City of OKC hires consultant for P25 Phase II

[Patio_RF]

In light of P.J. Maguire's discussion about Tulsa and P25 Phase II, The City of OKC recently contracted with TUSA Consulting out of Covington, LA. "...for Professional Services to assist in the analysis/planning phase and after the adoption of a migration strategy and funding plan; to assist with the procurement process as needed to upgrade or replace the City's existing 800 MHz Trunked Radio System." Although it only notes a "replace or upgrade," the source for the funding states "800 MHz P25 Upgrade"

The initial City Council resolution (Item No. VII.BH and adopted last October) can be found at this website: http://www.okc.gov/AgendaPub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=2524&doctype=MINUTES

The resolution notes there is a "...pending future loss of support (June 30, 2019) for its current trunked radio system." So I would say that the actual implementation to P25 II from the current ProVoice digital is several years away. However, the current Harris hand-held radios for the Police Department are already P25 Phase II compatible. But it bears watching for the future contracts of the new equipment and eventual phase over from old system to the new one.

Also an interesting note, TUSA Consulting was founded by Dominic Tusa, Extra Class K5EF.

 

[N5TWB]

Good info but it leaves me wondering what OKC's goal is with the upgrade and what TUSA's preferred flavor is on recommended systems. I lived in the OKC area during the last transition and I thought OKC could have gotten a better deal by adding capacity to the state 800 system which would have enhanced the interoperability they claimed was needed to avoid the I-40 tragedy with two officers lost. Yes, there is now a bridge in place but it just seems a large amount of money was spent to get OKC its own system that is now aging out of service.

 

[plaws]

Although it only notes a "replace or upgrade," the source for the funding states "800 MHz P25 Upgrade"

Why wouldn't they go to P25? They're surrounded by it.

Also remember that everyone loves the BCD436HP so much that they are about $100 cheaper than last year. :lol:

 

[rfradioconsult]

Don't count Harris out as the next supplier for OKC, their EDACS system has performed well and Harris would like to hold onto them as a customer.

 

[SCPD]

Harris p25 phase 2 is what I would bet money on but I really don't know anything just a guess.

 

[plaws]

Harris p25 phase 2 is what I would bet money on but I really don't know anything just a guess.

Coin flip, really, since there is only Harris and /\/\otorola that provide P25 infrastructure. Or has someone else thrown in their name?

I don't mean radios, I mean towers and controllers and "balance of system" stuff - that's where the money is.

 

[N5TWB]

Coin flip, really, since there is only Harris and /\/\otorola that provide P25 infrastructure. Or has someone else thrown in their name?

I don't mean radios, I mean towers and controllers and "balance of system" stuff - that's where the money is.

OKC built a bunch of infrastructure in the last upgrade so new towers might not be needed but controllers are probably a requirement for site upgrades to interface to the new radios and features. However, if Phase 2 means new 700 MHz frequencies, then that brings in new antennas & feedline & cans at the sites plus new antennas for the mobiles. That might also mean site studies for propagation/coverage which could result in new towers for fill-in. The dollars really begin to add up then.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Coin flip, really, since there is only Harris and /\/\otorola that provide P25 infrastructure. Or has someone else thrown in their name?

I don't mean radios

Tait, Kenwood, EF Johnson, & Codan/Daniels(Phase 1 only at this moment, but have been told they are developing TDMA repeaters, both P25 and DMR) are three other companies off the top of my head that also build P25 infrastructure.

 

[nd5y]

Tait, Kenwood, EF Johnson, & Codan/Daniels(Phase 1 only at this moment, but have been told they are developing TDMA repeaters, both P25 and DMR) are three other companies off the top of my head that also build P25 infrastructure.

Also Airbus Defense & Space Communications (formerly Cassidian)

 

[kayn1n32008]

Also Airbus Defense & Space Communications (formerly Cassidian)

Thought they were more of an integrator rather than a manufacturer.

 

[ZGX]

If they're smart they'll stay Harris. No radio down "site trunking" issues when there's an issue in another section of the state.

 

[greenthumb]

Coin flip, really, since there is only Harris and /\/\otorola that provide P25 infrastructure. Or has someone else thrown in their name?

I don't mean radios, I mean towers and controllers and "balance of system" stuff - that's where the money is.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cassidian get into the mix there. They've been rather successful in the middle of the country for some reason.

While the infrastructure stuff is a large portion of the cost of the system (usually about half), it does not represent the largest profit margins for the vendors. The profit margins are in the portable and mobile radios, so the vendors will typically sell the infrastructure at lower margins and hope to make it up in the radios.

 

[greenthumb]

If they're smart they'll stay Harris. No radio down "site trunking" issues when there's an issue in another section of the state.

Definitely a problem, but if the Motorola zone controller was hosted in OKC, they wouldn't have nearly the number of those issues. Unfortunately, unreliable backhaul up to Tulsa manifests itself in those problems.

 

[freeonfreak]

What Airbus (Cassidian) is doing is completely shameful. What you get from Airbus is TAIT repeaters, Motorola KMF, Cisco IP Switching, Plant CML Consoles, EFJ Radios, and a hodgepodge of crap manufactured by 30 others. So, when something breaks, they all point the fingers at each other blame the other instead of coming together and fixing the issue. What do you think happens when a component on your Airbus system breaks and you call the 1-800 #? They don't have the in-depth knowledge of each component like Harris or Moto does. That's why should stick with a reputable manufacturer, not an integrator.

Sorry if I broke any rules.

 

[greenthumb]

Well, their sales pitch/argument for all of the different vendors in their solution is that "Our system is the only true, open standard P25 system. It has to be open standards because otherwise all of this wouldn't work!"

Valid point, but I agree with the vendor finger-pointing problems that are likely to happen. And they're not likely to get much attention from Cisco to fix anything...

The sad thing is that you'll get administrators that don't like the way Motorola or Harris do business (rightfully so) and therefore the Cassidian/Airbus tune is music to their ears.

 

[freeonfreak]

All they have to do is pickup the phone and talk to Sedgwick County, KS about their system experience so far before considering an Airbus system.