Kings County proposing 1.7 million dollar system

[emt_531]

Read this in The Hanford Sentinel. Are they changing over to a digital system that they once had before or something new altogether?

$1.7 million communications system being proposed | Local | hanfordsentinel.com

 

[kma371]

Read this in The Hanford Sentinel. Are they changing over to a digital system that they once had before or something new altogether?

$1.7 million communications system being proposed | Local | hanfordsentinel.com

The article doesn't say. Sounds like they just want to make improvements to the existing system.

And, it sounds like the administrators don't understand how radios work, which isn't really a surprise. Either that, or the writer of the story doesn't, which isn't a surprise either

 

[emt_531]

What did Tulare County do?

 

[MtnBiker2005]

Board Agenda - June 13, 2017
Consider authorizing the Chairman to sign an agreement with Motorola Solutions, Inc. for the
purchase of Simulcast Radio Communication Infrastructure for public safety, authorizing Kris
Zuniga, Sheriff’s Commander, to sign all invoices related to the Motorola Solutions, Inc. Simulcast
Radio Communication project; and authorizing the Clerk to the Board to sign the Budget
Appropriation and Transfer Form. (4/5 vote required)
http://countyofkings.com/home/showdocument?id=16107

_______________________________________________________

COUNTY OF KINGS REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL #2017-22
SIMULCAST SYSTEM, SHERIFFS OFFICE, COUNTY OF KINGS
RFP DUE SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

A two-channel, UHF analog (digital P25 capable), voted simulcast system
that will support all Kings County Sheriff voice radio operations within
Kings County. The system shall be fully equipped to transition to digital
when all users have digital-capable subscriber units, with minimal to no
changes to the system.

One analog (VHF) voted simulcast channel that will support fire
service communications and tone-and-voice paging
operations within Kings County.
http://www.countyofkings.com/home/showdocument?id=14995

 

[Colton25]

I'm curious as well

What did Tulare County do?

 

[PrivatelyJeff]

I honestly think the whole county could easily join in on a trucked system. The 3 police departments use it and it sounds like it works great, though I would still probably use analog on the fire tac channels.

 

[ChrisABQ]

The county just North of me (Sandoval County, NM) just updated the county system and two towns North of Albuquerque to analog simulcast (I don't believe they are digital capable). The simulcast distortion is HORRIBLE on occasion. Not sure if they don't know how to setup the system properly or if it's over powered or not, but it's terrible. In this case, it has nothing to do with where I AM LOCATED (outside of these areas), but rather the cross over distortion WITHIN their areas. I have tried everything known to man to resolve the issue, but it's completely on their end.

I hope the Kings County setup is better.

 

[flux4201]

Are you in an area where you can hear more then one of the transmitter sites? If you are the overlap may be too great causing what you are hearing.

 

[ChrisABQ]

I don't want to hijack this thread. Department itself seems to have issues themselves.

 

[emt_531]

I honestly think the whole county could easily join in on a trucked system. The 3 police departments use it and it sounds like it works great, though I would still probably use analog on the fire tac channels.

None of the LE agencies in Kings County are trunked. CPD & HPD are P25, but not trunked. Everyone else is analog. Since Kings County had to cut their power in half due to rebanding, the SO and fire sound terrible.

 

[PaulNDaOC]

Los Angeles SD has used a UHF analog simulcast system for decades that works great.

They use just 40 watts at most sites and that seems to help cut down on the distortions as well as extend the life of the base transmitter.

 

[krazybob]

To be clear, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department has VHF radios in Patrol vehicles that need to go up into the Angeles National Forest. But yes, their analog UHF system has been operational for years with great success.

UHF in mountainous terrain is not the best choice. The higher you go in frequency the less line of sight your signal has, as well as foliage absorbs your signal. Their idea of having voted remote receivers will help with this but I still think it's a poor choice to begin with. What are they going to do in the mountain areas they patrol? Although I can point to the San Bernardino County system they have had to quadruple the number of repeater sites to use 800 MHz. Even San Bernardino county maintains VHF repeaters for interoperability because agencies such as CalFire, BLM, and the Forest Service are all on VHF.

Kings County would be better off using VHF but as I recall adjacent counties are located on UHF with a mixture of VHF, such as Fresno City. Instead of trying to do something they've already done before and failed at maybe it's time to do something different. Like maybe mobile extenders? They can look for availability in the VHF band and use UHF for their mobile extenders which would also give them the ability to use their HTs for mutual aid situations with adjacent counties. That would also give them access to those police departments that are already on VHF in the surrounding counties as well as their own. The fire departments of the counties surrounding Kings County and including Kings County are on VHF. What does that tell you? Why is the Forest Service on VHF?

Or their dispatch centers could maintain links to the adjacent counties through mutual aid repeaters using Radio Over IP such as Los Angeles County uses. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department does a biweekly test of all law enforcement agencies including military and federal.

It seems that everybody wants to move up up up and forget about the physics of how radios work!

Here's a novel idea. With budgets being relatively inflexible in California perhaps the counties that are most greatly affected could come together and build a regional system that works for all of them. That entire area tends to be a combination of metropolitan and mountain areas.

As an amateur radio operator that commutes between Big Bear Lake California and Bakersfield California I know that the repeaters along the way are almost entirely UHF. With the exception of one that covers 2/3 of the high desert that I have to cover once I get up into the mountains of Kern County they suck. Not intentionally and I'm sure it's because the antennas are standard and don't have any down tilt to cover the freeway I'm on. In contrast, my two meter repeater located at 6500 feet straddling both the high desert and the coastal plain of Southern California covers 7 counties from one location.

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[scottyhetzel]

@ krazy bob, what are you talking about re: VHF radios in patrol cars?.. I know their is interop channels, I believe they are UHF . Can you be more specific.

 

[PrivatelyJeff]

None of the LE agencies in Kings County are trunked. CPD & HPD are P25, but not trunked. Everyone else is analog. Since Kings County had to cut their power in half due to rebanding, the SO and fire sound terrible.

You’re right, I’m sorry. Lemoore PD is p25 too though. I wouldn’t say county fire sounds bad though. I often hear them on my WS1080 using various antennas. They were fairly clear when I was at Lacey and 12th and they were working a fire out in the kettlemen hills a few weeks ago.

I still say though that all the fire and LE agencies could work on a trunked systems, since they often work together so much. Especially Hanford and county fire on mutual aid.

 

[krazybob]

@ krazy bob, what are you talking about re: VHF radios in patrol cars?.. I know their is interop channels, I believe they are UHF . Can you be more specific.

I did a little research before posting and noticed that the majority of your police departments in the county are on 460 MHz. Because of that I can see the county wanting to maintain a 460 MHz system. But you do have some small cities that are on 155 MHz as well as all of your fire departments. You can't really change that. Motorola does make some dual-band mobiles in the apx line but some people question whether or not they are durable enough for police work. I personally think they are. Then you get 155mhz Portables and hook them up as mobile relays. You may then walk away from your vehicle by a block or two and use your handheld. On your handheld could be direct frequencies to others. It just depends on the area. I am personally in favor of mobile extenders as a way of obtaining interoperability.

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[zz0468]

It seems that everybody wants to move up up up and forget about the physics of how radios work!

Because that's where the available spectrum is.

In the world of public safety radio, politics beats physics every time.