[sbe104_toledo] Re: Wood Co gets HAM help
- From: "Fred Vobbe" <w8hdu@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <sbe104_toledo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:13:45 -0500
I sent this on to Bill Pasternack at Amateur Radio Newsline.
This is the kind of good P.R. ham radio needs. Kudos to WUPW for doing the
story!
_____
A good story about area hams.
I missed this one as I was working at the TX site.
(Thanks to Rick Morris for pointing it out)

Updated: Thursday, 30 Sep 2010, 9:55 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 28 Sep 2010, 10:40 PM EDT
Heather Miller
FOX Toledo News reporter
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (WUPW) - After years of incomplete police radio coverage,
the Wood County Sheriff's Office has made some significant communications
upgrades.
In many remote areas of the county, deputies’ police radios wouldn't work once
they got out of their car. That caused them t0 loose contact with dispatchers
and other officers. But with a little ingenuity, and some help from ham radio
operators, the problem is solved.
"It was scary for me to know that there were times when my deputies went there
on a call we had no communication with them, said Wood County Sheriff Mark
“That caused a lot of sleepless nights."
Estimates for communications upgrades ran in to the millions. Wood County did
not have that kind of money. So the Sheriff turned to amateur radio operators
from around the county.
“They looked at our system and came up with a relatively inexpensive fix which
was to move antenna situation around the county to much high locations," said
Wasylyshyn.
Wood County was able to update the system for just $160,000. Tower space at
eight locations around Wood County was donated, from radio towers to water
towers. And to make sure deputies could stay in contact anywhere outside, as
well as inside buildings, they are putting mobile repeaters in the trunks of
cruisers.
"Now when a vehicle repeater is being used we don't have any dead spots on any
building,” said Wasylyshyn.
To even further strengthen Wood County's communication system, the county just
installed two new propane powered generators to the county's towers. That means
the county would maintain its radio network in case of a power outage that
could last several days.
Before now, the tower's back-up battery system would only keep the county's
communication's network going for just four hours.
Steve Pietras
Chief Engineer
Fox Toledo WUPW
Sent From Blackberry
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