On January 17, 1994, at 4:30 a.m., the Northridge earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, struck southern California. Nineteen area hospitals were damaged, 21,000 homes declared uninhabitable, 59 people were killed and more than 6,500 injured.
Ten days later, 47 schools were still closed and 640,000 students were out of school. Highway systems suffered major damage with the collapse of overpasses and sections of elevated freeways.
Five water-main breaks caused widespread damage to water systems. The shutdown of power generating stations caused a ripple effect in the power grid, affecting areas as far north as British Columbia and as far east as Denver, Colorado.
Telecommunications is often down and always overwhelmed in emergencies like those.
That’s when COWS and COLTs (”Cell Sites on Wheels” and “Cell-on-Light-Truck”) come to the rescue. They are self-contained cellular sites with generators, cell antennas and a microwave backhaul.
AT&T has a fleet of 150 giant tractor-trailers around the country that can be anywhere in the United States within 24 hours. They contain every piece of equipment needed to re-establish network connections in the event of any kind of disaster. Verizon Wireless lost 10 of its cell sites in 9-11. It brought in 21 COWs.
Today Wi-Fi is everywhere. It’s inside PDAs and laptops. It provides interoperable voice, video, data and collaborative communications. It’s fast, cheap and ubiquitous. But are COWs equipped for Wi-Fi? Nope. It’s not cellular.
A WOMBAT is needed (you supply the appropriate Wi-Fi terminology).
PersonalTelco’s WOMBAT is an old ENG van purchased from a local TV station for pennies. It included a 6500 watt generator, a 27 foot pneumatic mast and racks (less equipment). PersonalTelco can provide localized Wi-Fi coverage and wireless backhaul.
Too bad the WOMBAT needs $300 to renew the insurance on it. Without that, its grounded.
The reality is this; An RV with a couple of outdoor Vivatos could provide continuous voice and data coverage for several miles (outdoors). The City could buy 100 Wi-Fi handhelds like the camera-equipped Hitachi (above). Everyone could keep in touch. Faster. Cheaper. Better.
A 5 GHz backhaul could link to a two-way transportable satellite dish on a hill. It would cost less than $100K. Police departments spend more than a million bucks on their mobile command centers. And they just talk to themselves.
Here’s some help on making a solar powered access point. An Orinoco AP-2000 can be located on a hill, a roof, or in a park where no power or phone line is available. A 60 watt solar panel supplies power, backed up with a 125 AH battery. It links to a wireless ISP with one card. The other card provides local Wi-Fi.
- One, 60 Watt BP Solarex Solar Panel: $255.00
- One, ASC-6/4 Specialty Concepts 6 Volt 4 Amp Controller: $43.75
- One, 6 volt battery champion: $225
Buy an old Fire Truck on E-Bay for a few thousand bucks. Why wait for Rome to burn.
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