"Buzz"


Buzz awaits the storm at 10,500ft in Telluride, CO

 

When we acquired this truck, it had loose sheet metal inside the dashboard which buzzed very loudly at a certain engine RPM. We've since fixed it, but the name stuck.

Buzz is a 6.2L diesel, one-ton, 4WD military ambulance which has been re-configured as a transmitter truck. It's small, agile, and very sure-footed. If it can't get to a location,  you probably don't need to go there.

Two people can have Buzz on the air within 2 hours of arrival on site.

Buzz contains a lot of communications firepower.

Among its features are:

RF FACILITIES

* Eight 100-Watt UHF Motorola MTR2000 repeaters operating into independent transmit antennas.  Repeaters revert to standard repeater operation if the voting system fails or connectivity is lost.

* 110-Watt Low-band (28-54mhz) simplex base station, synthesized, 64 channels, remoteable to the dispatch site.

* 100-Watt High-band (150-174mhz) simplex base station, synthesized, 64 channels, remoteable to the dispatch site.

 

TRUCK TO DISPATCH INTERCONNECT AND NETWORK

* 5.8ghz Quad and Octal T1 microwave system to connect it to the system voting comparators at a remote dispatch location.

On-board TSU to provide 24 DSØ circuits into either the microwave system or into telco point-to-point T-1 for interconnect distances greater than the microwave can accomodate, or for over-the-horizon situations.

Buzz often acts as the "convergence point" in our systems, and has a 3/1/0 DACS on board. This DACS can groom all the DSØs on all the T1s from all the sites to concentrate them for most efficient use of the microwave capacity. It also establishes the point of convergence of the Layer 2 multipoint bridge that handles telemetry to and from all the sites.

 

VOTED OR STANDALONE

The truck can operate either as a component in a multi-site voted system, or as a standalone repeater site; with or without remote microwave connection to a dispatch location. It can be linked to additional sites to assemble large coverage perimeters.

ENDURANCE

As with all of our mobile facilities, Buzz is capable of operating from internal battery banks for some period of time. 300 ampere-hour banks are provided for both 12 volt and 24 volt supplies. All equipment in the truck operates from 12 or 24 volt DC as prime power, with the exception of the HVAC. The entire truck including HVAC can operate at full capability from a 6000 watt generator.

SITE FACILITIES

* A master grounding system with rods which can be driven on-site. The grounding cable which goes to the rods is bonded to the steel body of the truck at the point where the lighting arrestors are bolted to the frame. The grounding cable can carry 400 amps of current continuously.

* Shown in this picture is a Force 12 telescoping tower which mounts all of the antennas used with the repeaters, maximum height to the tip of the receive antenna is 78'.

 

 

 

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Buzz is equipped with outriggers to stabilize it in winds of up to 80mph. Tie-down points are provided for extreme circumstances to stabilize the body and provide deeper guying radius for the tower.
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