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be several days before commercial power is restored; particularly after a series of severe storms. This is unacceptable from a reliability point-of-view for public safety radio systems and, therefore, back-up power generators must be provided for all radio sites regardless of what kind of radio system is used by police and fire agencies. 2.9 INVENTORY AND AGE OF RADIO EQUIPMENT Continued use of mobile and portable radios beyond certain time spans becomes increasingly difficult and more expensive. As parts age they begin to fail more frequently. Old printed circuit boards become brittle and sometimes crack opening electrical connections. Threaded antenna connectors become worn and will no longer hold antennas. Plastic cases on radios crack or break as the plastic ages. The result is that at points in the life of radios, the failure rate often begins to accelerate. Manufacturers are only required to provide spare parts for a seven year period after the end of the manufacturing cycle for radio and land mobile radio manufacturing cycles are typically about three years. The discontinuance of availability of spare parts often coincides with the onset of an accelerating failure rate. That time marks the practical end of the useful life for a mobile or portable radio. Empirical experience across the U.S. and Canada has shown that the practical useful lifespan for a portable radio is eight years and for a mobile radio it is ten years. At the end of May 2000, law enforcement entities in Anoka County had 525 handheld portable radios and 346 mobile radios. Ofthose numbers, 269 of the portable radios were six or more years old and should be replaced by the summer of 2002. An additional 67 portable radios were four or five years old and should be replaced by the summer of 2004. Therefore, by the summer of2004, 64% of the handheld portable radios in use by law enforcement agencies in Anoka County will need to be replaced. Of the law enforcement mobile radios, 191 were eight or more years old and should be replaced by the summer of2002. Twenty-four additional radios were six or seven years old and will need to be replaced by the summer of2004. Therefore, 62% of the mobile radios in use will need to be replaced by the summer of 2004. In the fire service, there were 283 handheld portable radios of which 20 I, or 71 %, were five years old or older and should be replaced by the summer of 2003. The fire service in Anoka County had 174 mobile radios of which 77 were five years old or older and should be replaced by the summer of2003. That means 44% of the fire mobile radios will need to be replaced by 2003. Of the 1328 total fire and law enforcement mobile and portable radios, 829, or 61 %, will need to be replaced by the summer of 2004. In addition, because the population is growing and the public safety activity levels in Anoka County are growing, additional radios will need to be purchased over the next three or four years. Ronald Vegemast Engineering, inc. -19- Report: Anoka County