Tucker County Director of Emergency Management Kevin White said that he is currently expanding Starlink to his mobile Emergency Management truck. Previously, he had Starlink installed on the mobile command unit as a fixed unit, but with the truck, he will have mobile capability. The Emergency Management vehicles will serve as a “Pilot Program” for the County.
“I can take information back to other responders, agencies and let them know how it’s working and then they can make their own decisions based on their needs,” White said.
Many surrounding county Emergency Managers, such as Randolph County, have had Starlink for six months or more, already, White said. He said the success of other agencies has led to his decision to implement the pilot program.
White said that the cost is based on the features needed. He said he estimated that around 100GB of Starlink would run the County around $100 a month.
“It’s affordable to the point that I feel it is worth seeing what the outcome will be,” White said. “I already have all the information I need from other counties, other agencies, to know that it is going to be a very valuable device,” White said.
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Tucker County joined other County Commissions in signing resolutions asking for flexibility in the Quiet Zone restrictions for emergency radio transmissions. The effort is spearheaded by Pendleton County Emergency Manager Rick Gillespie. Green Bank Observatory has acknowledged the effort and meetings are being arranged with Gillespie and Pendleton County to address the issue and see what steps may or may not be able to be done by the government to lessen restrictions on radio transmissions.
“I think for the cost effectiveness of a Starlink system versus a whole new tower and the tower does not guarantee you signal other than in certain areas, either, where Starlink is mobile,” White said.
“People are wanting better communications. Our responders are wanting better communications, but the reality is a new tower is going to be very difficult to come up with the funds for. There’s no grants for that type of stuff. There’s always going to be dead spots, even if you were going to put up another tower. We’re looking for the possibility of finding funding somewhere, but it’s just an astronomical amount of money for a county to come up with.” – Kevin White
Prior to Starlink, many of the County’s responding units, such as EMS, Fire and Law Enforcement, used AT&T hotspot systems that operated off of cell signal, according to White. The drawback to such a system, however, was its reliance on cell signal in a county with limited cell coverage and known deadzones.
“It was a cell signal device that could create internet for you,” White said. “I know Parsons Fire runs it, Law Enforcement has it, things like that, so that they can receive information and sometimes even get better signal than what they would by having that capability of creating a hotspot.”
Starlink, however, does not rely on towers to operate. The satellite based system relies on a series of satellites that circle the globe on a continuous basis to maintain coverage. The system provides an opportunity for greater coverage in areas where cell coverage would be limited or non-existent in Tucker County.
However, living in the National Forest does create a hindrance to the technology, with the heavy foliage and tree coverage providing limiting factors to satellite coverage.
“Starlink is limited in its capabilities by the canopy itself. If you can see the sky, most of the time, you will have some signal, if not a lot of signal. But, if you’re under a lot of dense canopy, such as a wilderness, such as Otter Creek or maybe even Dolly Sods or something like that, then obviously, it is limited to its capabilities, if it has any capabilities at all just due to the canopy overhead because it has to see that satellite over top.” -Kevin White
With a Starlink system, the County would not need to seek out sites for a new tower, purchase land or invest up to $1 million in a new site, tower and equipment. Starlink would be installed a receiver on individual vehicles and travel with each unit wherever it goes.
“They make a magnet mount,” White said. “It wires through your vehicle and they make a hail shoe for it so it doesn’t get damaged or anything. And the vehicle just rides around with the Starlink on top of it. It’s just a little white, most of the time, square, box.”
Starlink would be an optimal pairing for many responders due to the advancement in radio technology. White said many state-of-the-art radios are wifi capable, which would pair with Starlink technology to allow for contact in areas where standard radio signal would not be available. Prior to wifi capable radios, only digital or analog radios were available to first responders.
“These new radios are wifi capable. So if you have a newer radio and you have a wifi signal, such as Starlink can generate, you may have coverage in an area you typically didn’t have coverage with just the typical radio signal.”
