[LINK] FW: home emergencies

[Tom Koltai]

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Koltai [mailto:tomk at unwired.com.au] 
Sent: Thursday, 19 February 2009 6:10 PM
To: 'Karl Auer'
Subject: RE: [LINK] home emergencies


> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman1.anu.edu.au
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman1.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Karl Auer
> Sent: Thursday, 19 February 2009 9:13 AM
> To: link at mailman1.anu.edu.au
> Subject: Re: [LINK] home emergencies
> 
> On Wed, 2009-02-18 at 15:37 +0000, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> > Right now and by next summer, one guesses that very many
> Aussies would
> > like Tom's idea of home-emergency CB-radios for all essential
> > services.
> 
> I'm sure they would. It's a very attractive idea to anyone
> that doesn't think about it for too long, and such a device 
> would make a lot of people feel more comfortable.
> 
> It just won't have any actual, practical effect in case of
> another fire, and would on that score be a waste of money.
> 
> Actually it would be worse than no effect, because, like so
> much "security theatre", it would lead people to expect that 
> there might be effective warnings, which might well, in turn, 
> lead to them not preparing or evacuating in time.
> 
<Rest Snipped>

Actually Karl, your comments would apply mainly to the City where bored
folk don't know what to do with themselves. My experience of the rubber
duck CB radio days was as follows:

The majority of users were couteous and respectful.
CB was valuable in providing real-time traffic advice.
Was not used by Police
And was at all times a more reliable information provider than any
broadcast medium you care to name.

In the northwest and top of Australia I saw it used in floods,
bushfires, power outages and cyclones as the only means of communication
capable of being used in remote locations - that worked regardless of
power. It provided feedback to the question I asked - from people that
were on location or had just passed through the location.

In the instance of of a bushfire where the front can skip 20 kilometres
in two seconds, I would consider that it was the only way to get the
word out. Whilst you are sitting in the backroom waiting for the
firestorm to pass over or in your car with the aircon running.

There is no modern technology that has replaced the CB in the manner
that it can be utilised to the same level of early warning/interactive
information update and specific local assistance.

I can see in my mind, Karl and his family huddled in the back room with
their mobile phone wondering why they hadnt programmed their neighbours
phone number into the cellphone.

Whilst a CB radio is not the perfect answer in every situation - I
consider that this piece of anitquated technology still has a place at
the community level to facilitate LOCAL RESPONSE.

And - for your information the telemetry channels can be programmed to
require an id code to implement the alarm signal. Therefore any
prankster would be identifiable immediately. Communities could elect to
have a local only alarm group or join official SES units - SES could
allocate overide id codes for an allpoints general alarm.

Remember, in my example - the CB's are in stndby mode, activated by an
authorised alarm signal and then can be turned to ON by the owner if
they desire to hear what the alarm code is.

This discussion is not about individuals with psychological problems, it
was about "If SMS doesn't work And the phone lines have been burnt out
AND the TV and Radio services are not providing enough accurate updates
- what system can we come up with to warn the sleeping home-owner that a
firefront is seconds away."

And this discussion is not a specification for a recommendation to the
Australian Public. It is the means to germinate an idea to potential
fruition. But between the idea and the actual implementation - Multa
cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra - that's a different story.

In the previous thread on this topic, we discussed lack of funds for
Telcos to implementy warning systems; CB Radio Repeaters offering a high
coverage area of rural Australia, RDS Radio Systems,  and the
practicality of SMS messaging as an option. 

Karl, if you have a constructive suggestion, let fly. Otherwise, could I
politely suggest that you read the entire thread and the preceeding
thread so that you can make an informed response.

The question you should ask is not what mischief someone could get up to
on a CB radio, there are always idiots on any technology, the question
you should ask youself is this - if everyone in Rural Australia (anyone
living within two hundred metres of a patch of bush - city or not) had
to buy a $100 CB radio and in the next fire one of those radios saved
just one life, yours, was it worth the $300 million dollars ?


Regards,

Tom