Louisville Metrosafe

[LouisvilleScanMan]

That's exactly right. The city keeps MetroSafe running on a skeleton crew because overtime is cheaper then hiring, training and paying new dispatchers. I'd like to see how many of those nice new high tech dispatch stations are unmaned on an average day.

 

[jcpd9720]

Well... thanks to "forces", there are no channels that go un-manned. We have a minumum number of dispatchers, one for each channel (13 year round for 1st shift, 13 winter 14 summer 2nd shift, 12 year round 3rd shift) and they staff the call taking area with fluxuating numbers, based on call volumes and answer times. Like D.C. said though, we have no life, because we are always there. I have been forced 10 times over the last 3 weeks. I am contemplating taking a leave of absence from my fire department because I no longer have "free time" to make fire runs and help protect the community. My home life is suffering because I am never here, and when I am, I am grumpy as hell because of the force last night, or the one that I just know is coming to me tonight.

Screw the high tech stations, it's the people that are becomming empty.

 

[LouisvilleScanMan]

You need to get together with the other dispatchers and bring this problem to the public light. I'm sure one or all of the local TV stations would be interested in the city severely overworking the call takers and dispatchers like they are. It's time to put some public and political pressure on mayor Jerry. And don't forget, metro public safety workers have a friend on the metro council, his name is James Peden.

 

[BigDog-911]

The bad thing about the current employees is that there is the underlying fear of being terminated for going to the public or the media. There are not a lot of people that are either cut out to do the job or want to do the job in the conditions as they are.

In the last year, there have been at least 15 to 20 people that have either resigned or been fired. Thats the ones I know of and I have been gone awhile.

The good thing about the dispatchers down there is that they are very professional and maintain unit safety no matter what is thrown at them or how long they have been working.

Don't know enough about the calltakers anymore to make an informed decision.

 

[LouisvilleScanMan]

I don't know if the call takers are quite as professional as the dispatchers.A friend of mine has had to call the police a few times and said that the calltakers are usually less then courteous and often give false information not only to him but to the dispatchers. Case in point, a few years ago the people behind his house were shooting off fireworks and they started shooting them at his house and car and when he called 911 the calltaker got vary rude with him and told him quote "that there was nothing the police could do because it was not their problem." I however have called 911 and the non-emergency lines numerous times and have never had a calltaker act anything less then prefessional.A few bad apples in every the barrel I guess.

 

[jerk]

This is interesting, read the last lines

LOUISVILLE METRO GOVERNMENT
1306 BARDSTOWN ROAD
LOUISVILLE KY 40204

Callsign: WPJV653
Radio Service: GE-GE
APPLICANT IS A COUNTY GOVERNMENTAL ELIGIBLE IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT
RADIO SERVICE OPERATING A RADIO STATION FOR TRANSMISSION OF
COMMUNICATIONS ESSENTIAL TO ITS OFFICIAL ACTIVITIES.
Action: MODIFIED
ESUAPR

Area of Operation
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 FIXED 382035.2N 085396.9W UTICA CLARK IN
2 FIXED 381716.3N 853021.9W LOUISVILLE JEFFERSON KY
3 FIXED 381335.3N 853021.9W LOUISVILLE JEFFERSON KY
4 FIXED 038738.2N 853534.8W LOUISVILLE JEFFERSON KY
5 FIXED 038626.2N 854244.9W LOUISVILLE JEFFERSON KY
6 FIXED 038952.2N 085344.8W LOUISVILLE JEFFERSON KY
7 MOBILE 8.0 KMRA around site

Pwr ERP # of # of (A)nalog
Ref Class Freq Out Out Units Pagers (D)igital
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 FB2 856.76250 035 080 1 0 AD
2 FB2 857.76250 035 078 1 0 AD
3 FB2 858.76250 035 078 1 0 AD
4 FB2 859.76250 035 068 1 0 AD
5 FB2 854.48750 035 080 1 0 AD
5 FB2 860.76250 035 080 1 0 AD
6 FB2 856.43750 035 076 1 0 AD
7 MO 809.48750 025 050 700 0 AD
7 MO 811.43750 025 050 700 0 AD
7 MO 811.76250 025 050 700 0 AD
7 MO 812.76250 025 050 700 0 AD
7 MO 813.76250 025 050 700 0 AD
7 MO 814.76250 025 050 700 0 AD
7 MO 815.76250 025 050 700 0 AD


SLOW GROWTH - 10 CHANNELS(WPJV652), WITHIN 2 YEARS OF LICENSE GRANT 4
REPEATERS WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND OPERATIONAL. WITHIN 5 YEARS OF
LICENSE GRANT 10 REPEATERS WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND OPERATIONAL. []

 

[BigDog-911]

700 units..Not enough to be Police, too many to be EMS, might be enough to do Fire.....

Chief, what do you make of this? or Lee?

Doug

 

[LouisvilleScanMan]

700 doesn't even sound like enough for fire, wouldn't they need at least 1000 pagers for all the suburban firefighters?

 

[jerk]

700 units..Not enough to be Police, too many to be EMS, might be enough to do Fire.....

Chief, what do you make of this? or Lee?

Doug

Yes, It's strange, I looked at it and thought it can't be the "new" system.
Maybe a repeater system for talkaround... though there is a large amount of transmitters. Maybe they just missed up on their count and will go back and fix it, or the current trunked system is going to transition to digital as well, so that they have two separate systems?

 

[kyparamedic]

They don't have trunked pagers, as far as I know. To continue using the traditional tone pagers once the trunked system goes in, they'll have to simulcast on VHF. A lot of places outside of the Louisville area issue their firefighters radios, even on the trunked systems, which equals lots of $$$. Kind of silly if you ask me.

 

[ofd8001]

Well, I can't make heads or tails of it, unless that is something old or ancient.

It shows 6 fixed sites, and I'm reasonably sure there will be 12.

The number of units - 700 - is way too low for mobiles and portables.

That number would be in the ballpark but the pagers are on, and will stay on, vhf (with some improvements fingers crossed).

The last up and running date I've heard is September 2009.

 

[windigofer]

Well, I can't make heads or tails of it, unless that is something old or ancient.

It shows 6 fixed sites, and I'm reasonably sure there will be 12.

The number of units - 700 - is way too low for mobiles and portables.

That number would be in the ballpark but the pagers are on, and will stay on, vhf (with some improvements fingers crossed).

The last up and running date I've heard is September 2009.

According to a check I did on the callsign on the ULS database, the grant was originally issued in 2001 and the grant is effective on 24 January 2008 (http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=1175225).

 

[jerk]

According to a check I did on the callsign on the ULS database, the grant was originally issued in 2001 and the grant is effective on 24 January 2008 (http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=1175225).

Ok here’s some more clues, it, the license, comes to the attention of “Ron Pannell”
He has a LMPD Metro email address, but seems to be communication supervisor for Metro? Not really sure about that.

And the license type is GE which is National Public Safety frequencies.
So?

The frequencies for the new digital system list 1901 mobile units (KKV802)
It must be for the police, predating the metro merger or maybe it’s just a car to car system. I guess if somebody knows Ron they could give him a call or ask. Or even email.

AL

 

[windigofer]

Ok here’s some more clues, it, the license, comes to the attention of “Ron Pannell”
He has a LMPD Metro email address, but seems to be communication supervisor for Metro? Not really sure about that.

And the license type is GE which is National Public Safety frequencies.
So?

The frequencies for the new digital system list 1901 mobile units (KKV802)
It must be for the police, predating the metro merger or maybe it’s just a car to car system. I guess if somebody knows Ron they could give him a call or ask. Or even email.

AL

With it being GE, I would suspect *possibly* use in an MDT system of some sort--again, probably best to find out from Ron himself, if anyone knows him, that is

 

[jerk]

With it being GE, I would suspect *possibly* use in an MDT system of some sort--again, probably best to find out from Ron himself, if anyone knows him, that is

Hey I didn't even think of that, but MDT with the new system, sounds like a winner. But I'm sure someone can find out easier than I.

 

[BigDog-911]

MDT does make sense since not every officer has an MDT. I know there was an old 800mhz modem in some of the cars years ago and this might more of it. Chief, the dual shorty 800mhz antennas on the back of or on the roof of the cars. J-Town has some of them as well as Shively.

Makes a little more sense.


Have a good night...Gotta turn off the computer and turn on the scanner and listen to all the trees and wires down.

D

 

[windigofer]

MDT does make sense since not every officer has an MDT. I know there was an old 800mhz modem in some of the cars years ago and this might more of it. Chief, the dual shorty 800mhz antennas on the back of or on the roof of the cars. J-Town has some of them as well as Shively.

Makes a little more sense.


Have a good night...Gotta turn off the computer and turn on the scanner and listen to all the trees and wires down.

D

Yeah, speaking of Metrosafe, the test channels are absolutely *hopping* tonight (in fact, enough so that there's a lot of interference with each other on the test relays--and there are only four channels, and I've seen talkgroups 13, 15 and 21 on simultaneously...so it is actually a case of the talkgroups stepping on each other for use of one voice frequency, LOL).

 

[unitcharlie]

Here's the rest of the system, WPJV652, looks kinda like an MDC system...

 

[LouisvilleScanMan]

Yeah I didn't think of MDTs, I believe some of the cop cars have full two-way MDTs and some have receive only and others just use them as notebooks.Am I right?

 

[ofd8001]

I too didn't even think of the MDTs, but the timing for that fits too. I understand that system isn't what you would call great - they make more use of aircards. So thinking that is for the MDTs is probably correct.

Uncle Ron is indeed the main guy at the radio shop. He really does a splendid job, easy to get along with, knows his stuff and even smiles at me from time to time.