sc8 said:
Isn't MRD also on the Graham Tower? Why can't they use that?
Although MRD IS licensed for the Graham tower, it is NOT currently up and running.
Here's a little history for you...
Prior to the SO going over to 800 many years ago, 339 was up in the Mt. Hope area where Graham is located (I believe it was actually Finchville back then, maybe SCANdal can clarify). When they switched and Central took over the frequency, the only towers that remained were Goshen (which was on the old SO/Jail) and Beacon. The other repeaters were moved to Beacon and Graham to create the new 911 polling channel.
MRD is currently up on Beacon, Goshen, Schunnemunk and Mt. Peter. Schunnemunk is the main site most PD's use, except Town and Village of Goshen which use the Goshen Tower. Chester switches to Mt. Peter every so often depending on their location. For the most part, the dispatcher stays on Schunnemunk regardless of what tower the unit is on. This is due to a couple of reasons. 1-Schunnemunk provides great coverage in the areas in which Central dispatches and 2-the system is set up wrong in that the dispatcher listens on the repeater output (155.850 PL 107.2) instead of the repeater input with the various PL's. This is why 718 answers units on the wrong tower constantly...it's set up the same way...but that's another story.
Before Schunnemunk went in service, Washingtonville used Beacon and Chester used Mt. Peter. Blooming Grove used Goshen. Before Mt. Peter, Chester used the Goshen tower with in-vehicle repeaters due to crappy portable coverage.
The 911 Polling channel is currently up on Beacon, Arden and Graham...although they are also licensed for other sites like Mt. Peter, Schunnemunk, West Point, etc.
Another FYI...according to 911's protocols, routine traffic is not to take place on the polling channel. Needless to say since they constantly use it for non-priority calls with Deerpark, they are violating their own protocols. What they should be doing is unless it's a 911 in progress call, they should transfer the call to SP Middletown which dispatches Deerpark on the NYSP Troop F frequency.