Bucks Co. Fire/EMS Dispatch

[jeff]

Bucks Co. is now multicasting 46.10 with 155.55, which will be the new Fire/EMS paging channel. Units will have to get new pagers, there is no cut off date set for 46.10.

 

[gmr140]

Will bucks county be broadcasting all towers at once on 155.55? that way the county dispatchers won't have to keep switching to different towers. something similar to what chester county has.

 

[FuelForFire]

Is there any plans for fire/ems to move to the trunk system or will they remain on vhf for interop with the rest of the world?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[jb9152]

Is there any plans for fire/ems to move to the trunk system or will they remain on vhf for interop with the rest of the world?

Thanks,
Mike

Fire/EMS is already on the trunked system, and has been for some time. Some of the talkgroups are simulcast over the old low band frequencies by various companies / organizations.

 

[sta18ff]

Let me clarify this a bit. The county will not abandon the 46.10 dispatch frequency and will not require any dept to buy new vhf pagers. The 46.10 dispatch will be repeated on the vhf frequency. Currently only one tower can be selected while dispatching or else you will get interference. The repeaters on vhf will allow the dispatch to be simulcast on all towers at once. There is no set date for implementing the change, however the frequency they will be using is an old channel still licensed to the county. Hope this clears things up a bit.

 

[ff12003]

Is this in use now or is thisgoing to start soon. Ive heard more and more frequent testing on the 46.100 freq.

 

[CQ20m]

155.550 is now in use; 46.100 is still in use.

 

[shaft]

I know this is an old thread... but do you just dispatch for the county? or do you dispatch for the local TWP's as well?

 

[sta18ff]

The county dispatch center handles all 911 calls and non-emergency police, fire, and EMS phone call as well as dispatching for all depts in Bucks Co. with the exception of those areas covered by PSP. We still handle all 911 calls for those areas as well and dispatch fire and EMS as needed and we forward any police calls to PSP.

 

[shaft]

Thanks, I appreciate the update.

 

[ctrabs74]

Occasionally, I hear some traffic from the Bucks dispatch channel on 155.550 out in the Downingtown area, though it's hit and miss sometimes (usually I have to have my scanner against the window of my office to pick it up; I work nights in a warehouse). If it's a decent sounding job (ie. a working fire or an MVA), I'll flip on the Bucks/MontCo online feed.

On Xmas Day, I did hear a dispatch for a chimney fire (possibly in West Rockhill; at least it was somewhere in that area of Bucks) on that channel from the west end West Chester (where reception of anything other than ChesCo is spotty at best). Pretty strong signal, I might add.

A couple of side notes: I'd hope MontCo's signal is a strong once their new VHF-High paging channel is in full swing. Also, I can get Lehigh's fire paging channel pretty good from work.