Did you ever think that your looking at this problem from the wrong side
of the fence? It sounds like there is no mutual aid frequency plan or any
MOU (memorandum of Understanding) betweeen any of the agencies your
talking about. Pull in the horses and have a seat. Bring all the other
departments along for a talk session.
Have you ever taken a look at the "National Interoperability Frequencies"
that the FCC has set aside for mutual aid and incident scene use? If not,
it would be in the best interest of all the departments in your area to take
a look at them. These frequencies are made to be used any place in the
country for any incident that brings multiple agencies together. They are
not to be used for day to day communications, but can provide a common
place for agencies to communicate.
These "National Interop Frequencies" also can provide a place for
incident communications to prevent overload on your normal channels.
If they are programmed into all user radios, the need to swap or pass
out radios goes way down. If your in the position of having to use different
bands, then consider using some form of a gateway linking system. This
can tie the different non compatable radio bands together. It also allows
non compatable radios to have common analog channels that everyone can
operate on.
Yes it even allows an Open Sky radio to talk with a P25 trunking radio and
an EDACSradio all on one common channel. Every radio functions in the
analog mode on these channels. It works slick and you no longer have to
worry about someone damaging your radio. They use their own equipment
and as such will take better care of it.
If by some chace there is a mix of low band radio channels that are still in
use, the gateway unit can conect into these.
I am not saying this is the answer to everyones problems, but you might
want to take a look at it. Many agencies are not even aware of these
"Interop Channels". If you want, you can take a look at a white paper
that was drafted by two people that use to work for the state of Maryland.
It is several years old now, but it kind of laid the foundation for a number
of interop systems out there today. Go look at the APCO site:
www.apcointl.org
and then in the upper right corner of the home page, do a search for the
words "TAC STACK". It will take you to the PDF file that contains the
white paper. Aside from the mess at 700 MHz, it will provide you with
the "Interop Frequencies" and some ideas. Just remember to put in the
simplex channels of the repeater frequencies that are listed. There is not
always a repater available and you can use the channels for communications
between radios over short distances.
Jim
mredding said:
Due to recent problems, I'm looking for cheap Smartnet UHF (450-512) trunking portables to use as spares and lend to mutual aid companies/clumsy members on larger incidents. Reason being, I don't want anyone getting too upset when they end up smashed, fried, melted, run over, eaten, missing, etc.
Perth Amboy Fire uses it's old Sabers for this purpose, but I don't have the luxury of radios that should have been replaced as backups-- the ones that should be replaced are primary. Don't you love budget constraints?
Anyway, the Motorola guy suggested MT1500's since they're coming out with ones with displays for an extra eighty bucks, but I was quoted $1000+ each, and that's without chargers. I was hoping for something significantly less. I have a couple conventional MTS2000's (not enough of them) but the reflash is supposedly $600.00 for Smartnet. Any thoughts?