Anne Arundel County

barrancofh · Apr 13, 2015

Has there been a change to the Anne Arundel County Trunked System? Yesterday my PRO 651 scanner stopped receiving all of the AACO system and I programmed it with the Radio Reference Download and had been working fine for weeks.

KR3LC · Apr 13, 2015

Not that I have noticed. My BCD436HP is still working fine. I've made no changes to it in more than a week. Wish is could offer a suggestion but I am not familiar with the PRO 651.

marksmith · Apr 13, 2015

It's still there, active as ever.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

troymail · Apr 13, 2015

barrancofh said:
Has there been a change to the Anne Arundel County Trunked System? Yesterday my PRO 651 scanner stopped receiving all of the AACO system and I programmed it with the Radio Reference Download and had been working fine for weeks.

We've all noticed the control channel changing quite often lately but other than that, it's there. The tech have been doing some tuning -- have they possibly reduce signal strength and you can no longer hear it from where you are (where are you)?

EDIT: they are at it "tuning" or something again today (but now that I think about it, they could just be using the AA County system to communicate - they might be tuning something else...but based on some things I was seeing last week, I'm pretty sure they are tuning the AA County system).

marksmith · Apr 13, 2015

I was up north of Essex on Sunday morning and AACO was coming in like it was down the street. I have a new mobile antenna that I really like, but I think that is only part of the issue as I can hear them quite strong on the north section of the Baltimore beltway all the time. That means tons of RF interference from Baltimore and some serious distance outside the operating territory.

I don't think they have cut back on signal strength at all.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

marksmith · Apr 24, 2015

Turned on the HP-2 in the Pine Ridge Golf Course parking lot today off Delaney Valley Road and Timonium Rd. First thing that came in was a conversation on the AACo parks channel.

There is a fairly serious hill between there and the northern top of the beltway. As the crow flies has to be conservatively 30+ miles north of the most northern AACo system tower at Smallwood/Solley. No power reduction on AACo.

Note that Howard County could also be heard up well past the 795 northern expressway exit. No signal containment on these Motorola systems like on CMARC or FiRST.

Mark
536/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT/396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

riveter · Apr 25, 2015

FiRST is a Motorola contract-built system. As far as I know, CMARC is too.

marksmith · Apr 25, 2015

Yes but they are built to operate within much stricter area limitations within the operating areas of the users. They are built this way by design. Unlike when AA and other systems were built.

Mark
536/HP1e/HP2e/996P2/996XT/396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

troymail · Apr 26, 2015

If I'm not mistaken, I thought I heard a AAPD unit heading to the casino at Arundel Mills to do some radio testing late on Friday afternoon. I think the county has has communication problems inside the building since day 1.Made we wonder if the tech testing had anything to do with that.

troymail · Apr 27, 2015

Police tech upgrades not in Annapolis mayor's capital budget

Police tech upgrades not in mayor's capital budget
Pantelides says he will fund radio and records overhaul in future years

http://www.capitalgazette.com/ph-ac-cn-city-council-0427-20150426,0,7776629.story

Hoping to get funding from the State.

marksmith · Apr 30, 2015

As a regular listener of Anne Arundel County I would like to formally request that we update that audiotape of how to solder integrated circuits to something more contemporary. Maybe a chapter from a good audiobook. We're running it often and long recently. Hate to lock out these talkgroups because of interest in them outside of the pre-recorded audio.

(This is in case any of those techs happen to browse this thread)

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

maus92 · Apr 30, 2015

troymail said:
If I'm not mistaken, I thought I heard a AAPD unit heading to the casino at Arundel Mills to do some radio testing late on Friday afternoon. I think the county has has communication problems inside the building since day 1.Made we wonder if the tech testing had anything to do with that.

Interesting. Was the casino built before BDAs were required by fire code? AACo has a pretty strict code enforcement apparatus.

maus92 · Apr 30, 2015

troymail said:
Police tech upgrades not in mayor's capital budget
Pantelides says he will fund radio and records overhaul in future years

Annapolis police technology upgrades not included in mayor's capital budget - capitalgazette.com

Hoping to get funding from the State.

The story mentions a mandate from the state:

"The city also wants to replace its two-way radios to comply with a state mandate. Radios are required to be compatible with other government agencies, have expanded use of the radio spectrum and increased digital clarity."

I have not heard of a mandate, but it would be nice for FiRST integration.

marksmith · Apr 30, 2015

Would it make sense for Annapolis and AACO to do different things?

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

Jeff19 · Apr 30, 2015

maus92 said:
Interesting. Was the casino built before BDAs were required by fire code? AACo has a pretty strict code enforcement apparatus.

Emergency responder radio coverage went into the ICC series of codes in the 2009 edition.

Not sure when/if AACo adopted the 2009 IFC vs. when the Casino was permitted.

maus92 · Apr 30, 2015

marksmith said:
Would it make sense for Annapolis and AACO to do different things?

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

Maybe. With FiRST now in service, they have the option to affiliate with that system, rather than AACo. Both would be more or less the same technology / quality, especially when AACo upgrades its system. It would not make sense for them to have their own voice radio system, although I think their mobile data system is unique at the moment.

ThePhotoGuy · Apr 30, 2015

I am 99.9% sure that Annapolis and Anne Arundel will be on the same system (FiRST, or whatever the new system will be). I highly doubt they will go any different route then what Anne Arundel Chooses to do.

Annapolis FD relies heavily on the Anne Arundel Fire Department. All of their dispatching and radio command of incidents is relied on the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. While it would be possible for Annapolis to choose a different route, I doubt they would want to open another dispatch center and hire more dispatchers.

troymail · Apr 30, 2015

ThePhotoGuy said:
I am 99.9% sure that Annapolis and Anne Arundel will be on the same system (FiRST, or whatever the new system will be). I highly doubt they will go any different route then what Anne Arundel Chooses to do.

Annapolis FD relies heavily on the Anne Arundel Fire Department. All of their dispatching and radio command of incidents is relied on the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. While it would be possible for Annapolis to choose a different route, I doubt they would want to open another dispatch center and hire more dispatchers.

Agree - I don't see Annapolis going it along. In fact, they've gradually been moving closer and closer to being part of AACoFD. It's pretty noticeable how much equipment is dispatched in and out of Annapolis these days. In earlier times, the city would limit the response of Annapolis City apparatus into the County. Now, they run more like any other station in the County.

And I'd be totally shocked if AACo moved onto FiRST.....

maus92 · Apr 30, 2015

As it stands now, Annapolis dispatches its own police department, so going with FiRST for police services would not be a big deal. And new radios would be 700/800 P2 compatible in any event, so switching zones would be no more complicated than it is now. The other thing is that the MSP and the Capital Police are on FiRST, as well as DNR - there actually is an Annapolis police boat as well as harbormaster boats. In the end, it probably will depend upon who offers the best terms.

But for sure, the fire department would stay on the county system. In fact, I am surprised that fire protection has not reverted to the county, given how expensive it is to duplicate administrative positions. Annapolis is not like Baltimore City - a jurisdiction as large as a county.

As far as the county as a whole going onto FiRST, AACo is too large thus would require spectrum that simply is not available. But, ISSI between the two systems - pretty sure that will happen.

dpm797 · May 4, 2015

Anne Arundel has not adopted the BDA portion of the ICC code for radio coverage. Wish they would.

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