Putting up a new steel building near Radio Towers? make sure you have coordinated with tower owners to not interfere or you could be in for a very big bill and possibly have to tear it down.

As a Contract Broadcast Engineer I have a AM Radio Station I maintain north of Pittsburgh
and one of the big issues with it is coordinating with persons putting up Steel buildings and towers near it now that the community is expanding.

A Volunteer fire company put up a new steel building and is interfering with my signal they will now have to pay to correct the situation besides the noise the LED lighting in their parking lot they are creating. 

https://www.lbagroup.com/blog/is-this-cell-tower-detuned/

http://ncjweb.com/features/novdec05feat.pdf

If you put up any type of metal building or tower within 1 mile of an AM Radio Station transmission site  you must under FCC rules coordinate with the station you could possibly interfere with  to make sure you do not reflect or deflect its signal path. If you do there are 2 remedy's

1- put in a network of De-tuning wires to  neutralise your building or tower  or

2- tear down and move your tower or building 

If you fail to do this the FCC can and will force you to comply plus there is a big fine $25,000.00 which goes with it.

Same goes for the lights they can put in a filter or turn off and replace all the lights.


A tower company in Texas was forced to tear down and move a tower after it interfered with an AM station several years ago.

Every architect and builder should be aware of and know rules of building around towers but there are always those who will plead ignorance of the rules and can end up costing them and their clients big bucks. and when it comes to the FCC you will lose every time you ignore rules and regulations.

.

What we have here is a Failure to Communicate. How Verizon FiOs failed and Napco Starlink came to the rescue when Fire Alarms would not send there signals.

Verizon Fios has proven to be a very good solid  digital telephone service I have several panels running on it with no issues and they report everyday to the central station.
But for some reason all of a sudden Fire Alarm panels on the 561 phone exchange in Mt Lebanon Pa. failed to take any format 4/2 , CID and SIA all of which had been working fine now could not send their alarm signals and Verizon had no answers as-usual . They where tearing all the copper phone lines out of Mt. Lebanon.
The problem seems to be with the make break timing of the touchstones and how fast they are dialed

This meant one choice switching the panels over to Cellular Communicators But Honeywell as usual is behind the 8 Ball with its IPGSM4G communicators not ready for 4GLTE  and I was not spending $400.00 and then having to change them in 2 years when 4G-HPSA and 3G are going away so what to do?

The answer an unique and quick and easy product to hook up under $200 made by Napco and made in USA to boot.

The LTE Starlink.
 a simple 4 wire connection 2 wires for power from panel either 12 or 24 VDC and 2 wires for the phone dialer to hook to .

There on the Verizon Mobile network and they are solid performers there is even a $100.00 rebate program offered
and it works with all panels that do CID and 4/2 formats . and its Sole Path UL listed  which is fantastic. Small simple and no seperate plug in transformer like you have with Honeywell.

So needless to say the (4) IPGSM4G I have in current use in Mt Lebanon- Dormont area  will be replaced shortly as they will be going obsolete.

Napco is putting a big hurt on many cellular communicator manufacturers who  missed the boat .

Plus they have models that work for Mercantile /Fire  and dual path communicators to meet any need.

Plus an even bigger bonus you can often save money over dial up service where you are paying for dedicated phone lines like in apartment buildings and Offices with IP phone systems .  The cell service plans are cheaper than maintaining 2 phone lines just for the fire system 

check them out  at. 

https://www.napcosecurity.com/starlink/#commercial-fire-communicators

Selenium Rectifiers an old fashioned way to convert AC power to DC power that are still out there and more dangerous as they grow older

Before modern Zener and other diodes came on the market and where used in a Bridge Rectifier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfWmIQfYIRI

 

 Configuration to convert AC to Dc Power there was the Selenium Rectifier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium_rectifier

A metal device with fins coated with Selinium which was used in all kind of applications from simple radios and toy train layouts  to large industrial machines 

 They where used in products up till the late 60s as they where very dependable and could handle higher voltages better than previous copper oxide rectifiers developed in early 30's 

Unfortunately with age these rectifiers break down and can give off extremely toxic gases  due to Nickel and Selenium plating and there are still plenty of them I come across in old fire alarms and industrial machines and old tube radios people love to collect .

I try to change them out with modern units where I can to keep an old machine running safely but its not always easy to match everything up. 

Plus radio purest when restoring radios want to keep everything original. 

So should I be worried if I have them in my bussiness or home.

Yes there is concern so know it can happen and have a plan in place should one brake down and give off fumes immediately leave the room and ventilate the room  if possible and call 911  

this is a hazardous materials situation.

They may be neat to look at and are part of history but do so from a distance .

AT&T Screws Alarm Owners again with 3G/4G Shutdown

It was just 2 years ago I put in all new 3G/4G  AT&T cellular Communicators for over 100 customers and they for most part have been nothing but headaches to maintain.

 Because AT&T never fully implemented 4G-HPSA and the 3G band is overcrowded causing signals to drop all the time. I get daily over a dozen or more fail reports. from AT&T communicators and with Verizon hardly ever.

To make matters worse AT&T has been shutting down 4G- HPSA Bands on towers to implement 4G-LTE  forcing all the communicators down on the overcrowded 3G band its so bad I have had to upgrade early to 4G -LTE  because 3G/4G cellular communicators  because AT&T towers are so overcrowded in some areas.,and 3G/4G will be shut down on Feb 1 2022  so I am ahead of the game to start replacing them now. 

 But I am not installing AT&T communicators  I am installing all Verizon 4G-LTE
Communicator because I am tired of the lies and deceit from AT&T and absolutely horrendous coverage. I have a 4G-LTE cell phone and can hardly use it due to the poor coverage in the tri state

This is ridiculous ,some of my customers have now had to  change for the 3rd time they're communicators in a 11 year period.

First it was  Analog was being shut down for Digital then its  2G digital is being shut down  and now 3G and 4G HPSA being shut down each time it has cost my customers  $100.00 plus for the communicator plus my labor . Time spent and wasted which could be put to better use assisting customers and doing installs instead of consonantly chasing Cell Phone issues caused by AT&T because even the early Verizon units I have installed and will have to change in 2022 I have had no issues.

Of course this leaves Honeywell, Napco, Telguard and Uplink stuck with thousands of unusable communicators they still have sitting on the shelves brand new with worthless stock and every time AT&T or Verizon advance cell technology the amount of electronic waste is incredible
Because no one is recycling these old communicators and their boards .

Electronic Waste or E Waste as it is known is a very huge problem in this country and what recycling is done is small and expensive to do.

But instead of working on and improving existing technology its just faster and cheaper for Cell company's to just completely ditch it and bring out a new product. same bull shit thats gone on with the 2 way radio re farming plan. 

Shame on you AT&T for being deceitful to all when you said these new 3G/4g communicators would last for a good while and be future of communication  and its not even 5 years .

Wiring Horrors found while correcting an Exit Signage Issue. Some people just do not get what danger they cause the public when they play electrician

Recently I was called to troubleshoot an issue at a Flea Market Complex which was having some issues with Exit Signs not working when I ran across this mess most of which I corrected ,but more work needs to be done because people setting up booths often play electricians and every time you turn around you find another horror story at places like this  all over the Tri- State Why people think they can do there own wiring and think they do not have to follow codes in a public place is beyond comprehension but it goes on all the time . and as you can see below wires where cut off spliced with out proper connectors and junction boxes and just taped. The booth owner got mad when i cut the wiring off and told him fix it or take it out said he was going to sue me blah blah blah I said fine call police and I will call code enforcement. .he was eventually evicted by owners.

New Oakmont Bakery causing all kind of Traffic Issues why was this location ever approved when it was known was going to be a traffic Hazzard?

Despite local town officials being warned by many who regularly drive thru oakmont  how bad an ideal it was to locate a bakery across from a High school and on main route thru town which is heavily traveled and backups regularly
Oakmont officials gave their blessing to it .

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/video/4029050-oakmont-bakerys-move-creating-traffic-problem-around-new-location/

Why Penndot permitted it also is a big question now there is calls for Penndot to examine the intersection and add traffic lights and no left turn signs.

 

 To add to all this students who drive to and attend Riverview High School are petitioning to get 30 reserved parking spaces owned by the town to allow them to park because they are now having problems getting parked and on time for school.

Personally I never saw the big deal over the Bakery they do make fantastic cakes etc.  But other bakeries also make great cakes from scratch as well and their donuts are not as good as other bakery's I have stopped at all over the tri-state area. Like Blue Bonnet in Homestead and O'Rams and De'angeloes in Beaver County .

But Oakmont is the 600 pound gorilla when it comes to bake goods due to all their advertising which brings people in from all over .

Im really happy for the owners they have seen great success but all these officials saying they are surprised by all the problems ? Really? 

Well hopefully lessons have been learned the hard way as usual because foresight seems to be one of the really lacking skills here in South Western Pa. I see it time and again bad decision's and panic reactions all due to bad planning. and its not just Oakmont it is every community .

 decisions are made and never thought thru just look at he mess we have in Penn Hills with the school district and new high school all of which was 100% avoidable just like the oakmont bakery deal .