Anniston, AL - Will local police lose their top-of-the-line radios?

[Thunderbolt]

ANNISTON, Ala. -- Local officials are trying to figure out how to maintain an emergency radio system — currently costing nearly $1 million a year to operate — once federal funding runs out.

Read more: Anniston Star - Will local police lose their top of the line radios
​

 

[duchee]

holy crap

 

[ai8o]

What Motorola 800 MHZ radio costs $369 per year?
Or is this $369 just an average operating cost on top of acquistion cost?
$950K per year does NOT seem to be an excessive coast for a 2600 unit dispatch system.

 

[kb2vxa]

Operating cost per year divided by the number of radios on the system, simple math.

 

[SkipSanders]

Just as an example, San Diego County's RCS charges customers for the system $75.07 per radio per month. This is a 20,000 radio system, however, almost 10 times larger.

That would be $901 per year per radio.

 

[RADIOUSER5]

Skip - good information - I wonder if any other counties have a similar per radio charge to user agencies?

73, Curtis / W5DTR

 

[SkipSanders]

I would expect all multiagency systems charge users on a per radio basis, unless they're very small. They have fixed expenses related to total size of the system (links, power, payroll, etc), so the more radios they support, the higher the costs go. The RCS board minutes are available online, and you can see their budget figures discussed there. If I recall right, it was something like 5.6 million dollars a year for their total budget.

Bear in mind San Diego county is not easy to cover with an 800 MHz trunk, with city, mountains, and desert areas, widely varying over a good size county. It takes a lot of towers and links to keep it all tied together. Expensive.

Also, charges are different (lower) for mutual aid designated radios on the system. The $75 is for a radio used for full dispatching (and thus, heavy use) on the system.

 

[duchee]

they deff dont make radios cheap.

 

[SkipSanders]

Understand that these prices have nothing to do with the cost of buying the radios, directly. That's a seperate expense. These are the apportioned costs of RUNNING the system on a continuing basis, costs for payroll, electricity, land/tower leases, etc.

The actual radios might be anywhere from $1000 to $5000 each, depending on features and type, though some might be a bit less.

 

[N4DES]

Skip - good information - I wonder if any other counties have a similar per radio charge to user agencies?

73, Curtis / W5DTR

I have a per radio fee for all the radios on the Palm Beach County system. It costs about a dollar per day for all of the full time users. Agencies that access the system for interoperability only and have their own radio systems pay nothing.

We have have that policy since the system went live.

 

[idontknow82]

Maybe those big bad analog radios won't be so bad after all huh?

 

[duchee]

i agree lol

 

[tbrownell]

The Michigan MPSCS 800mhz P25 network charges $200/radio per year for unlimited access or offers the option of two lower cost plans that charge per PTT and have a max limit of minutes on the system.
MDC's are not charged to be on this system at all.

here's some stats:

The MPSCS is "Michigan's Public Safety Communications System".
With more than 231 towers, 48,000 radios, and covering an area of more than 58,000 square miles, the MPSCS is the largest public safety communications system in North America. It proudly provides interoperable voice and data communications for many of Michigan's first-responders, State and Federal Government agencies.

here is a link to the fee details:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MPSCS_Fee_Structure_1_159060_7.1.1.pdf

 

[duchee]

that would suck to be charged per min lol

 

[PJH]

You have to remember...analog/digital etc has nothing to do with it.

Your talking about a system that supports more users and talkgroups than a conventional system ever (realistically) could.

I worked for a county which had a VHF analong simulcast system for fire, and UHF for the sheriff. Between all the towers and equipment, it could have been just as expensive as a small trunking system. Then again, we also used a really nice and new Harris MW backbone system and the such.

Even with analog/conventional systems, there is still a cost in maintaining them.

On edit, it will also depend on how you have your PM work and any contracts setup with outside vendors. For our statewide system we have a mix of state employees and MSS techs. We have two techs each from both statewide MSS that are on call 24/7 in a rotation and most PM work is done by state workers. Our state techs are outfitted with vehicles that can repair/replace most failed equipment at a site and are also outfitted to provide a temporary site or command post if needed....all in a Ford Explorer or Expedition. Our contracted techs (also on call 24/7) can bring in a bunch of equipment as well if needed. Its all how you plan things out.