New Cecil county fire/ems dispatch

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ka3jjz

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[pulled from the 154.1 thread to make a new topic]

Since it seems that the 155.5275 freq is up - are the other old 46 mhz fireground and fire/police freqs also gone? If so, then I can drop them from the CHM page and get them off the database.

I would assume, given the frequency, that this is a narrowband assignment?

73s and thanx...Mike
 

n3ncn

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"If so, then I can drop them from the CHM page and get them off the database."


I doubt it snce they are stll licsensed to Cecil County.
Charls County went to a trunked digital system and stopped using the VHF freqs. Then out of the blue Fire Board started to simulcast from TRS to VHF so fire fighters could monitor them. The new scanners may be too expensive for all of them to replace. Cecil Co. may have need for these one day. You never know.
 
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ka3jjz

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Just because they're still licensed means absolutely zip to whether they're actually used or not. Unfortunately the FCC often doesn't purge old licenses off their databases, and sometimes managers just don't tell them - for whatever reason. It's better to have active freqs on our databases than ones that are dead - particularly so for newcomers.

Of course, that means nothing at all if Cecil decides to keep their old 46 Mhz freqs - especially considering ProVoice is totally unmonitorable by any scanner sold today. So it remains to be seen if they're still active or not, maybe even going forward.

73s Mike
 
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ctrabs74

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Cecil County is simulcasting the Fire/EMS talkgroup from the TRS onto this new frequency (at least I think that's the case). The northern reaches of this signal reaches parts of Central Chester County, Pa. It's not really a bad idea, when you think about it, since some of the ChesCo mutual aid companies (21 - Oxford, 12/22 - West Grove, and 23 - Avondale) will go into Cecil for mutual aid. I think ChesCo 21 and ChesCo 22 have new Cecil radios, ChesCo 23 doesn't (but Avondale does have Delaware TRS radios in their apparatus), so the 155.5275 is a big help in that regard...
 

jpsmith2

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ka3jjz said:
Since it seems that the 155.5275 freq is up - are the other old 46 mhz fireground and fire/police freqs also gone?

As far as the FD is concerned: Currently mobile units are still operating on the 46mhz frequencies. Over the next couple months the new radios will be installed in apparatus. Once all of the units have been switched over to the new radios Cecil County will discontinue use of the 46mhz.

However, there are individual companies (Rising Sun being one of them) that are licensed to operate on the 46mhz frequencies. Some of these companies had repeater/paging systems in place at their stations and are looking into operating a "re-alert" system to serve members with old Minitor pagers until they can provide a means for them to upgrade to the new system, since the county is only providing a limited number to the fire companies.

(Un)fortunately I'm not privy to PD plans anymore...
 
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ka3jjz

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Thanks JPS - that's helpful info. Please keep an ear out and let us all know when things change up there 73s Mike
 

tolley

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Would it make sense for Kent Co MD to rollover to EDACS VHF trunked or Motorola 800 mhz trunked? Since they already are on VHF it may make sense to share their current frequencies with Cecil County and go VHF trunked.
 

allscan

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An article in today's Cecil Whig about the new system mentioned that all fire and EMS calls will be simulcast on 155.5275 and all police calls on 39.84 (state police).
 

ctrabs74

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allscan said:
An article in today's Cecil Whig about the new system mentioned that all fire and EMS calls will be simulcast on 155.5275 and all police calls on 39.84 (state police).

155.5275 has been active for at least two months now; I wasn't aware that they would simulcast on low band. At least it won't be completely silent on the PD/sheriff's side, even if you don't get all the juicy bits...
 

dpm797

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Kent is planning to move to 800 MHZ........Cecil is in a league all to thier own.......no one is interoperable with them at present time........Kent is planning on joining Queen Annes, Caroline, and Talbot on that network
 

doctordave

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dpm797,

Is this for certain that Kent will change to 800 w/ the UES consortium....or are they still contemplating?
 

dpm797

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they have gotten approval from Queen Annes, Caroline, and Talbot Counties. They are supposed to have five 800 MHZ freq assigned by the FCC to join the UES consortium. They are trying to get a grant from the feds to come up with the 3.2 million price tag to the make switch.........the funding seems to be the hold up, so we shall see what happens!
 

doctordave

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Thanks for the update. If I understand you correctly, the UES consortium will be getting an additional five 800 MHZ freqs for their pool of freqs....and these will not be somehow specific to Kent only. Appreciate you keeping us updated.
 

dpm797

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the idea is more users on the system, more frequencies to use also.......keep the system expandable for the future. I believe the system has 15 freqs now. 5 contributed by each county. That is how I understand it. That was the agreement between the counties involved.
 

jpsmith2

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allscan said:
An article in today's Cecil Whig about the new system mentioned that all fire and EMS calls will be simulcast on 155.5275 and all police calls on 39.84 (state police).

http://www.cecilwhig.com/articles/2006/08/23/news/01.txt

CALLING ALL CARS
County’s new radio system installed


The installation of the county’s $9 million emergency services radio system is complete and is expected to be in use by the end of the month, officials said.

Mike Browne, deputy director of emergency services, said the new system would allow the various emergency agencies police, fire and EMS to talk with one another. The money to pay for the new system came from the county government’s Capital Improvement Program, which is made up of bonds and the general fund.

Browne said all the county emergency agencies will switch to the new radio system next Wednesday. Some agencies are already using the new system but cannot talk to other agencies until the switch is made.

He said with the old system, emergency personnel talked to their dispatcher who then called the dispatcher for the agency with which the original caller needed to communicate. That dispatcher would then relay the original message to the appropriate emergency personnel. Any responses would require the same three-step process in reverse.

Emergency officials had to transmit all messages through dispatchers if one agency was working with another, Browne said.

Firefighters could not talk to a police officer or vice versa. Police officers could not talk to their brethren in other agencies.

He said the old system led to considerable delays when one agency needed to respond to another.

“The whole purpose (of the new system) is to be more efficient,” Browne said.

The new system allows all emergency agencies to hear emergency broadcasts, meaning a closer agency can respond, cutting down on the response time, he said. In the past, if one agency were a block away from an emergency, there was a good chance that agency never knew what was happening.

Under the new system, the sheriff’s office, state police and Elkton police will dispatch all police emergencies. The sheriff’s office will dispatch all municipal police agencies. The Department of Emergency Services will dispatch all fire and EMS emergencies.

With the exception of Elkton, residents who call 911 or their local police department after hours will now have the calls directed to the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office. The Elkton Police Department has a 24-hour dispatch center and will dispatch their officers to emergencies within town limits.

Before, dispatchers asked the caller which agency they wanted. Sometimes, the dispatcher and the caller did not know which agency was closer and the caller would have to wait if the agency they chose was busy or farther away.

The new system uses nine frequencies on a computer system, which increases the number of people who can make calls at one time, Browne said. An officer is assigned a frequency and the computer identifies the officer and all the other officers in the group. A talk group is one of 14 designated channels in which emergency personnel can communicate without interruption from dispatch calls.

An officer’s radio will also tell other officers who made the call. The new system has the ability to track 1.2 million groups but the county will use far fewer.

The radio system covers 97 percent of the county and has an alert system that notifies emergency personnel if they are in an area without coverage.

He said all police radios are programmed exactly the same and all the EMS and fire radios are programmed exactly the same. Users need only to turn a knob on their radio to the talk group in use.

The talk groups free up dispatchers and allow emergency personnel to talk uninterrupted to each other, Browne said.

Encryption was also built into the radio system so the Drug Task Force and the Special Response Team can talk without others listening in. The chiefs of police, the sheriff and the Maryland State Police North East Barrack commander also have an encrypted talk group.

The system has a security feature that allows the software to be destroyed if the radio is lost or stolen, Browne said. A radio with destroyed software can be sent to the manufacturer for reprogramming.

Once the switch is made to the new system, police emergencies will be rebroadcast over the old radio system through Maryland State Police.

Re-broadcasting police emergencies on the old system allows other state troopers traveling in the county to hear emergencies when they are in Cecil County.

What does this mean for residents and the police agencies?

*Police, fire and EMS emergencies will still be heard on scanners that worked with the old system.

*Fire and EMS emergencies can be heard on the paging frequency 155.5275.

*Police emergencies can be heard on the Maryland State Police frequency 39.84.
 
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