Howard County P25 Update

[jwheatley]

Howard County is on the last leg of the journey leading to the installation of its new radio system.

The county’s new radio system, which had its infrastructure purchased earlier this year for about $2.3 million, recently completed some of the projects final testing held in Texas. With that done, county officials are projecting everything will be up and running in the first quarter of 2017.

P-25 radio project nearing completion

 

[holeinace]

Looks like I will be buying a new scanner for Christmas

 

[bdub5]

To encrypt or not to encrypt....

I was discussing the new Howard County system with a friend over the weekend and it looks like there is serious discussion that the new system will have all the talk groups encrypted.

Anyone hearing similar information?

 

[INDY72]

I have only heard that the TACs, TALKS will all be E... FD, EMS, EMA, and LAW. Dispatches will be clear. We will have to wait and see.

 

[dagooch0525]

852.3250 ?

A friend pointed out that he is hearing a data transmission on 852.3250. Not sure what it is and don’t have time to figure it out but could it be a control channel for the new system?

 

[jwheatley]

A reliable source tells me...

We just had a meeting Monday. It's behind schedule, of course. They are installing all of [public works] first then Public Safety, Looking like volunteer (fire) departments will be last. They say February, I say if it happens by March 1st, we'll be lucky.

 

[dagooch0525]

more on 852.325

I ran the signal on 852.3250 through DSD+ it is P25 with at constant tone. Talk Group 1 Radio ID 1. Some times it's there and sometimes it's not. Interesting.

 

[Thunderbolt]

What vendor received the contract to build this P25 TRS?

73's

Ron

 

[INDY72]

I believe it was Moto

Sent from my LG-K330 using Tapatalk

 

[k9ksb]

I was told they are using ef Johnson and j an k was contractor

 

[INDY72]

Hmmm Johnson interesting. Never had a chance to check one of their systems. Got sysid yet?

Sent from my LG-K330 using Tapatalk

 

[Thunderbolt]

Actually, it's now JVCKenwood. They bought out EFJohnson back in 2014, which came to me as a shock. I wonder if they offer P25 Phase II trunking systems?

73's

Ron

 

[INDY72]

If they want to stay competitive they have to

Sent from my LG-K330 using Tapatalk

 

[k9ksb]

i was told by a radio tech the ef johnson system is really just the moto guts with EF johnson box when we first got on safe-t we had ef junk radios and moto but we have slowly phased out the ef junk bricks

 

[K9JRF]

According to the following it is 3 site P25 Phase 2 system;


Tue, August 23, 2016

Irving, TX- August 23, 2016- EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. and J&K Communications, Inc. signed a contract with Howard County to install the first ATLAS P25 Phase 2 trunked simulcast system in Indiana. EFJohnson’s ATLAS P25 critical communications system will provide county-wide coverage for over 30 public departments.

Howard County faced interoperability issues with their end-of-life EDACS® system. The County’s 911 Communications Director, Gary Bates says, “We’re upgrading to the latest P25 Phase 2 technology for future expansion, reliability, and continuity for the next 20 years.”

With patented modern coreless technology Howard County will be protected against system failures. Mr. Bates explains, “The main advantage of ATLAS system technology is that each site will have control which eliminates the worry of having one central core, especially in the event of a disaster or if we get hit by a tornado. This was one of the biggest selling points to me when choosing EFJohnson’s P25 technology.”

The ATLAS P25 Phase 2 solution includes:
3-site ATLAS P25 Phase 2 Trunked Simulcast System
1,600 KENWOOD Viking® P25 Dual Band & Single Band Radios
Zetron MAX Console System via CSSI

EFJohnson’s local partner, J&K Communications will build two additional towers to improve mobile and portable coverage across the county.

“Howard County conducted a rigorous public bidding process for this major project and we are confident we selected the best system available to meet our requirements,” says Mr. Bates. “Both companies have an excellent reputation in the industry and we are currently collaborating with them in the implementation phase.”

John Suzuki, President and CEO of EFJohnson stated, “We’re proud to partner with Howard County to make their system safe and simple with our ATLAS solution. Together with J&K Communications, we are committed to delivering the most modern P25 Phase 2 solution for the County’s public safety agencies and community.”

The new system will provide interoperable communications to agencies across the county including police, fire and EMS, public schools, highway departments, sheriffs’ departments, marshall service, and the county’s consolidated communications center. In addition, KENWOOD Viking P25 dual band radios will provide interoperable communications to volunteer fire departments throughout the County.

ref: https://www.efjohnson.com/news_room/viewer?article_id=100964

 

[k9ksb]

Kenwood radio that's alot better than the ef Johnson 800 we got for the safe-t

 

[jwheatley]

Howard County officials are making progress on installing a new radio program that will increase communication and compatibility, specifically for public safety officials previously hampered by a flawed radio system.

P25 radio program expected to go live in April

 

[INDY72]

Kenwood radio that's alot better than the ef Johnson 800 we got for the safe-t

LOL Kenwood is EFJ...

 

[n9sxz]

I have been listening lately and have seen the portables first-hand. I've done some on-line research and watched some YouTube reviews. I am impressed with the noise cancelling capabillity over some Moto radios as shown on YouTube. Howard County selected Viking VP600 700/800MHz radios. These are Kenwood-designed radios and seem to operate very nicely. They feel very rugged and are built to MIL specs like most public safety radios. The top display is very nice and the radio speaks the ZONE and optionally the talk group depending on programming. They are just as easy to operate as most public safety radios I have seen. Users will just need to get used to the P25 compressed audio after using analog audio for many years.

There have been questions here about encrypted talk groups. Without being specific, there will be just a few more encrypted, but I would say 90% or more of the traffic heard today using a scanner listening to the old EDACs system will still be heard on the new P25 Phase II system. -- as long as you have a P25 Phase II scanner! By the way, the same repeater pairs are used as currently shown for the EDACS system.

Phase II? Well, they have been operating that way for weeks now and, other than the limited repeaters due to not fully switched over, I have not heard of any significant issues. Some will be quick to point out the very few times an issue is heard without knowing the full reason. As many know, Phase 2 gives basically twice the communications capacity on the SAME number of repeater pairs. Howard County doubles their capacity without the need for additional frequencies and transceiver hardware at the three antenna sites. Really, why wouldn't you take advantage of the latest technology when buying all new? Yes, of course, the radios can work on the Phase I systems used by the rest of the state, but scanning between them is not practical with the public service radio. Yes, it works with a scanner because scanners do not "log in" to the radio system. As other counties in the state upgrade they, too, will surely be moving to Phase II. Howard County has gone from being on one of the oldest systems in the state to one of the newest and most advanced (and I see people complaining about that for some reason!)

The switch-over date should be soon. I look forward to it! But, I am sure there are those who will not like the new system as is true with any major change.

 

[holeinace]

changeover

I assume changeover has occurred since I have nothing on the old system. I guess I should reprogram