What is firstnet?... the online info is pretty hard to get a handle on.
Lazarus
They are working on a communication network for first responders to a disaster (firefighters, police, etc.). They don’t provide emergency communication for the general public.Originally Posted by 1azarus
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firs...work_Authority
The trick with First Net is the government pays ATT to put the in the tower sites and infrastructure in support First Net. Its a lot easier to piggy back other standard cell tower capabilities on the back of the First Net install. I have not kept up with the final tech standards but my understanding from a few years ago is the ATT could just take a existing cell site and prioritize access to First Net enabled equipment.If there is no First Net traffic its a normal cell site but if there is the site recognizes a First Net device it give its priority.
There are a lot of big brother issues with First Net as in the case of a emergency, the network can flip a switch and shut down the standard networks and only let First Net registered phones use the bandwidth. It may start out as first responders but there is pretty clear speculation that politicians and "important" people will get access so the government will paying for a two tier cellular network. Pretty much standard SOP in third world countries these days is if there are political protests, the first thing the government does is shut down the cellular networks to keep the population from figuring out what is going on. I have no doubt that if Tesla or Amazon get low earth orbit satellite internet up and running there will a couple of government black boxes in the system so if the US or other governments want to they can shut down of limit access to the network. Once those LEO satellite networks get running I expect the spot type devices will jump over to that system and the accuracy and availability will increase substantially.
Last edited by peakbagger; 05-26-2019 at 19:08.
Shutterbug,
I'm very interested in that. I can't believe I'd never heard of that operation before. Have you ever thought of writing a memoir book about your experiences?
Or has anyone in your unit written one?
I'ma private pilot, incactive but still very much interested...and a huge aviation nerd. Just about the only thing I read is military memoirs and biographies. I was never a reader through school or as a young adult..the only thing I'd ever read was required stuff for school, or text books about things of interest...when I was learning to fly, scuba diving when I got into that, etc... Strictly non-fiction. Never novels or fiction...just have never been able to get into it.
Then I went to Oshkosh one year for Airventure. One of the presentations I saw was Chuck Yeager and his friend Bud Anderson. It was just a couple regular guys up there not trying to impress anyone really...just sharing stories and answering questions about there time fighting the nazis in their P-51's, and then after doing all the test pilot stuff. Well, those stories were better than any Tom Clancy movie...PLUS they really happened to these guys. Right away I went and bought Chuck Yeager's book, then Bud Anderson's...then I read every WW2 aviation memoir I could find....when I couldn't find more I branched off into other things...submarine guys, korea, viet nam, desert storm, etc....
Anyway, my point is that I have huge respect for what you did, and what your buddies did...and I'm very interested in learning all I can. I think a lot of people like reading that kind of thing. Even the folks that think what they did wasn't anything special have written very interesting stories.
A few years ago, I was hiking the Wonderland Trail. I was on the steep slope between Mowich River and the Golden Lakes. The edge of the trail gave way and I fell over the edge. On the way down, my head came within inches of hitting a limb on a tree. Fortunately some bushes broke my fall and I was not seriously injured. But as I was lying there in the bushes, I realized that if I had hit my head it would have been unlikely that anyone would find me. That was when I decided to carry a SPOT and keep it in the tracking mode. That way, if I fell off an edge somewhere the searchers would know my position. My wife doesn't actually track my hikes, but she knows how to check the track if I fail to return from a hike.
Shutterbug
I have written an account of what my unit did. It will soon be printed in the Magazine for the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot's Association. Once it is printed, I will be glad to share a link. It isn't a surprise that you have never heard of it. The missions involving drones were all Top Secret during the war. Only those actually involved were authorized to know about our missions.
Shutterbug
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