Klamath National Forest radio system

[silverspy]

Just received a recent report that all Fire traffic on the Klamath is now P25 digital. I am unable to verify this at this time. Just wondering if anyone had any info on this and if this is a trend that will be migrating to other Forests? This change is reportedly recent.

 

[mmckenna]

Might be locally or just for the federal level stuff, but I know CalFire has no plans of going P25 anytime in the foreseeable future. Many of the radios still in use by CalFire are analog.

While I know that KNF is separate from CalFire, in a big enough incident everyone will be working together and analog will be the common platform.

 

[f40ph]

If that were true, every CalFire and local government fire radio just became useless in the Klamath (since they've programmed according to the state FIRESCOPE recommendations). I don't think so.

We've seen some dual-use systems (P25/analog) established in some National Parks so far, perhaps you're hearing something like that?

 

[silverspy]

Thanks for this perspective. I see what you're getting at. It didn't really make logical sense to me
either, based on my experiences. Maybe it's as you said, they have the capability to use P25 in
certain situations, but that is not the norm. Yes, I agree with you completely, it would not make
any sense from a safety and logistical point of view, if the fire traffic was run digital, considering
the integrated Forest Service/CalFire situation in the region. If you hear anything else, would you
please further clarify for me, because I think you have more experience in this area. Something
else I just recalled, something was mentioned that the fire traffic was being run P25 and rec/admin
traffic run analog.

Thanks,
WB

 

[mmckenna]

I wouldn't doubt the feds were running P25 on fire, but I have no proof to offer that they are or are not.

For interoperability with CalFire and all the other fire agencies that would show up at an event like that, analog would be required.

However, it is getting difficult to purchase high end radios that are analog only. Most agencies, CalFire included, are purchasing P25 capable equipment, for two reasons:
1. It's what's available. Old workhorses like the TK-790 are set to disappear
2. It makes sense since a mobile radio can have a fairly long lifespan. It's not uncommon to get well beyond 10 years of life out of a good mobile.

Recent CalFire radio purchases have been P25 capable. P25 won't get used on the fire ground, however, they do think they are going to use it for investigations, etc. where encryption can be useful.
This is what I was told by CalFire when we had our last county wide fire agency meeting back in the spring.

Feds: all bets are off. They sort of do whatever they want, and quite actually do operate under different rules than the non-federal agencies. Feds are under NTIA, everyone else is under FCC rules.

 

[silverspy]

Just wanted to say that I traveled through the Klamath since I started the thread, and definitely
heard analog traffic on the Forest Net.

 

[silverspy]

I found an old document, dated a few years back, that indicates that Daniels P-25 repeaters may have been installed, at at least some of the repeater sites in the Klamath, a few years back, so maybe they are using a "mixed mode" configuration. However, there is only one National Forest that I'm aware of in the United States that is using digital, and that is back East.

 

[kayn1n32008]

I found an old document, dated a few years back, that indicates that Daniels P-25 repeaters may have been installed...

The Daniels(now Codan) P25 repeater are able to be purchased 'P25 ready', and will operate analogue or digital. They are THE manufacturer for low current, wide voltage mountain top installations.