Marin CA MERA Buys Freqs From FleetTalk

[Retired911Guy]

Marin Co, Ca MERA system has long been plagued with system overload and dead spots.

With a lack of PS Trunking Pool Freqs MERA put in a license request to the FCC over two years ago to use 10 sets of PS conventional pool freqs in their system. The FCC has denied those requests and suggested that if they needed more freqs they should consider moving to the 700 band. This of course would not work well in Marin, as moving from low band to UHF has nearly doubled their sites and provided much less coverage than did the low band system. Not to mention MERA is only 5 yrs old and cost 30 million.

The MERA radio consulting firm did exhaustive searches for available PS Trunking Pool freqs and came up short.

MERA has entered into an agreement with FleetTALK, by which MERA has purchased the License of 5 new freq sets, but FleetTALK still owns the freq.

By this manner, the freqs in remain in the Industrial Trunking Pool, owned by FleetTALK. a business, but FleetTALK assigns the license to MERA a PS agency. The FCC agreed to this arrangement and issued the licenses to MERA (Marin,County of) on Aug 18, 2009

Here is a quote from the FleetTALK request to assign the freqs to MERA on (I believe, didn't write down the date) Aug 12, 2009.

quote----
Description of Assignment and Public Interest Statement

FleetTALK Partners, Ltd (“FleetTALK” or “Assignor”) and the County of Marin, California (“County” or “Assignor”) have entered into a FCC License Assignment Agreement whereby FleetTALK agrees to assign, subject to prior FCC approval, certain licenses to the County for governmental and public safety use.

Grant of the instant application is in the public interest as it will result in assignment of the FCC authorizations to a local government agency in dire need to expand its internal agency and public safety communications.

end quote----

The freqs are

Out In Licensed Sites
483.5125 486.5125 Mt Tam, Big Rock Ridge,Mt Barnabee,Mt Vision
483.5375 486.5375 Sonoma Mt,Mt TAM, Big Rock Ridge, Barnabee, Bolinas
484.1375 487.1375 Big Rock Ridge, Tiburon
489.9125 490.9125 Big Rock Ridge, Mt Burdell, San Pedro Ridge ,Dollar Hill ,Forbes Res,Mill Vly ,Tiburon
490.9375 493.9375 Mill Vly ,Tiburon, Dollar Hill, Forbes Res

The MERA plan is:

1. Move WhistleStop Wheels, a County contracted bus system for handicapped and elderly persons, OFF of MERA and put them one of the above freqs. WS Wheels is #5 in the top 10 users of MERA.

2. Move the Marin County Jail OFF MERA and put then one of the above freqs. The Jail is # 7 in the top ten users.

3. Add the 3 remaining freqs to the MERA system to reduce overload. With the 3 new freq and WS Wheels and the Jail OFF system, they expect in effect 4 to 5 new freqs available to "on the street" Public Safety personnel.

I believe those using control channel only programing should begin picking these new freqs as soon as they begin to be used as the control channel will tell the scanner what freq to go to.

Those who have NOT set their scanner for control channel only and have programed in all existing freqs, should be able to just program in these and they will also begin to work as soon as the are used.
Please correct in incorrect...

This does not help the dead spot areas of MERA which still remain a problem. See followup post (today or tomorrow) re: MERA failure / overload or disaster VHF Radio Plan.

Thanks

 

[inigo88]

Maybe now the county can take all the Motorola XTL5000s that Whistlestop has and re-distribute them to more deserving system users. I just noticed one today.

 

[Retired911Guy]

Maybe now the county can take all the Motorola XTL5000s that Whistlestop has and re-distribute them to more deserving system users. I just noticed one today.

You noticed a Whistlestop Wheels or a more deserving user today?

Just making fun....

 

[officer_415]

All five frequencies have been used to expand system capacity. Three of the frequencies were added earlier this year, as the original plan called for:

484.1375 was added to the East Simulcast
489.9125 was added to the East Simulcast
483.5125 was added to the West Simulcast

Recently, the following frequencies also appeared. I cannot find any documents regarding the installation of these frequencies:

490.9375 was added to the East Simulcast
483.5375 was added to the Sonoma Mountain site

According to the latest executive committee meeting minutes, Marin County Transit (Whistlestop Wheels) has switched to MDT for dispatch, reducing their usage to 5%. MERA is determining if Transit, with this reduction in usage, needs to be on the trunked system. If they are off the system, they may not want to pay full partner costs. At the time of this meeting, MERA still intended to use the additional frequencies to get the Jail off the trunked system. However, seeing as all five frequencies have been used for system expansion, I don't know if they still plan to do this.

July 14 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes: http://meraonline.org/BrdMinutes/417_MERA_EC_Draft_Minutes_Regular_Meeting_07_14_10.pdf

Motorola Contract for Frequencies Installation (see page 9): http://meraonline.org/merarpts/1158_Agenda_Item_A_1_and_A_2.pdf

 

[inigo88]

I'm back in MERA-territory for the holiday and just noticed 489.9125 and 490.9375 on East Zone. Thank you for the update!

 

[commstar]

Maybe repeating 39.240 was not such a bad idea afterall.

 

[kg6nlw]

What I find funny is Marin County Transit aka Whistlestop Wheels (improperly named but that's another discussion for another day) is supposed to be using less radio than before...Did the Dispatchers and Drivers get the notice?

If anything I've heard MORE of them!

Regards,

-Frank C.

 

[officer_415]

As I understand it, the Marin County Transit District contracts with Whistlestop Wheels to provide their paratransit services. They are the main user of the MCTD talkgroup.

 

[RolnCode3]

As I understand it, the Marin County Transit District contracts with Whistlestop Wheels to provide their paratransit services. They are the main user of the MCTD talkgroup.

My best friend is a high level person at Whistlestop. They have a contract with Marin County to provide the service for the County. It apparently is somewhat contentious regarding repainting of busses and personalities involved.

And no, they did not get the memo. When I talked to him on Friday, based on what I saw here about them being down to 5% of system usage, they were very happy. If that 5% number is wrong, they don't know. And if that's not their goal they don't seem to know. And if they're not meeting that goal they don't seem to know.

I don't know where responsibility lies. Hopefully it's just a perception issue.

 

[officer_415]

I just came across new information in the agenda for the next executive committee meeting. The five frequencies purchased from FleetTalk are supposed to be allocated as follows: two channels to the East, one to the West and one to Sonoma. The remaining frequency is intended to get Transit off the trunked system. A separate frequency is intended to get the Jail off the trunked system.

484.1375 - East Simulcast
489.9125 - East Simulcast
483.5125 - West Simulcast
490.9375 - Sonoma Mountain

482.4625 - Jail (off the trunked system)
483.5375 - Transit (off the trunked system)

I have not been able to confirm any of this by monitoring, as I am currently out of the area. I also have no information about the installation status of the Jail or Transit systems. According to the last update I saw, MERA was determining if Transit could remain on the trunked system with their reduction in use.

January 12 Executive Committee Meeting Agenda (see page 11): http://meraonline.com/BrdAgendas/437_1.12.11_Executive_Committee_packet.pdf

 

[Retired911Guy]

Did you see the ref to 700 mhz and Tomales upgrade when you read the Board Agenda?

My MERA source last week told me that MERA hopes to start build out of their NEW system by next year (2012) and have it up and running by 2015.

He said it's about 95% sure that it will be P25 Phase II and about 75% sure it will be 700mhz

They have run the computer coverage programs with 700 and compared it with the 400 coverage and say with a few changes they can get better coverage.

Yes, those changes are added sites.

Southern Marin has the most serious dead areas in the eastern corridor, they will get a new site on Wolfe Back Ridge which is the 1000+ ft ridge between Sausalito and Ft Cronkite. It looks absolutely straight down on Ft Cronkite (NPS area covered by SMFD), Old Town Sausalito (dead area) and straight across the bay to Tiburons dead areas. It is also thought by checking the computer coverage maps that because of its elevation and west position, it will help Muir Beach and North on Hwy 1 towards Stinson Beach.

The west Marin Site change would be to MOVE the current Bay Hills site in Bodega, Sonoma County, to the town of Tomales in Marin. Tomales itself has good coverage from Bay Hills, but Dillons Beach is very dead. Dillons Beach is a tourist area with Restaurant and Bar and a good party area for the locals, MCSO goes out there often and MCFD his a number a calls there also.

With the above additions and changes MERA believes it can give better coverage with their new system. (except for the many valleys in West Marin that completely dead already)

Dave

 

[officer_415]

Regarding 700 MHz, the Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative program (UASI) recently funded a 700 MHz interoperability study for Marin County. The study resulted in four options:

1) Add stand-alone 700 MHz repeaters for interoperability
2) Upgrade MERA to address capacity and add 700 MHz for interoperability
3) Upgrade MERA for capacity, add sites to solve coverage problems, and add 700 MHz for interoperability
4) Replace the complete MERA system with a new 700 MHz system

From what we have seen, they have completed the capacity portion of option 2, and from what Dave has told us, it seems that they plan to go forward with option 4.

Regarding Tomales, there has been talk for several years about moving the Bay Hill Rd (Bodega Bay) site to Tomales. MERA has been studying the feasibility of this option but no work has been started.

Regarding Wolfback Ridge, I understand that this site was considered as a possible alternative to the Mt. Tiburon site (when it was still in litigation). The report concluded that an antenna at this site would cause interference to the rest of the simulcast system. However, I agree that a repeater at Wolfback Ridge would solve most of the coverage issues in Southern Marin, including the GGNRA, Old Town Sausalito, and the end of the Tiburon peninsula. I hope they've worked out the problems with this site.

700 MHz Interoperability: http://www.meraonline.org/merarpts/1470_MERA_Final_Agenda_Item_D1.pdf
Tomales Site (see page 10): http://meraonline.com/BrdMinutes/418_MERA_Board_Draft_Minutes_Special_Meeting_5_19_10.pdf
Wolfback Ridge (see page 4): http://www.meraonline.org/MERA_docs/StaffRpts/mera_rpts05_0210_E2.pdf

 

[Retired911Guy]

mlangeveld, Just to make sure you don't misunderstand my post...

I posted the general attitude or leaning of the board the way my source thought things looked.

He did however definitely say that the 700mhz computer mapping studies had been done, there was no mention of removing Mt Tiburon while adding Wolfe Back Ridge and no mention of interference with the rest of the system.

Also the dates of 2012 starting build out and operational in 2015 were clear, but he did mention something about doing it in phases, ie: one area then another rather than cutting over the entire system at one time. I'm not sure exactly what that means, maybe as the original system where SRPD was the Beta user of the system while the rest of the system was built out.

I should see my source this weekend and try to get some clarification. There was just another MERA meeting on Weds and he may have more details, or not

Dave

 

[officer_415]

I don't doubt the accuracy of your information, I'm just adding my two cents. MERA clearly intends to move the Bay Hill Rd site to Tomales, but I'm wondering if that will happen with the current system, or if they will simply wait until they build out the new system.

As for Wolfback Ridge, the problems were brought up when Wolfback Ridge was being considered as a possible alternative to the Mt. Tiburon site during construction of the current system. In 2003, the citizens of Tiburon sued MERA in order to prevent the construction of the Mt. Tiburon site. Wolfback Ridge was studied as an alternative site, and it was determined that the antenna would cause interference to the rest of the simulcast system. The angle of the antenna pattern from the Wolfback Ridge site was back into the simulcast system, while the angle of the antenna pattern from the Mt. Tiburon site was away from the main simulcast. Because the new Wolfback Ridge site would be an addition to (and not a replacement for) the Mt. Tiburon site, perhaps this allows them to use a different antenna configuration that will not interfere with the rest of the system.

On another note, I'm back in MERA territory for the weekend and I have confirmed the current status of the FleetTalk frequencies:

East Simulcast: 484.1375, 489.9125, 490.9375
West Simulcast: 483.5125
Sonoma Mountain: 483.5375

I don't know if they ended up changing the plan, or if the frequency assignments are only temporary until they move the Jail and/or Transit off the trunked system. They may simply be keeping the frequencies in use in order to avoid losing their FCC license.

-Martin

 

[officer_415]

Additionally, 484.1375 no longer seems to be on the East Simulcast. So the current frequency assignments are consistent with their plans (two channels to the East, one to the West and one to Sonoma). They may have decided to change which frequencies to allocate to which sites.

 

[Retired911Guy]

Been meaning to post some updates, info and replies for a couple of posts re: MERA for a number of months now, aside for going senile and new injuries to add to my old injuries, now sick for 25 days with a Rx resistant bug have slowed me down a bit. I’d recommend against getting old, it ain’t no fun ! Please forgive missing words, sentences that don’t make sense and misspellings even though I have proof read this several times.

MERA has approved installing the 700mhz mutual aid freqs as stand alone repeaters, not part of the proposed new 700 trunking system. I don’t have a timetable yet, but this would be with the current system, regardless of what they do with a NEW system.

The reasoning for this (I'm told) is that for a fully interoperability system where units from other Counties or systems to be able to switch to your system and use your control channels, that County or agency must have had installed the Motorola interoperability module in there system which apparently costs a bundle of money. (and still wouldn’t work with EDACS)

MERA learned that the NEW SF 700 system nor the GG transit system will include the interoperability modules, not sure about SM County or East Bay systems, SF & GGT were the ones quoted to me as the deciding factors (and of course money) in the MERA vote.

Martin, I think you wondered if the Bodega Bay to Tomales relocation would take place with the current system or wait until the proposed new system. It will wait for the proposed new system. The only agencies that would benefit would be MCSO & MCFD and the County of Marin doesn’t want to fund the project.

Martin, I think you wondered about the inclusion of Wolfe Back Ridge in the proposed new system, as the old tests showed the antenna down tilt to cover the dead areas in Sausalito would be a danger to people in the area of the site. The proposed new system would NOT down tilt the antenna to cover dead areas of Sausalito, but instead would give more cover GGNRA , Tiburon, Tam Valley, Muir Beach and Hwy 1 going north from Muir Beach.

A new site on Tiburon Point would cover the Tiburon Pt areas right down to the water and go directly across the bay to Old Town Sausalito. This is hoped to be done under the current system and most likely would be a relocation of the Tiburon Mt radios (for cost reasons). The point Tiburon site is a higher elevation than Tiburon Mt and computer coverage studies have shown it would very lightly degrade some minor areas, not enough to effect comms from those areas (so they say), but greatly increase coverage in the areas already mentioned, but also because of it’s higher elevation would increase coverage in other areas.

A very tragic event has stalled this site development for the time being. The town of Tiburon was to vote on this site on April 7th, it was anticipated to be a close YES vote. However, on March 27, 2011 Marin County 3rd District (Southern Marin) Supervisor Charles McGlashen died of a sudden cardiac arrest at the very young age of 49. He was pushing the Tiburon Town council hard and heavy regarding the new site, the Town Council tabled the issue with no date set to put it back on the agenda.

More details on the Tiburon Pt site if requested. (you can’t find it on Google or other map sites, as it is currently named for the property owner, “the Martha Site”.

Lastly, the proposed new system would be a Countywide system, NOT divided by East and West. This would give Southern Marin the GREAT benefit of having Mt Tam along with Wolfe Back Ridge, the Tiburon Site and Mill Valley City Hall. All together this would vastly increase coverage in Southern Marin and in other areas of the County.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten some tidbits of info, if I remember anything else I’ll try to post in a more timely manner.

Dave

 

[officer_415]

Thanks for the great info!

Looking at the current rate of progress on the development of the Martha Site, I don't have high hopes for its inclusion in the current system. As for Charles McGlashan, he was a strong advocate for public safety programs such as CERT, and he will be missed.

It's great to hear that the new system will be countywide. In addition to the coverage improvements this will bring, it will also allow us scanner listeners to reliably monitor East Marin agencies from anywhere in the county.

 

[Retired911Guy]

Yes, I've been told he very strongly supported County Workers and Public Safety workers and issues, Such as the MERA Tiburon project.


A tidbit I just remembered:

When MERA obtained the new Freqs from Fleet Talk, MERAs plan was to put the MC Jail on one the the Freqs. We know this plan changed, the jail is still on MERA.

A couple of months ago I asked about this and was told that the NEW plan was for the County of Marin to obtain a few NEW conventional UHF Freqs and set up a relatively low power repeater system for the Jail only. Low power so as to not interfere with other agencies around the bay.

These Freqs would be put on the MERA Radios that the Jail Personnel use and if there were a need for outside help they would get a MERA TAC or ICS channel assignment just switch their radios for the incident.

I've done a few FCC Checks over the last few months checking for new license requests and have found none, so I don't know what the status of this plan is.

Dave

 

[officer_415]

Dave,

See my post from January 11 for the proposed jail frequency.