Balt Co 800 re-banding

[doctordave]

The 800 re-banding thread on the "scanning" forum is getting lengthy and this question is directed toward folks on our board with intimate knowledge of Balt Co's specific plans. The FCC letter to public safety agencies ( http://www.800ta.org/PDFs/FCC800MHzlicensee-letter.pdf ) seems to suggest that Balt Co's freqs in the 860-861 MHZ segment would be in jeopardy of relocation, UNLESS the county requests otherwise. At first glance, the other BCo PS system freqs seem to not be affected by the re-banding plan. Anyone know if the County has elected to retain their freqs without change? It would seem that the ball is in the County's court on this one.

 

[TinEar]

First things first...if you try to read the the FCC document above by clicking on the link, you'll get an error message. Get rid of the parentheses around the URL and it works fine.

Dave, that letter is really confusing. First (on Page 2, para 3), it says that freqs in the 860-861 mHz range will not have to change. Then, it goes on to say in the same paragraph that channels from 471-510 (which is 860-861 mHz) will have to change unless they ask for a waiver. What am I missing?

 

[n4voxgill]

The FCC has said that the 860.xxxx frequencies may receive interference from the many systems being moved near them. With this warning, if Balto County wants to request to keep the four 860 freqs they currently have, they will not get much consideration if interference does occur. It's the counties gamble/

 

[Spleen]

I guess it comes down to the lesser of two evils (or sources if interference)...will the proposed changes eliminate cell interference but pick up something else?

Cell interference is clearly audible under the present arrangement, but I haven't heard yet where it has gotten anyone killed, at least in Baltimore County...

 

[mlevin]

Okay, I gotta better question for ya'll. What will happen with Baltimore City's system. I believe all of their freqs are exclusively above 860.****

 

[n4voxgill]

city will move down 15 MHz to 851 to 853.

 

[mlevin]

What a pain. Win96 will be getting a serious work out :!:

 

[Spleen]

Do we have any kind of time frame this will start happening in? County or City?

 

[rdale]

"Win96 will be getting a serious work out"

I don't get the connection... Control channel frequency changes shouldn't be a major issue to deal with in software programming. And it's not been confirmed that the Pro96 will even work with the new bandplan so you may have it easy ;>

 

[doctordave]

Spleen, The thread on the scanning forum provides some general background and there is a link to the 800 MHZ transition website....it appears that this area will be impacted around June of this year.

Mo, What rdale referenced is dealt w/ on the scanning forum thread....there is a very real question as to whether the Uniden/GRE scanners will be able to accommodate the tables associated w/ the new 800 bandplan. Both manufacturers are aware and studying the issue. We can only hope our existing units will be able to conform.

 

[mlevin]

That's not what I wanted to hear :x :wink:

 

[Dougie]

...In the radio shack police call frequency guide book, there is a system located in Towson under baltimore county (I think its a back up system) but is never in use.....I can not recall what freqs this system uses....Case and point being baltimore county might already own some channels in a different range so go ahead and move there if its likely....Im glad nobody hase mentioned the 7 number yet....What would we do then?
I hate cell phones and I hate people that try to drive while using them....

 

[doctordave]

Anyone w/ a good inside connection in Balt Co govt have any insight on whether the public safety freqs will be retained or changed in June? I've yet to come across anyone who knows the County's intention on this.

 

[troymail]

I wonder if the soon to be released BC396 is already taking the new
band-plan into consideration.....

hopefully, that *won't* be Uniden's answer....

 

[mlevin]

Anyone w/ a good inside connection in Balt Co govt have any insight on whether the public safety freqs will be retained or changed in June? I've yet to come across anyone who knows the County's intention on this.

There's a fellow I sorta know who lives in my neighborhood who's on the 800 MHz committe. I don't usually see him or talk to him but I'll try to see if he has the liberty to share any info. He's usually tight-lipped about this stuff, but I can gaurantee you he knows the inside scoop.

 

[doctordave]

Thanks, Mo...it would be great if you can get the scoop.

 

[doctordave]

Since we've been talking about this topic, as it pertains to MD specifically, just want to alert you all to the Uniden statement over on the "Uniden Scanners" board.

 

[TinEar]

Which I guess means I have to put all my Uniden 785Ds into the trash. Oh, the inhumanity!!!

 

[doctordave]

Although, if Balt Co elects to and is permitted to retain their existing freqs, older models such as the 785 may still have some trunking utility. I also have quite a few radios which might otherwise become added to the conventional monitoring list.

 

[TinEar]

At this point, I don't quite know what will be reflashed in the 796 that can't be done in the 785. Something is tingling my BS meter though.