700/800 simplex use in NC

[jplyler]

Does anyone know what if any simplex/tac channels are included in subscriber radios for VIPER and Mecklenburg UASI systems?

How about active use of simplex channels on 700/800 around these systems?

I'm working on my 436 favorites lists and programming a new G5 and was curious.

Thanks.

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[yardbird]

Check your PM's

David

 

[jplyler]

Done. Thanks!

Jon

 

[trumpetman]

Make sure you have all of the national mutual aid channels (8CALL/8TAC/7CALL/7TAC) programmed in. I would recommend leaving them all CSQ to hear all of the NACs & PL tones, some agencies have changed them up from the national standards.

 

[jplyler]

Got em loaded. Any idea if any if them are used routinely anywhere or just reserved for backup and interoperability needs? Regardless, they are good to monitor. Per NIFOG, looks like only a select few channels are available for use without Fed involvement.

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[spacellamaman]

Got em loaded. Any idea if any if them are used routinely anywhere or just reserved for backup and interoperability needs? Regardless, they are good to monitor. Per NIFOG, looks like only a select few channels are available for use without Fed involvement.

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besides once when i heard fire fighting ops being carried out by one of the charlotte metro towns FD (for the life of me i cannot remember who it was right now) where they use them daily as ground Tac, bout all i have heard in two years is random key ups/beeps, and periodic/monthly radio checks. once this summer i heard rowan county, iirc, do a check on each and every radio at every fire station in some sort of sequence. 15-20 mins straight of "can you hear me now?" "10-4" "how about now?".

kinda edge of your seat kinda thing ya know. the main guy who was calling everyone, you could hear it in his voice, he was loving it

 

[jplyler]

That's what I suspected. The only real, use of at least the 800 interop channels, was years ago before the trunked system was built-out completely in Cabarrus County I would heard concord police on one of the 8TAC9x channels on a routine basis. But it's been a while since I've really monitored those channels so just checking to see what experience other's have had searching them.

 

[CFP387]

...[O]nce this summer i heard rowan county, iirc, do a check on each and every radio at every fire station in some sort of sequence. 15-20 mins straight of "can you hear me now?" "10-4" "how about now?"...

Rowan County practices a "failsoft" test quarterly testing different levels of failure in our stand-alone P25 trunked system. In two of these four tests, they take the trunked system down completely and rely only on the 8TAC channels for primary communication. During this time, agencies are instructed to monitor their radios because pager tones can be generated.

The latest test of complete radio system take down was done on September 7 at 10:00AM. It was at that time you probably heard various agencies testing these interop channels days before just to make sure everyone knew where to find the channels on their radios and what channels to use.

 

[KM4WLV]

Rowan County practices a "failsoft" test quarterly testing different levels of failure in our stand-alone P25 trunked system. In two of these four tests, they take the trunked system down completely and rely only on the 8TAC channels for primary communication. During this time, agencies are instructed to monitor their radios because pager tones can be generated.

The latest test of complete radio system take down was done on September 7 at 10:00AM. It was at that time you probably heard various agencies testing these interop channels days before just to make sure everyone knew where to find the channels on their radios and what channels to use.

During that test everything performed just as it should have. When the test was started they dropped the system into Site Trunking, down to Failsoft, and then killed it completely advising departments to move to the 8CALL / 8TAC conventional channels. It was discovered that there were a number of people who didn't know what the channels were for, and some who didn't even realize they were in the radios so instructions were given on how to switch over to conventional. In all the radios on the Salisbury-Rowan P25 system the 8CALL/8TAC zone is the last zone in the radio. Little known fact here in Rowan is that also in that zone are five more conventional repeater channels. They are labeled RPT-C, RPT-N, RPT-S, RPT-E, & RPT-W. These five channels are for conventional mobile repeaters that can be deployed when needed. The N, S, E, W, & C correspond to their locations in the county. The RPT-C however is permanently installed in the Salisbury FD Battalion 1 vehicle. As far as use of the 8CALL & 8TAC use the 8CALL repeater is located in downtown Salisbury, & the 8TAC repeaters are spread across the county and the different departments in the areas of those repeaters switch to that for back up with Rowan Communications monitoring them. If you're ever monitoring our system and here someone say "Switch to 91 direct, 92 direct" etc they are referring to the simplex/TA side of the 8TAC repeaters. This is standard practice at certain target hazards throughout the county.

The next quarterly Failsoft test will again take the system through the steps mentioned above to test everyone's readiness and for training purposes.

 

[spacellamaman]

well thats rather gutsy

much thanks to CFP387 and KM4WLV for the info, the details of the nitty gritty in just about anything are often what i find most interesting. i am really kinda surprised that a test like that was undertaken once, much less on a regular basis. i mean it is exactly what should be done but many governments are scared to death due to possible liability and the risk of looking bad cause no one knows what to do in an emergency...which is kinda the bread and butter of emergency services.

i am rarely impressed by much of anything undertaken by any govt group, but sounds like ya'll have a good handle on things. congrats. my next question, especially if it its done quarterly, is, is someone number crunching to find the least risky day in terms of calls for service during an average period or are ya'll just scheduling the day and just assuming to have to deal with whatever there is to deal with when the time comes? ie: sept 7, a wednesday, 10am as opposed to 3am on a monday morning (which its my understanding is one of the slower times of the week), thereby simulating likely emergency scenerios?

either way thanks and glad to hear things went well and hope they continue.

 

[KM4WLV]

much thanks to CFP387 and KM4WLV for the info, the details of the nitty gritty in just about anything are often what i find most interesting. i am really kinda surprised that a test like that was undertaken once, much less on a regular basis. i mean it is exactly what should be done but many governments are scared to death due to possible liability and the risk of looking bad cause no one knows what to do in an emergency...which is kinda the bread and butter of emergency services.

i am rarely impressed by much of anything undertaken by any govt group, but sounds like ya'll have a good handle on things. congrats. my next question, especially if it its done quarterly, is, is someone number crunching to find the least risky day in terms of calls for service during an average period or are ya'll just scheduling the day and just assuming to have to deal with whatever there is to deal with when the time comes? ie: sept 7, a wednesday, 10am as opposed to 3am on a monday morning (which its my understanding is one of the slower times of the week), thereby simulating likely emergency scenerios?

either way thanks and glad to hear things went well and hope they continue.

We don't really "number crunch" or anything as far as planning tests. They just choose the date and we do it. If theres a big incident going on then we don't do it. As far as any worry, everyone is trained on our contingency plan for system failure and how to switch to the backup conventional channels. When we do these quarterly failsoft tests it's used as an opportunity for training on that plan.

 

[CFP387]

The date of the test is announced via a group email and over the radio days in advance so that if there is anyone new in a department that may not be familiar with how to find certain zones in their radio, they have time to familiarize themselves before the test.