East Granby Fire Changing Dispatch Centers?

[cg]

Changeover was 6/29 or 6/30. East Granby FD, TN Station 8, Station 81. Tones on various TN Dispatch channels, Operations on existing P25 142.4375 $103

 

[garys]

142 or 152?

 

[izzyj4]

142 or 152?

142, check a couple messages back in this thread for the explanation .

 

[garys]

Thanks. Kind of odd.

 

[izzyj4]

Thanks. Kind of odd.

Definitely but since its the same as the ANG (military frequency) out of Bradley and they do a lot of M/A, kinda makes sense in that way.

 

[garys]

Certainly does.

There used to be a military program called "Military Aid to Safety and Traffic" (MAST) where military helicopters would be used to fly civilians to hospitals. That was way back in the days before there were civilian medical helicopters in many places.

Definitely but since its the same as the ANG (military frequency) out of Bradley and they do a lot of M/A, kinda makes sense in that way.

 

[cg]

I want to correct my earlier post about the tones for EGFD. It appears that the tones are not sent over the standard TN tone channels. They have been toning over the TN EMS TG on CLMRN (8506) but I haven't found the active VHF tone channel yet.

 

[garys]

I didn't see 8506 on the CT database page. I drive through Tolland County fairly often and like to have my scanner file current. Is that TG listed under Tolland County or somewhere else?

I want to correct my earlier post about the tones for EGFD. It appears that the tones are not sent over the standard TN tone channels. They have been toning over the TN EMS TG on CLMRN (8506) but I haven't found the active VHF tone channel yet.

 

[pvnh]

I want to correct my earlier post about the tones for EGFD. It appears that the tones are not sent over the standard TN tone channels. They have been toning over the TN EMS TG on CLMRN (8506) but I haven't found the active VHF tone channel yet.

I was wondering which site you are hearing 8506?

 

[awasser1]

Site 028 Troop H Simulcast. Is where I heard that TG.


Alec
N1AJW

 

[cg]

Correction for that group. EGFD using 8505 for tones from TN, EMS into East Granby using the TN EMS group on 8506.

chris

 

[n1chu]

Farmington valley should definitely consider regionalizing, especially with how new technology has made it easier than ever to control things remotely.
Granby, Simsbury, Avon, Canton, and Farmington could consolidate into one dispatch center, and have maybe 3-4 dispatchers on at a time. Problem is everybody has their own fiefdom and doesn't want to play with anybody else

Agreed with all you write. But the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” apparently apply here. And until a strong case is made for Farmington Valley Regional Dispatch it doesn’t look too probable. (Consolidating solely to save money isn’t a factor as I doubt there’s enough to be saved at this point. I would imagine the initial outlay would look prohibitive.)

And there are other factors that make the idea appear to be fraught with potholes… What is Avon doing? Is Avon FD & PD going with CLMRN? What are the other PD’s in the valley considering? Currently, Burlington FD is dispatched by Farmington, but their PD consists of a few constables and coverage by the state police (not sure if there is a resident state trooper). Is there a facility available currently that could house a regional center? Farmington Police HQ is next to the Farmington River on New Britain Ave. last I heard they built it in the river’s flood plain. The site was under water during the 1955 floods. (After the floods the Army Corp of Engineers stated the flood control measures they enacted would prevent another flood like that of 1955, and maybe the zoning allowed for commercial and public facilities, no residential, to be built in the former flood plain, I don’t know for sure but the PD facility is there, right next to the Senior Citizen's Center! And the Army Corp of Engineers walked back their declaration that the Farmington River had been tamed… they now are on record stating another flood of the 1955 magnitude, or worse, is possible, but unlikely. (I love that statement… they covered themselves for both possibilities!)

Yes, I agree, regional would be nice but as you say, there are just too many fiefdoms, not to mention financial hurdles.

 

[nhfdcadet]

Agreed with all you write. But the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” apparently apply here. And until a strong case is made for Farmington Valley Regional Dispatch it doesn’t look too probable. (Consolidating solely to save money isn’t a factor as I doubt there’s enough to be saved at this point. I would imagine the initial outlay would look prohibitive.)

And there are other factors that make the idea appear to be fraught with potholes… What is Avon doing? Is Avon FD & PD going with CLMRN? What are the other PD’s in the valley considering? Currently, Burlington FD is dispatched by Farmington, but their PD consists of a few constables and coverage by the state police (not sure if there is a resident state trooper). Is there a facility available currently that could house a regional center? Farmington Police HQ is next to the Farmington River on New Britain Ave. last I heard they built it in the river’s flood plain. The site was under water during the 1955 floods. (After the floods the Army Corp of Engineers stated the flood control measures they enacted would prevent another flood like that of 1955, and maybe the zoning allowed for commercial and public facilities, no residential, to be built in the former flood plain, I don’t know for sure but the PD facility is there, right next to the Senior Citizen's Center! And the Army Corp of Engineers walked back their declaration that the Farmington River had been tamed… they now are on record stating another flood of the 1955 magnitude, or worse, is possible, but unlikely. (I love that statement… they covered themselves for both possibilities!)

Yes, I agree, regional would be nice but as you say, there are just too many fiefdoms, not to mention financial hurdles.

you're right and its unfortunate that it takes something absolutely horrible to happen before anybody really advocates for improvements. Honestly though listening to the small town dispatch centers you can tell the dispatcher gets overwhelmed when they have big calls going on, and i can't blame the dispatcher at all for that. Before Winchester made the switch to LCD, I was chatting with one of their dispatchers after a structure fire that went 2 or 3 alarms, and in the middle of all that there was also a car accident and a domestic, that's a lot to handle at the same time. Farmington could probably handle one or two more towns if they had 3 dispatchers on 24/7. Its a lot of what ifs and other hypotheticals though.

 

[Kloftus]

I heard from Chief Horr directly they already applied to the FCC for a frequency change for the Lost Acres FD. Not sure what that frequency will be, but most likely UHF. PD and EMS already have UHF frequencies, but if I was a radio consultant, why wouldn’t I recommend going digital? More than likely gonna happen.

Lost acres is going vhf. we Have a list of frequencies just working out the details the system should be set and completed by the end of next year the latest. No other town frequencies should be changing just the fd and an entire town upgrade of the repeaters. Fire Frequencies will be analog the radios will likely have digital capabilities to communicate with other surrounding towns.

 

[n1chu]

Can you list the list of frequencies you say you have? I realize you may not have settled on which one (or ones) you might use but it’s nice to see if there are any conflicts… sometimes we aren’t aware of this possibility but it has happened in the past. An example was with Farmington years ago when, because the allocation for their dispatch frequency was filed improperly, it allowed others to come up on adjacent frequencies way too close to Farmington’s. AMR in Worcester, Ma. caused interference with Farmington’s Fire Dispatch. Once the allocation discrepancy was identified it was changed. AMR stayed with the “too close frequency” but since there was some distance between Worcester and Farmington, a simple slight change of their antenna coverage pattern eliminated the interference.

 

[SVFC462]

Can you list the list of frequencies you say you have? I realize you may not have settled on which one (or ones) you might use but it’s nice to see if there are any conflicts… sometimes we aren’t aware of this possibility but it has happened in the past. .....

There is a company/consultant that is doing all of this for the Town of Granby.

Checking for adjacent frequencies and making sure the system will work to its best capabilities. I agree, it would be interesting to see what the frequencies are BUT ... it is way too early in this upgrade process to even take into consideration what each frequency will be used for.

In that""LIST OF FREQUENCIES"" referenced in the previous post could be VHF frequencies from other neighboring Towns/Systems. around Granby and who Granby works with ... Analog : Southwick (disp & 1or2 FGs), Granville (disp & 1 FG?), LCD (Dispatch & Scenes [15ish]), Suffield (Dispatch & 2 FG's), [5] STOCS frequencies, CT interop channels and other frequencies utilized within Granby's Fire Task Force/Strike Teams. | P25 : East Granby (dispatch & FG). Don't forget that Massachusetts departments have Interop channels labeled differently that us here in Connecticut.

sometimes its best to just sit back and have patience to see what transpires.

 

[n1chu]

I’m sure the consultant is looking at everything mutual aid communities are using on both a shared and unshared basis. (Some fireground frequencies may be shared and some are county or regional task force assignments, also shared.) But I only asked out of curiosity. That’s not to say there are never concerns, (one of which I pointed out merely as a means of adding a level of credibility to what I had written. My intent was to offer it to those who are associated with the matter, for their consideration… while I remained curious. But who knows, there are a lot of knowledgeable people reading these posts. If a list was posted for all to see, others can scrutinize and alert as to concerns.

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate your taking the time to respond.

 

[zerg901]

https://www.granby-ct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3171/f/uploads/tog_radio_consultant_rfq_-_updated.pdf

May 2021 RFQ for Granby radio consultant - 9 pages

not clear on FD radios - did they have portables and mobiles primarily on 33 Mhz?

450.525 is probably supposed to be 460.525

 

[awasser1]

Very interesting read. Be curious what they decide on.

Alec
N1AJW

 

[nhfdcadet]

Can you list the list of frequencies you say you have? I realize you may not have settled on which one (or ones) you might use but it’s nice to see if there are any conflicts… sometimes we aren’t aware of this possibility but it has happened in the past. An example was with Farmington years ago when, because the allocation for their dispatch frequency was filed improperly, it allowed others to come up on adjacent frequencies way too close to Farmington’s. AMR in Worcester, Ma. caused interference with Farmington’s Fire Dispatch. Once the allocation discrepancy was identified it was changed. AMR stayed with the “too close frequency” but since there was some distance between Worcester and Farmington, a simple slight change of their antenna coverage pattern eliminated the interference.

I think a while back Farmington was also causing problems for FDNY werent they? and they also had to make an antenna modification. Farmington has a great transmitter spot that's for sure.