Randolph County System

[kdthomas23]

I read where Randolph County is putting up 3 new towers. Are they staying with the SAFE-T system or going with something different?

 

[west-pac]

The county is putting up three 180-foot wifi towers, and the high school in Union City is putting up a 4th 180-foot wifi tower.

 

[kdthomas23]

From Randolph County E-911 FB page: After lots of meetings, we have finally begun site work for our new 700 MHz tower sites. This public safety infrastructure upgrade will add three new towers, all-new radio equipment, and NG911 upgrades in the 911 center. The projected completion time is late spring to early summer. #PyramidArch #JandKCommunications #MPXSolutions #CobaltCivil

 

[west-pac]

From Randolph County E-911 FB page: After lots of meetings, we have finally begun site work for our new 700 MHz tower sites. This public safety infrastructure upgrade will add three new towers, all-new radio equipment, and NG911 upgrades in the 911 center. The projected completion time is late spring to early summer. #PyramidArch #JandKCommunications #MPXSolutions #CobaltCivil

Going 6+ months back in their Commissioner meeting minutes, I did see a few brief mentions of 'new emergency radio system'. The was much more talk about those towers carrying public wifi, new telephone service for the county govt, and dispatch center upgrades. Currently Randolph Co SD uses a 158.880Mhz analog repeater. I'm not sure what the towns use. With them going to 700Mhz, it sounds like they'll be on SAFE-T, but with a simulcast cell. Randolph Co has a pretty small SAFE-T tower (4 frequencies) in Union City, close to the state line, but the Redkey tower in Jay Co, and Dalton tower in Wayne county are close to the Randolph Co line as well. I would suspect they have plenty of SAFE-T coverage if they just wanted to bring the SD and FDs to SAFE-T. So far Randolph Co does not have FCC licensing for those 3 new towers, and they mention that in their Commissioner meeting minutes, with concerns that their contractor may not erect the towers without the licensing in place. As soon as the licensing gets approved we'll know more, but I'm not sure how to tell if it will be connected to SAFE-T. I guess we'll have to wait and see if IPSC mentions anything after the license becomes valid. Interesting stuff, as Randolph Co isn't very far away from me. If they do implement a simulcast system it'll give me an opportunity to play around with some non-SDS scanners on a simulcast system.

 

[ScanNEIN]

They are putting in a JVCKenwood P25 Atlas System. Standalone system, not SAFE-T

 

[west-pac]

They are putting in a JVCKenwood P25 Atlas System. Standalone system, not SAFE-T

I still haven't seen any new FCC licenses for it yet.

 

[DiGiTaLD]

They are putting in a JVCKenwood P25 Atlas System. Standalone system, not SAFE-T

Smart idea for a backup, and compatible with their present subscribers.

 

[INDY72]

ATLAS P25 Public Safety Systems | JVCKENWOOD

We make your critical communication system safe and simple to use. Our patented Latitude™ technology makes the Atlas® P25 application and transport network distinctive. This enables ATLAS systems to offer increased flexibility as compared with traditional LMR systems in various aspects of its...

www.efjohnson.com

 

[west-pac]

Upgrade update from Randolph county's 911 Dispatch center.

https://www.facebook.com/577579072366205/posts/2438173779640049

FCC license:

FCC Callsign WRKX404 (RANDOLPH, COUNTY OF)

FCC Callsign WRKX404 (RANDOLPH, COUNTY OF)

www.radioreference.com

 

[INDY72]

So, looking like a June full launch then.

 

[west-pac]

Their 3 towers arrive at the end of January and were being built.

 

[DiGiTaLD]

So this isn't just a backup? It looks like its going to be primary and IPSC will be relegated to secondary status.

I think its great that they're sticking with the P25 standard and not going to something like IDAS, NXDN, or DMR, but I really hope they do what Marion County does - get their radio IDs through the IPSC NOC, and have their subscribers programmed accordingly. Hopefully subscribers that are primarily IPSC users will be programmed to allow seamless interoperability with the Randolph County system. Certainly the vendors will work together to make this happen, right? /s

I'm well aware that there are certainly politics involved so it will never happen, but wouldn't it be great if all these regional P25 systems merged with the IPSC network? I know people want to maintain local control, but if we're not careful, we're going to end up right back where we were 25 years ago with different standards all over the state, and nobody will be able to talk to each other. Again.

 

[AK9R]

"...interoperability will always be a pain because the people who are supposed to be working together want nothing to do with each other until something really bad happens." -shell6

You need to make your sig bigger so people can see it.

 

[west-pac]

I wonder if counties are choosing to go to these 3-site P25 Phase 2 systems because they want a radio upgrade, better coverage, less busy signals; but not go to First Net, like IPSC seems to be interested in.

Here in Blackford county they moved off SAFE-T about 5-6 years ago, reportedly because Grant and Delaware counties kept the Blackford county site busy/full, and Blackford county units were tired of getting busy signals. Blackford county bought their own VHF DMR repeater for either $40k or $60k, instead of buying additional voice channels on the SAFE-T site for $5k/each. They've since added 2 more DMR repeaters (for each town within the county) for better handheld coverage, essentially leaving the original DMR repeater at the jail (near the east county line) sitting idle; and then conventionally linked all 3 together. Needless to say, the powers-to-be must be easily influenced by radio vendors around here.

I've heard rumor that another county in northeast Indiana may be implementing one of these 3-site simulcast P25 systems this year, as well.

 

[DiGiTaLD]

Blackford County is pretty small, 10 by 10 if I remember right. Sounds like some of those neighboring counties' radio IDs should have been restricted from affiliating, especially if they were mobile radios. Of course the way things are laid out, Delaware and Grant probably counted on the Blackford site for some coverage, so restricting some talkgroups may be easier said than done.

I'm not particularly opposed to local systems per se, as long as its the P25 standard, and there is full cooperation and true interoperability between the local and state systems. IMO, stuff like DMR, NXDN, and IDAS has no place in public safety, at least not in a state where P25 has largely been adopted as a statewide standard for public safety.

Back to the Randolph system, I learned that J&K will be doing the build, and they are investing quite a bit in local resources and knowledge to build it and maintain it. Hopefully everybody can get on the same sheet of music and it will be as seamless as moving between the Marion County PSC system and the IPSC system, which I think they've done a fantastic job with coordinating things.

History may not always repeat itself, but it does rhyme. It seems like we're heading back down the road to non-integrated public safety. Don't even get me started on CAD and especially RMS. To me, in 2021, it is completely insane that Marion, Hamilton, Boone, and Johnson counties are all on different police reporting systems. I guess bad guys don't cross county lines....

 

[AK9R]

To me, in 2021, it is completely insane that Marion, Hamilton, Boone, and Johnson counties are all on different police reporting systems.

Hendricks and Marion use the same CAD platforms, but I don't know how deep the coordination goes. I do know that dispatching Hendricks County units on Marion County fire/EMS runs, and vice versa, seems pretty seamless. Also, last night Danville PD tried to make a traffic stop on US 36 east of Danville. It turned into a pursuit that involved Avon, Plainfield, Airport, IMPD, and ISP units before the stop was made on I-465 near Washington St. I wish I had been listening to see how the communications worked.

All that said, money is a huge issue in these communications system decisions. Cities, towns, and counties are strapped for cash so you'd think that piggy-backing on the statewide system would be the least expensive approach as compared to building out your own system. Yes, I know, joining SAFE-T has its costs. But, as you say, various agencies often don't want anything to do with their neighbors...until they need help.

 

[DiGiTaLD]

Hendricks and Marion use the same CAD platforms, but I don't know how deep the coordination goes. I do know that dispatching Hendricks County units on Marion County fire/EMS runs, and vice versa, seems pretty seamless.

RMS is shared as well. Boone uses Caliber (formerly known as InterAct) which works really great when you buy the whole suite (CAD, RMS, Jail, etc.). Caliber was the vendor chosen by IPSC for statewide CAD/RMS implementation. I personally love(d) the RMS portion of it. It was web-based so you could access it from any internet connected device including your smartphone. We could literally research and review information from a phone without dropping a bunch of money on proprietary stuff. Caliber also does a great job at information sharing across jurisdictional boundaries. Agencies could choose how much they could share with others, but at the very least you could see when somebody else had an interaction with a person. It was a very unfortunate loss for us when we stopped using it.

Also, last night Danville PD tried to make a traffic stop on US 36 east of Danville. It turned into a pursuit that involved Avon, Plainfield, Airport, IMPD, and ISP units before the stop was made on I-465 near Washington St. I wish I had been listening to see how the communications worked.

Probably just relayed through dispatchers. Getting cops to turn that rotary selector is a real challenge.

All that said, money is a huge issue in these communications system decisions. Cities, towns, and counties are strapped for cash so you'd think that piggy-backing on the statewide system would be the least expensive approach as compared to building out your own system. Yes, I know, joining SAFE-T has its costs. But, as you say, various agencies often don't want anything to do with their neighbors...until they need help.

Agreed. I'm not trying to be an IPSC or Motorola fanboy, but that's the route the General Assembly chose to go when IPSC was established in 1999. Overall the plan seems to make sense, and as the radio system has been built-out and improved it has only gotten better over the years. IPSC is very flexible, staffed by good people, and is willing to work with just about any agency no matter how small. From an IT perspective (CAD/RMS etc.) piecemealing seems to be a big roadblock to integration. Some places buy one piece of software for CAD/RMS, one for jail, another one for evidence/property, and then it creates an even bigger problem when all of the different programs from different vendors won't work together. The way things are now, sometimes its like everything might as well be on paper in filing cabinets or on microfilm, because that's how difficult it can be to share information across jurisdictions. Its definitely not like you see on TV, that's for sure.

 

[INDY72]

RMS is shared as well. Boone uses Caliber (formerly known as InterAct) which works really great when you buy the whole suite (CAD, RMS, Jail, etc.). Caliber was the vendor chosen by IPSC for statewide CAD/RMS implementation. I personally love(d) the RMS portion of it. It was web-based so you could access it from any internet connected device including your smartphone. We could literally research and review information from a phone without dropping a bunch of money on proprietary stuff. Caliber also does a great job at information sharing across jurisdictional boundaries. Agencies could choose how much they could share with others, but at the very least you could see when somebody else had an interaction with a person. It was a very unfortunate loss for us when we stopped using it.Probably just relayed through dispatchers. Getting cops to turn that rotary selector is a real challenge.Agreed. I'm not trying to be an IPSC or Motorola fanboy, but that's the route the General Assembly chose to go when IPSC was established in 1999. Overall the plan seems to make sense, and as the radio system has been built-out and improved it has only gotten better over the years. IPSC is very flexible, staffed by good people, and is willing to work with just about any agency no matter how small. From an IT perspective (CAD/RMS etc.) piecemealing seems to be a big roadblock to integration. Some places buy one piece of software for CAD/RMS, one for jail, another one for evidence/property, and then it creates an even bigger problem when all of the different programs from different vendors won't work together. The way things are now, sometimes its like everything might as well be on paper in filing cabinets or on microfilm, because that's how difficult it can be to share information across jurisdictions. Its definitely not like you see on TV, that's for sure.

Which is why they have the new system built into the SAFE-T integrating the RMS/CAD/IT statewide. Its also got the linking into the FirstNET via the SAFE-T Cores. Its in testing by State Agencies, then will open up to ALL users of SAFE-T in next couple of years. And here in the Indy Metro, they are very good at the LEO's switching over to the TG they are told to go to, as well as patching TG's so everyone is on same pages! (Pretty much everyone still calls it InterAct,.. Just like some old timers still call IDPS MECA.) And yes its supposed to link IDACS, NCIC and everything much better than how it has been done etc...

 

[DiGiTaLD]

And here in the Indy Metro, they are very good at the LEO's switching over to the TG they are told to go to, as well as patching TG's so everyone is on same pages! (Pretty much everyone still calls it InterAct,.. Just like some old timers still call IDPS MECA.) And yes its supposed to link IDACS, NCIC and everything much better than how it has been done etc...

Except Caliber (InterAct) isn't in use in Indianapolis-Marion County anymore. And like I said, its hard to get cops to touch that rotary selector.

CAD/RMS may be integrated statewide for the state police, but I'm telling you right now there is near zero integration outside of the county level.

 

[west-pac]

I think we're all guilty of hijacking this thread...