Culpeper County radio system questions

[vsp5151]

I have monitored the Culpeper County radio system for several years even prior to the new Harris system. I use 4 different Astro Spectra radios, an Astro Spectra +, a CDM1250 and a Uniden Bearcat BC125AT none of them doing trunking tracking. All receivers are set for narrow band operation. I only monitor the VHF frequency 159.240 which I think is primarily used to activate emergency response member's pagers. The frequency deviation on the 159.24 is extremely low at times. I checked it on my IFR and it is in the .3KHz area At times the deviation is acceptable. The mobile units occasionally have acceptable volume. The mobile units often tell the dispatcher that they can not hear them. Sometimes the volume will increase after the dispatcher is told this. Also they have a high number of mobile transmitters remaining in the transmit position after a message is sent to the dispatcher. I recently added the Orange and Madison counties VHF frequency to all my monitor radios and was shocked by their clarity and volume levels. The prior Motorola system in Culpeper did not have these issues. Again I am not monitoring the 800MHz simulcast frequencies, only monitoring their 1 VHF frequency. Is this typical of a non Motorola system? What would cause these issues?

 

[wgbecks]

Is this typical of a non Motorola system?

No.

What would cause these issues?

Incompetent radio technicians or poor dispatch training and supervision leading
to incorrect use (position) of headsets (microphone technique). All of the above!

 

[jscooke]

Culpeper has had these audio issues since Harris installed the system

 

[jeepsandradios]

Pittsylvania County VHF paging is about the same. On a pager its normally completely unreadable. I dont think Harris uses true simulcast on paging but rather just sloppy cast.

 

[DirtKicker44]

Culpeper has had these audio issues since Harris installed the system

It's not just Culpeper, Harris systems around here are all a hot mess. Albemarle County, Orange County, and UVA, are all having issues with their Harris systems. One of the best things I ever did was convince my county to ignore the cheaper Harris bid and go Motorola.

 

[StephenVa]

There's a couple female dispatchers with Orange that you can not hear at all when they dispatch.

 

[BoxAlarm187]

It's not just Culpeper, Harris systems around here are all a hot mess. Albemarle County, Orange County, and UVA, are all having issues with their Harris systems. One of the best things I ever did was convince my county to ignore the cheaper Harris bid and go Motorola.

What types of issues? When I talk to the folks in Powhatan, they're overwhelmingly pleased with the coverage and reliability of their Harris system.

 

[TJX400]

It's not just Culpeper, Harris systems around here are all a hot mess. Albemarle County, Orange County, and UVA, are all having issues with their Harris systems. One of the best things I ever did was convince my county to ignore the cheaper Harris bid and go Motorola.

Not sure that it's a Harris specific issue. I routinely monitored Albemarle's analog multicast of their dispatch channel from my old house in Western Hanover County (nearly 50 miles from the closest tower), and voice was clearly audible as long as I had a decent signal. So, I doubt it's Harris. I agree with the above that it's an issue with improperly trained dispatchers who don't speak loud enough. Everyone I've spoken to (including Powhatan as BoxAlarm noted above) have been more than pleased with their Harris systems.

 

[tglendye]

It’s common on Harrisonburg/ Rockingham’s Harris system, also. I mainly notice it with some female dispatchers. I’m not sure if it’s voice tone or the headset being a little too far away from their mouth. I’ve wondered if the technology was there for some automatic gain to increase their level. Usually a field unit will point out they cannot hear them, and they make some type of adjustment on the ECC side and it’s fine then. I never noticed it with the Pro-Voice system. It is only after switching to P25.

 

[N4VKF]

It’s common on Harrisonburg/ Rockingham’s Harris system, also. I mainly notice it with some female dispatchers. I’m not sure if it’s voice tone or the headset being a little too far away from their mouth. I’ve wondered if the technology was there for some automatic gain to increase their level. Usually a field unit will point out they cannot hear them, and they make some type of adjustment on the ECC side and it’s fine then. I never noticed it with the Pro-Voice system. It is only after switching to P25.

I agree. Operator error.

 

[vsp5151]

Had a local FD answer a call yesterday. Stated unit number on duty responding. Transmitter stuck on. Dispatcher did the usual call that someone had an open mike. After about 2 minutes the transmitter went off the air. I assume that was a transmit time limiter. Dispatcher and a mobile unit tried to call the FD vehicle and no answer. There are an unusually high number of transmitters staying on after a transmission. The microphone audio is always hot when this happens. Also on the compression amplifiers we started using them in the 70s. They work extremely well when adjusted properly. Also a few weeks ago we had a major accident and the dispatcher apparently didn't know how to patch 2 counties together. Took 15 minutes to accomplish this task.