FCC May Revise Rules Concerning Disruption to Comms During Disasters

It looks to me as if you have way more charging capacity than what is needed or wanted. 22kW is 440 amps output at 50v, and it seems like your load only draws 47 amps maximum. If charging is limited to C/3, then your charger output should be limited to 125A + 47A, or around 172 amps, which would be around 9kW.

T-Mobile has a similar system at one of my sites, similar current draw and battery bank, yet they have 10kW of charging capability. I am wondering why so much charging is provided there?

 

I agree, but Motorola designed it that way. We're actually dipping into this overerage; we're upgrading our microwave systems and using this existing DC plant rather than replace the ones they are running on. Should there be a breaker trip/failure, or multiple rectifier failures, it's still good - but I agree, it's a bit over the top.

 

LMAO. In the exemplary cases they mention, the FCC is the "superior." Again, they're not happy with loss of emergency power or backup power, whatever you wanna call it, in its present form. Perhaps since it probably only had 8 hours worth of run time with dead engines. Who knows, at this point.

Like I said earlier, an "inside the box" solution isn't what they're looking for. Get the lead-acid out. Get with Lithium Ion with its extreme energy density, allowing smaller size and far greater operating times. And, with all the things that can go wrong with infernal combustion engines, a DC source directly from the backup power source. Fuel cells, solar, etc. Diode steering could eliminate latching transfer switches as well.

 

"Six land" is, save for forest fires and earthquakes, is the "promised land." Again, this isn't about defending or explaining present configurations. What was used in and around NO failed as the result of a major Hurricane impacting infrastructure. So, to say, use existing configuration(s) isn't what they want to hear. Failures of utility power can be catastrophic, as they were following Ida, Katrina (not as much) or in your vicinity, the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. Days or even weeks without utility power.

The South has environmental factors that degrade system performance. High humidity, heat and extreme rain events cause corrosion at multiple points in systems that you'll never see in CA or AZ.

The battery either has to take on greater storage capability to permit at least 24 hours run time, unless a fail-safe backup power source can be employed. Fuel sources must be enough for multiday opertion without refuelling. And, preferably using fuels that don't degrade when stored as does gasoline. Alcohols, propane, etc. Fuel cells are now packaged in configurations that are feasible to use for primary or backup power. No moving parts to worry about either.

 

I read the FCC report, and I don't see any request for "outside the box" solutions. Clearly, what we already have can work fine if it is "hardened" to the degree necessary. And that degree may vary from site to site and from region to region. As far as I know, no form of emergency power has surpassed an engine turned generator it terms of reliability, serviceability, and cost-effectiveness. Fuel cells are exotic, solar cells are not reliable (they don't work well when it's dark or cloudy).

 

You have a well designed system. My "information" is dated. Just like a multitude of in-place older trunked systems that rely on one controller channel and one control point. NO had that a decade ago when Katrina took out their dispatch point emergency generator. No control channel then meant "fail-soft," local repeater operation of each trunked cell. Worthless, at least to the point where users tossed, literally, their HTs.. It was even shown on national TV. So, mother /\/\ now has multiple trunking controller channels/points. About time. Are all systems retrofitted with analog capability and high level repeaters as your backup configuration has? Not in the flatlands of the Southeast. And, as you point out, at some point the options become a training issue for the user, to figure out what to do if things don't work right.

Hard to beat conventional or digital mobile relay points from high elevations. No matter how many agency interop opportunities, the limitations of using low power in low-level cell-phone concept trunked systems including all the dead spots really serves to degrade system availability. And, when fire fighters are using same at a fire event, I know most revert to local simplex in view of life safety environments requiring instantaneus communication. Not the usual delays waiting for the system to assign channels. That delay could cost someone their life....

 

You still don't get it. The present configurations aren't good enough. They aren't looking for a bigger whip to whack those responsible for allowing their gensets to be unable to provide backup power for a reasonable time. Fuel cells are not "exotic." Solar is not practical in high wind applications, but in your environment and in CA, where snow loading wouldn't be a factor, it could provide supplemental normal and function as a backup source as well. But again, your "float only" concept of batteries would have to change. Pb-H2SO4 is going down and out. Short life, ventilation issues, hazardous waste, spill containment, etc. 73.

 

I'm glad you're not in charge of specifying emergency power sources. Lead batteries will be with us for a long time, they are not likely to be replaced by lithium in the near term, or longer. Newer batteries have their own disadvantages, like "fire", etc. Solar is a good concept, but not for "backup emergency power". It isn't any good for that use. Fuel cells are expensive, and require pure hydrogen. There may be newer cells that run on other manageable fuels, but that technology is a ways off.

No, the FCC wants conventional backup power systems that are reliable, and affordable. Generators will be the solution until something better is proven. But we're not there yet. Here is a typical fuel cell that produces 6kW, but requires pure hydrogen:

 

Lithium Ion batteries see use in applications that require lots of cycling - cars, grid tied power (from Tesla's Powerwall to huge, multi-megawatt utility sized systems), higher energy density, lighter weight - and that's great. This application doesn't need that. You will get more Wh per $ - better bang for your buck - with lead acid. That might change in the future, but it's not there yet.

When our water pump failed this week on a 20 year old backup generator, a trip to NAPA was all it took to get it back online. Parts availability and local knowledge is part of the resilience. Something like a fuel cell won't probably have parts stocked at NAPA.

KISS, right? I have ~$1/2M of new generators on order thru CAT since the early summer. We were supposed to take delivery in October, but that's been pushed to March of 2022. Might get pushed back further, F250's on order are now looking at August of 2022 for delivery. Even with the supply chain all jacked up, sticking to tried and true hardware - with the parts and knowledge to back it up - is important in mission critical applications. Unobtanium parts and no local knowledge will lead to outages more frequently over 20 years of service. KISS. Change is OK, but not for the sake of change. Switching to Lithium Ion doesn't buy you anything in this application.

 

It’s not that I’m coming around I’m just trying to tell you how it is here at Ground Zero, I don’t have to mention it because it’s daily news, here, But the lawyers are coming out in droves They want to get their hands on every bit of info about anything that happened during the storm due to evacuation of hospitals, nursing home and similar venues some with disastrous results.

Everything died electronically on Aug 29 and the FCC is just now asking questions? @zz covering is now going on at warp speed, who wants to hold that bag?

 

So let me decode this as I understand what your predicament is. Ambulance Lawyers [AL] are descending on health and first responders to do what they do.
Even though Ham Radio is public knowledge, not every lawyer knows what went on, they didn't have radios turned on and recording. As a Government worker if an {AL} were to quote something you said in a internet forum, you might get in hot water??

I can actually see that is an issue to keep Low-Key [LOKI] for now.

 

Now, quote something whether, Public Safety, Part 90, Part 80, Part 97, Part 73 or Part 95 among others and the Ambulance Chasers want to discover any and all info no matter the source, wait for the PIO, if you don’t repeat it, you are not quoted!

 

Yup. Gotcha. Keep your head down and your @zz covered Martin. Who needs that mess with an election pending?

Check this out:

STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR

Re: Resilient Networks, PS Docket No. 21-346; Amendments to Part 4 of the Commission’s Rules Concerning Disruptions to Communications, PS Docket No. 15-80; New Part 4 of the Commission’s Rules Concerning Disruptions to Communications, ET Docket No. 04 35 (September 30, 2021)

This week, I had the opportunity to travel to Louisiana with Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel—a state that was hit hard by Hurricane Ida. I appreciated the chance to join the Chair on this visit because it allowed us to hear directly from community leaders, public safety officials, and communications providers that are engaged in the ongoing recovery and restoration efforts.

At the Louisiana State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge, we met with members of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Travis Johnson—the head of interoperability initiatives—told us that when service to a 911 center that served a coastal parish went down, the calls started rolling over to his group’s administrative line in Baton Rouge.

When those calls starting ringing in, he gathered some pens and paper and had his team start writing down the pleas for help. He read some of those shorthand notes to us: Water in house, stuck in attic. Need help. Another read: Roof off house. Kids ages three and six in home. Then, shortly after 10:00 PM, the flurry of calls just stopped. No more calls for help—just silence. The Emergency Operations Center still had connectivity, but cellular service in that coastal area was lost. There was no longer any way for those people in need to call for help.

At the same time, we heard stories about networks and call centers that remained resilient, stayed online, and absorbed the worst of Hurricane Ida’s punch. In Livingston, Louisiana, we met with Captain Jack Varnado and his team at the area’s 911 call center. Captain Varnado and a few others rode out the storm at their reinforced facility, which he noted swayed, creaked, and even leaked a little under the pressure of 100+ miles per hour winds. That call center maintained internet service during the entire storm, even though they lost telephone service for a time.

Further south in Raceland, where homes with blue tarps covering their upper floors seemed to outnumber those with intact roofs, we connected with some of the FirstNet team members that surged support and bolstered connectivity in the area.

They brought in COLTs, COWs, and dirigibles to serve neighborhoods and parts of communities where terrestrial service had been knocked out.

To put this storm in context, one of the power companies said they lost about 30,000 utility poles due to Ida, which was more than the number of poles lost in Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Delta and Zeta combined. At the same time, the telecom network showed increased resiliency. While we saw 38 different 911 call centers lose service across the Gulf Coast area during Katrina, early reports indicate that the number dropped to four in Louisiana this time around.

But the reality is that we can and must do much better. The most important calls in emergencies are the ones to 911. That network needs to be robust and resilient, and its not acceptable when it’s the first to fail.

After action reports are still being done. Root causes of the outages are still being analyzed. So we will continue to see what more we can do to promote robust networks. From the feedback I heard in Louisiana this week, I am particularly interested in ideas that could ensure roaming during disasters proceeds more smoothly and seamlessly, in ways we can get state officials more timely information about outages at 911 call centers, and in efforts to deepen the coordination between power restoration crews and their counterparts in telecom.

After all, if you track the outage information in the wake of Hurricane Ida, you will see a classic saw tooth pattern in the chart: as telecom services are restored one day, those same communications lines can be cut by power and other restoration crews as they do their jobs replacing poles and clearing roads. There remains room for improvement there.

I would like to thank my colleagues for their willingness to incorporate some of my pre- and post- Louisiana edits to the item. First, I am glad the FCC is now asking for comment on increasing its situational awareness of 911 and other emergency services, including through stronger industry coordination.

Second, I am pleased we are seeking comment on enhancing the resiliency of covered 911 providers, particularly during power outages. I am also pleased that we are seeking comment promoting roaming quickly in qualifying disaster areas. These issues are all vital to improving resiliency.

Finally, I would like to thank the staff of the Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau for their work on this item. The item has my support.

NPRM: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-99A1.pdf

Rosenworcel Statement: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-99A2.pdf
Carr Statement: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-99A3.pdf
Starks Statement: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-99A4.pdf

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-acts-improve-communications-reliability-during-disasters-0

 

Elections, heck no, 2 yrs off on the State/Parochial level, the blame game is played by the LAWYERS. For Money.

 

Okay. Mums the word. What happens in HAM stays in HAM I guess.