Aurora/Naperville OpenSky System

[RBMTS]

I've never heard any activity on those TG's, but that's not to say their not being used from time to time. I have them programmed into two radios but never had heard any traffic.

 

[officerdave]

View attachment 87555Then I'm assuming thees two is also as needed...

No idea RBMTS might know .... I don't run much on the Fire side

 

[ltginrage]

One more question, Does AFD/NFD have the own fireground channels on the system or do they use MABAS FG channels?

 

[FFPM571]

They have their own. If they go out of town for mutual aid they have a separate VHF portable radio for firegrounds

 

[officerdave]

Darian/Woodridge due in for station duty this past Thursday. NFD sent them home and called. I actually looked at my radio , when D/W Fire answered, FDDUCOM is what shows on my radio . So that is confirmed. Yes NFD has their own FIre Ground on the Sky . We have it in all our radios on the system. We are upgrading all the sites next week and Fire is planning on working off Starcom radios if/when sites are off air for the upgrade. Mostly for in building concerns. Lots of testing this week by Fire brass on Starcom radios.

 

[ltginrage]

Ok. Is North Aurora PD on the system also I can t find them anywhere else in the DB?

 

[jx87jx]

Yes they are

 

[eg2138c]

I was talking with a APD Officer and his portable sounded great. That was my first time hearing open sky it sure would be a interesting system to monitor.

 

[jx87jx]

You can monitor NFD on the patch when it’s up from time to time. OpenSky will phased out in the near future for Naperville and Aurora. Expect a Harris P25 system to replace it.

 

[ltginrage]

How soon we talking here decades? years?

 

[RBMTS]

OpenSky will phased out in the near future for Naperville and Aurora. Expect a Harris P25 system to replace it.

Do you have a source for that info? The system is only 10 years old and was very expensive. I doubt they will abandon it.

 

[jx87jx]

within the next 5 years or so seems to be the most common answer I’ve heard

 

[melvin1987]

 

[jx87jx]

Do you have a source for that info? The system is only 10 years old and was very expensive. I doubt they will abandon it.

Harris has come out and said they will no longer support OpenSky and they are abandoning it. Naperville and Aurora signed a service agreement extension before that announcement was made. Once that contract expires, Harris has no obligations to further support the OpenSky technology.

 

[ltginrage]

Harris has come out and said they will no longer support OpenSky and they are abandoning it. Naperville and Aurora signed a service agreement extension before that announcement was made. Once that contract expires, Harris has no obligations to further support the OpenSky technology.

When does this contract terminate?

 

[jx87jx]

When does this contract terminate?

That’s where I’m hearing conflicting dates. Around 4-5 years seems to be the general consensus. Who knows how much will change by then

 

[RBMTS]

I understand that. But it will still be some time. Plus that doesn't mean that the system administrators won't be able to get parts to keep the system infrastructure running. As mentioned, they spent a whole lot of money on this system. They will probably keep it running for as long as they possibly can. I'd have to look back at the original bid acceptance documents but I believe they were expecting this system to last the 20-25 years. Tax payers will not be happy about funding another large expensive system.

 

[jx87jx]

I understand that. But it will still be some time. Plus that doesn't mean that the system administrators won't be able to get parts to keep the system infrastructure running. As mentioned, they spent a whole lot of money on this system. They will probably keep it running for as long as they possibly can. I'd have to look back at the original bid acceptance documents but I believe they were expecting this system to last the 20-25 years. Tax payers will not be happy about funding another large expensive system.

You’re correct about that. Taxpayers don’t want to foot another huge build. The bad part is they did invest in an unproven technology 10 years ago. Look what happened to the state of Pennsylvania, city of Milwaukee and Las Vegas. The only plus side about open sky is a majority of the current site equipment used can be converted to P25 at minimal cost. The radios they currently have are P25 capable and they do use it from time to time. The first telltale sign for any change would be a modification to their current FCC licenses.

 

[EiriAmach]

I don’t think the portable sounds good at all...

 

[officerdave]

Sit down with Harris techs yesterday ..... more to come sorry can not let it out at this time..... bye bye Open Sky .......