W1CRN
Member
I know ISP uses Starcom 21 system but what type of radios do they use? Motorola, M/A Com, EF Johnson? Just wondering. Thanks
ISP Radios?
- Thread starter W1CRN
- Start date
- Status
stevelton
Member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2005
- Messages
- 359
- Reaction score
- 3
My friend is a trooper and his portable is a Moto XTS500, and mobile is a Moto XTL500, with in band repeat. Starcom is owned by Motorola, not the State of Illinois. So when it first came online, of course Moto was selling their 700mhz P25 radios like hotcakes. Then smaller agencies on a budget learned that Kenwood have a model that will work on starcom, so there are a few Kenwood radios floating around, but 99% is Motorola.
Steven
Steven
W1CRN
Member
Thanks. I am visting my friend in Casey, IL and we where trying to figure out what they use. He didn't know about Moto owning the Starcom System and he has seen the radios they use just could not figure it out by looking at pictures. Have they rebanded? He is looking at buying a digital scanner and does not want to buy one that is not going to work. I have told him be safe and buy a BCD996t or BCD996ct just to make sure its going to work.
Pro-197's and in some places psr 600's can still be had for a little less $$ and both work very well on starcom 21. :wink:
73,
n9zas
stevelton
Member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2005
- Messages
- 359
- Reaction score
- 3
Rebanding just means that some sites were using 800mhz freqs that happened to be the same as some cell phone freqs. So yes, sites where there was a conflict have been rebanded to other 800mhz freqs.
I have a Pro-197, my friend has both a 996t and 996xt. He really likes the unidens, I really like the GRE (aka Radio Shacks). I use a Maxrad 700/800mhz NMO antenna, the same one used on state cars.
There are a few sites here and there that do use 700mhz freqs, so you deffinately will want a newer scanner, with the latest firmware.
I bought my Pro-197 at the local radio shack on sale for $300 brand new. At the time used ones were going for $250-300, so just to be safe I got the new one
If there is any large scale emergency, or anything going on the interstate like a major car wreck or road construction, it will come across starcom. If IDOT is out for snow plowing, at the very least you will hear the main bosses giving weather reports and local road conditions. And my favorite, at least when a subscriber radio is near by is the ISPERN patch. I have a pretty good VHF base, but can hear ispern dispatches from several districts away, and those are the things I like to listen to, especially pursuits.
Steven
I have a Pro-197, my friend has both a 996t and 996xt. He really likes the unidens, I really like the GRE (aka Radio Shacks). I use a Maxrad 700/800mhz NMO antenna, the same one used on state cars.
There are a few sites here and there that do use 700mhz freqs, so you deffinately will want a newer scanner, with the latest firmware.
I bought my Pro-197 at the local radio shack on sale for $300 brand new. At the time used ones were going for $250-300, so just to be safe I got the new one
If there is any large scale emergency, or anything going on the interstate like a major car wreck or road construction, it will come across starcom. If IDOT is out for snow plowing, at the very least you will hear the main bosses giving weather reports and local road conditions. And my favorite, at least when a subscriber radio is near by is the ISPERN patch. I have a pretty good VHF base, but can hear ispern dispatches from several districts away, and those are the things I like to listen to, especially pursuits.
Steven
Frugal Illinois does not own the Starcom21® 7/800 MHz statewide Astro25® trunking system- they lease service from Motorola Mobility, Inc., similar to a cellular service. Depending on how you do the accounting, Illinois pays somewhere between $15 and $22 million a year in service fees, plus the entire cost of purchasing and installing their own mobile/portable radios.
99.99% of Starcom21® mobile/portable equipment is Motorola®. The majority are XTL/XTS’s, and now some APX radios with multi-band capability. All radios have the statewide interoperability template and the national 7/800 MHz interoperability channels. With 7/800-only XTL/XTS radios communication is limited to other 7/800 agencies. IF the trooper has a rare and properly programmed APX multi-band radio direct communication with VHF/UHF agencies is possible.
Part of the contract used to be that non-Motorola® equipment could only be used on Starcom21® after paying a per-radio 'inspection and certification fee'. That fee is nearly equal to the cost of the radio. I do not know if this is part of the present contract or negotiation. Because of additional fees, the total cost of “Off-Brand” radios is artificially high and they are rare. Even though it is technically APCO-P25 compliant Motorola®'s Astro25® trunking software is proprietary, and not economically available to most other manufacturers. Other states (Missouri's MOSWIN for example) own their towers and infrastructure, and allow suitable radios from competative manufacturers to be used.
In addition to the ISP, many Illinois state agencies and Amren® use the Starcom21® system, with the service and equipment costs coming from their own budgets. Amren®'s fees are a private commercial transaction, supposedly adjusted by the joint use of existing Amren® towers and frequencies for Starcom21® coverage.
Counties and Cities using Starcom21® pay their own per-radio user fees. Motorola® can negotiate rates with individual agencies, a normal situation where limited geographical use is desired, or the agency has infrastructure or frequencies that enhance Starcom21® coverage. The airtime fee for interoperability-only radios is $100 per year (presently paid by IEMA/ILEAS/et al). For other radios Motorola® collects useage fees starting at around $300 per year per radio, and upwards of $636 per year per radio depending on the coverage area. That is for each radio every year and includes all mobiles and portables. The non-bid, no-compete sole source state contract renewal originally had even higher useage fees.
Even though most (not all) downstate Law/Fire/EMS agencies still use analog VHF, ISP ceased supporting most of their VHF Syntors® years ago. VHF Syntors® are non-narrowband and are now completely removed from service. Low-band has been gone for a long time.
ISP recently installed Icom F5021 VHF radios in many downstate patrol cars. If you include the field tech time to install them, their one-time total cost is about $500 per car. For the first time in many years troopers can communicate directly with Law/Fire/EMS agancies, and are in fact doing so.
99.99% of Starcom21® mobile/portable equipment is Motorola®. The majority are XTL/XTS’s, and now some APX radios with multi-band capability. All radios have the statewide interoperability template and the national 7/800 MHz interoperability channels. With 7/800-only XTL/XTS radios communication is limited to other 7/800 agencies. IF the trooper has a rare and properly programmed APX multi-band radio direct communication with VHF/UHF agencies is possible.
Part of the contract used to be that non-Motorola® equipment could only be used on Starcom21® after paying a per-radio 'inspection and certification fee'. That fee is nearly equal to the cost of the radio. I do not know if this is part of the present contract or negotiation. Because of additional fees, the total cost of “Off-Brand” radios is artificially high and they are rare. Even though it is technically APCO-P25 compliant Motorola®'s Astro25® trunking software is proprietary, and not economically available to most other manufacturers. Other states (Missouri's MOSWIN for example) own their towers and infrastructure, and allow suitable radios from competative manufacturers to be used.
In addition to the ISP, many Illinois state agencies and Amren® use the Starcom21® system, with the service and equipment costs coming from their own budgets. Amren®'s fees are a private commercial transaction, supposedly adjusted by the joint use of existing Amren® towers and frequencies for Starcom21® coverage.
Counties and Cities using Starcom21® pay their own per-radio user fees. Motorola® can negotiate rates with individual agencies, a normal situation where limited geographical use is desired, or the agency has infrastructure or frequencies that enhance Starcom21® coverage. The airtime fee for interoperability-only radios is $100 per year (presently paid by IEMA/ILEAS/et al). For other radios Motorola® collects useage fees starting at around $300 per year per radio, and upwards of $636 per year per radio depending on the coverage area. That is for each radio every year and includes all mobiles and portables. The non-bid, no-compete sole source state contract renewal originally had even higher useage fees.
Even though most (not all) downstate Law/Fire/EMS agencies still use analog VHF, ISP ceased supporting most of their VHF Syntors® years ago. VHF Syntors® are non-narrowband and are now completely removed from service. Low-band has been gone for a long time.
ISP recently installed Icom F5021 VHF radios in many downstate patrol cars. If you include the field tech time to install them, their one-time total cost is about $500 per car. For the first time in many years troopers can communicate directly with Law/Fire/EMS agancies, and are in fact doing so.
Last edited:
Not sure what that post is all about...
In any case, it's not Motorola Mobility, it's Motorola Solutions. Motorola Mobility is owned by Google and makes cellular handsets. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other at this point.
While I'm sure a lot of your other facts are probably correct, a big error right at the beginning doesn't help credibility.
Also, you have "consuting" when I think you meant "consulting." Oh, and it's spelled "emphasis" and not "emphais."
In any case, it's not Motorola Mobility, it's Motorola Solutions. Motorola Mobility is owned by Google and makes cellular handsets. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other at this point.
While I'm sure a lot of your other facts are probably correct, a big error right at the beginning doesn't help credibility.
Also, you have "consuting" when I think you meant "consulting." Oh, and it's spelled "emphasis" and not "emphais."
On the former, you are correct. I should have caught my mistake, verified the exact corporate name in place when the original ten year agreement was implemented over twelve years ago, or simply referred to them as 'Motorola(r)'.
On the latter, pardon me for not running spell check. You caught me sipping water.
On the latter, pardon me for not running spell check. You caught me sipping water.
My city recently joined Starcom and went total "ENC"...At the city council meeting the cost structure showed additional money per radio for the "ENC"...Now that the operation is in full swing do they continue to pay "EXTRA" for this "ENC" or was it a one time charge for programming the radios for its use??....TY for any info....
All the Motorola Starcom21 radio quotes I've seen lump software based ADP encryption into the Total for Core APX7000 Package price.
Q15, ADD: AES/DES-XL/DES-OFB ENCRYPTION is a one-time (non-reoccuring) APX7000 charge of $679.00.
Example:
http://www.warrenville.il.us/ktmlli...910 DETSB Radio Interoperability backup 4.pdf
Thanks, very similar to what i saw for Joliet....
- Status
Similar threads
