South Bay Regional Public Communications Authority update

[LAflyer]

Ran across some information regarding upcoming changes at South Bay Regional Public Communications Authority as El Segundo becomes a member.

The El Segundo cutover date is September 28th 2010.

Additionally through November channel line ups will change around.
The latest planned line up is as follows. (Sorry I don't have the frequencies that go along with them).

Channel Position - Assignment
1 - Gardena Police
2 - Hawthorne Police
3 - El Segundo Police
4 - Manhattan Beach/Hermosa Beach Police
5 - Hermosa Police – Weekends
6 - Tac 6 PD
7 - Tac 7 PD
8 - Tac 8 PD
9 - Tac 9 PD
10 - Tac 10 El Segundo PD/FD Tac
11 - Tac 11 Direct Only (Not Yet Built Out)
12 - Tac 12 Direct Only (Not Yet Built Out)
13 - Tac 13 Direct Only - So Bay Fire RIC
14 - Fire 1 Main - Dispatch All Departments
15 - Fire 2 Tac - Operations All Departments
16 - Fire 3 Tac

 

[LAflyer]

A small change already for Fire usage.

Fire 1 Main - Dispatch All Departments
Fire 2 Tac - Hermosa/Manhattan FD Ops
Fire 3 Tac - El Segundo FD Ops

 

[dwingru]

What are the Frequencies for Fire usage.

 

[LAflyer]

I have not monitored them since the transition last week, but I presume 1&2 are the existing South Bay fire channels, and 3 is the El Segundo fire frequency they are bringing over.

For Police I know the frequencies will be swapped around a bit into November. Gardena will be changing its dispatch frequency and one of the member cities was also able to get a frequency from LA County that will be incorporated into the line up someplace.

 

[LAflyer]

2011/2012 Budget Update News...

In reviewing their 2011/2012 budget there are a few comments about upcoming projects.

1 - Rebuild Manhattan Beach Pier Radio site
2 - Migrate its 181 member MDCs from VHF to 800Mhz
3 - Migrate Hawthorne / Gardena Public works to UHF
4 - 3 new frequency pairs.

I believe #4 is reference to 506/509.525, 506/509.550, 506/509.675mhz licences which the authority holds. (unless off course the member cities are contributing other licences which they might have). Suppose we should keep an eye out for any activity on those 3 in the coming year.

Also for those that have heard rumblings the last few months, apparently City of Inglewood has now indeed formally asked for a survey and proposal for joining the authority as well.

 

[KMA367]

In reviewing their 2011/2012 budget there are a few comments about upcoming projects.

2 - Migrate its 181 member MDCs from VHF to 800Mhz

Besides fitting in with the eventual plan for LA-RICS to use 700/800 for the countywide MDC system of systems, that VHF pair is pretty long in the tooth, among the longest unchanged freq uses for L.A. county police/fire agencies, going back to SBRPCA's opening in 1977. The downlink, 155.61, (as well as 154.86) had previously been shared by 9 cities from Culver City to Torrance and PV Estates.

And they got the uplink, 154.785, from LAPD, where it had been the Van Nuys Div mobile freq from about 1969-1976. It was one of LAPD's first 15-khz split frequencies, and it suffered (or more correctly the VNys RTOs suffered) from horrific bleeedover whenever the link would transmit off Mt Lee at 600w on the adjacent 154.77 Tac 2, the orignal "hotshot" frequency. Just about the time they dumped 154.785, someone had a brainstorm and they switched hotshots to Tac 1, 154.83. By then several long-time Valley RTOs had developed permanent hearing problems, but AFAIK none of them ever filed any kind of claims over it... it just wasn't done back then. My wife's one of them, with some impairment in her left ("radio headset") ear.

Also for those that have heard rumblings the last few months, apparently City of Inglewood has now indeed formally asked for a survey and proposal for joining the authority as well.

As with El Segundo last year, coming full circle? Inglewood was one of the 10 original So Bay cities, but they quit in August 1975 after the Executive Committee (the 10 City managers) voted to have just one dispatch center, in Redondo Beach, instead of the original plan for two - Inglewood PD being the other. Inglewood had recently spent quite a bit of money on their own to upgrade their comm center, but after that vote they said that not having one of the centers there reduced any benefits of being in the system.

El Segundo COP Jim Johnson, the original driving force behind the creation of SBRPCA, and its first Project Director, put more of a point on it, saying that "they [Torrance, who dropped out in 1974, and Inglewood] will participate only if they get the control."

Who could imagine any politics creeping in when 10 cities try to work together on something?. :roll:

 

[LAflyer]

Thanks for the historical background Harry.

Interesting to note that the 154.785 VHF frequency has not been licensed to the Authority or its member cities. I don't know how they exactly came to use it, if it was something like to "loan" from LA, and when the LA licence was cancelled no one bothered to get their own licence for it.
With the development of LA-RICS data network it does make sense to get ready and move away from VHF. As I recall Torrance is also one of the few remaining cities hanging on still with VHF for its MDCs.

Regarding Inglewood indeed would be full circle. From what I gather Inglewood is in a world of financial hurt including having LACoFD shut a station last year, so contract dispatching should save them a few dollars.
I also in the last year have heard that Redondo Beach with a new city manager from down in OC has been more receptive to considering consolidated 9/11 and dispatch services. So who knows they might rejoin the party one day also.

 

[KMA367]

Thanks for the historical background Harry.

Interesting to note that the 154.785 VHF frequency has not been licensed to the Authority or its member cities. I don't know how they exactly came to use it, if it was something like to "loan" from LA, and when the LA licence was cancelled no one bothered to get their own licence for it.

I spent an amazing and eye-opening year at South Bay in 1977, and it was fascinating on the one hand (new-fangled but balky CAD, MDTs, seamless automatic-aid dispatching for fire, etc) but also disappointing when it came to micro-management by some mayors, councilmen and city managers who might have heard of dispatching but had never seen it, much less done it.

154.785 was a straight give up by the City of L.A., who abandoned its use by 1977, and had it removed from their KMA367 license in a modification on 6/26/1978. South Bay acquired it by early 1977 on KZ4943, where it still resides.

 

[LAflyer]

Odd stuff.
Do a search for 154.785 at the RR FCC database search link and KZ4943 does not come up.
I wonder if it has to do with the licence being totally devoid of Lat/Long area of operations info when looking at it directly at the FCC site.

 

[scottbailey]

I also in the last year have heard that Redondo Beach with a new city manager from down in OC has been more receptive to considering consolidated 9/11 and dispatch services. So who knows they might rejoin the party one day also.

That would be Dave Carmany, who came from Seal Beach. That is of particular interest because Seal Beach runs their own mini consolidated dispatch center out of their police department facility - West Cities Police Communications Center (West-Comm). They dispatch for Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Cypress, OC Community Resources, and OC Parks. So a consolidated dispatch center would not exactly be a foreign concept for him.

 

[LAflyer]

Was reading their latest board meeting minutes and made mention pending funding they were exploring going P25 simulcast.
The timeline would be approx 1-year, and with the first slatted frequency being Fire Dispatch.

Also mentioned they would "integrate one of Chevron’s radios into the dispatch center". I suppose this means comms with the refinery in El Segundo. In the past El Segundo Fire Dept units had been able to communicate with Chevron directly. RCC was also exploring ability to share rack and roof space with Chevron due lack of space at an existing RCC radio site.