Chuck Thomas is a Radio Technician in DIT’s Michigan Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) unit.  He transitioned to DIT from the Department of Natural Resources.  Before that, he worked for the Frigidaire Company after a 13.5 year career with the United States Army.  Chuck gained his electronics knowledge in the Army as a Missile Maintenance Technician and has learned about radio technology on the job. 

As a Radio Technician, and because he is stationed close to Lansing, Chuck is often tasked with troubleshooting a variety of radio problems.  He says his favorite thing about the job is the diversity of work.  He is always doing something new and different.  Lately, he has been doing a lot of work with the Automated Vehicle Locator (AVL) system, which is used by the Department of Natural Resources.

The AVL is a statewide system used by DNR to track the locations of their officers.  There is a computerized map at system headquarters, and each vehicle shows up on it.  If an officer turns on the sirens, the icon for that vehicle changes color.  Changes are also detected when an officer turns on his lights, starts the ignition or has a collision.  DIT services this system and Chuck was working to solve a problem the day I visited him.

A DNR officer had his truck in the radio shop when I arrived to meet Chuck.  The truck, which is hooked into the AVL system, belonged to an officer from Kalamazoo County.  For some reason, his radio was sending a signal to central dispatch that his siren was constantly on, even though it wasn’t.  Chuck tried a number of different fixes, but nothing seemed to be working.  He believes the problem could be within the siren itself, and not with the AVL system.  This is one of the biggest frustrations Chuck faces on the job.  He says that “the manufacturer should have fixed a lot of these problems in the equipment ahead of time.”  But because equipment comes to him with a few bugs, Chuck spends a lot of his time fixing things that should just show up operational.  Eventually, the siren had to be disconnected from the AVL system, which Chuck says was “one of those rare instances where nothing goes right for us.”

Chuck also said that an on-the-job frustration is trying to work out his schedule with those of the conservation officers.  Because he is the only one in his shop, he sometimes finds it difficult to schedule time with officers who come from all over the state.  However, this does allow him to travel quite a bit, to a variety of state parks and wildlife sites.  Usually though, the officers have to come to his shop for more major repairs, just so Chuck has access to all the tools and supplies he might need.

So the next time you visit a state park, take a second to remember all the hard work that DIT employees like Chuck do to help ensure your safety and that of public safety officers!

Do you know someone who should be featured on A Day in the Life?? E-mail Dana Graham at grahamd3@michigan.gov!