When you say it goes down? Is this a conventional system, wide area connected by microwave or over the internet? The repeaters are pretty much plug and play. Never had a problem after the first week. All our channels are clean, no interference. Firmware 2.8 will create a voting receiver. 1/2 the cost of a P25 system. But, If the state already had the P25 backbone in place that should put the cost about equal if the P25 system would work with $1100.00 radios. VHF in them there hills over UHF.
Its using its old analog channels of which there are two. Same ones no additions or changes. Just 453.975 and 453.300.
Its Nexedge as I said before purchased with a Fed interop grant and that's about it for them money wise to do much.
They don't have the resources to put up extra towers plus geography doesn't permit it. I know they've tied in those two frequencies together somehow so everything is simulcast on both now. They also are restricted on power output in any band except VHF Low which they don't want to be on for SO/PD for whatever reason. I know they've been told if they went to that all their problems would be solved. 39.5 for fire just got kicked up to 350 watts.
They are not P25 or in any way involved with the State system. Matter of fact they didn't want P25 which at the time didn't make any sense because at the time they were picking systems they had Bath considering switching to P25, WV on P25 or moving onto it soon, and of course State was switching over to STARS. Then take into account Roanoke City/County and the only two systems anywhere not P25 would have been Rockbridge and Botetout Counties.
Things have since changed with Bath dropping that whole idea and staying put on what they have. WV, well I have no idea what's going on with their statewide system but it doesn't appear to have went into effect in Greenbriar and surrounding areas yet or still.
Anyway basically they've just given NX radios to VSP and anybody else can contact them on regular analog on those channels and dispatch just switches over and talks to them. They of course can't hear anything digital but....
As for going down it hasn't worked for very long at any time since they went up with it in Nov. That lasted 3 days I believe it was before it crashed for the first time. I know several of the times it's crashed they complained of feedback making everything unreadable. I don't know about why it doesn't work other than what I've been told which is that it'll never work and that they knew this before they choose the system which is why they picked some company in middle/eastern VA to install it because the local KW people refused to install a system they knew would never work. They picked it solely for its non-scannable features and then added advanced rolling code encryption to it just to double make sure.
Now there have been times during these crashes where unit to unit NX transmissions occur but not with dispatch. It's been up 9 days now so I'm just sitting here waiting to see how long it'll last this time.
