Chase comms.

[pcole]

So this morning I listened to Berkeley Sheriff's in a chase that lasted almost 45 minutes. It went
from here all the up through Holly Hill, onto I-95 almost to Florence, across the median and most of the way back.
It then ended in a gun battle on the highway.
From what I heard not one of the involved police units were able to communicate by radio with other agencies
involved. They were trying to pass info to other cars a few feet away by passing traffic through dispatchers on the phone. The way it was done 50 years ago.
I thought the purpose of these wizz bang, state wide, multi-million dollar trunked radio systems was to solve these problems.
And now they want to switch to an all new digital system...more wizz bang.
Maybe they need to work a little better with what they have.

 

[NDRADIONUT]

TRAINING...

 

[pcole]

Training

Yea...the lack there of.......They sell these systems to take care of "interoperability".

 

[TigerScan2000]

Very similar event happened in Anderson Counth

Here we have agencies still on 3 Systems. P25, Pal 800, and conventional single frequencies (analog) for some of the rural fire departments.

There was a car wreck several months ago. The life flight helo / Medtrans was responding on the Pal 800 system. The ems dispatch was on P25. The rural fire dept was on a conventional analog frequency.

The fire department could not speak directly with the helo to cordinate landing instructions. It was literally circling around over head. The fire department was trying to relay with dispatch. Nothing was coming together.

From where I live. I could see the helo, and hear communication from all 3 agencies with my off the shelf scanners. All these systems and money spent and it was like Keystone Cops.

All jokes aside. It was basically time being wasted, that for the injured person should not have happened.

Eventually a lawsuit will straighten all this out.

 

[AI7PM]

TRAINING...

^^^^^^That. Interoperability is an attitude, not a magic box.

 

[reconrider8]

Goes back to radio basics. And I really can't blame one over the other tbh because dispatch should have or should be able to patch systems together for that very reason. A few weeks ago we had a drowning and ems was talking to the help for the lone survivor and ops were switched onto our statewide system for the recovery. Luckily here the helos have out local fire and ems frequencys programmed in so they can communicate with ground units

 

[Project25_MASTR]

That's kind of what interoperability channels are for...small localized incidents. With everyone running different bands and different standards it's really becoming a challenge to make sure everyone can talk to one another.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[AB4BF]

The Palmetto 800 system was developed and owned by SCANA (SCE&G) years ago and sold to Motorola (so I am told). Also told to me was the operating costs (rental) was $30 per month per radio when SCANA had it.
Now, Motorola has it, and the costs (told to me by a Lt. on the force) is $300 per month per radio. The sheriff's department had 6 radios at that time (maybe more, now) and the costs was $1800 per month. The main dispatch and car to car is UHF. The only costs for that is the tower up keep and the radio repeater maintenance costs. They have insurance to take care of lightning, etc.
They have the 800/P25 radios for "interoperability".
The helos (LifeFlight, etc.) I have heard coming into the county have a diversity of radios in them. I have heard them on VHF, UHF and P25 to talk to their base and communicate with the emergency workers. The dispatchers in this county seem to always find the way to put the chopper in communication with the emergency workers who are only on VHF at this time.

The South Carolina Public Service Authority has the 900 MHz system that is used in 39 counties (the State owns the system, from what I understand) and is supposedly taxpayer supported. Why not use that for the state after expansion? There are ways to convert to federal frequencies and adjoining states for "interoperability".

If anyone has updated figures or can correct anything I have been told, please, by all means...

 

[qball]

I can assure you that the rate is not $300/month per radio...not even close. It is based on the number of sites that you for primary coverage per radio per month. Please follow the link to the rates:

Palmetto 800 User Fees - Exhibit D | Department of Administration - State of South Carolina

 

[INDY72]

There is not an NON FED agency anywhere that will pay subscriber fees of 300 a month. Yearly maybe. Feds on the other hand I could see spending that lol, after all they pay a million for an toilet seat right? :wink::wink:

 

[AB4BF]

I will ask my friend on the force again Monday (if I see him) if the numbers he gave me are correct.

He told me that the county would go to the 800/P25 system but that it was cost prohibitive and gave me the reasons I printed earlier. IDK. I told him that just being on 800 would cut by 50% the idiots that housebreak, etc. Having an encrypted channel for dispatches for that reason would stop the apps and handheld scanners these people use. Well, possibly not stop them 100%, but slow them down some.

I was in the local convenience store last week and the clerk had her app going listening to both Aiken and Edgefield counties. I believe its more common than thought...