Another reason to check before all these new systems go into service

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K2KOH

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Digital craps out as soon as someone raises their voice. Digital has not got the bandwidth to withstand an excitable police officer or firefighter calling for help...instead what you get is "digitizing." You can hear that sometimes when Ct. SP transmits with their sirens in the background...the sirens make the signal "digitize."
Someone said elsewhere to give digital and the 700/800 plus frequencies to business and non PS. I agree. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 

N1SQB

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What is sad is that it will probably take someone getting hurt or even killed before the message gets through to the people making these stupid changes. I hope it never happens.

Manny
 

800crazy1

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gentlemen gentlemen , your posts were all digital , can you make your way back to the car radio instead of the portable.... if i had a dollar for everytime i heard CSP asked to go back to there car and use the car radio do to coming in digital .... we'd all be rich here . i dont know how the union lets the state get away with the "digital" problems the system suffers from. very scary for these guys if you ask me.
 

JoeyC

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Digital craps out as soon as someone raises their voice. Digital has not got the bandwidth to withstand an excitable police officer or firefighter calling for help...instead what you get is "digitizing." You can hear that sometimes when Ct. SP transmits with their sirens in the background...the sirens make the signal "digitize."
Someone said elsewhere to give digital and the 700/800 plus frequencies to business and non PS. I agree. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The San Diego RCS law enforcement talkgroups are all digital and have been for years. For the most part it works well. I hear officers yelling in their mics during foot pursuits and other high risk situations often. And I've heard sirens wailing in behind voices as well without the digitization problem you speak of. Perhaps your system needs tweaking somehow.

Yes, on occasion you will hear the dispatcher say "Can you repeat-you went digital", but these were likely the same calls, when analog, that resulted in a "10-9 you were unreadable" due to weak reception. How come nobody remembers those? I do.
 

Tom_G

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All Digital is not created equal...

From talking to friends of mine in the commercial radio business, they tell me all digital radios are not created equal.
Motorola is pretty popular among public service but there are other choices like Tait that have better vocoders which apparently work much better in noisey environments.
 

cg

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PJH

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The CSP system was initally built out as a mobile coverage based system. Upon the build out and what they were allowed to spend, high portable coverage was not too far behind. CSP is adding sites and coverage area's as funding allows.

Its a hell of a lot better than the old lowband system when you had to speak to Texas for them to call Troop C for a wrecker, when your less than 5 miles from the barracks.

Cops also have a knack for not taking the mic of the hook in speaking to dispatchers as well, which doesn't help.

The fireground study is a big doin for digital ops. Only FD that I have heard personally with P25 is the DC system, and didn't seem too bad, but I can see the fustrations. As far as NFPA, et al are concered - analog simplex only - which I don't disagree with.

Some chief's do this, others do not. One of the reasons is that comms are not being recordered if not going thru a repeater/TRS - however vendors are starting to market their "field recorders" more.
 

MarkB513

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Not to get of the digital topic, but you mentioned the CSP's old low band system...
One thing I never understood was why they never had a PL at all on that system? I know it wouldn't have helped while transmitting, but at least they wouldn't have heard the skip
from down south while they weren't. Back in the day any skip that you did hear usually had a PL, so you knew they weren't hearing Connecticut. (except if it was interfering with their transmissions of course...)
 

PJH

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Much of the equipment that was still in service at the time was older than most of the troopers using it. With the eve of the 800 system coming on line, lack of lowband vendors just enough $$ was thrown at it to keep it operational.

IIRC, many of the lowband car radios were older Midland's. Even with the "extenders", many troopers still used the radio rebroadcasts on the sirens to hear radio traffic on car stops.

PL didn't start to take off until late 70's, and early 80's. In NY, there are still many departments operating CSQ or just recently implemented PL on their lowband systems. Skip can happen anytime of course, but it only really shows its ugly head during those sunspot cycles.
 

PJH

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No. Its been dismatled as we knew it. I believe DEP and DOT reused equipment that could be reused.
 

PSUMan190

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Old CSP Days

Ah, it's fun to the think about the many days I spent listening to the old CSP system. I definitely remember many times hearing CSP troopers route their mobile radio audio out through the PA system.

Speaking of the old stuff - does anyone remember how the troopers would turn on the mobile repeater? Didn't they have a switch in the car ON/OFF near the Midland Mobile control head? Also, does anyone remember the whining sound that you would get on the transmissions from the portables sometimes - any idea why that would happen?

Jon
 

PJH

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Feedback from transmitting with a nearby radio rx'ing..
 
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