Update On Open Sky System In Florida

[AZMONITOR]

West Palm Beach continues to wrestle with its problems with the Open Sky Radio System according to the latest article in a local newspaper. See the link for more.Consultant: West Palm Beach should drop police radio despite... | www.palmbeachpost.com

[kb2vxa]

Update? Looks more like a retread of an old, worn out tire.

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Actually I'm glad I'm not.

[rapidcharger]

“We’re making decisions on decisions that were made 10 years ago and the technology has completely changed,” Mitchell said. “The system we have still isn’t even up and running. It’s like Windows 8 is out and we’re still talking about Windows Vista.”

What an analogy!
Couldn't have thought of a better one if I tried!

God I love watching the house of cards collapse from all these corrupt politicians and their brilliant decisions.
Enjoy your new "P25-like" Motorola system I guess.

[mikepdx]

Originally Posted by from the article

...commissioners, who make the final decision, were wary about giving up on such a large investment.

Typical government solution.

Throw more of the taxpayer's hard earned $$$ into a money pit.

Have they ever heard of cutting the (taxpayer's) losses,
and admit that they'd made a (huge) error in judgement??

Naw.
They cover up using deception while public safety heroes
on the street lack adequate comms:

"The Palm Beach Post first reported in May 2011 that
West Palm officials had buried critical reports documenting
OpenSky’s problems in 2009 and 2010."

[Peddicord]

As an LEO, over thirty years ago, I worked for one of the big four jurisdictions in Maryland. We worked with a two channel VHF set up, and someone said "We really need to increase radio capacity. Mistake No. 1 came, when they turned the whole project over to the county politicians, with little input from us grunts. The result was a five channel "T" band system which had lots of dead spots, and tower issues. Motorola talked them into a huge cash cow (for Motorola), and nobody liked it. After a few short years, and lots of complaints, Motorola came calling again with a whole new idea (and very expensive). "We have this 800 mHz thing going on, and think it will fix your problems." Problems were worse, especially when cell calls started coming over the radio during emergencies. Motorola to the rescue with yet another system, this time digital. After many more millions, they think they have most of it worked out (now over 90 channels, or groups). I read last week, that they are in negotiation with Harris, to build another very expensive system. The costs over the years have been crazy, they radio system has not been effective, and the vendors keep calling. When will people wake up, and just admit that too much technology isn't always the answer?

[KS4VT]

Yet the County is proceeding in its 4.2 MIllion dollar Master Site Equipment replacement...and will continue to stay mostly analog for a number of years into the future.

The county's emergency radio system has an "overwhelmingly successful history" that has involved a "high level of planning,"

Palm Beach County's no-bid radio deal draws criticism - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

There were some issues with the IG. I will reserve comment on what the report said, but it did not sway the Commissioners.

[jim202]

Originally Posted by Peddicord

As an LEO, over thirty years ago, I worked for one of the big four jurisdictions in Maryland. We worked with a two channel VHF set up, and someone said "We really need to increase radio capacity. Mistake No. 1 came, when they turned the whole project over to the county politicians, with little input from us grunts. The result was a five channel "T" band system which had lots of dead spots, and tower issues. Motorola talked them into a huge cash cow (for Motorola), and nobody liked it. After a few short years, and lots of complaints, Motorola came calling again with a whole new idea (and very expensive). "We have this 800 mHz thing going on, and think it will fix your problems." Problems were worse, especially when cell calls started coming over the radio during emergencies. Motorola to the rescue with yet another system, this time digital. After many more millions, they think they have most of it worked out (now over 90 channels, or groups). I read last week, that they are in negotiation with Harris, to build another very expensive system. The costs over the years have been crazy, they radio system has not been effective, and the vendors keep calling. When will people wake up, and just admit that too much technology isn't always the answer?

That is what happens when your given a snow job by a radio vendor and your not smart enough to have an engineer that has no interest in the system, look over what some company is trying to sell you. With most county commissioners not being radio wise, they tend to believe anything that a radio vendor tells them. I call this the smoke and mirror dance. By the time these sales people are done, the wine and dine has got the bellies full and they will sign just about anything placed in front of them. It would not surprise me that there was no open bid process.

When are the tax payers going to wake up and demand better engineering for their tax money going down the drain. When you let a vendor write the specs, do the acceptance testing with no outside monitoring, you get what ever the vendor feels like giving you. They might even polish up the mirrors so you can see your shadow better.

[xmo]

"...the County is proceeding in its 4.2 MIllion dollar Master Site Equipment replacement...and will continue to stay mostly analog for a number of years into the future...."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This sounds like a SmartX project. A very fiscally responsible solution. No other vendor can replace a system's Master Site. Maybe someday that will be possible with P25 CSSI & FSSI interfaces, but not now.

A SmartX solution lets you get years more use out of your infrastructure [repeaters, site connectivity, channel banks, and dispatch consoles] as well as your portables and mobiles.

With the same Core [Master Site], you can also have an HPD overlay for your MDT's as an alternative to paying a carrier for monthly air time access while waiting to see how the LTE mess sorts out.

[KS4VT]

Yes that is what we are doing...

Originally Posted by xmo

"...the County is proceeding in its 4.2 MIllion dollar Master Site Equipment replacement...and will continue to stay mostly analog for a number of years into the future...."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This sounds like a SmartX project. A very fiscally responsible solution. No other vendor can replace a system's Master Site. Maybe someday that will be possible with P25 CSSI & FSSI interfaces, but not now.

A SmartX solution lets you get years more use out of your infrastructure [repeaters, site connectivity, channel banks, and dispatch consoles] as well as your portables and mobiles.

With the same Core [Master Site], you can also have an HPD overlay for your MDT's as an alternative to paying a carrier for monthly air time access while waiting to see how the LTE mess sorts out.

[milf]

Ahh the joys.... scratch that, lets be honest.... The massive pains in both ends given on a daily basis from that insanely whacked system known as OpenSKY. Is there a single agency that has not had seriously bad thigs happening when they buy into OpenSKY? PA, LV, FL,... Not going to go full rant here, its just a waste of time, and breath. Just gonna say, wake up and smell the roses your holding under your nose to cover the odor of the pile of manure you bought yourself.

[w2txb]

Like so many things, governments (and those who run them) find it easier to just keep pouring more money down the drain in attempts to fix the "issues". This is beyond the "issues" stage here, you people... they are PROBLEMS.