TRDA - SATOP Program

NASA KNOW-HOW HELPS GLADES COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

The old saying goes “lightning never strikes twice in the same spot,” but that certainly wasn’t the case with the Glades County Sheriff’s Office in Moore Haven, Fla. The county’s 911 emergency communications center was struck by lightning a total of five times in 2000 and 2001. In each instance, lightning knocked out emergency services radio systems, direct phone lines for the Florida Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center, two emergency 911 lines and 24 sheriff’s office phone lines.
The damage to equipment was substantial and costly, and while no injuries were reported, the lightning posed a threat to the safety of the dispatchers.

The NASA-funded Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP) has helped the Glades County Sheriff’s Office in Moore Haven, Fla., solve an ongoing and costly problem with lightning striking the county’s 911 emergency communication center.
Tom Johnson works in an engineering advisory/maintenance capacity for CML Communications, the company that maintains all Glades County radio equipment. Johnson believed that he had a solution for the lightning problem. “But considering all the effort that had already been expended, not to mention the cost of the ruined equipment, I wanted to know that what I was proposing would work,” said Johnson.
That was when Sheriff James Rider told Johnson about SATOP, which provides free engineering assistance to small business with technical challenges through the donations of time and expertise from 32 Space Alliance Partners. In Glades County, SATOP works with the Glades Economic Development Council to spread the word about SATOP to small businesses.

SATOP put Johnson in contact with John Ortiz, a veteran electrical engineer with The Boeing Company, a platinum-level Space Alliance Partner. Having worked on lightning protection projects in the past, Ortiz researched and reviewed Johnson’s proposed solution and gave it his blessing.
Johnson and Ortiz agreed that the problem had to be a ground loop that connected the emergency communication center to the dispatch center in the jail across the street. The loop was removed three months ago and the communication center has not suffered any lightning damage since.

“We had to find a solution to the lightning problem, as the cost in equipment and insurance was getting out of hand,” said Johnson, who also is a Glades County commissioner. “My goal was to save the county money, so I couldn’t have asked for better assistance than SATOP gave me – it worked and it was free.”