Cecil Co TRS

Based on reliable info from Ocean City and Worcester County, HarrisRF M/A-Com (or whatever they're going by this week) is encouraging managers of EDACS systems to begin to plan for the discontinuation of support for EDACS systems in the next few years. Does anyone know if Cecil County has begun to plan? Should they consider getting onto the FiRST system while the getting is good? Would be nice to eliminate the only jurisdiction in MD where fire radio communications are totally un-monitorable by a scanner.

Little bit of a topic shift, but rolling off of that, do you know if OC/WCo are going to switch to P25 or something like that? I've noticed a lot of XG portables going around the city so I figure that's their plan, but it seems you have knowledge.

I've been wondering the same thing. would be nice to go to FiRST.

I would say yes to the question of OC/Wor going P25... That's what Harris is really pushing everyone toward and would probably be the most seamless transition for OC/Worcester. I highly doubt either will end up on FiRST though their radios would certainly be capable. I keep hearing 2015 being tossed around by some people involved in the Worcester System. One department heads exact words: "I am being told our old radios (he was speaking of Orion Mobiles) will be obsolete by 2015."

After browsing around EDACS will no longer be supported by Harris after 2017 so I am sure Cecil County will be doing something in the future...

Just re-hasing an old but still very meaningful topic. EDACS end-of-life is getting closer. Does anyone know if Cecil is making any plans? Being (rare) VHF, it'll be even harder for Cecil to find parts/subscriber units used on eBay or whatever, once support from Harris ends.

ocguard said:

Just re-hasing an old but still very meaningful topic. EDACS end-of-life is getting closer. Does anyone know if Cecil is making any plans? Being (rare) VHF, it'll be even harder for Cecil to find parts/subscriber units used on eBay or whatever, once support from Harris ends.

Click to expand...

Scuttlebutt around Cecil County is they will be going to their own
800 trunked system as they do not want any part of the State 700 system.
Yes the VHF EDACS is on its way out thankfully.

Interesting - anyone have any idea why they wouldn't join FiRST?

And would they, or have they, considered going to CMARC as Harford did?

Mike

Some jurisdictions want to maintain total control over their systems (some more than others).

As for CMARC, it currently doesn't cover Cecil County but extending it might be as good an option as anything else as far as cost savings. Frederick seems to be (at least on paper) part of CMARC but it doesn't cover that county either (as far as I know).

Page 46-49 have some information from the P25 migration. Seems that it won't be any time soon.

http://ccgov.org/dept_budget/2016 CIP Approved - Full Document - 06-02-2015.pdf

Cecil County Communications is reaching its 10th anniversary since installation. The radio system
itself is scheduled for a changeover to the P25 technology (Project 25). Project 25 (P25 or APCO-25)
is a suite of standards for digital radio communications for use by federal, state and local public
safety agencies in North America to enable them to communicate with other agencies and mutual aid
response teams in emergencies. In this regard, P25 fills the same role as the European Terrestrial
Trunked Radio (TETRA) protocol, although not interoperable with it. The current EDACS system
will no longer be supported after 2014. This expenditure is a transformation of the dispatch center
and backup center to P25 ready. It is a first step towards the conversion of the entire system to P25.

Cecil County Communications system is comprised of 1500 user units. The portable, mobile, and
base station radios provide the direct communication betweeen personnel and dispatch. The current
user units are nearing end of life and are original to the system. The replacement P25 units will
provide multi frequency use and incorporate the MdFirst 700 mhz system into Cecil County. This is
of paramount importance to our interoperability with surrounding jurisdications. Cecil County is
surrounded by two states and two Maryland counties all on different radio frequencies

Here is the request for proposal from 2014:

http://www.cecilcounty.us/purchasin...egrated Public Safety System 030714 FINAL.pdf

Edit: This is actually for a new CAD system.

Cecil's biggest challenge is obtaining frequencies to move off VHF. While joining First would appear to solve this, procurements in other parts of the state have shown that if done competitively you can build your own system cheaper than the cost of sole source subscribers and consoles to join FiRST.

Also remember that Cecil just added two new sites to their system (Port Deposit and Sylmar) within the last 2 years.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

First steps towards P25?

http://www.cecilcounty.us/purchasing/uploadfiles/RFQ3.pdf

Certainly looks that way.

Harford went to CMARC because Harford was the host for CMARC In their county and could easily integrate the freqs into their system. Cecil is not a CMARC county.. FIRST doesn't offer in building coverage as all local jurisdictions require..

Sort of, Harford was a CMARC county and by building their RFSS off the CMARC core was able to save a bit of cash and gain some additional benefits.

This isn't too far out of synch with the Worcester example where Worcester County is paying to upgrade/replace the MESIN core going from SR6 to SR10 and use it for its RFSS while also making it available to MESIN. In that way any jurisdiction participating in funding MESIN could request to hang their county RFSS off Worcester County / MESIN either directly or with a low cost Connect Core if they want a higher degree of redundancy. At least 1 county has already expressed an interest in building their P25 RFSS of Worcester/MESIN. Cecil doesn't appear to be heading that direction.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Cecil County, Maryland is requesting proposals and/or presentations to procure replacement consoles, radio system, connectivity network, and subscriber units. This 3-phase process will require the new consoles be capable of operating on the existing Harris EDACS VHF radio system, as well as the replacement P25 Phase 2 radio system. Funding is secured for Phase 1, and there is no assurance the other phases will be funded. Phase 1: Replace the 9-1-1 Center and Backup Dispatch Center consoles. Provide any subscriber equipment necessary to execute the phased implementation. This will address the most immediate equipment obsolescence concerns and the largest maintenance issue. Completion Timeframe: 2017.

Documents are listed here.... Cecil County : Current Projects

A local Cecil fire company said they had EF Johnson stop by last month and show
off their radio wares.Guess they are campaigning for equipment contract.

"Phase 1: Replace the 9-1-1 Center and Backup Dispatch Center consoles. Provide any subscriber equipment necessary to execute the phased implementation. This will address the most immediate equipment obsolescence concerns and the largest maintenance issue. Completion Timeframe: 2017.

Phase 2: Replace the radio system core, radio repeater equipment, and install a new connectivity network at existing tower sites. This will improve the County’s radio coverage and overall system reliability. Completion Timeframe: 2018.

Phase 3: Replace the VHF subscriber radios with 700/800 MHz P25 Phase 2 radios. Completion Timeframe: Beginning after Phase 2 and proceeding according to agency needs and budgets. July 1, 2019 Cecil County requires proposals from a single prime vendor that will provide all the equipment and services necessary to provide all the systems described within this RFP. Proposers are expected to form any supplier partnerships necessary to propose all three phases in a single proposal."

I'm a bit confused on the timeline of Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the RFP. In Phase 2, the county wants to replace "radio repeater equipment" at existing towers, but doesn't replace subscriber radios until Phase 3. The Phase 3 radios are 700/800 P25P2, while Phase 2 appears to be still on the VHF frequencies. If you are replacing "radio repeater equipment" with gear that needs to operate in the VHF band (would it be dual capable band-wise? would it be EDACS/PV considering the reuse of old subscriber equipment?)

Rumor has it that when they get to phase 3 they will get Fire companies to petition for
Fed grant money to pay for them since they are separate and not owned by the County..
Prob why vendors are showing off their radio wares to Fire stations.