The "U tree S" is spared, USDA rebranding.

The Department of Agriculture, as of Thursday, has decided to not eliminate the long enduring USFS "pine tree" badge as part of agency rebranding. Under the USDA's new "Visual Standards Guide" all agencies would phase out their individual logo for the new USDA logo.

You can read more Here and Here.

Your old BK's are Garbage!

Yeah, I know I haven't been posting for a while, and this news isn't exactly breaking, but Relm has finally ended support for al E series radios.

Several years ago the NIFC struck all EPH's from their approved list of radios after discovering compatibility issues with some straggling agencies that still had some in their cache. About a decade ago the USFS started phasing out the EMH and EPH radios in favor of the P25 ready G and D series radios, but up until a few months ago Relm/BK still supported these radios. Well, they finally pulled the plug on factory servicing all EPH, EMH and some early GPH radios. I guess when you can replace the radios for under $100 online their is no point in sending it in for factory service.  I bought my last EPH 5102X last year for $50 on ebay and it was in like new condition. The good thing for people like me, who still repair, rebuild and use EPH, and LPH series BK portables, the antennas, batteries, PTT buttons, knobs, and many of the other parts are interchangeable with the DPH radios so these frequently worn out parts are still abundant.

USFS to OK night aerial drops on So Cal fires

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service has decided to allow nighttime aerial attacks on wildfires in Southern California in a change of policy spurred by controversy over a 2009 blaze that grew to 250 square miles and threatened Los Angeles suburbs, congressional representatives announced Thursday.

Photo of Station Fire above JPL. Credits to Eecue,
 used without his permission, I'll apologize next time I see him;)

It appears that next year (2013) the USFS will contract one helicopter for night flights / water drops for the southern portion of USFS Region 5, AKA Southern California. LA County helicopters already got the go ahead to fly at night a few years ago, as long as the crew were comfortable with the task, but it's good to see that the feds are back on board.

LA County Fire, actually starts narrow-banding.

Well it was no April fools joke, I woke up this morning and noticed something was different, there was no 0700 "wake up call" on LA County Tac 19. That's because Tac 19 is no more.

For years there has been a daily 7:00 AM test of the old Quick Call alerting system on what was a remnant of the original VHF dispatch system for LA County Fire. In recent years the 154.400 MHz frequency, called Tac 19, has been used for communicating between LA County dispatch and various County Fire and LASD Air Rescue helicopters, not to mention by USFS, Cal Fire, and Search and Rescue personell on the ground during emergencies.

NIFC communications hot sheet

Wild fire season is a serious concern if you are like me and live in the wildland interface areas of So Cal. The National Interagency Fire Center has a blog where they post communications info pertaining to wildland fire fighting.

http://www.nifc.gov/NIICD/hotsheet/hotsheet.html