The president of the association on the new headquarters granted by the Municipality: “In case of disaster we decline all responsibility”
IVREA
“We now have a roof over our heads, but the radio links are on the verge of comprehensibility due to the thick-crowned trees.” Smiles bitterly, Aldo Benedino, president of Ari, the Italian Amateur Radio Association-Section of Ivrea, in commenting on the new headquarters granted by the Municipality of the association after the “eviction” from the premises in the former Valcalcino barracks complex, suddenly declared no longer safe. On Wednesday 15, in fact, the command of the Municipal Police who, after the mayor, is responsible for Civil Protection, communicated to Ari the pro tempore assignment of the Com room (Mixed Operations Center), the office dedicated to the general coordination of civil protection of the Municipality, located in the premises of the Technical Office, in via Cardinal Fietta. Too bad that due
“These are three rooms where the radio stations of the police and civil protection are housed and also one of ours that allows radio connections to be made with the Prefecture and the other Com offices in the Piedmont area. We are grateful to the mayor for granting us a location, but we would be even more grateful if two problems were resolved which I immediately reported to him. The first is the absence of toilets. That there would be, in reality, but they are located in a part of the Technical Office accessible only in cases of disasters, when the Room becomes operational for the Civil Protection, while, when the use of the premises is limited to our associative activities such as meetings and meetings, this part remains closed. This situation would result, in the future, in an inconvenience for the members and the members who find themselves in need of it. With the current times, among other things, it would be advisable to have even just a sink to wash your hands, as prescribed by the anti-contagion regulations ».
«Far more important, however – continues President Benedino – is the other problem, caused by the presence, around the headquarters, of trees with very thick foliage and taller than the antennas placed on the roof of the building. The leaves, in fact, with the sap that pervades them, constitute an obstacle to the propagation of the signal. This is confirmed by the latest of the connection tests requested by the Prefecture of Turin to guarantee the functionality of the entire radio emergency system, which the Ari members must provide, which revealed how much the connection was at the limit of comprehensibility “.
And he concludes: «In emergencies, when the only possibility of connection is the point-to-point connection, there are no repeaters, satellites, telephone lines and even less fibers to hold, so it would be advisable to remove all obstacles to the propagation of waves in advance. This is why I have already warned the mayor that if we do not at least trim the trees, we will decline all responsibility in the event of a disaster. A few days ago, the engineer Nolesio, manager of the technical area, told us that the current plants, which are old and have various problems, will be replaced with new ones and obviously low ones and that this will solve the problem. We wait, hoping that, in the meantime, there will be no emergencies to deal with ». –