He's not confused at all. Harris announced in early 2012 that EDACS was officially discontinued, and that they would stop support for EDACS systems by 2017. The last EDACS system was sold in 2011. In fact it was Harris themselves who told EDACS customers that they would have to convert to P25. Sorry, can't pin that one on Motorola.
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EDACS Love?
- Thread starter gcopter1
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RFI-EMI-GUY
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No worries, I was a little confused by your quoting him and reply lol.
But yes, let's be honest in saying that all of these manufacturers want to sell you on the latest and greatest. They're all guilty of pushing product whether it's actually needed or not. That being said, SmartZone and EDACS were both getting long in the tooth, so at a certain point it was inevitable that they would be discontinued in favor of P25. There are still quite a number of both systems still on the air, and they probably will be for some time to come regardless of the official lack of support from the manufacturers.
RFI-EMI-GUY
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P25 is long in the tooth as well. I was pretty young when the ASTRO stuff started being marketed. To be honest DMR can run circles around P25 in many ways. Cheaper, easier to deploy (a caveman can do it) , competitive market until /\/\ squashed HytEra.
Ah yes you are right. No matter how much Harris told people they would have to switch, some people still stuck to their EDACS.
ElroyJetson
Getting tired of all the stupidity.
Brevard County will be using its EDACS system for a few years still to come. Their eventual migration to P25 is being implemented in a very methodical process at a relaxed, even slow pace. This is because they want the eventual switchover to be utterly seamless with no issues fo any kind. The more you hurry the process, the more likely problems will arise.
Brevard's inventory of spares for the EDACS system is considerable. I believe they have plenty on hand to set up complete EDACS sites. They don't expectd to have any critical parts shortages for the remaining life of the existing system because their spares inventory is stacked tall, wide, and deep.
Brevard's inventory of spares for the EDACS system is considerable. I believe they have plenty on hand to set up complete EDACS sites. They don't expectd to have any critical parts shortages for the remaining life of the existing system because their spares inventory is stacked tall, wide, and deep.
lwvmobile
DSD-FME
That's certainly one thing to consider as well. Even though Harris no longer officially supports EDACS, that doesn't mean that counties and agencies have to stop using it immediately, or at all. I'm sure some of the larger sites using EDACS have plenty of spare parts and surplus radios for the long haul, and technicians on staff who know how to fix the stuff up without Harris official support. Sounds like a pretty good business opportunity for some Harris employees actually, quit when EDACS gets dropped from support, make your own company and provide support for entities who still use EDACS.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
As someone who was hired to support and manage a 31 year old Smartnet II system, one of the first analog simulcast 800MHz systems in the US, and dealing with DAILY failures of MSF5000's with age related problems like crystal whiskers growing on the VCO cans causing static on receive, an Astro TAC comparator that took up a wall at our prime site and would have fits, good ol' Ball Ephratom rubidium master clocks, monthly "mod comps" to get audio levels balanced between sites, random bouts of failsoft thrown in here and there due to a site controller that had cronic electrical flatulence...
All that said, sure, I MISS the sound of our old Smarnet analog- WHEN IT WORKED, IT WORKED WELL. Keeping a 31 year old, tired, long unsupported and on the verge of collapse system like that alive any longer was playing a dangerous game. People's lives depend on this. It's not to provide "hi-fi" audio to consumers on scanners. It's to provide a lifeline that's always available for those who need it to work.
We're 5 years into our P25 system and two and a half weeks from a major upgrade of core components. I'm excited and nervous but I also know the vendor has it, and they've done three other upgrades of P25 systems in my area over the last two months. We're getting current servers, networking hardware/software, refreshes on all consoles including new PCs. All of it to give us another five and then another refresh. All of the GTR8000s are 2nd gen and I've had only ONE failure in five years of ONE power supply- easily rectified by a FRU swap. No digging through boxes of old junk parts like driving a Rambler with a "whirlpool in the tank".
"Look out over here, watch out over there, can't afford a blowout cause we haven't got a spare" aren't in our vocabulary since 12/29/2015.
RFI-EMI-GUY
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It is probably a bonus for Harris that some hold out departments still use EDACS because Motorola will have a disadvantage in offering interoperable radios to nearby agencies.
The other gotcha is that the pile of spares that has been amassed over the years probably has a lot of hidden failures in it. I recently had a 20 year old mux failure that took 6 spares before I got a working one. All of these spares were working when removed from service.
ElroyJetson
Getting tired of all the stupidity.
There is that to consider. The more complex the piece of electronics, the more likely it is show failures when removed from years of storage, that weren't there when it was last used, than older and/or (especially) simpler electronics.
I learned that lesson with my bench full of test equipment. The more modern equipment started to fail when older test equipment was still running smoothly. Especially if it spent any length of time in storage. Modern, complex, expensive test equipment is as much a liability as it is an asset, and if I were to set up a new test bench due to need, I'd arrange to lease or rent every bit of it with a contract in hand that clearly states that the equipment owner is fully responsible for maintaining the equipment and that includes repairing failures on their dime, not mine.
I'm starting to think that the 1990s marked the last decade of truly long term RELIABLE electronics products. It's hard to argue with the reliability of radios such as as the obsolete yet bulletproof JRC-made GE Rangr mobile radios. Failures of them were so rare that it's kind of hard to find a technician who has much experience actually repairing them.
I learned that lesson with my bench full of test equipment. The more modern equipment started to fail when older test equipment was still running smoothly. Especially if it spent any length of time in storage. Modern, complex, expensive test equipment is as much a liability as it is an asset, and if I were to set up a new test bench due to need, I'd arrange to lease or rent every bit of it with a contract in hand that clearly states that the equipment owner is fully responsible for maintaining the equipment and that includes repairing failures on their dime, not mine.
I'm starting to think that the 1990s marked the last decade of truly long term RELIABLE electronics products. It's hard to argue with the reliability of radios such as as the obsolete yet bulletproof JRC-made GE Rangr mobile radios. Failures of them were so rare that it's kind of hard to find a technician who has much experience actually repairing them.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
The days of electronics being designed for 10-20 or more years of service life have long passed. The cellular telephone industry has led the way for short life cycles, not just of subscriber equipment, but FNE. The typical cellular RRU (remote radio unit) has a 3-5 year life cycle. Think about that. The celco boys are constantly swapping these out for new ones more than some of us in LMR order batteries for our subscribers. and look how quickly subscribers int he celco world get replaced. Months not years. The lead is followed by just about everyone else: build devices/hardware that aren't serviceable and ensure a constant stream of sales of new ones.
RFI-EMI-GUY
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I have to agree with that. At worst, you can still repair and program much of it without special voodoo software, FLASH and EID's.
ElroyJetson
Getting tired of all the stupidity.
As for the cell equipment, almost all of it gets replaced/traded in while still working fine. They do such a good job of persuading the customer that he NEEDS the newest newfangled cell phone, now with Ronco Turnip Twaddler accessory kit, just six months after you got the latest greatest phone.
I use an iphone 6 which is now 5 generations in the past and I know people who still use iPhone 4s and are only using them because the GSM termination date for their carriers was extended at the request of some large corporate customers that would prefer not to buy new phones for hundreds or thousands of employees just yet. When the current fleet still works just fine.
I have to say that cell phone reliability has become very good indeed.
Quite a number of years ago, when the smartphone was the new thing, I predicted that eventually, public safety radios would be made available in a form factor that is a hybrid of the public safety radio products we know, and the smartphone. It would be a touch screen smart device with added mechanical controls that fits the physical functionality model required by public safety workers. And those devices exist today. They're not even all that new a product.
I use an iphone 6 which is now 5 generations in the past and I know people who still use iPhone 4s and are only using them because the GSM termination date for their carriers was extended at the request of some large corporate customers that would prefer not to buy new phones for hundreds or thousands of employees just yet. When the current fleet still works just fine.
I have to say that cell phone reliability has become very good indeed.
Quite a number of years ago, when the smartphone was the new thing, I predicted that eventually, public safety radios would be made available in a form factor that is a hybrid of the public safety radio products we know, and the smartphone. It would be a touch screen smart device with added mechanical controls that fits the physical functionality model required by public safety workers. And those devices exist today. They're not even all that new a product.
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