Oakland police radios failed during Obama visit

[LA9XSA]

Bigger newer isn't always better I know in my home town of Jackson MI the city and county are still using the same frequencies they were 30+ years ago still no problems with that system

Same frequencies, but the same modes too? What about security against listening?

Another problem is that when many radio systems are designed, politicians pick the tower sites, not system engineers, 'nuff said on that one.

Or just convenience. Of course, once the repeater sites come up a few special snowflake people in the vicinity will develop unspecific symptoms of negative radiation influence, while taking no damage from holding transmitters in the same frequency range up to their heads (cell phones) or standing right next to a microwave oven. When introducing a new system, perhaps putting up some temporary placebo towers would be a good idea - towers that you don't actually connect to any power source; then when civic action groups form complaining about the cancer waves they can feel coming through the air, you can do the dramatic reveal of how it's all in their heads.

[KC8NRO]

Yeah same everything I think they do run some new 800Mhz freq's for the on board computer system and something at about 3am always seems to make alot of noise on the 155.595 freq like it's backing up all the days radio traffic or something I haven't been able to figure it out never really asked either I guess but I hear it but yeah same mode same freq I hope they don't change it I like listening They did have one jammer out there thought they caught him but he's still out there so.....their not doing much about that they just switch to the second channel and it's funny there channel 3 and channel 4 is the input freq for the channels 1 and 2 guess they just just dont run the PL thats kinda funny real old school

[WA8LGM]

It is not the problem with the equipment in most cases. I emphasize here the word most. It is usually the fault of someone who was not forward enough thinking to think of this kind of problem happening, at some point in time.
How much do you want to bet that if you went into the equipment closet where all of this radio stuff is located that NOW you would find that second air conditioner set up in some kind of fail-safe set up, set so that this little faux pas will not happen again.
NO system is perfect, its all a learning process, its just that some people learn faster than others and some other people never learn at all.
There is a difference between being dumb and being just plain old flat out plum dumb. Some engineers fall in the latter category.

[KD8NGE]

Several good points to this thread.
The low bands were mentioned; I prefer them for emergency work because I am a native of the Appalachian hill county, and the lower frequencies are the only ones that work with any degree of reliability.
When the multi-county SEOEMS system came in, running UHF bands, they had to put up many, many repeaters, because the short waves would not reach down into the convoluted hollows that are the rule and not the exception in that territory.
Another valid point:
Let the people who know what they're doing, spec out the radio systems.
Politicians are generally a prime example of the old adage, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" -- just like a lieutenant with a map, a compass and a Jeep.
And for the same reason.
From personal observation, when the trunking system went into use in Southeast Ohio, there were many anecdotal reports of State Troopers obliged to use their cell phones because their radios would no longer reach their dispatcher ... but this too was a very "iffy" thing ... southern Perry County, for instance, was known for many years to the cell phone companies as "The Black Hole" thanks to an utter lack of propagation. Until more and better towers went in through that dark territory, a cell phone was a high status paperweight.
And finally, lessons learned: the air conditioners, I'm sure, will be replaced or augmented; other points of failure, addressed ...
I hope.