Brevard County EDACS system

[KI4LIV]

Is it my imagination or does it appear that at more and more law enforcement talkgroups are being simulcast on more towers than they were historically?

I noticed a few months back that Melbourne was now being simulcast on the Rockledge tower, which they haven't done since the Eau Gallie tower went online.

Yesterday I accidentally slipped in to ID Search mode instead of ID Scan and noticed Palm Bay PD's talkgroups now coming up on the Rockledge tower!

I realize that with the rebanding on progress that things are being moved around, but does anyone know what agencies will be simulcast on what towers after the rebanding is done?

 

[ElroyJetson]

Melbourne has been simulcast on the Rockledge tower for several years now. In fact, Melbourne has
ALWAYS been on the Rockledge tower, as far as I know. Prior to the installation of site 4, the Eau Gallie
site, they had to be on the Rockledge site as they'd go out of usable range of Site 3 (Palm Bay) way too
often in the north part of the city.

I distinctly remember having Melbourne on both the Rockledge and Palm Bay sites back when my
"scanner" was a slightly modified M-PD select model. (Still a very good radio, BTW.) That would have
been 1998.

I often wonder why they're doing so much simulcasting on the Eau Gallie site when it's such a relatively
small site, with just 10 channels, compared to 20 for Palm Bay, 12 for Rockledge, and 12 for Titusville.

Frankly I don't even get why the Palm Bay site has 20 channels when the number of agencies in that
area is minimal. Seems like a LOT of surplus capacity, to me.


Elroy

 

[KI4LIV]

Still leaves me wondering what's up with Palm Bay on the Rockledge tower?

 

[ElroyJetson]

It does seem a little unnecessary, doesn't it?

I could see it on the Eau Gallie tower, but why Rockledge? If the SO or Melbourne needs to respond into
Palm Bay, they could use the EG tower just as well, and reduce system loading in the process.

Elroy

 

[KI4LIV]

It's definitely got to be something with the rebanding efforts. Today I am not picking ANYTHING up from Melbourne on the Rockledge tower, but am still receiving Palm Bay from that tower (as of 10:22AM - I turned of the Palm Bay talkgroups at that point).

 

[ElroyJetson]

Melbourne uses their CAD system for all routine dispatches. If nothing out of the ordinary is going on,
you won't hear them, sometimes for hours on end. This isn't anything unusual, particularly on a Monday.

The system is fine, the SO has been plenty busy on the Eau Gallie tower today. And they have not
executed the rebanding changeover yet.

When that happens, it will not happen agency by agency, but site by site. All agencies on a given
site will change over at once.


Elroy

 

[gcr33]

And many touches later.

Have they ever thought about networking this antique?

 

[ElroyJetson]

It IS networked! It's a networked EDACS Simulcast system.

What sort of networking do you mean, precisely?

Frankly, I'm happy that they're not madly trying to upgrade it to be today's lastest big thing. That would
possibly make listening in a lot more difficult, and would add complexity to the system that is not at all
necessary and would not enhance reliability.

Older, simpler systems are often better and outperform newer ones.


In rebanding, each radio gets touched twice. This allows the users to be able to switch over the moment they're
told to do so, and then have the extra data cleaned out and the configuration tidied up at a relaxed pace.


Elroy

 

[KI4LIV]

Melbourne uses their CAD system for all routine dispatches. If nothing out of the ordinary is going on,
you won't hear them, sometimes for hours on end. This isn't anything unusual, particularly on a Monday.

The system is fine, the SO has been plenty busy on the Eau Gallie tower today. And they have not
executed the rebanding changeover yet.

When that happens, it will not happen agency by agency, but site by site. All agencies on a given
site will change over at once.


Elroy

Yes there was plenty of activity on the Eau Gallie tower, but between the time that I posted my last message and now, there has been literally zero activity logged by my scanner on any of the Melbourne PD talkgroups coming from the Rockledge tower.

 

[KI4LIV]

Welp, they're back on the Rockledge tower... Maybe my scanner (or brain) is on the fritz

 

[gcr33]

Sorry Elroy I meant to say SMARTZONED. It seems like it would make sense but GE's track record with that was never very good. Tyco Toys is not much better.

It IS networked! It's a networked EDACS Simulcast system.

What sort of networking do you mean, precisely?

Frankly, I'm happy that they're not madly trying to upgrade it to be today's lastest big thing. That would
possibly make listening in a lot more difficult, and would add complexity to the system that is not at all
necessary and would not enhance reliability.

Older, simpler systems are often better and outperform newer ones.


In rebanding, each radio gets touched twice. This allows the users to be able to switch over the moment they're
told to do so, and then have the extra data cleaned out and the configuration tidied up at a relaxed pace.


Elroy

 

[ElroyJetson]

No, the Brevard system doesn't operate in a Smartzone-like manner. It's straight simulcast,
but not every agency is simulcast on every tower.

Elroy

 

[KI4LIV]

Disregard this message

 

[KI4LIV]

Elroy or anyone else,

Looks like they are monkeying with the systems again...

I can monitor Rockledge and Eau Gallie(BARELY!) towers from my home in Merritt Island.

Setting my scanner to listen to Melbourne PD's talkgroups ONLY , I can pick them up ONLY on the Eau Gallie tower, but not from the Rockledge tower...

I can't wait till their done futzing with this thing and everything is done with this rebanding!

 

[KI4LIV]

More weirdness... Titusville PD is now coming across the Rockledge tower.

Some days Melbourne PD is coming across Rockledge in conjunction with Palm Bay and Eau Gallie, other days not... Sometimes for only part of the day.

Same goes with Palm Bay PD - partial days coming across the Rockledge tower.

 

[gerstjo]

Brevard County Rebanding

Latest word I got was that Brevard County will now be rebanding in February 2009 if it is not delayed again.

John Gerstner
East Central Florida Scanner Page
http://home.roadrunner.com/~scanner/

 

[kf4sek]

With the county jail in Sharpes, would it not be the case that the city PDs need to be simulcast to the Rockledge Tower when taking people to the jail? Maybe that is why we here certain city PD TalkGroups simulcast on the Rockledge Tower at times and other times not. Just a thought.

 

[Gadgetmann]

I will be coming down again on our annual trip and in the past trips have stayed on Merritt Island but this year will be staying in Satellite Beach. While we were on Merritt Island, I monitored the Rockledge tower with no problems. Will I still be able to hear that tower from SB? or which tower(s) will I be able to hear and which one(s) should I monitor? thanks

 

[KI4LIV]

Gadgetmann,

Hmmmm... not too sure how good the reception would be for Rockledge in Sat. Beach.

Initial thoughts would tell me you'd need to listen to either the Eau Gallie/Melbourne or Palm Bay tower.

Anyone else have any feedback?

 

[JSTARS03]

Melbourne Tower

Correct, Melbourne or even the Palm Bay Tower will be the best bet.
You would need an external antenna for the Rockledge Tower.

Shaun