All Pulaski County Agencies switching to AWIN

[aspclay]

The following is from the AWIN Quarterly Newsletter-January 2012


Proposals Approved to Add Little Rock , Jacksonville Systems.....


The end of 2011 marked the beginning of some big changes for the Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN) as the city of Fayetteville became a full time AWIN member and proposals were approved to integrate the Little Rock , North Little Rock , and Jacksonville systems as full time members.

“We are so pleased to have these cities join AWIN,” said Penny Rubow, AWIN program coordinator.

Fayetteville finalized integration by completing the cutover from its previous system to AWIN on December 22, said Kathy Stocker, dispatch manager for the Fayetteville Police Department. Fayetteville brought with it a three site simulcast system and approximately 650 users representing police, fire, and all other city divisions. The city could have remained on a stand-alone system, however, the interoperable capability of AWIN was the primary tipping point for the city in making the decision to become full time users, Stocker said.

Approximately 5,000 new AWIN users will be added with the integration of systems in Jacksonville and Little Rock which will also include North Little Rock , Pulaski County , Sherwood, Cammack Village , and Maumelle. Like Fayetteville , Laura Martin, communications manager, for the city of Little Rock also cited the interoperable benefits of the AWIN system as well as the financial benefits to the city.

“Our system was antiquated and the financial resources to upgrade it were limited.” Martin said.

The Little Rock system will be comprised of a three-site, 30-channel, simulcast system. The city anticipates it to take approximately 18 months to complete the integration to AWIN. The Jacksonville system consists of one site of six channels. The Little Rock, North Little Rock , and Jacksonville systems should also experience a significant improvement in the quality of communications inside buildings and other areas where poor signal quality was previously a barrier, said Kirk Miller, senior account manager, of Motorola.

 

[dave90000]

Now if we can pull off getting Faulkner county on it things will be good.

 

[aspclay]

Faulkner County on AWIN

Well actually Faulkner County us already on AWIN and has been for awhile now. They are talk group 19402 (main dispatch)

 

[dave90000]

Actually I meant all of faulkner county. FD,Conway etc

 

[aspclay]

Ok sorry I took it literally. I haven't heard of any chatter of Conway going I guess since they got all that money tied up in their own system. It would be nice if they decided to do it!

 

[dave90000]

Call me or come by and I will fill you in on the latest direction of the communications committee.

But the AWIN project is still alive and hopefully close to being funded

Actually if you want to come by at lunch and will buy you lunch

 

[arpilot]

But how will CWPD stay encrypted if that happens??? <------sarcasm. I think that's against some FOI clause somewhere if it were just persued. Just my two cents worth.

 

[dave90000]

All I can say to that is we will have to agree to disagree. I wish all our traffic was encrypted, would save me a lot pf cell phone minutes from everyone calling wanting to know about the call.

 

[aspclay]

I can see both arguments for and against encryption. On one hand I think the public has a right to hear what their city, county and state offices and officers are doing. And on the other hand I can see some need to protect sensitive information and officer safety. I personally am glad most are not encrypted, as a scanner feed provider, and a person that has had a scanner since I was 13 years old! As a dispatcher for 19 years, I have NEVER had the public call me to ask about something they heard on the scanner, but I'm sure it happens. I'm sure there are devices out there (or can be built) that can descrambler and I would definately consider purchasing one if I had to. But then again I have a love and passion for the hobby and profession.

 

[cozmosis]

Count me in against encryption

As a taxpayer, I want as much open government as possible. I can understand the argument in favor of encrypted radio channels for sensitive operations such as undercover and SWAT... but traffic stops, fire runs and the ordinary day-in, day-out stuff should be open for all that want to listen in. I'm paying for the police cars and the fire trucks and I want to know how they're being used.

As a government employee, I often wish more people would listen in. It seems that too many people think that all of the cops hang out at the gas station and all of the firemen polish the truck and wait for the big one. If more people listened to the everyday radio traffic, they might have a better appreciation for how their public servants are actually being of service. (Well, in *most* cities, anyway. There are some where that might hurt the cause. Heh.)

 

[weather4ar]

Question for Bill Clay: The last quote in your first post says the LR System will be a 3 site 30 channel simulcast system..does that mean they will completely replace the old LR Trunk frequencies? Or, will they simply use the existing AWIN infrastructure and frequencies assigned to Chenal and East Little Rock and then multicast the traffic on the old LR Trunk frequencies?

Thanks,

Damon Poole

BTW, I fully agree with cozmosis on being against encryption.

 

[aspclay]

My understanding is AWIN will take over the LR tower sites (Jacksonville too)and they will be converted to digital sites and may change frequencies. If you're thinking you can still use your conventional scanner to pick them up, you won't be able to after the switch. Im not sure what's going to happen to the Shinall site, AWIN has a site there already, so they may or may not keep it. LR's other 2 sites are at Ozark Point (Cantrell Hill) and Batesville Pike (North Pulaski County) I am assuming they will keep those sites, they may be somewhat beneficial. They will also be utilizing the current Jacksonville site too! If there's an AWIN employee reading, maybe they can give more insite, although i doubt it right now at least. Thanks!

 

[weather4ar]

That figures...

Thanks Bill, that's about what I figured. Fortunately my old digital Pro-2096 should handle the switch fine, if they don't encrypt too much. I'm sure if they do change frequencies, the FCC and RR databases will have the changes as soon as they're licensed.

My understanding is AWIN will take over the LR tower sites (Jacksonville too)and they will be converted to digital sites and may change frequencies. If you're thinking you can still use your conventional scanner to pick them up, you won't be able to after the switch. Im not sure what's going to happen to the Shinall site, AWIN has a site there already, so they may or may not keep it. LR's other 2 sites are at Ozark Point (Cantrell Hill) and Batesville Pike (North Pulaski County) I am assuming they will keep those sites, they may be somewhat beneficial. They will also be utilizing the current Jacksonville site too! If there's an AWIN employee reading, maybe they can give more insite, although i doubt it right now at least. Thanks!

 

[sherwoodpdlistener]

Is this the reason why the Sherwood police and fire radio is down? When I go to its page on here it says it should be up shortly, but it also says that it has been deleted. Any info on whats wrong with it or if it will ever be back up?

 

[aspclay]

Is this the reason why the Sherwood police and fire radio is down? When I go to its page on here it says it should be up shortly, but it also says that it has been deleted. Any info on whats wrong with it or if it will ever be back up?

Sherwood is down for several reasons. First: was computer problems, second the scanner rebanding issue and lastly there were just not many listeners to the Sherwood feed, had there been more listeners I would have gotten it back on before now. I might try it again but it will be after the AWIN switchover (unless someone else does it first), and my other feeds are priority first. I am ready for AWIN on the LRPD and LRFD feeds, I still need new scanners for PCSO & MEMS. I am also working on some other feeds that might generate alot of interest/listeners around the state. Thanks for your feedback! I welcome all feedback! Just keep in mind that all these feeds take a dedicated computer, scanner and $$$ to get both! And I make no $$$ for doing it, but i love the hobby!