COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
For many months, numerous articles in the Martinsburg Journal have described the need for improved communications in the Eastern Panhandle counties of West Virginia. Some of the present systems have dead spots in certain areas which could cause Police and Fire units to face very dangerous situations due to the inability to contact others. When Katrina struck the New Orleans area it was quickly evident that emergency services, as well as Local and State Officials, in many cases, were not able to contact one another. Just recently, in Martinsburg, it was discovered that a newly installed system had some dead spots. One can not help but wonder if adequate testing was performed during the installation of the upgraded system? Related to the above is the strong belief that should a disaster strike the Washington DC and/or Baltimore, MD area(s), as many as 7million people could travel to West Virginia seeking refuge. Thus it is imperative that not only must all communications systems be able to have interoperability, but that serious considerations be given to the potential housing, feeding, medical care required for those people.

UNIDENTIFIED BEACON
The past several times I checked 350 kHz, I did not hear the temporary identification TST. I now hear MSQ which is not listed in any of the ID publications I hold?

End of Report

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