AIRPORT TO GET NEW RADIO SYSTEM OTHER PUBLIC AGENCIES TO BE EASIER TO REACH.Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer BURBANK - Prone to interference, the aging radio system serving Bob Hope Airport Bob Hope Airport (IATA: BUR, ICAO: KBUR, FAA LID: BUR) is a regional and national airport located in Burbank, California, United States. It was formerly known as United Airport (1930-1934); Union Air Terminal (1934-1940); will be replaced with a $900,420 digital system compatible with radios in place in Burbank, Glendale and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority approved the new system Monday. The current system - wide-band analog very high frequency or VHF (Very High Frequency) The range of electromagnetic frequencies from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. - is about 30 years old, overburdened and not compatible with neighboring cities, officials said. Currently, airport police are equipped with several handheld digital radios that have allowed status-quo communications with Burbank police. But the new system - conventional digital ultra-high frequency or UHF (Ultra High Frequency) The range of electromagnetic frequencies from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. In the U.S., analog television has used UHF channels 52 to 69 in the 700 MHz band. radio - would improve communications across the region, especially in an emergency, officials said. The new system could be in place within two years, officials said. ``The commission's action today to upgrade its radio system at Bob Hope Airport represents the authority's strong commitment to maintaining the highest levels of cooperation with other public safety agencies in the region,'' Scott Smith Scott Smith is the name of:
Although there have been no reports of emergencies in the past few years at the airport, Burbank Fire Marshal fire marshal n. 1. The head of a department or office that is charged with the prevention and investigation of fires. 2. A person in charge of firefighting personnel and equipment at an industrial plant. Noun 1. Dave Starr believes the new system would help his agency and others respond more quickly to back up airport personnel if a disaster occurred. ``It's essential in terms of safety,'' he said. ``The current system is cumbersome.'' Mistakes will be less likely with the new system, he added. The airport agency will pay for the system with $1.5 million earmarked in the fiscal 2005-06 budget. The money comes from airport capital improvement accounts, passenger facility charges and public safety grants. A consultant will be paid $50,000 to help recommend new equipment. The system will be used by the airport's police, fire, operations, maintenance and parking departments, as well as surrounding city agencies. The new system will bring the airport up to Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. standards, which call for emergency agencies to make their radio communications systems interoperable across regional jurisdictions by 2011. ``Radio interoperability is the future of radio communications within emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' ,'' said Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. Assistant Chief Tim Manning, the chief of staff. ``It was highlighted after 9-11. It really showed the different agencies were having a difficult time communicating with each other. It's important for emergency services to have radio systems that are interoperable.'' Jason Kandel, (818) 546-3306 jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Operations coordinators Rodrigo Rendon, foreground, and Alicia Howard staff the communications center in the old tower at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, where a new radio system will be installed. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion