afd3350
Member
Has everyone seen the massive amount of updates happening to the new radio system that Charleston County is using?
Palmetto 800 P25 System
- Thread starter afd3350
- Start date
- Status
trunktracker71
Member
yep sure have i just wonder what are they going to do with their old 800 system
Updates to this system are not quite finished, should be completed in the next few days. Most of the "important" talkgroups are listed.
My understanding is that the old system will be taken off the air. During my monitoring of this system for a short time this past weekend, the only active talkgroups were for North Charleston sanitation, Trident Tech, and Mount Pleasant Public Works. I believe all public safety agencies now use the Palmetto P25 system.
My understanding is that the old system will be taken off the air. During my monitoring of this system for a short time this past weekend, the only active talkgroups were for North Charleston sanitation, Trident Tech, and Mount Pleasant Public Works. I believe all public safety agencies now use the Palmetto P25 system.
Glad to note that City of Charleston isw getting tg's on it too! Will make it easier to monitor if they go all out on it.. or just add the existing city net on as another site.:roll:
Does anyone have any idea on when the P25 state system will make it's way up into the upstate area? Also, would there be any possibility when the P25 system gets to York Co, that the county P25 system could just be like a site on the state system, so they could share tower sites?
There is a simulcast site of this system going up in Anderson County. No word if it's online and operational yet. That's in addition to the site in Columbia, and again no indication that it's seeing any use.
Charleston Co. opted to implement a system that is a part of the new State system that will eventually replace Palmetto 800. I don't believe York Co. made the same choice when they implemented their new system a few years ago.
I certainly don't know any of the details of the financing of these various system beyond the fact that Palmetto 800 users (agencies) pay a per-radio monthly fee based on the number of tower sites they can access and the number of talkgroups they can use. I'm not sure if Charleston Co. is paying a per-radio fee for their new system, or if there is some sort of service-in-kind agreement where Charleston Co. gets a break on their costs for contributing infrastructure (zone controllers, tower sites, antennas, frequencies). Eventually they'll offer that same infrastructure for use by other Palm 800 users as the upgrade process continues. Maybe someone else can comment on that.
York Co.'s system is compatible with what the Palmetto P25 will be, so it's conceivable that the York Co. system could be incorporated into the larger state-wide system, though that seems politically unlikely to me.
I would assume that over time a similar transition we've seen in Charleston will occur in other areas where there are large Palmetto 800 users - Richland/Lex area, Augusta, Spartanburg/Greenville, etc. Horry Co. is also implementing a similar P25 system in the not-too-distant future, but I don't believe it will be a part of the state system like Charleston's sites.
Charleston Co. opted to implement a system that is a part of the new State system that will eventually replace Palmetto 800. I don't believe York Co. made the same choice when they implemented their new system a few years ago.
I certainly don't know any of the details of the financing of these various system beyond the fact that Palmetto 800 users (agencies) pay a per-radio monthly fee based on the number of tower sites they can access and the number of talkgroups they can use. I'm not sure if Charleston Co. is paying a per-radio fee for their new system, or if there is some sort of service-in-kind agreement where Charleston Co. gets a break on their costs for contributing infrastructure (zone controllers, tower sites, antennas, frequencies). Eventually they'll offer that same infrastructure for use by other Palm 800 users as the upgrade process continues. Maybe someone else can comment on that.
York Co.'s system is compatible with what the Palmetto P25 will be, so it's conceivable that the York Co. system could be incorporated into the larger state-wide system, though that seems politically unlikely to me.
I would assume that over time a similar transition we've seen in Charleston will occur in other areas where there are large Palmetto 800 users - Richland/Lex area, Augusta, Spartanburg/Greenville, etc. Horry Co. is also implementing a similar P25 system in the not-too-distant future, but I don't believe it will be a part of the state system like Charleston's sites.
afd3350
Member
I think Brian is dead on. From what I understand York County does own their own system controller and all. Charleston County for some reason opted not to buy the controller, only to purchase the sites. With all of that said if york county decided tomorrow that they wanted to join the Palmetto 800 P25 system I believe that could happen. Not sure how long it's going to take Palmetto to build out the state with P25 but I would image the users are really going to move slowly. Budgets are bad now as we all know and radios are not cheap!
trunktracker71
Member
lets just hope that when they do decide to change over that they dont go encrypted but i guess thats like asking a pig to fly but i also have heard wispers about florence county going to a p25 system sometime in the future also but that was before all of the budget crunching started happening i also know that darlington county is talking about building a vhf p 25 system for its county fire and ems somrtime this year there have been some testing already but im not sure when its going to happen being in the fire dept myself they keep talking about just getting on the pal 800 and then going to this new system im not sure how thats going to work
If anyone is using the ASTRO-25 infrastructure, then it matters not if its 700, 800, VHF, or UHF.. or even if its a TRS or a conventional, they will all be able to seamlessly integrate at any time, as well as flawless (hopefully) patching. If that whispered new P-25 VHF is ASTRO-25, then they can easily use the Palmetto 800 once its fully ASTRO-25 for interop with everyone else, as well as use the VHF for local ops. Ahh the joys of ASTRO-25. Thanks M! Of course any P-25 system is compatible with ANY other P-25 system, but the Motorola ASTRO-25 framework makes it just that easier.
trunktracker71
Member
thats what its going to be our new system will be astro25 and youre right we will be able to jump over any time we need to to talk to the schp or the so on the 800 from what i was told last night at our meeting all we can do now is wait on our new radios to come in but i do have one question that i cant seen to get an answer to will there be a pager that is able to go on the digital astro p 25 system
As far as I know yes there are pagers designed for these systems at least for the conventional ASTRO-25 systems. Never been curious as to pagers on TRS... as most of the paging done on TRS's is MOSCAD etc and selective calling to individual radios. If your agency uses paging they should provide capable equipment, or will tell you why you wont need a pager anymore as the newer radios eliminate the need for pagers vias selcall, text messaging, etc depending on the options it is set up with on your net.
If anyone is using the ASTRO-25 infrastructure, then it matters not if its 700, 800, VHF, or UHF.. or even if its a TRS or a conventional, they will all be able to seamlessly integrate at any time, as well as flawless (hopefully) patching. If that whispered new P-25 VHF is ASTRO-25, then they can easily use the Palmetto 800 once its fully ASTRO-25 for interop with everyone else, as well as use the VHF for local ops. Ahh the joys of ASTRO-25. Thanks M! Of course any P-25 system is compatible with ANY other P-25 system, but the Motorola ASTRO-25 framework makes it just that easier.
I am not sure that I follow. How exactly is a VHF radio going to talk on an 800MHz network? Or, am I missing something?
Thanks!
trunktracker71
Member
the model that we are going to have will have the capability to switch over to the pal 800 and then back over to the system that we will be useing im not sure on exactly what model it will be i think that its going to be similar to the mtx 5500 i think i got that right ill find out at tonights training we are going to hold a class on how to operate the new radios
jeffmulter
Member
Might your department is buying some of the new Motorola APX 7000 handhelds ?
for qball-
On the Motorola ASTRO-25 P-25 framework any system using it has integrated capability to instantly communicate with another system using it. Example: Your county Fire is using an ASTRO-25 VHF conventional net, and the Sheriff is using a UHF ASTRO-25 TRS, while the State Emergency Management is on a statewide ASTRO-25 800 TRS... With just a switchflip, or button press or two... All these agencies are talking to each other seamlessly. This can be done iether by using a radio that supports multiband, or through the controller software. Its built into the ASTRO-25 framework. Of course talking to an agency on a non ASTRO-25 system requires an patch, which is also pretty simple to arrange. But the big M setup is just lovely!
On the Motorola ASTRO-25 P-25 framework any system using it has integrated capability to instantly communicate with another system using it. Example: Your county Fire is using an ASTRO-25 VHF conventional net, and the Sheriff is using a UHF ASTRO-25 TRS, while the State Emergency Management is on a statewide ASTRO-25 800 TRS... With just a switchflip, or button press or two... All these agencies are talking to each other seamlessly. This can be done iether by using a radio that supports multiband, or through the controller software. Its built into the ASTRO-25 framework. Of course talking to an agency on a non ASTRO-25 system requires an patch, which is also pretty simple to arrange. But the big M setup is just lovely!
Last edited by a moderator:
Clarification
Not to be argumentative, but all of that patching and such can be done with any architecture and is not really specific to P25. If you are using a SmartZone 4.1 system (not P25), you can have some sites that are VHF, UHF, or 800. However, you cannot roam amongst the sites because of the frequency limitations. Raytheon's ACU1000 will do accomplish what your are talking about and it does not matter at all whether the inputs or outputs are VHF, UHF, 700, 800, satellite radio, telephone, DC or tone console...as the ACU1000 just processes audio in and audio out from the respective radios attached to it.
APCO Project 25's purpose is to make radios compatible through non-proprietary (open) standards thus making P25 radios compatible no matter who makes them. ProVoice and Nexedge are a couple are examples of proprietary communications protocols dissimilar from P25, but using a patching device (i.e. ACU1000) you can still make all of them talk together.
Please understand that I am a huge fan of P25 standards-based communications system. I think that it is the best thing since sliced bread and it works very well, but it does not resovle the "I am on 800 and you are on VHF" issue. As you mentioned that can be resolved through the use of multi-band radios, but that has nothing to do with P25.
** And Jeff, I like the looks of the APX7000 based on the literature I have seen. I would really like to see one in person.
Not to be argumentative, but all of that patching and such can be done with any architecture and is not really specific to P25. If you are using a SmartZone 4.1 system (not P25), you can have some sites that are VHF, UHF, or 800. However, you cannot roam amongst the sites because of the frequency limitations. Raytheon's ACU1000 will do accomplish what your are talking about and it does not matter at all whether the inputs or outputs are VHF, UHF, 700, 800, satellite radio, telephone, DC or tone console...as the ACU1000 just processes audio in and audio out from the respective radios attached to it.
APCO Project 25's purpose is to make radios compatible through non-proprietary (open) standards thus making P25 radios compatible no matter who makes them. ProVoice and Nexedge are a couple are examples of proprietary communications protocols dissimilar from P25, but using a patching device (i.e. ACU1000) you can still make all of them talk together.
Please understand that I am a huge fan of P25 standards-based communications system. I think that it is the best thing since sliced bread and it works very well, but it does not resovle the "I am on 800 and you are on VHF" issue. As you mentioned that can be resolved through the use of multi-band radios, but that has nothing to do with P25.
** And Jeff, I like the looks of the APX7000 based on the literature I have seen. I would really like to see one in person.
lugoffman
Member
Sorry I could not resist I love your user name !!!
The framework of the ASTRO-25 system isn't just the P-25 issue its a complete compatability issue within the Motorola architecture. The ASTRO-25 set up is designed so that all users of the ASTRO-25 framework regardless of what band they are using and regardless of trunked, or conventional, can have complete interoperability along with all the benifits of APCO P-25 Digital comms. For more info check out the Motorola ASTRO-25 official informational websites.
Oh and well as to my handle.. its a shortened version of my name.
Oh and well as to my handle.. its a shortened version of my name.
it shows Columbia having a site up downtown, but if it is it is very weak, I do not get much signal on it and i am extremely close to downtown...
The last time I heard the control channel was at least 2 weeks ago and the signal was strong in Lexington. They may have taken it off the air since then. I've never heard any voice traffic on it. There was a report that it has been in site trunking.
- Status
Similar threads
