Butler Co. gets $30-million radio system

[Thunderbolt]

HAMILTON, Ohio -- Thanks to a long-awaited countywide radio system, Butler County citizens soon can get better-coordinated service from police, firefighters, medics and maybe even salt truck and school bus drivers.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081228/NEWS01/812290316

 

[MBECKNELL]

i live in butler county. i cant wait until we get this new system going it should help with a few dead spots

 

[K8TEK]

It has 512 channels and will allow multiple dispatchers and officers to talk simultaneously. It also eliminates many "dead spots" in the county where current radios don't work.

I think the media should get a clue when they write up their stories. There is no way the system has 512 channels, if it a trunked system they are called talkgroups. A channel is something the system allocates to active users on active talkgroups, there aren't 512 channels.

Eventually, salt-truck drivers, road-repair crews and school bus drivers all will be added to the system if they wish to be able to talk to police, fire, medics and other agencies, Lewis said. For instance, a school bus driver could directly report being involved in an accident rather than first radioing his school district then having that message relayed to police.

That sounds like a good idea. Lets allow everybody living in Cincinnati pay a subscriber fee, buy a radio and contact the police directly too.

A new radio system is great. I am glad they bought it, my stock went up .02¢, but they are going to have the same problem if they don't continue to maintain it. Many agencies throw a repeater on the air and expect it to last forever. They don't, they require alignments, antennas break due to wind/ice/temp variations.

 

[DaveNF2G]

Better "coordination" of disparate services by means of a new radio system is a myth. The radios will not affect the way police, firefighting, plowing, or school transportation services are operated or offered to the public. That has to happen at the management end, not in the field, and certainly not by using a differerent microphone.