Marcs & leern

[quarterwave]

I still hear some LEERN tests on 154.935 in the Southern half of the state, and I have seen (at least at one time) where there was a MARCS LEERN talkgroup, which someone told me was patched to a LEERN base in Columbus...(and possibly other areas).

My question is, does anyone know the current state of use for LEERN? It appears the cars still have VHF radios in them, but I usually only hear chopper traffic. Do they still have 154.935, 154.680 and intercity 155.370, and 155.475 mutual aid?

For convenience, I can see cross patching, but it seems to me having those old bases around and keeping the VHF in the cars would be a nice back up. If MARCS isn't working (range or a trouble) you wouldnt be able to use it to talk through a cross patch anyway, so the car radio would be nice.

I know our SO used to have a base, but I am told through replacement equipment, politics, and lack of knowledge they don't even have 154.935 capability anymore. About 15-17 years a ago they had a 100 watt MSR2000 with that in F2 (a T2-2R base) for Fire, at a good tower site and could talk all over Southern Ohio with it. Now no one seems to care.

I never hear a post around hear use it....but I hear some toward Wilmington, mostly tests.

I guess my thought it I like the new technology and fancy systems but at some point there will come a day when people will be wishing they didn't throw away analog VHF. I am doing the NB project for my company and they thought that when they went to cell phones completely 3-4 years ago they didn't need "them old fashioned radios" anymore. I think they are going to be thankful someday when they have it for backup/emergency use...when the fiber links and t1's to tower sites are out...or site is damaged and the cell phone doesnt work. We have a 350 Watt VHF repeater with a voter and aux rcvrs...and a 75 mile ops radius....thats not something to just "throw away".

[wa8pyr]

LEERN is still used regularly; it's the one common denominator among nearly every law enforcement agency in the state.

Originally Posted by quarterwave

I still hear some LEERN tests on 154.935 in the Southern half of the state, and I have seen (at least at one time) where there was a MARCS LEERN talkgroup, which someone told me was patched to a LEERN base in Columbus...(and possibly other areas).

My question is, does anyone know the current state of use for LEERN? It appears the cars still have VHF radios in them, but I usually only hear chopper traffic. Do they still have 154.935, 154.680 and intercity 155.370, and 155.475 mutual aid?

For convenience, I can see cross patching, but it seems to me having those old bases around and keeping the VHF in the cars would be a nice back up. If MARCS isn't working (range or a trouble) you wouldnt be able to use it to talk through a cross patch anyway, so the car radio would be nice.

I know our SO used to have a base, but I am told through replacement equipment, politics, and lack of knowledge they don't even have 154.935 capability anymore. About 15-17 years a ago they had a 100 watt MSR2000 with that in F2 (a T2-2R base) for Fire, at a good tower site and could talk all over Southern Ohio with it. Now no one seems to care.

I never hear a post around hear use it....but I hear some toward Wilmington, mostly tests.

I guess my thought it I like the new technology and fancy systems but at some point there will come a day when people will be wishing they didn't throw away analog VHF. I am doing the NB project for my company and they thought that when they went to cell phones completely 3-4 years ago they didn't need "them old fashioned radios" anymore. I think they are going to be thankful someday when they have it for backup/emergency use...when the fiber links and t1's to tower sites are out...or site is damaged and the cell phone doesnt work. We have a 350 Watt VHF repeater with a voter and aux rcvrs...and a 75 mile ops radius....thats not something to just "throw away".

[quarterwave]

Hmmm, not so sure about that...you know there is a part of the State that exists below 70/270...some people forget that.

I don't think agencies are deliberately abandoning it, but again, technologically, they are mis-informed and through local politics, and lack of knowledge they alienate themselves. I know of a couple of agencies on MARCS now that threw their VHF's out of the latest installs. One even had narrow capable radios. That new sliced bread is great, but they are going to be screwed at some point, even for just a day, or an event...downtime is downtime.

Moreover, I was kind of looking for someone that could speak from an OSP perspective on what their current operational plan is. We know low band is gone...whats in those VHF's and do they use them.

[wa8pyr]

Originally Posted by quarterwave

Hmmm, not so sure about that...you know there is a part of the State that exists below 70/270...some people forget that.

I don't think agencies are deliberately abandoning it, but again, technologically, they are mis-informed and through local politics, and lack of knowledge they alienate themselves. I know of a couple of agencies on MARCS now that threw their VHF's out of the latest installs. One even had narrow capable radios. That new sliced bread is great, but they are going to be screwed at some point, even for just a day, or an event...downtime is downtime.

Moreover, I was kind of looking for someone that could speak from an OSP perspective on what their current operational plan is. We know low band is gone...whats in those VHF's and do they use them.

I'm well aware that there is a portion of Ohio south of Columbus, especially since I live and work (part-time) there. I do hear LEERN and State Band use in those areas, and most agencies do have access to LEERN; like I said in my earlier post, it's the one common denominator among most law enforcement agencies in the state.

As for OSP, they are installing narrow-band compliant radios; I've been told that they do plan to continue supporting Ohio LEERN.

[16b]

I used to have a document (probably still have it somewhere) that was created by OSP in the late 80s (?). It was an overview of their current low band/high band communication system, and included guidelines for proposals for a new radio system for OSP. One of those guidelines went something like "no proposal that involves the elimination of LEERN will be accepted. Ohio LEERN must be incorporated into any new system." Ohio law enforcement agencies had interoperability before the term became the vogue, and OSP had the foresight to realize the value of it.

Since we're on the subject, does anyone know how OSP is handling narrowbanding for LEERN and "state band" / "inter-city" / 155.370? Statewide switch date?

[quarterwave]

Originally Posted by wa8pyr

I'm well aware that there is a portion of Ohio south of Columbus, especially since I live and work (part-time) there. I do hear LEERN and State Band use in those areas, and most agencies do have access to LEERN; like I said in my earlier post, it's the one common denominator among most law enforcement agencies in the state.

As for OSP, they are installing narrow-band compliant radios; I've been told that they do plan to continue supporting Ohio LEERN.

All Hail.

[quarterwave]

Originally Posted by 16b

I used to have a document (probably still have it somewhere) that was created by OSP in the late 80s (?). It was an overview of their current low band/high band communication system, and included guidelines for proposals for a new radio system for OSP. One of those guidelines went something like "no proposal that involves the elimination of LEERN will be accepted. Ohio LEERN must be incorporated into any new system." Ohio law enforcement agencies had interoperability before the term became the vogue, and OSP had the foresight to realize the value of it.

Since we're on the subject, does anyone know how OSP is handling narrowbanding for LEERN and "state band" / "inter-city" / 155.370? Statewide switch date?

I agree. I don't know the latter, but Tom says they are installing new stuff, so that's the word.

[wa8pyr]

Originally Posted by quarterwave

I agree. I don't know the latter, but Tom says they are installing new stuff, so that's the word.

I think they're plugging away at it bit by bit; there's no actual switchover date (which would be almost impossible to implement anyway since LEERN is scattered around everywhere). Since non-narrowband radios can receive narrowband signals OK, and narrowband radios can receive non-narrowband signals to a certain extent, I suspect they're just working their way around the state changing things as they go.

[radioscan]

This has been going on throughout the year by each post. I have seen the license modification grants from week to week. I'm not sure how far along they are.