Jersey City Fire Radio Maintenance

[rr60]

They are persistent ,radio maintenance check, 1,2,3 over and over, seems automated ? 👀

Anyway WOW, by far the largest signal in 460-461 MHZ here, some 25 miles west.

-85 dBm spike on the SA, City of Newark in the 460 band which is closer is down at -110 dB.

Elevation can be a blessing or a curse. I hear Long Island Nassau, Jerricho 88.5 pretty good.

 

[RadioChief55]

They've been doing that for months now. I ask JCFD people and no one knows what it is. I know they have a new radio vendor so at first I thought it was them working on the system, but its been going on a long time. I then thought they were testing from inside buildings to see if they needed to install an in building repeater. But I don't think that's it either. I get JCFD FG 2 and 3 a lot of the time from northern Ocean County on a XTL2500 with a 5 db gain Yagi about 25 feet up.
I was told that JC was going to be upgrading the TRS, I heard they were going to stay with the UHF channels but get new equipment and go phase 2, and then I was told that they were going to go to a new JC 700 system. I know the present FD COD said no E on the new system. But talking to guys, nothing has happened with upgrades to the TRS as of yet. So who knows what's going on. As a retired JCFD member, I know how fast things change, and how slow things happen, or never happens.

 

[ten13]

Don't hold your breath waiting for the outcome of the radios: agency "heads" have been told in no uncertain terms to "wait until the new administration is in place..." on just about everything that costs money.

And that's certainly not going to happen right away.

Jersey City, like most urban areas (especially NYC), is in financial turmoil, living off of "borrowed money." All those massive building going up are getting tax abatements, meaning, they won't have to pay property taxes for a while. There's also a question as to whether all those buildings should have been approved in the first place, and more 'urban planning' should have been done.

And all those high-rise buildings are probably one of the key reasons why the radio system is having problems, too.

I'm sure the "new administration," regardless of who it is, will jump right on all the problems within days of being sworn in....

And enhancing a radio system that is already working sufficiently will not be high on their list of priorities.

 

[rr60]

High-Rise radio problems? I wonder why that may be? Code is very specific about new in building signal levels or communication method. It is very specific on how this can be accomplished. The technical how to is extensive. A small portion below.

2018 International Fire Code – New Jersey Edition (IFC 2018 NJ)
New Jersey Edition (IFC 2018 NJ) that pertain to in-building radio communications (“emergency responder radio coverage systems / ERRCS”):

510.1 Emergency responder radio coverage in new buildings.
“New buildings shall have approved radio coverage for emergency responders within the building based upon the existing coverage levels of the public-safety communication systems of the jurisdiction at the exterior of the building.”

This section further clarifies that the requirement “shall not require improvement of the existing public-safety communication systems.”

 

[Alarmguy]

Don't hold your breath waiting for the outcome of the radios: agency "heads" have been told in no uncertain terms to "wait until the new administration is in place..." on just about everything that costs money.

And that's certainly not going to happen right away.

Jersey City, like most urban areas (especially NYC), is in financial turmoil, living off of "borrowed money." All those massive building going up are getting tax abatements, meaning, they won't have to pay property taxes for a while. There's also a question as to whether all those buildings should have been approved in the first place, and more 'urban planning' should have been done.

And all those high-rise buildings are probably one of the key reasons why the radio system is having problems, too.

I'm sure the "new administration," regardless of who it is, will jump right on all the problems within days of being sworn in....

And enhancing a radio system that is already working sufficiently will not be high on their list of priorities.

They are still using XTL2500 mobiles in Fire units!

 

[ten13]

High-Rise radio problems? I wonder why that may be? Code is very specific about new in building signal levels or communication method. It is very specific on how this can be accomplished. The technical how to is extensive. A small portion below.

That's all fine and dandy when they're working INSIDE the building, but what about the issue of radio communications when operating at, say, a row of frames (what's left of them) amongst all those high-rise buildings, or dispatching throughout the city in general?

JC moved too fast in their development of high-rise buildings, failing to take into consideration the collateral problems that would arise.

 

[Jbooth75]

I was in Jersey City on Saturday evening. I noticed all of the FD is encrypted, yet the main PD dispatches are in the clear. Seems odd to me. Usually, it is the other way around unless JCFD can be heard somewhere else and is just encrypted on the JC trunk. However, I do not see them listed elsewhere on RR.

 

[RadioChief55]

I was in Jersey City on Saturday evening. I noticed all of the FD is encrypted, yet the main PD dispatches are in the clear. Seems odd to me. Usually, it is the other way around unless JCFD can be heard somewhere else and is just encrypted on the JC trunk. However, I do not see them listed elsewhere on RR.

JCFD had a Chief that didn't want "Buffs to know what was going on and the feeds taken down" so he had all JCFD TGs on the JC TRS encrypted. But couldn't encrypt the two analog FG repeaters. So you can still hear fire duty on FG 2 and 3. That same chief wasn't to sharp when it came to radios and was drunk at home after hours belittling a Deputy Chief who was trying to ascertain if he had a fire on the upper floors of a high-rise under construction. The audio was recorded and sent out all over, it's said the a large FD across the Hudson from JC uses or used it on an officers development class on how not to act. Thank God that COD is long gone, but the E damage has been done.

 

[Jbooth75]

Oh wow, crazy!! Thanks for the explanation!

 

[Steve162]

JCFD had a Chief that didn't want "Buffs to know what was going on and the feeds taken down" so he had all JCFD TGs on the JC TRS encrypted. But couldn't encrypt the two analog FG repeaters. So you can still hear fire duty on FG 2 and 3. That same chief wasn't to sharp when it came to radios and was drunk at home after hours belittling a Deputy Chief who was trying to ascertain if he had a fire on the upper floors of a high-rise under construction. The audio was recorded and sent out all over, it's said the a large FD across the Hudson from JC uses or used it on an officers development class on how not to act. Thank God that COD is long gone, but the E damage has been done.

Do you know where to listen to that radio traffic? I tried a Google search, to no avail.

 

[jaymatt1978]

Do you know where to listen to that radio traffic? I tried a Google search, to no avail.

I'm hoping it DOESN'T go on the Internet

 

[RadioChief55]

Do you know where to listen to that radio traffic? I tried a Google search, to no avail.

I have it saved on an external hard drive some where. When I find it I will let you know.