Jackson county looking at trunked systems

[1268]

Jackson county government is exploring a new radio system and there are 3 options on the table that I know of.
1. Hooking on to the Hall county 800 MHz system( using there switch) and going digital encrypted.. would be a seven site system. This option is the front runner right now according to source that I can not reveal at this point.
2. MA/COM is doing a bid on a 8 site P25 system using the Jackson EMC switch which would save tax payers about 1.2 million up front , however MA/COM is running a distant second right now. There is a cheaper and more economic friendly fix proposed by MA/COM which is a straight 800 MHZ EDACS system that would only encrypt law enforcement.... my personal choice
Watch for more on this subject to go public in the second quarter of 2008,with a bid award in early 2009, would be about 2011 before this gets done.
On another note the Jackson county water authority is operating 3 talk groups on the EMC 900mhz EDACS system, that system is going to Open sky later in 2008. The authority is using P5300 and M5300 radios which are already open sky capable.
More updates as information becomes available.

 

[dmh77yy]

Any talk about tie it in with Athens-Clarke? I have heard that Oconee is looking into a trunked system. Why I dont know, they have very little radio traffic to warrant that.

 

[1268]

Yes, it's possible...Jackson and Barrow both want to piggy back off of Hall county and adding Athens Clarke would be a regional system. The idea would be more interoperability which means federal $$$$$. The last information I received was Tuesday and the time line is 2 -3 years. One other note MOTO says they can cover Jackson county by adding 4 sites ??? MA/COM says 7.... my guess is it will take at LEAST 6 to do the job.

 

[N8IAA]

Yes, it's possible...Jackson and Barrow both want to piggy back off of Hall county and adding Athens Clarke would be a regional system. The idea would be more interoperability which means federal $$$$$. The last information I received was Tuesday and the time line is 2 -3 years. One other note MOTO says they can cover Jackson county by adding 4 sites ??? MA/COM says 7.... my guess is it will take at LEAST 6 to do the job.

Moto says a lot of things and they do something else. Hall was told a lot and Moto made the money off of them. They needed to add more sites to make it work. MA/COM as a straight EDACS would be great, as the other(OpenSky), worse. Why do the public servants we pay want everything encrypted??? DHS $$$$$ that's why.
Larry

 

[1268]

I agree a EDACS system makes the most sense, If you listen to the MOTO reps the Hall county system went smooth ... no issues :roll:
I lost a great deal of respect for Motorola recently when they had a face to face meeting with MA/COM and the MA/COM rep wanted to compare apples to apples in equipment etc. The MOTO folks got up and left..... says it all to me.

 

[N8IAA]

Where I used to live in Ohio-Cleveland- the city of Parma's EDACS system always worked and sounded better than any MOTO system. They are doing a P-25 on that system, and I'm sure that it will still kick MOTO's butt. Nuff said.
Larry

 

[dmh77yy]

Yes, it's possible...Jackson and Barrow both want to piggy back off of Hall county and adding Athens Clarke would be a regional system. The idea would be more interoperability which means federal $$$$$. The last information I received was Tuesday and the time line is 2 -3 years. One other note MOTO says they can cover Jackson county by adding 4 sites ??? MA/COM says 7.... my guess is it will take at LEAST 6 to do the job.

Well, Athens-Clarke is broke. They cant even afford to fund an EMS service and the two non profits are leaving the business so I doubt they will be upgrading anything. They are just not getting in car computers in a few cars.

 

[1268]

The EMS issue has nothing too do with it, both EMS services are run by hospitals , both are deep in the hole because of non-payment....Why would Athens -Clarke take over something that will put tax payers deeper in the hole ??????
I do know they have had discussions with Motorola on upgrades as recently as last month...can they fund it, don't know but they are looking.

 

[dmh77yy]

If Athens-Clarke has money to do anything more than minor system maintenance that would be a surprise to me. The 31% poverty rate in Clarke is a big part of why the EMS providers want out. The county is saying now that creating their own EMS is not something they are willing to do becuase they cant afford it.