Probably like the farmers here that do their own electrical work rather than pay an electrician. Some do really nice work. Then there are the other 95%. My installer will say “there was an outlet there for the POE, but it was farmerized”. So maybe loose wires not in conduit, neutral used as ground, no faceplate, and the box held to a stud with rusty visegrips. But no inspection required, so why pay a professional?
One customer needed a security camera in his barn. Anything I quoted was too expensive. So he got a webcam at a big box store and some Cat5 cable and ziptied it to the overhead power wires. OK, there are reasons we can’t do it that way. Being a professional means you get paid, but it also means you carry liability insurance, get sued if you kill someone or burn down their house, or at least have to go back and fix it when you didn’t do it right the first time. It also means you are depending for your income on referrals. You can get government contracts based on low bid, but more discriminating customers rely on referrals and ratings. From: Lewis Bergman Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 9:39 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Tessco Show We will have to agree to disagree. I fire people that do shoddy work. I also routinely do site reviews after work is complete and have the work redone if required. Most of the people that I know in my industry do the same. Of course I only know the Motorola service organizations and out of those only the ones that have been around a long time. Anyway, looks like you have had some bad experiences of your own. Can't wait to hear from Jaime on what else he learned. On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 9:27 AM Mike Hammett <[email protected]> wrote: I meant enthusiast, whether an unpaid HAM or a paid EOC Director. Doesn't matter. I think you place too much faith in people paid to do something. Most do it poorly. I think most public safety agencies are like most WISPs. Some do it great, most do it good enough, while some are a pile of shit. Now once you get to the low bidder half of your message, I think you're largely spot on. ----- Mike Hammett Intelligent Computing Solutions Midwest Internet Exchange The Brothers WISP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: "Lewis Bergman" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 9:22:15 AM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Tessco Show I agree that an enthusiast will likely try to do a better job, especially since they are likely working on their own equipment. An enthusiast isn't likely to take a week off of work, travel to a class 3 states away, and pay thousands of dollars to become certified in proper R56 grounding installations for instance. Not that a class teaches something you can't learn from various sources, just that we have to do it and it gets done. A HAM doesn't have to make the effort, while some will, many won't. But you are correct in detecting a "shortness". Sadly, where tax dollars are concerned, the low bidder normally wins which in many cases results in a lower value for the dollar spent. The exercises are meant to expose equipment and procedural short comings and do a pretty decent job of that. As for the SHTF, our public safety agancies use their gear every day all day. The SHTF every day. Of course a Catrina doesn't happen every day. Sadly, when you tell someone their system is vulnerable because the genset they have is 25 years old and won't start or the batts need to be replaced or a hundred other things the response is usually We don't have the budget for that" or "I don't see why I need it because I can talk on my system now" On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 8:10 AM Mike Hammett <[email protected]> wrote: I just saw the "shortness" in the various HAM related threads. I think we'll agree that an enthusiast (paid or not) will do a better job than someone just showing up. As a tax-payer, you sure would hope that those you're paying to do the job are doing it better, but there's by no means a guarantee of that. Unfortunately, no one knows how good or bad a system is until the SHTF. True, the most egregious of problems are found during drills, but they're not 100%. ----- Mike Hammett Intelligent Computing Solutions Midwest Internet Exchange The Brothers WISP ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Lewis Bergman" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 7:56:33 AM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Tessco Show You would be as justified to say there are a wide variety of professional skill levels of radio people as I am in saying the same about HAM's skill sets. But I will say, on average, a person paid and tested daily on a subject should be better at those tasks than someone doing them when they have spare time. I think we agree more than you might think. My apologies if I struck a sensitive chord. On Thu, Feb 25, 2016, 7:14 AM Mike Hammett <[email protected]> wrote: Having seen many "professional" systems, I'm not sure that's much of a benchmark. ----- Mike Hammett Intelligent Computing Solutions Midwest Internet Exchange The Brothers WISP -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Lewis Bergman" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 7:07:36 AM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Tessco Show While I have had many bad experiences I also employ several HAMS. The question at hand was "Why don't emergency personal involve HAMS in their operation readiness exercises?". I was merely offering a reason. These public safety officials are professionals, not amateurs, and are typically being evaluated during these exercises. The only HAM's I have issues with are the ones that cannot accept they are amateurs. Just like flying a drone doesn't qualify you to fly a 747, being a HAM doesn't qualify you to design a public safety radio system or run an EOC. Some HAM's are qualified, but many are not. With proper training, as someone mentioned in a different thread, there is a real place for them that can benefit public safety. We just installed a P25 radio system in a hospital EOC and as part of it We installed additional coax lines so that HAM's could more easily be integrated into the operations there. So, I do work with them. I only have issues with two types of HAM's or anyone around a specific industry. 1.. freeloaders - Don't ask me to give you something free just because you like doing it. this is my business, not my hobby. 2.. Know it all - I have been in the radio business officially since I was 9 (first FCC license issued). I am a paid, highly trained professional with a lot of education and experience in the field. Just because you read a book and took a test doesn't mean you know everything. I don't know everything either, by I recognize it. These things cross all boundaries. I also didn't like some geek telling me how I should configure my large IP topology because he once configured a Linksys router at his grandmother's house so his XBox would function and it worked. Know your place, that is all I am saying. On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 9:00 PM Mike Hammett <[email protected]> wrote: I'm guessing Lewis and one or two others have had some sort of bad dealing with a HAM and now hate the all forever for any impractical reason.
