Communications
Devil's Pinch Rural Fire Brigade uses three types of radio in its fire vehicles.
PMR:
Most RFS Fire Districts have a PMR radio network as the main form of communication between Fire Control and vehicles in the field. The PMR network is a UHF analogue system (400Mhz), employing a number of repeaters to cover the District.
The PMR radios are also programed to cover the NSW Government Radio Network (GRN) to provide a backup radio system and enable liason between other emergency services. As the GRN is moving to a digital system, new Motorola Astro XTL-5000 radios are being fitted to fire vehicles to enable both analogue and digital radio traffic.
Fire Ground:
Fire vehicles are equipped with a VHF (161 Mhz) "fire ground" radio for communication between fire vehicles in the field. This is a simplex system and has limited range. For large fires a portable fire ground repeater can be established to provide a more wide spread "fire ground" coverage. Many vehicles carry portable fire ground radios.
UHF CB Radio:
To provide an additional form of communication, fire vehicles often carry a UHF CB radio. This can be used to communicate between vehicles, back to station or to advise general road users of traffic hazards, for example in the case of an accident. The CB radio can be used to gain information from road users when looking for the scene of a motor vehicle accident.
GPS:
Fire tankers use GPS devices to relay accurate coordinates to Fire Control when reporting on weather conditions or fire sightings.
Devil's Pinch Brigade uses a Navman GPS system