ISP Restructuring for 2023 Official Thread

[kevino]

ISP D1 (Sterling) was handling dispatch duties on District Chicago Middle Patrol (TG 9007) this morning then ISP D6 (Pontiac) took over from Sterling.

Odd.....

 

[werinshades]

District-Chicago coming back on line. It's must have been a great Christmas party!

 

[lu81fitter]

I'm sure it's been well thought out, and Phase 2 talkgroups are probably in the future. The DuPage and Cook County simulcast sites carry alot of traffic including many Districts outside of the normal area affiliate with these sites, and the traffic is handled. The site probably isn't being used near it's capacity, and plenty of room for additional traffic.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe tower sites are already equipped to handle Phase 2, as the title suggests. ----> "STARCOM21 Statewide Illinois / Project 25 Phase II". My understanding is, is that the equipment needs to be upgraded. Just to the south of me, in Woodford County, they made the switch to STARCOM a while back. Their communications come across my BCD996P2 as Phase 2 because they have P2 equipment. ISP comes across as Phase 1 on the same towers. Not sure there are "Phase 2 talkgroups". I think it is the equipment.

 

[Mex]

P2 is only in certain areas. Lake, McHenry, Boone, Peoria, All Cook, Kane, DeKalb, Creston, Sterling, D5 Sim, Woodford Co, Ottawa towers are all P2 ready, rest of Northern IL isn't ready for it. I know alot of the agencies in my area don't even have phase 2 radios which is another factor for ISP not being Phase 2.

 

[N9JIG]

The system as a whole is listed as Phase 2 as there are at least some Phase 2 operations on it.

In order for Phase 2 to work on individual Sites the repeaters etc. have to be upgraded (either with new radios or firmware) to accommodate Phase 2. I don't know if ALL sites are so upgraded but I would not be surprised either way.

Next, in order for any subscriber units to use Phase 2, as long as the Site is capable of it all radios affiliated with that talkgroup have to be Phase 2, otherwise it will revert to Phase 1 as long as any Phase 1 radios are affiliated. This can be programmed so that that talkgroup is eclusively available to Phase 2 radios but that is optional, and programmed by the system operator.

 

[lu81fitter]

@N9JIG My next comment was going to be about affiliation.

@Mex There have been units from the northwest suburbs (Lake Co area) around me that are using their own TGs. Perhaps a prisoner transport or something. It will light up towers in Ohio and Providence in Bureau Co. on P2.

 

[werinshades]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe tower sites are already equipped to handle Phase 2, as the title suggests. ----> "STARCOM21 Statewide Illinois / Project 25 Phase II". My understanding is, is that the equipment needs to be upgraded. Just to the south of me, in Woodford County, they made the switch to STARCOM a while back. Their communications come across my BCD996P2 as Phase 2 because they have P2 equipment. ISP comes across as Phase 1 on the same towers. Not sure there are "Phase 2 talkgroups". I think it is the equipment.

The system as a whole is listed as Phase 2 as there are at least some Phase 2 operations on it.

In order for Phase 2 to work on individual Sites the repeaters etc. have to be upgraded (either with new radios or firmware) to accommodate Phase 2. I don't know if ALL sites are so upgraded but I would not be surprised either way.

Next, in order for any subscriber units to use Phase 2, as long as the Site is capable of it all radios affiliated with that talkgroup have to be Phase 2, otherwise it will revert to Phase 1 as long as any Phase 1 radios are affiliated. This can be programmed so that that talkgroup is eclusively available to Phase 2 radios but that is optional, and programmed by the system operator.

All explained here what I meant, but I'm sure the radio techs would be well aware of how to handle capacity issues if they foresee an issue. Then again, no one here knows anything officially yet.

 

[officerdave]

The system as a whole is listed as Phase 2 as there are at least some Phase 2 operations on it.

In order for Phase 2 to work on individual Sites the repeaters etc. have to be upgraded (either with new radios or firmware) to accommodate Phase 2. I don't know if ALL sites are so upgraded but I would not be surprised either way.

Next, in order for any subscriber units to use Phase 2, as long as the Site is capable of it all radios affiliated with that talkgroup have to be Phase 2, otherwise it will revert to Phase 1 as long as any Phase 1 radios are affiliated. This can be programmed so that that talkgroup is eclusively available to Phase 2 radios but that is optional,and programmed by the system operator.

The last StarCom user meeting I attended, Moto's lead guy for the entire system, said ALL sites have been upgraded to carry Phase 2 traffic. (State towers) I would assume the issue is State subscriber radios have not all been upgraded to Phase 2. For what I understand, the various metro Chicago counties that have StarCom " subsystems " (they own the towers etc) have upgraded to Phase 2 repeaters, portables , mobiles etc.

 

[FFPM571]

There are still many XTL/XTS units still in service and those are not P II and even some of the first generation of APX are not upgraded . To replace these are going to cost $$ Unless these departments or agencies are given new radios or can budget for them the will keep using what they were sold or given over 10 years ago.

 

[wx9svr]

Radio $$$ is flowing here in St Clair Co.

Dozens of Metro East agencies able to purchase new radios for reduced cost

More than three dozen Metro East agencies are purchasing new state-of-the-art radios at almost half price, according to St. Clair County officials.

www.kmov.com

 

[werinshades]

This has become Starcom 2022 Thread Part 2..

 

[Jerbell92]

Not the highest quality map, but it was released by a downstate radio station (attached and viewable in the slideshow in the link): State Police’s La Salle headquarters to merge with East Moline

Takeaways:
1. All District Headquarters will remain open.
2. 21/5 as part of Troop 5 is not going to be up against Southern Cook County, but rather Will County.
3. District 15 will keep its 15 number, but will become Troop 15 by themselves
4. District 16 will not be combined into the Metro Troop/Troop 3 (dispatch could be different I guess?)
5. 11 troops total (1-10 + 15).

They will be using the troop number for the first digit(s) in their callsigns, even as the district headquarters remain, except for the new Troop 10 which will be taking District 10's former X-Ray (confirmed from a friend that will be assigned to the new Troop 10).

 

[werinshades]

Not the highest quality map, but it was released by a downstate radio station (attached and viewable in the slideshow in the link): State Police’s La Salle headquarters to merge with East Moline

Takeaways:
1. All District Headquarters will remain open.
2. 21/5 as part of Troop 5 is not going to be up against Southern Cook County, but rather Will County.
3. District 15 will keep its 15 number, but will become Troop 15 by themselves
4. District 16 will not be combined into the Metro Troop/Troop 3 (dispatch could be different I guess?)
5. 11 troops total (1-10 + 15).

They will be using the troop number for the first digit(s) in their callsigns, even as the district headquarters remain, except for the new Troop 10 which will be taking District 10's former X-Ray (confirmed from a friend that will be assigned to the new Troop 10).

Thanks for sharing. Not too far off what we've been hearing. The District 21 Interstate 57 patrol assignment is current. and District 5 is not patrolling or taking calls on that area...for now. I suspect once Troop 3 is in place, it will return as it previously was since they can spare the personnel.

 

[N9JIG]

Here is my breakdown of the map provided by Jerbell92. It looks like the rumor of Troop letters did not pan out, they might be used for sub-troops however. I could see Troop 3A being the old District Chicago HQ, Troop 3B the old Elgin HQ etc. This might also end up being the basis of dispatch assignments down the road.

 

[werinshades]

Here is my breakdown of the map provided by Jerbell92. It looks like the rumor of Troop letters did not pan out, they might be used for sub-troops however. I could see Troop 3A being the old District Chicago HQ, Troop 3B the old Elgin HQ etc. This might also end up being the basis of dispatch assignments down the road.

New talkgroups maybe. Troop 3-A, B,C,D..current District Chicago talkgroups? Troop 3E current District 2..Troop 3-F..current District 5? Maybe one Car to Car talkgroup for all?

 

[Starcom21]

Troop Letters would have really interfered with current letters used by others (like Adam, Boy, Charles units). Even A,B in like 3A/3B will interfere with currently assignments.

I've added the new Troops as new sub-categories. As things go live and become understandable, we can move the current frequencies (conventional) and talkgroups from their old district to the new Troop. Updated the D9 to T9.

Currently all IDOT listings in SC21 are using Tx for IDOT/district. I am working on a fix for this now.

 

[vest2208]

District-Chicago coming back on line. It's must have been a great Christmas party!

Bad generator maintenance. Building was on generator for 5 days due to a cable problem. At one point, their generator apparently had a low oil level & shut down to preserve itself and took them down across the board. Dist Chgo & 2 were handled by Sterling & D5 was handled by Pontiac.

 

[RTmed519]

All current TalkGroups will remain in place, and will be renamed (see new config below). Each troop will use the current "A" TalkGroups from each current District as either Primary or Secondary. The lower of the 2 will act as the new "Primary", the higher of the two will act as the new "Secondary". Not all troops will use the Secondary talkgroups 24/7, however I would assume during high loads they will.

Examples:
Troop 1:

• Primary (Current District 1A)
• Secondary (Current District 16A)

Troop 2:

• Primary (Current 7A)
• Secondary (Current 17A)

Exceptions:
Troop 7 (Current D10) won't have a secondary TG. Until configurations are completed, current "B" TalkGroups will be utilized.

Troop 3:

• North: D2-A
• Middle: DC-C
• South: DC-D
• Southwest: D5-A
• Admin/Other: DC-A

EDIT: I replied in a post below, this came directly from a contact, who was notified of the change by the state.

 

[Mex]

All current TalkGroups will remain in place. Each troop will use the current "A" TalkGroups from each current District as either Primary or Secondary. The lower of the 2 will act as the new "Primary", the higher of the two will act as the new "Secondary". Not all troops will use the Secondary talkgroups 24/7, however I would assume during high loads they will.

Examples:
Troop 1:

• Primary (Current District 1A)
• Secondary (Current District 16A)

Troop 2:

• Primary (Current 7A)
• Secondary (Current 17A)

Exceptions:
Troop 7 (Current D10) won't have a secondary TG. Until configurations are completed, current "B" TalkGroups will be utilized.

Troop 3:

• North: D2-A
• Middle: DC-C
• South: DC-D
• Southwest: D5-A
• Admin/Other: DC-A

Source?

 

[RTmed519]

I should also clarify to my above post, from my understanding all primary traffic will be on primary. All car-to-car/secondary traffic will be on Secondary. Just because it's the old A channel, does not mean it'll be used as an A channel for a specific area.