Butler county

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EMTBob

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GTR8000

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They have seven 800 MHz frequencies licensed at eleven sites with P25 Phase II emissions under WRAE930 and WRAH499, so it appears that they switched their plans from 700 to 800 MHz.

Note that the construction deadline for all sites was/is Oct 30th and Nov 17th of this year. Since it appears that they have not filed the required notification of construction or a request for extension, both licenses are likely to automatically go into termination pending status, and they could potentially lose all of the frequencies.
 

radiotech92

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I was just on the fcc uls database and I see that the license WRAE930 is in termination status. Does anyone know if they are appealing the termination or what is going to happen with this p25 phase 2 system
 

WB3DYE

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INPUT

Butler county is not within my receiving range....but by using 800 mhz areen't they making the same mistake PSP did?
 

GTR8000

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Butler county is not within my receiving range....but by using 800 mhz areen't they making the same mistake PSP did?

There are many factors that go into determining the success of a radio system, with the particular spectrum being only one of those factors.

PA-STARNet was not a failure specifically because it was built out on 800 MHz, but rather because it used a proprietary system (OpenSky) that was never strong on voice (tailored for data), and was not an open standard. That alone severely limited interoperability and what kind of hardware could be used on the system.

It was also never properly built out to provide solid enough coverage, with sites constantly being added over the years to compensate for those shortcomings (over 1,000 at last count). In that regard, yes 800 MHz was not ideal in many areas of the commonwealth (which is why the P25 system is going back to VHF), however OpenSky is just not a reliable system no matter what band it would've been operating in.

A properly built out 700/800 MHz system can work quite well even in a county with varied terrain. Yes, VHF or UHF would be more ideal, however there simply may not be enough spectrum available to build out such a large countywide system on those bands, hence why 700/800 is a more appealing choice.
 

ffemt134

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Looks like the control channel is now up for Butler.... currently receiving it on 859.9625.
 

rolesnevich

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Looks like the control channel is now up for Butler.... currently receiving it on 859.9625.
I got my home patrol 2 set to discovery mode on the system. Has been for over a month with zero hits. I also had my SDS100 in discovery mode today with no hits either. The SDS100 is discovery at a different location in the county then hp2.

Additional according to the minutes of country commissioner meeting earlier this year they voted to approve the maintenance plan on the current radio system till May 2019 then go Month to month.

Not sure how long after the talk groups appear that be able to go live. But at this point, I have to think that it will not happen this month. Maybe it may but I would image it be after May.
 

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jeffm77

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I am receiving the control channel here at my house in North Versailles, Allegheny County, with a NAC of 159H on my SDS100. Pretty strong signal just using the 800 MHZ rubber duck antenna.
 

rolesnevich

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I am receiving the control channel here at my house in North Versailles, Allegheny County, with a NAC of 159H on my SDS100. Pretty strong signal just using the 800 MHZ rubber duck antenna.
I have been scanning for talk groups on my HP2. With no results. I am in the southern part of the county. No talk groups found with sds100 but I did check for activity and did find some. Is this what you were seeing?
IMG_1774.jpeg
 

redbeard

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I had a hard time hearing it last night at home on my discone at 30ft. I updated the NAC in the DB when it finally decoded and the current CC and alternates are correct for now. No traffic observed yet.
 

rolesnevich

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Tried a test with my hp2, bcd436hp and sds100 the only one getting single was the sds100 I did see two small hits on bcd436hp. Looking over the fcc licinese it seems they had a construction extension that was set to end between March 31 to apirl 4. Looking over the county comissioner meeting notes for Feb I saw they extend the maintenance on the old system. Till may 31 with an option to go month by month after that.
 
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