The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford has voted to decommission its 146.52 emergency station. The historic public service operation will come to a halt after almost 26 years of operation, writes PART’s President “Bo” Budinger, WA1QYM. PART voted 10-to-5 for the change at its June, 2006 meeting.
PART still provides emergency phone patch facilities directly into the Westford Police Department (WFD), the Massachusetts State Police, the New Hampshire State Police, and police departments in several of the surrounding towns via their 2 meter and 440 repeaters.
“We are only decommissioning the 146.52 direct operation,” stresses Budinger. “We have not had a call into WB1GOF for ages. The .52 station will remain in the dispatch area for use in emergency communications between the WPD and PART.”
Budinger adds that he is forming a committee to facilitate the station’s decommissioning. AA1VS has volunteered to be a committee member; WA1QYM is looking for more people to join.
“Our job will be to see that the PART signs on I-495 and Route 3 as well as on the local Westford streets come down and are disposed of properly.” He adds that the club also needs to notify the greater Boston Amateur Radio community of the decommissioning.
“I envision a formal closing ceremony for this historic public service operation,” Budinger adds.