On Tuesday, April 8, 2003, at 11:56 PM, Mauro Mariotti wrote:
> Hi Mr. King,
> I think that the major problem is what sensor to use instead of
> what amplifier use.
> Geophones have a limited detection range and not detect a person
> that eventually walk softly.
> It could detect a running animal instead or an animal trying to bury
> something near the sensor.
> Probably a better sensor is a pressurized rubber pipe buried along the 
> border
> that could be long 10 - 20 meters or more.
> Then you can measure the pressure variation at one extremity when
> someone walk over it.

That would take a lot of pipe...but maybe a better idea for sensors. I 
talked to an army guy who once did seismic sensors in the first Iraq 
war. They have (of course!) an acronym for this job, though I don't 
remember it...I don't think he even remembered what it stood for. He 
told me they are mostly designed to detect artillery sources, and 
combined with radar methods (he called it fire-finding radar, or 
something like that) pin point the location of an enemy's artillery and 
then be able to fire back at the correct position. He also said that it 
could pick up large vehicle convoys or even people on foot when they 
were very numerous and fairly close.

What works in the Army tends not to be the case along the AZ border, 
which is run by coyotes hauling mostly smaller groups of people on 
foot...some times abandoning large numbers of them in the middle of the 
desert leading to hundreds of deaths from heat exhaustion, etc.. On a 
number of occasions I've run across a taxi looking for fares in the 
middle of the desert! In a few border towns there have been incidents 
of thousands of people lining up along the border, and then crossing 
all at once...thus overwhelming the border patrol...but not much is 
able to stop this from happening. The worst is the drug runners who are 
almost always armed and quite willing to shoot first and see who it is 
later...this may account for the low morale in the border patrol in 
some areas, since quite a few of them have been killed. No doubt about 
it, the lax border enforcement in the past decade in Arizona has caused 
this to be the main conduit for illegal cross-border activity in the 
US. It has brought the Mexican mafia into Phoenix, where they took 
control of much of the illegal activity there. They are a bold and 
brutal organization, and even wear clothing, drive trucks, etc. in a 
uniform way that announces who they are; i.e. their presence and lack 
of fear. A friend of mine, a Phoenix cop, lost his partner when a group 
of them telephoned the police and laid a trap...apparently just for 
"fun."

So no doubt about it, this is a serious problem. Dealing with it is not 
trivial, and the complexities involved are mind-boggling. Arizona is 
the sixth largest state in the US, and contains 193 separate (and 
unsettled) mountain ranges that really makes it possible for much to 
happen off the beaten track. But there is always room for innovations. 
Some cities have set up microphones to detect gun shot locations before 
the inevitable 911 call. People need to just keep thinking and being 
creative, and a solution could present itself.

Cheers!
John
On Tuesday, April 8, 2003, at 11:56 PM, Mauro Mariotti wrote:

ArialHi Mr. King,

ArialI think that the major
problem is what sensor to use instead of

Arialwhat amplifier use.

ArialGeophones have a limited
detection range and not detect a person

Arialthat eventually walk softly.

ArialIt could detect a running
animal instead or an animal trying to bury

Arialsomething near the sensor.

ArialProbably a better sensor is a
pressurized rubber pipe buried along the border

Arialthat could be long 10 - 20
meters or more.

ArialThen you can measure the
pressure variation at one extremity when

Arialsomeone walk over it.



That would take a lot of pipe...but maybe a better idea for sensors. I
talked to an army guy who once did seismic sensors in the first Iraq
war. They have (of course!) an acronym for this job, though I don't
remember it...I don't think he even remembered what it stood for. He
told me they are mostly designed to detect artillery sources, and
combined with radar methods (he called it fire-finding radar, or
something like that) pin point the location of an enemy's artillery
and then be able to fire back at the correct position. He also said
that it could pick up large vehicle convoys or even people on foot
when they were very numerous and fairly close. 


What works in the Army tends not to be the case along the AZ border,
which is run by coyotes hauling mostly smaller groups of people on
foot...some times abandoning large numbers of them in the middle of
the desert leading to hundreds of deaths from heat exhaustion, etc..
On a number of occasions I've run across a taxi looking for fares in
the middle of the desert! In a few border towns there have been
incidents of thousands of people lining up along the border, and then
crossing all at once...thus overwhelming the border patrol...but not
much is able to stop this from happening. The worst is the drug
runners who are almost always armed and quite willing to shoot first
and see who it is later...this may account for the low morale in the
border patrol in some areas, since quite a few of them have been
killed. No doubt about it, the lax border enforcement in the past
decade in Arizona has caused this to be the main conduit for illegal
cross-border activity in the US. It has brought the Mexican mafia into
Phoenix, where they took control of much of the illegal activity
there. They are a bold and brutal organization, and even wear
clothing, drive trucks, etc. in a uniform way that announces who they
are; i.e. their presence and lack of fear. A friend of mine, a Phoenix
cop, lost his partner when a group of them telephoned the police and
laid a trap...apparently just for "fun."


So no doubt about it, this is a serious problem. Dealing with it is
not trivial, and the complexities involved are mind-boggling. Arizona
is the sixth largest state in the US, and contains 193 separate (and
unsettled) mountain ranges that really makes it possible for much to
happen off the beaten track. But there is always room for innovations.
Some cities have set up microphones to detect gun shot locations
before the inevitable 911 call. People need to just keep thinking and
being creative, and a solution could present itself.


Cheers!

John