Bryan Suits on what to do during an "Active shooter" event.

Last month, in response to the Westgate Shopping Center attack in Nairobi, Kenya, KFI AM640's Bryan Suits posted some advise on what to do if you find yourself stuck in your local Los Angeles mall when terrorists attempt to take it over. In light of this week's shooting at LAX I decided to re-post what Bryan originally had written on his "Dark Secret Place" Facebook profile as it is sound advise for us "high valve soft targets".

Some thoughts: you've probably been to the same mall many dozens, if not hundreds of times. Next time you go, check out some of those long corridors that lead to bathrooms/maintenance rooms/loading docks. 
-Do the doors open or are they locked?
-Will the alarm sound?
-Who the F cares, I'm being shot at?

If a similar attack happens, it will sound like D Day. It won't go "pop.....pop,pop......pop." It will go "(insert sound of D Day here) "

-You will freeze. Get over it. Embrace the part of your mind that is quietly saying "This shit is real." Reject the LOUDER voice that says "It's a TV shoot. This is Glendale." 

Las Vegas Metro signs deal with Big M.

Last year the Las Vegas Metro Police Department decided to ditch their fairly new but less then functional OpenSky system after years of it being an absolute failure. As of last week Las Vegas Metro signed a deal with Motorola Solutions to set them up with a 31 site 700MHz Phase II P25 system and a crap ton of APX portables. The new system will create region wide communications across Clark County and most of Southern Nevada, not to mention being able to actually communicate across town. 

It just goes to show the economy must be turning around, Vegas is back and Motorola's stock price is starting to go back up. 

Read more about the new system at DailyFinance.com

Field Day 2013 June 22-23rd

Field Day 2013 is coming up. I'm not a big DX extraordinaire, but I try to stop by a local field day event make a few contacts, check out some impromptu emergency power setups, and snag some pizza.

If you have no idea what "Field Day" is go here to find out more.

If you are in the Diamond Bar area check out the W6SCE group they are usually pretty laid back and open to new people who want to check things out, and they don't have too much ham stink. 

Been along time

Well to say the least this blog has been on the back burner for a while. Some personal issues and work related moves have kept me tied up. Also my primary OHV rig was recently destroyed by an unattentive driver and I have been spending my free time getting my new rig up and running, which I hope to have photos uploaded soon.

Meanwhile shutouts to my buddy DynoTronics for winning the LayerOne 2013 badge hacking contest.

Video from Boston Marathon attack

Video from buzzfeed.com

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.

Happy Narrow Band Eve!

Just a few hours 'till we fall off the fiscal cliff and hit the narrow band deadline. Monrovia PD finally switched over last Friday, and now I am waiting for the mutual aid fiasco to begin.

The states "White" frequencies switched over to the nationally standardized V-Fire nomenclature a few years ago. White 2 became VFire 22, White 3 became VFire 23, and starting January 1st, the last holdout, White 1 will narrow band and become VFire 21. I have a feeling LA County fire will still refer to their VHF radios as their "White" radio even there will no longer be any "White" channels.

I have heard many local police agencies still use the "CLEMARS" nomenclature when post narrowbanding the label should now be CA LAW1. So I wonder, have they not narrowbanded their CLEMARS freqs, or did they keep the old CLEMARS label on their narrow band channels? Either way I'm guessing there is going to be some confusion and over deviation in 2013.

Have a great one and don't forget your spare battery!

APCO making new standards!

 

The APCO Standard for Public Safety Communications Common Incident Types for Data Exchange is out, it's a list of terms to help 911 call centers, dispatch centers, first responders, etc. pass incident info between each other more efficiently.

Read the document at apcointl.org

On scene of Endeavour crossing the 405

This weekend the big news story in LA has been the Space Shuttle Endeavour's treck from LAX to it's final destination at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. As I drove home from work on Friday I heard that Endeavour would be parked on Manchester Blvd. for the next few hours while they prepared to switch to a lighter transport system to cross the 405 freeway. I had no firm plans for the evening, and I missed the fly-over last month, so I decided to swing by and take a look.

Toyota, a sponsor of the California Science Center, is participating in the transport by pulling Endeavour on a "light weight" dolly over the 405, using a single Toyota Tundra. Of course Toyota is also paying to turn this feat into a promotional video to help promote their "Made in the USA" Tundra, and demonstrate it's capacity to pull a 150 ton package.

I worked my way through the crowd standing on La Cienega and got a few shots of the orbiter in front of the iconic Randy's Donuts. I happened to be filming as the Tundra and Endeavour started rolling across the Manchester Bridge.

Toyota's Endeavour site

California Science Center | Mission 26: The Big Endeavour

Raspberry Pi and radio.

I have been playing around with this small Raspberry Pi "box" for a few weeks now, and it's a lot of fun. It's not so much a "get business done" machine, but a simple $35 Linux computer that can fit almost anywhere, and run simple tasks using little power.

The Raspberry Pi was introduced in February in the UK, but has taken the hacker/maker/gadget/nerd world by storm. Right now my R-Pi is running xbmc, but I want to get another one set up to run OP25, but there are literally thousands of things you can do with a Raspberry Pi.

"Raspberry Pi and Ham Radio"

raspberrypi.org

LA Times: Town criers in the age of Twitter

A growing group of L.A.-area residents share a passion for listening to police scanners and spreading that news online, in real time, via Twitter. 'It's like theater,' one says.

Read the full story at the LA Times

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.

"Old Fire" Arsonist Convicted, faces Death Penalty

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) - A jury on Wednesday found a California man guilty of murdering five people who had heart attacks after he deliberately started a blaze that ballooned into a massive wildfire.

Jurors in San Bernardino found 30-year-old Rickie Fowler guilty of setting the Old Fire in the foothills above San Bernardino in October 2003 that burned 91,000 acres and torched 1,000 buildings over nine days.

Read more at KFI news.

EDACS Failure; you can't blame this on Obama

Oakland PD's EDACS system failed Monday as President Obama was leaving after giving a campaign speech. This left 100 officers who were keeping downtown protestors at bay unable to communicate.

Meh, who needs direct tactical channels...

Read more at sfgate.com

Fullerton releases Kelly Thomas 911 call

Wednesday, after months of speculation, the City of Fullerton released an audio recording of the now infamous "Slidebar phone call" that lead to the eventual death of schizophrenic homeless man, Kelly Thomas. The July 5th, 2011 call, from an employee of the Slidebar to the Fullerton PD, reported that a "creepy homeless guy", known as Kelly, was walking through the parking lot near the Fullerton transportation hub, pulling on car door handles. The female RP, who's name has been redacted, is believed to be a manager at the Slidebar.

picture from FullertonsFuture.org

Listen to the call here (right click to download) 

The recording was released after Fullerton resident Richard Dwyer filed a public records request in July, claiming that the caller was coached by the Fullerton PD to exaggerate Thomas' activities to quicken police responce. The recording does not show any coaching from the police dispatcher.

KFI's Mike Nolan involved in plane crash

KFI news is reporting that traffic reporter Mike Nolan "KFI In the sky," was involved in a plane crash this afternoon. Mike and one other person aboard were transported to the hospital and are in stable condition.

KFI reports that Nolan's single engine Cessna 182 had engine problems around 6:30 Friday afternoon and crashed, hitting some power lines, in a rural area near Corona. "Emergency officials say Mike and his passenger were extremely lucky," reported KFI reporter Amy King, the two were able to get out of the plane before it burst into flames. totaltrafficla.com is reporting that Mike "is in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries." Sounds like he may have some broken bones, but it sounds like he is in much better shape then his plane.

Press Enterprise story

KTLA 5 story

KABC 7 story

A 2002 interview w/ Mike Nolan

We hope you have a speedy recovery Mike!

Los Angeles Metro finally starts to get their act together!

I know this really has nothing to do with Disaster Communications but it is so rare that anyone in Los Angeles city government does anything right I felt that I needed to write something about it. 

thesource.metro.net has revealed that starting sometime this summer the Los Angeles Metro rail lines will begin running 'till 2:00 AM on weekends, and it appears that Metro is considering 24 hour rail service, but I'm not holding my breath.

71% of Americans agree that ignorance is bliss.

New Study Finds Americans Unaware of Local Disaster Communications

Despite a record-breaking year of federally declared disasters in 2011, including floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires, many Americans still lack basic awareness of their local emergency communications systems. At the BE Safe America Congressional Briefing presented by Safe America Foundation at the U.S. Capitol, Federal Signal Corporation today announced the findings of the 2012 Public Safety Survey, which takes a hard look at how knowledgeable and prepared Americans are for emergencies. While the survey found that more than 56 percent of Americans believe they are aware of the steps they need to take should disaster strike, the results uncover a shocking lack of knowledge—and even indifference—surrounding emergency alerts and notifications.


Read the entire press release here.

Pasadena PD now in the clear, sort of...

Yesterday the Pasadena Police Department released a press statement announcing a non encrypted ICIS talk group of 2485, this will allow the public to listen to the initial dispatch, incident type, location and time of Pasadena PD calls.

From the release:

The Pasadena Police Department is increasing its public information efforts by providing more crime statistic information on its website and the radio frequency codes for the public to listen to radio calls for service.