US starts emergency radio tests: Why have one network when one radio can use them all?

The Department of Homeland Security has announced preliminary tests of a radio designed to use all the frequencies where first responders hang out, which might prove easier than getting them all to use one network.

In an attempt to unify the radio systems used by American emergency teams, the Department of Homeland Security has announced trials of a software-defined radio handset from Thales which is designed to operate on all the frequencies used by the emergency services, while not costing much more than an normal radio.

The handsets will get at least 30 days of use by 14 different organisations stretching from the 2010 Olympic security committee to Murray State University and the Texas National Guard - representing the breadth of uses to which the DHS expects the new radio to be put.


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