Boston fire dept p 25

[FDNY216]

With UHF T Band give back on the horizon

Anyone know what Boston plans to do when the time comes. Like what band will they use and if it will be P 25

 

[ecps92]

My bet [as an outside observer] is T-Band is there to stay,
Especially with all the Departments within the Rte-495 Belt

And [IMHO] the legislation only talked about Public Safety, there are plenty of Business users on those T-Band channels to...

With UHF T Band give back on the horizon

Anyone know what Boston plans to do when the time comes. Like what band will they use and if it will be P 25

 

[n3obl]

There too many large cities on t band that it will never happen.

 

[BFD-S5]

If forced to move, 800 analog conventional

 

[garys]

As I recall, Congressman Lynch, along with some others, filed a bill in the last Congress to reverse the "D Block" legislation. I don't think it went anywhere, but since there are some major metropolitan areas (Boston, NY/NJ, and LA City/County) that will be affected, it's likely to be filed again.

I've speculated, to myself of course, that the 700 Mhz overlay could be expanded to replace the UHF band, but that would require a major expansion throughout eastern MA.

BFD-S5, am I delusional?

 

[BFD-S5]

Yes

 

[garys]

You're not the first person to ever tell me that, you know.

Yes

 

[12dbsinad]

If forced to move, 800 analog conventional

Analog and conventional don't belong in the same sentence as far as new systems go... Especially Major cities.

Although, I don't disagree.

 

[garys]

Boston has done a very good job overall avoiding trunking and digital for public safety. S-5 is certainly a part of that.

Analog and conventional don't belong in the same sentence as far as new systems go... Especially Major cities.

Although, I don't disagree.

 

[sefrischling]

Boston has done a very good job overall avoiding trunking and digital for public safety. S-5 is certainly a part of that.

It always amazes me, with the large shift to Trunked and P25, Boston, NYC, LA County, Chicago , have remained Analog and Conventional. LA City while P25 has remained conventional.

Why mess around with what works?

 

[26m10]

..., that the 700 Mhz overlay could be expanded to replace the UHF band, but that would require a major expansion throughout eastern MA.

BFD-S5, am I delusional?

The coverage requirements for the 700 MHz overlay took into consideration the possible migration of MBHSR user agencies to the system in the event that T-Band went away.

Which is why there are sites in Quincy and Revere

 

[garys]

So, I'm only partially delusional?

I thought that there was a move afoot to stop that migration. At least I think Steve Lynch filed a bill in the last Congress.

The coverage requirements for the 700 MHz overlay took into consideration the possible migration of MBHSR user agencies to the system in the event that T-Band went away.

Which is why there are sites in Quincy and Revere

 

[n1das]

Time to get a Unication G5 with UHF 450-520 & 700/800. I'm waiting for the P25 Phase 2 firmware update to be released soon and applied to new units at the factory before taking the plunge.

http://www.unicationusa.com/g5-p25-voice-pager

 

[SCPD]

It always amazes me, with the large shift to Trunked and P25, Boston, NYC, LA County, Chicago , have remained Analog and Conventional. LA City while P25 has remained conventional.

Why mess around with what works?

I just cant see how a P25 trunked system would work in NY,Chicago, L.A. LAPD's conventional 25 system works great for their needs. Chicago and NY could just transition to P25 conventional as well. Trunking for those cities I think would be a nightmare so leave T-band alone for public safety comms.

 

[garys]

One of the selling points of trunked systems way back when was more efficient use of the system frequencies by allowing multiple users access to a limited number of RF channels. It used a sort of "time share" approach based on how often conventional channels are actually in use.

With bigger systems, there is less down time for frequencies, so I'm not sure that trunking has that advantage any more.

I just cant see how a P25 trunked system would work in NY,Chicago, L.A. LAPD's conventional 25 system works great for their needs. Chicago and NY could just transition to P25 conventional as well. Trunking for those cities I think would be a nightmare so leave T-band alone for public safety comms.

 

[fog]

I had kind of figured that a lot of the local public safety stuff would end up on the MSP trunked system if the takeback (err, "giveback") occurred.

Mind you, this is just what I'd figured would happen, not any sort of informed feedback. (So this is more in reply to the more recent trunking comments, not MFR401's original question.) Seems like a lot of Cape Cod ended up on the system; it wouldn't be shocking to me if more agencies did the same. Mostly because it seems like the easiest path forward.

Of course, God help us if the system were go to down...

 

[byndhlptom]

T band/Stuff

I'm getting confused....

I always thought that P25 was by definition, digital. When you say P25 conventional, are you saying non-trunked?

Don't see what that gains anyone.....

Either you have an analog system that is either repeated/channelized or trunked or you have a Digital system that is channelized/repeated or trunked.

Since there is not current mandate (with no date set) for ultra narrowband (which pretty much requires a Digital system of some kind), narrow band analog works for a lot of people....

$.02

 

[12dbsinad]

I always thought that P25 was by definition, digital. When you say P25 conventional, are you saying non-trunked?

That would be correct.

Since there is not current mandate (with no date set) for ultra narrowband (which pretty much requires a Digital system of some kind), narrow band analog works for a lot of people....

$.02

Mainly it's because there is no more major amounts of money left in selling analog systems anymore. On top of that, it is a great way to ensure you're married to a particular vendor until the system becomes EOL, which is when the manufacturer decides they'll no longer support it. Yeah, digital does have advantages, but in terms of a guy trapped in a burning building he/she doesn't care if it's analog, digital, trunked or 2 cans and a string, they just want to be heard.

Boston has done a great job of keeping it simple and keeping the slick Motorola salesman from selling a DTRS to everyone. I am sure they (Motorola) have been itching for that sale for years.

 

[BFD-S5]

Our next system will most likely be mixed mode conventional with the digital side just for safety data. (air and accountability)

Joe

 

[RKG]

I'm getting confused....

I always thought that P25 was by definition, digital. When you say P25 conventional, are you saying non-trunked? . . .

The term "P25" (short for "APCO Project 25") refers to a set of standards, which address a number of different things.

One of them is a standard for digital voice encoding and decoding, which (for "Phase I") is standardized on the DVSI IMBE vocoder. The better term to refer to this aspect of the P25 standards is "CAI Voice" (where "CAI" stands for "Common Air Interface"). By definition, CAI has nothing to do with trunking.

A separate one of the P25 standards involves a common format for trunking data commands and data encoding. All P25 trunked systems use CAI voice on the voice channels.

Use of the term "P25" to refer implicitly to one of the P25 standards is a common form of confusion.