Marshall Hall Channel?

[redburgundy]

Charles County FD is working structural collapse on River Road off Marshall Hall Road in Charles County.
I'm listening to the RadioReference feed of the Charles County trunked system, but evidently there is also a "Marshall Hall Channel" that is separate from the trunked system and is being used for this incident. The incident command came up on the trunked system and asked the dispatcher if he had copied the information from the Marshall Hall Channel, and the response was "a little bit".
Can anyone advise what that channel is, and why the FD is not using the trunked system for the operation?

 

[Dewey]

Charles County FD is working structural collapse on River Road off Marshall Hall Road in Charles County.
I'm listening to the RadioReference feed of the Charles County trunked system, but evidently there is also a "Marshall Hall Channel" that is separate from the trunked system and is being used for this incident. The incident command came up on the trunked system and asked the dispatcher if he had copied the information from the Marshall Hall Channel, and the response was "a little bit".
Can anyone advise what that channel is, and why the FD is not using the trunked system for the operation?

Take a look at the Fairfax County, VA Public Safety trunked system:

Fairfax County Public Safety Trunking System, Fairfax, Virginia - Scanner Frequencies

then take a look at the very last listing on the bottom under "Other Talkgroups".

Dewey

 

[redburgundy]

So does that mean it's the Fairfax system that is providing coverage in that area? How bizarre.
The incident commander had no problem communicating with Charles County on their own system.

 

[Dewey]

So does that mean it's the Fairfax system that is providing coverage in that area? How bizarre.
The incident commander had no problem communicating with Charles County on their own system.

You know, I started to include "Don't ask me why" in my original answer, but I didn't want to sound like a smart alec. But seriously, don't ask me why

Dewey

EDIT: Here is how I knew the answer to your question, but I was answering from memory that it was on the Fairfax system. However, the answer is listed here: http://forums.radioreference.com/maryland-radio-discussion-forum/112648-marshall-hall-channels-1-2-a.html

 

[ResQguy]

It's not bizarre. It's the people that make decisions that help responders regardless of political boundaries. The system as built didn't provide adequate portable coverage in that area, and until improvements can be made they found a way to ensure business goes on. If only the rest of the world worked so nice.

 

[redburgundy]

It's not bizarre. It's the people that make decisions that help responders regardless of political boundaries. The system as built didn't provide adequate portable coverage in that area, and until improvements can be made they found a way to ensure business goes on. If only the rest of the world worked so nice.

Are you saying that you know the factual details of this arrangement?
Is there a memorandum of understanding between the two counties?

Anyway, what I heard was that the incident commander and the Charles County dispatcher had no problems communicating with one another on the Charles County trunked system (but the dispatcher claimed he heard only bits and pieces of the operation on the Marshall Hall channel). I wonder if the coverage problem has been fixed.

 

[ResQguy]

Yes and Yes. And obviously whoever updated the database knows this as well. I am not aware of any publicly available documentation other than what is hosted here. I have not spoken to anyone about this subject in quite a while, maybe I will ask if there is more that can be shared.

 

[redburgundy]

It sounds like this is a positive case study in interoperability, that perhaps should be reported to the FCC.
Here's a recent FCC notice on public safety interoperability:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-296352A1.doc
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-296352A2.pdf