EMC272 ALE Experiences 2/5
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC272 ALE Experiences 2/5          Release 1/15/01

Another factor to consider is that of service. Will you stock
repair parts and train a repair crew or will the ALE units be
returned to the manufacturer for service? If the latter, will you
have standby units on the shelf to replace those out-of-service
for several weeks during shipment back and forth for repairs? Or
will it be a system where you request trained technicians to be
brought in from somewhere else to do maintenance and repairs?
What will that mean in inoperability and how will that affect
the system viability? Extended downtime can create an adverse
reaction (i.e., we don't need it) from managers who expect 100%
operational capacity all the time. Will you stock a ready-to-use
backup to avoid that possibility? What about special parts used
in ALE control circuitry which may need to be special ordered
from a distant or overseas manufacturer or supplier? 

So, there is a much more to creating and implementing an ALE
radio system than one realizes at first.  All those factors
affect viability and cost. Now, let's look at our experiences
with the two different systems.

Motorola ALE

Our initial challenge arose after the radios were delivered.
Programing the radio control heads of the MICOM XF involved many
factors yet to be determined and was so complex that technicians
normally responsible for maintenance and setup asked if we could
provide a person from our ACS organization to take on the task.
An ACS partipicant, Glenn Fleming, KC6WQD, an engineer working
with another state agency, agreed and would eventually became
paid staff to implement the Motorola ALE radio system.

The MICOM XF units were not like radios with which most EMCOMM
unit participants have familiarity. They were originally made for
installation in military tanks in Israel with separate components
such as thick and long heavy duty cables with military lock-tite
fittings and separate control head, radio and power source. The
power supply - a large heavy box - and the radio cabinet were
placed on the floor beneath the installed position at which we
installed the control head and a separate speaker. Originally a
WWII type phone patch box was supplied, then later replaced with
a more modern unit. That gave phone-patch capability IF the radio
operator was familiar with that system and its requirements. The
control head could be setup and controlled from a computer or by
manual operation from the face plate. (These units are no longer
in production I understand and Motorola second generation units,
the MICOM 2 series, are a major change and a more familiar design
to most EMCOMM unit operators.
Continues next bulletin.

 Cary Mangum, W6WWW        E-mail: cary.mangum@macnexus.org
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EOM