Frankly, lots of counties should join the new state system. Most won't, despite the fact that these radio systems suck up massive amounts of taxpayer dollars in one way or another.
Erie County P25 System
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Frankly, lots of counties should join the new state system. Most won't, despite the fact that these radio systems suck up massive amounts of taxpayer dollars in one way or another.
While joining a state system certainly seems fiscally responsible on paper, one major reason many counties don't is because of insufficient coverage.
The new PA-P25 system has an average of what, 2...maybe 3 VHF sites in most counties so far?
That may work out fine for the PSP and other state agencies, who are primarily concerned with getting 95% mobile coverage or 90% portable-on-the-street coverage, but it's simply not good enough to provide any great degree of in-building coverage for local agencies.
Yes, these trunked systems are astronomically expensive, especially when you start to get into countywide TDMA simulcast systems with data capability. Yes, a lot of money could be saved in theory by partnering up with the state, but only if coverage is sufficient enough. Many local agencies have their own repeaters that are providing good in-building coverage where they need it most, so it makes no sense for them to abandon that setup to migrate to a system that will have inferior coverage because the nearest site is 10 or more miles away.
Now, all of that being said, a good compromise might be for a county to share the state's core. The county would be responsible for building out additional sites to get the coverage to where they need it, while saving a good amount of money by not having to purchase and maintain their own system core. That's a win-win, since the state agencies in that county would also benefit from any sites the county might add.
Oh and one last point...let's not forget that in many states that have statewide systems, they are charging counties and local agencies subscriber fees to use the system, even if the radios are not owned by the state. Those fees can add up to quite a bit of money very fast, and if you do a long term cost benefit analysis, you may realize that within 10 years you've paid the state half of what it may've cost for you to build out your own system with superior coverage! :wink:
Oh, I totally get that. I wasn't getting down in the weeds. For sure, one thing that would be important is enhanced coverage. This can be done by both in vehicle repeaters and additional tower sites. So, if a county that has VHF spectrum available wants to join the system, they could provide that spectrum and, should everything pass coordination, tower sites, as well. The state could come in and provide the tower repeaters, tower infrastructure, system management, etc. Counties buy the subscriber gear for the response entities. There are a lot of rural counties in the state that probably have better things to spend their money on. I'm not saying this is good for all counties, but there are probably more that could benefit than what are currently on board.
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More on erie county
First responders need reliable resources to keep residents safe, but making advancements sometimes takes years of preparations.
In an emergency situation, minutes and even seconds can be the difference between life or death. Erie County officials want to provide as many resources as possible for crews to get the job done quickly and safely.
Crews are completing construction of the final tower for Erie County's Next Generation Public Safety Radio Project, a development about four years in the making. Government officials watching the last pieces come together.
Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper says, "It will be a system that Erie County can be proud of but most importantly, it'll be a system that's gonna save lives."
https://www.yourerie.com/news/local...-completion-2-million-under-budget/1609796419
First responders need reliable resources to keep residents safe, but making advancements sometimes takes years of preparations.
In an emergency situation, minutes and even seconds can be the difference between life or death. Erie County officials want to provide as many resources as possible for crews to get the job done quickly and safely.
Crews are completing construction of the final tower for Erie County's Next Generation Public Safety Radio Project, a development about four years in the making. Government officials watching the last pieces come together.
Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper says, "It will be a system that Erie County can be proud of but most importantly, it'll be a system that's gonna save lives."
https://www.yourerie.com/news/local...-completion-2-million-under-budget/1609796419
Erie County P25 is on the air!
The city portion is transmitting a control channel for Site ID: 001. No traffic or adjacent site information. From my antenna orientation I believe it to be the 911 center location.
The city portion is transmitting a control channel for Site ID: 001. No traffic or adjacent site information. From my antenna orientation I believe it to be the 911 center location.
Erie County P25 is on the air!
The city portion is transmitting a control channel for Site ID: 001. No traffic or adjacent site information. From my antenna orientation I believe it to be the 911 center location.
Is this control channel on all the time? I'm not hearing anything here in NW Millcreek. I have my favorites list set up by tower location, and then all the frequencies licensed to each location. Do you believe testing has begun, instead of after 1/1 like they mentioned?
I got the first hit on my analog monitor list at 0530 this morning while mobile in Frontier Park area. Went to my Erie Co P25 list and had a good signal, with the 4th screen shot above. At home I am using a military UHF bowtie antenna in the attic with an amplifier to get the first 3 screen shots. At this time I am showing a signal strength of 6 of 10 bars. You need a good antenna and a good location.
On my BC780 analog scanner, I am hearing the control channel on 460.025 with a whip antenna. On my BCD536, I'm not hearing anything, even though I have those 460 freqs entered for the P25 system. Is that normal until voice traffic is actually heard?
Yes. Put the 536 in analyze mode and see what the signal looks like. There was a bit of traffic between 11:30AM and 12:17PM. TGs 1 & 2.
Never used Analyze, and so far can't find instructions for it. I entered system name as Erie Co P25 City, but it said no system found? Can you provide info on how to do it?
OK, I entered the System name as Erie County P25. I then went to the Flower Rd site and am getting info. No sound, but for S, Q, and R I'm getting a tall bar above Q. Also getting Site ID as 0001. What else can I tell from this?
The third letter is A not R. Signal strength, quality and activity. Your signal is very weak with excellent quality and no activity.
The control channel is louder and stronger today. I'm getting a pretty good signal under Analyze.
I see this system is now in the RR database, showing the control channel and 4 other freqs. I have 7 other freqs licensed to the Flower Rd. site in my list. Do you know why only the 4 freqs are listed as alternate control channels, and not the other 7 from the license?
Also, I entered all the system freqs into my BC780, and the only control channel showing up is the 460.025 from yesterday.
If you look through all the propaganda from the county you will find a map that shows the system divided into a metro and I think two rural sections. The listed frequencies are for the metro portion.
What I've been hearing through official sources (who shall remain nameless) involved in the project after poking around through the grapevine is: it seems Erie PD will be encrypted, with encryption keys changing on a normal schedule via OTAR. However, I'm not able to ascertain if this will be full-time encryption or not. From the sounds of it, it will be. I'm not sure about the other law enforcement agencies in the County however. More information as it becomes available.
If that's the case, it would be nice if they would do what Akron. Ohio PD did. When they went full-time encrypted earlier this year, the PD themselves provide an online feed that is delayed by 10 or 15 minutes. This seems to be a good solution for all, assuming they need to be encrypted at all.
I see Radio Test TG's 1 and 2 have been added to the database. Are you hearing voice on these TG's also? During the weekend too?
So far I'm not seeing or hearing anything on TG's 1 and 2.
Got this update today from the consultant for the system:
"DCNR can be connected right to the county system through ISSI interfaces. This works for both the 800 MHz and the VHF.
I am not sure when DCNR is switching over to the new state system.
All of the tower sites are substantially completed, just finishing the last few items at a few of them."
"DCNR can be connected right to the county system through ISSI interfaces. This works for both the 800 MHz and the VHF.
I am not sure when DCNR is switching over to the new state system.
All of the tower sites are substantially completed, just finishing the last few items at a few of them."
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