Add rotating encryption to the mix and I'm not surprised at all the competency level reported in the article.