#65 - REACT 1 is Coming to Life
Over the past couple days I have been working on getting the Oahu Emergency REACT markings put onto the communications vehicle known as REACT 1, a low-mileage 2012 Ford E-250 Super Duty cargo van. It is finally starting to come together.
This weekend the amber LED light bar, the LED Traffic Director for the back, as well as a few additional LED warning lights come in so I will try to get all of those installed next week.
High-powered LED floodlights are also being installed all the way around the van so that we are able to light up a work area where we need to for safety. There will be 4 lights on the front, two on the back, and two on each side of the vehicle.
I will have to modify the roof rack slightly to allow clearance for the addition of the LED light bar on the roof. I had already planned for this when the roof rack was ordered, so instead of ordering a one-piece roof rack as most people do, I purchased a modular designed rack that is actually five separate pieces that bolt together to form the rack.
What I will do is simply remove the second section and move the front section back one position. That will give me plenty of clearance to install the LED light bar across the roof right above the front doors.
The front of the roof rack will be right behind the front doors. The rear end of the roof rack will stay in its current position, which will have the LED Traffic Director attached to the bottom of it to warn people coming up from behind us of an emergency.
Right now REACT 1 is equipped with radios for 2-meter, 70-cm, 1.25-meter, FRS/GMRS, MURS, and CB frequencies. I still have to get the HF radio as well as digital scanner installed in there over the next few weeks. A mobile hotspot is installed for internet connectivity for the laptop which is also connected to the radios for sending and receiving digital communications.
I also tested out the Vantage Vue portable weather station from Davis in REACT 1 today which worked flawlessly as we monitored a storm approaching the island of Oahu.
There is still a lot of work left to do before I am finished with this project, but at least it is starting to take shape now. Once everything is complete I will do a video tour of REACT 1 for you.
Until next time,
Aloha & 73
