Allegheny County P25 System Application

IStebleton

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One thing I found interesting the buildout completion date is 7-25-23. Just about a year... it definitely seems like they wanna make the switch soon.
 

IStebleton

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On 7-13-23, they filled for a one year extension. It was granted on 7-14-23.

"Allegheny County Emergency Services was issued an FCC license call sign WRTT967. We are filing this waiver request asking the FCC to give us an additional year to construct our radio systems. We have received full funding for this project. We regret that it is necessary for us to ask for this extension. We fully intend to complete construction of this system. However, supply chain issues have delayed the delivery of the equipment. The radio system is required to provide a reliable public safety communications system for the dispatching of law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services and other local government agencies"
 

PGHSCANNERWACKER1

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So when they do decide to go p25 I hope all departments are 100% for the change because fire pager won’t work or radios won’t work either because most departments still have non p25 radios just because the county gave ever department free small amount of radios to each department.I believe it was 5 don’t mean those departments can still afford or get the p25 radios. Or am I wrong?
 

ffemt134

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So when they do decide to go p25 I hope all departments are 100% for the change because fire pager won’t work or radios won’t work either because most departments still have non p25 radios just because the county gave ever department free small amount of radios to each department.I believe it was 5 don’t mean those departments can still afford or get the p25 radios. Or am I wrong?
Everybody got 8 radios to mix and match between mobiles and portables as they saw fit. All of them have Phase 2 and trunking enabled right out of the box.

As far as paging goes, I would assume they'd keep current analog channels up for that purpose, just like Butler and Westmoreland do.
 

PGHSCANNERWACKER1

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Everybody got 8 radios to mix and match between mobiles and portables as they saw fit. All of them have Phase 2 and trunking enabled right out of the box.

As far as paging goes, I would assume they'd keep current analog channels up for that purpose, just like Butler and Westmoreland do.
The problem is still not solved. 8 radios in some departments they need more than 8 and most departments can’t afford buying all new radios so I guess I’m basically saying is yeah county did a live stream/ in person meeting a couple of years ago to tell everyone about those radios but are they continuously updating changes to the departments so everybody’s on board for whenever the time comes to change the system, so not a lot of departments would be caught off guard at the last minute when they switch systems. I still to this day see EMT/paramedics using Chinese radios as their primary radio. Some departments are better than others with money and crews having there own radios.the total shocker a lot of chief officers are unaware on what radios they need to have be compliant with the system.
 

The_B_Chief

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The guy pushing for all of this is probably getting a new swimming pool out of the deal.
Granted Allegheny County probably has more repeated channels than NYPD and FDNY combined. There's are ways to accomplish coverage challenges and system security without having to break the bank and without having to switch to a trunked and/or digital format. And you can still get the flashy new green radios.
But Allegheny county is and always has been a pay to play county. And yes, I've not only shared this with those concerned to their face but sent the NIOSH studies to back it.
The problem is still not solved. 8 radios in some departments they need more than 8 and most departments can’t afford buying all new radios so I guess I’m basically saying is yeah county did a live stream/ in person meeting a couple of years ago to tell everyone about those radios but are they continuously updating changes to the departments so everybody’s on board for whenever the time comes to change the system, so not a lot of departments would be caught off guard at the last minute when they switch systems. I still to this day see EMT/paramedics using Chinese radios as their primary radio. Some departments are better than others with money and crews having there own radios.the total shocker a lot of chief officers are unaware on what radios they need to have be compliant with the system.
Motorola will write the grants for any agency knowing that they will get paid in the end. Yes, there will be an RFP process and all that jazz but in typical political fashion the decisions are almost always (unofficially) made prior to this point. In most cases Motorola will front all of the equipment, field and dispatch, while waiting to get paid. They will own the entire 911 system and network for the duration of that contract or in some cases forever. they will make money by leasing space on the "new required" towers built with public grant money through smaller regional tower companies. It's just K street politics at work in the Steel City. This is par for the course and has been now for decades.

They sell it to the police chiefs by pimpin encryption and the hose draggers by offering them 4,286 channels. Channels that can not all possibly be monitored by the 911 center at the same time. They can't even staff their center now with the channels they have. I digress.
And who foots the bill for this? Joe Q. Public who has no idea.

Go back and look at previous posts where it was mentioned that "interference problems" would develop out of no where. The thing in Michigan was proven to be a programming error and not by anyone in Michigan. Crews have been caught in other states disconnecting voters, moving hub configurations, realigning links and dropping synchronous legs on legacy systems. Just to create interference. It's nothing new. Money talks. Yeah, Chicom radios are a small part of the problem but there is an easy way to eliminate that challenge and it would take a crew of five guys and about a week to finish. "Non compliant", whatever that means, radios as well. APCO is not law or binding. NFPA is not law or binding. And more and more agencies are waking up to that fact. When you have former and current industry leaders sitting on these boards, you should be asking questions. Lots and lots of questions.

Those counties that get the" why didn't you get a Motorola system" lines, are usually the ones that saw what was going on and decided not to play the game.

They let me out of the cage for a few weeks every year as part of my agreed upon therapy. looks like my free time is just about to expire.
 

ffemt134

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Curious what the city is doing with public works, as noted halfway into the article.

 

jeffm77

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Curious what the city is doing with public works, as noted halfway into the article.

The public works is now on P25. They are no longer on the DMR system they were on. And the stadium, went to their own trunked system, NXDN. Public works and the stadium at one point were all DMR.
 

jeffm77

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That would be somewhat off topic, so I'll leave you to view the license: FCC Callsign WRXS605 (PSSI STADIUM LLC) - Looks like a 15-freq trunked Nexedge48 or IDAS system.

The system is not set up in the RRDB yet, as nobody has sleuthed it out and provided the details (to my knowledge).
Yes, a little off topic, but the new NXDN system is low power. You have to be close to the stadium to hear it. even though they have a few frequencies listed as FB2 at 80 watts, I cannot pick them up in North Versailles. I have tried monitoring the repeater channels a few times during home Steeler games and nothing. During home games when they were on the old DMR system, they were non stop active talk groups. I miss listening to them and watching the games at the same time. Put a different spin on watching the game on TV and listening to stuff going on behind the scenes.
 

P25ForAll

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The guy pushing for all of this is probably getting a new swimming pool out of the deal.
Granted Allegheny County probably has more repeated channels than NYPD and FDNY combined. There's are ways to accomplish coverage challenges and system security without having to break the bank and without having to switch to a trunked and/or digital format. And you can still get the flashy new green radios.
But Allegheny county is and always has been a pay to play county. And yes, I've not only shared this with those concerned to their face but sent the NIOSH studies to back it.

Motorola will write the grants for any agency knowing that they will get paid in the end. Yes, there will be an RFP process and all that jazz but in typical political fashion the decisions are almost always (unofficially) made prior to this point. In most cases Motorola will front all of the equipment, field and dispatch, while waiting to get paid. They will own the entire 911 system and network for the duration of that contract or in some cases forever. they will make money by leasing space on the "new required" towers built with public grant money through smaller regional tower companies. It's just K street politics at work in the Steel City. This is par for the course and has been now for decades.

They sell it to the police chiefs by pimpin encryption and the hose draggers by offering them 4,286 channels. Channels that can not all possibly be monitored by the 911 center at the same time. They can't even staff their center now with the channels they have. I digress.
And who foots the bill for this? Joe Q. Public who has no idea.

Go back and look at previous posts where it was mentioned that "interference problems" would develop out of no where. The thing in Michigan was proven to be a programming error and not by anyone in Michigan. Crews have been caught in other states disconnecting voters, moving hub configurations, realigning links and dropping synchronous legs on legacy systems. Just to create interference. It's nothing new. Money talks. Yeah, Chicom radios are a small part of the problem but there is an easy way to eliminate that challenge and it would take a crew of five guys and about a week to finish. "Non compliant", whatever that means, radios as well. APCO is not law or binding. NFPA is not law or binding. And more and more agencies are waking up to that fact. When you have former and current industry leaders sitting on these boards, you should be asking questions. Lots and lots of questions.

Those counties that get the" why didn't you get a Motorola system" lines, are usually the ones that saw what was going on and decided not to play the game.

They let me out of the cage for a few weeks every year as part of my agreed upon therapy. looks like my free time is just about to expire.

No bid, no RFP... what date will they start digging for the swimming pool?

 

Nasby

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Unfortunately, Phase 2 systems have become synonymous with encryption in nearly every location they’ve been put into service. Allegheny County will likely suffer the same fate.
 

daine1619

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Unfortunately, Phase 2 systems have become synonymous with encryption in nearly every location they’ve been put into service. Allegheny County will likely suffer the same fate.
The radios the County bought for all Emergency Services in the county all came with AES, OTAR, and an ASK already in them. I am sure that they are getting the BIG E eventually!
 

maus92

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The radios the County bought for all Emergency Services in the county all came with AES, OTAR, and an ASK already in them. I am sure that they are getting the BIG E eventually!
That is a requirement for grant funding, at least for AES.
 
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