[Scanner] Fire, police pull together after radio breakdown

[WORKSNTV at aol.com]

Does anyone know what who is the radio supplier/format??
 
Bob 

By Kelli Phillips
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

RICHMOND - On  Richmond's bloodiest weekend of the year, an equipment failure 
cut voice  communication between dispatchers, police and fire units in six 
West County  cities.
The hardware problem affected six police and three fire agencies.  County 
officials established an Emergency Operations Center -- normally reserved  for 
disasters -- and tapped its cache of disaster supplies just to restore  two-way 
communication between dispatchers and field units.
"It was absolutely  the worst-case scenario, short of putting an explosive 
device in the system and  blowing it to smithereens," Richmond Fire Battalion 
Chief Jim Fajardo said.
A  multiplexer, which translates data from fiber optic cables, failed about 
4:30  p.m. Saturday at Richmond's communication center. It did not affect the 
911  system or the Computer Assisted Dispatch systems inside patrol cars.
"The  loss of voice contact was an immediate issue with officers," Richmond 
Capt. Lori  Ritter said. Officers were paired up to provide "instant backup" 
and used cell  phones to contact dispatchers while response to nonemergency 
calls was put on  hold, Fajardo said.
Richmond's communication center also dispatches for El  Cerrito, Hercules, 
Kensington, Pinole and San Pablo.
Fire agencies switched  to high-band radios, which the state requires them to 
have. Most police agencies  don't have a backup radio system.
"We're better off than law enforcement,"  said Chris Suter, San Ramon Valley 
Fire deputy chief. "We do so much more mutual  aid, this allows every fire 
engine to communicate with every other fire  engine."
San Ramon Valley Fire, part of the Contra Costa Incident Support  group, sent 
its mobile command post to Richmond about 5:30 p.m. Saturday with  300 
portable radios.
"We have this equipment we bought with homeland security  funds," Suter said. 
"It was designed to reconstruct a communication system on  the fly, like say 
after a terrorist attack or earthquake. It wasn't intended for  this purpose, 
but it worked the same way."
By 7:30 p.m. Saturday, portable  radios were distributed, magnetic antennas 
were in place and the Sheriff's  Office allowed Richmond the use of its West 
County radio channel.
"We had a  couple homicides and routine pursuits, but we were able to get a 
temporary  system in place so quickly that there was no discernible loss of 
service to the  public," Ritter said.
A new multiplexer arrived about 1 a.m. Monday and the  system was back online 
by 7 a.m. A plan to improve Richmond's system, which  includes adding a 
backup multiplexer, is in the works.
San Pablo Police Chief  Doug Krathwohl said it's clear the system needs 
improvement, but it's a hard  task when just one agency is involved.
"It's a very crippling blow," he said.  "It's difficult to get these things 
resolved with different partners and  different-sized agencies with varying 
service  levels."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/count
ies/contra_costa_county/11946524.htm