Maryland FIRST 700mhz TRS

maus92

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I assume you meant OTAP not OTAR. P=progamming, R=Rekey. In any case, since FIRST is not yet 7.17, technicians will have to physically touch each radio with a cable to update firmware. Codeplugs will likely continue to be done in person for now. Once the whole system is updated, both firmware and codeplugs can be refreshed OTA. Personally, although I LOVE RM, I still like to be able to have a radio person physically inspect each subscriber for integrity before allowing to continue usage.
Yes, that is what I meant - the ability to update firmware / programming OTA. Thanks for the clarification about what system level is necessary for the OTAP capability. Interesting that it is 7.17 and not 7.16. Can you explain why FIRST is upgrading from 7.14 to 7.16, instead of 7.17 which is presumably the latest and greatest?
 

ResQguy

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Yes, that is what I meant - the ability to update firmware / programming OTA. Thanks for the clarification about what system level is necessary for the OTAP capability. Interesting that it is 7.17 and not 7.16. Can you explain why FIRST is upgrading from 7.14 to 7.16, instead of 7.17 which is presumably the latest and greatest?

I understand it’s a required step upgrade before moving higher.
 

maus92

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The PG Simulcast site is not longer reporting as "Failed." It continues to report "Valid," but still not "Active" (as viewed via the AACo site using UT2.) On a side note, I was down in Calvert County a few weeks ago, and the St. Mary's Simulcast was not on the air as it was previously. The Calvert P25 system was on the air, but not carrying any traffic except for station IDs. Interestingly, reception in county on MD4 just south of Waysons Corner was poor - the county has apparently elected not to install a site on a nearby PG tower like AACo is planning to do to improve performance in the area. Also, the Cecilton ASR is not yet on the air.
 

ThePhotoGuy

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2020 Proposed Budget Was Released Today
- $30 Million to Complete and Upgrade Statewide Public Safety Radio System

"The FY 2020 budget includes funding for construction and capital equipment to complete Phase 5 at multiple sites in Southern Maryland and the National Capital Region. It also includes funding for ethernet conversions for work completed during Phases 1 through 4, and an antenna replacement in Dorchester County."

https://dbm.maryland.gov/budget/Documents/capbudget/FY2020-CapitalBudgetVolume.pdf
 

maus92

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I've noticed that TG 12465 occasionally shows up on the AACo Simulcast site. The TG is identified as Dorchester Detention Center in the RRDB, and the TG is also active on the Talbot and Dorchester simulcast sites. Can anyone confirm this TG is actually the Dorchester Detention Center? It's interesting that it is active since the county has not officially transitioned to FIRST. Maybe because the facility has its own control point / console independent of the county's dispatch centers?
 

ThePhotoGuy

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Any idea when Garrett County Public Safety will migrate over to FiRST? Haven't heard much about them switching over.
 

maus92

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Any idea when Garrett County Public Safety will migrate over to FiRST? Haven't heard much about them switching over.
Last time I read their government site, they did not get the grant money to support the switch. This was back in the fall - not sure if anything has changed, or if they have to wait for this year's General Assembly to get funding.
 

ThePhotoGuy

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Last time I read their government site, they did not get the grant money to support the switch. This was back in the fall - not sure if anything has changed, or if they have to wait for this year's General Assembly to get funding.

I did some google searches but don't really see anything recent and nothing in the radio control board meeting minutes to suggest any time of timetable of switchover.

Looks like they were approved to be a primary user in March 2016 for 300 users.
 

maus92

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Interesting developments in St. Mary's County, per CAPRAD. It seems the state is planning to up the 6-channel sites (simulcast and Bethune ASR) (aka "sixpacks") to 8 channels like they did in Talbot, and what exists in AACo and planned for Montgomery. They are also adding an 8 channel ASR in California, and reserving freqs for an additional ASR. I guess this is a result of the Motorola study to support STMC moving to FIRST.
 
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Chris52

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Interesting developments in St. Mary's County, per CAPRAD. It seems the state is planning to up the 6-channel sites (simulcast and Bethune ASR) (aka "sixpacks") to 8 channels like they did in Talbot, and what exists in AACo and planned for Montgomery. They are also adding an 8 channel ASR in California, and reserving freqs for an additional ASR. I guess this is a result of the Motorola study to support STMC moving to FIRST.



Not to sound stupid but can you break this down for me (you're abbreviations) ? What will this mean ? From what I'm gathering is that fire and EMS personnel want to ditch the Harris system all together due to multiple issues from recent to years past and have the First System as their primary
 

maus92

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Not to sound stupid but can you break this down for me (you're abbreviations) ? What will this mean ? From what I'm gathering is that fire and EMS personnel want to ditch the Harris system all together due to multiple issues from recent to years past and have the First System as their primary

Sure. Essentially what this means is that FIRST system managers are taking steps to reserve resources to support increased call capacity and performance in St Mary's County over what was originally planned. Coverage in a typical county would be provided by a simulcast cell (a group of towers) utilizing six frequencies (aka "sixpack') that provides for up to 10 talkpaths (simultaneous conversations.) Some county designs also have ASRs, which are additional single tower sites deployed to fill in coverage (or for other technical reasons.) The state's original STMC design consisted of one simulcast cell, and one ASR site in Bethune. This design would support the state's goal to provide on-street coverage using portable radios in 95% of the county for its users. However, local jurisdictions often desire better coverage inside buildings, thus a design to accomplish better performance typically requires additional tower sites and other technologies. Onboarding county users would also require more channel capacity, so the system managers are reserving two additional frequencies for each site within the county, which will provide for 4 more talkpaths. Bottom line: the state is planning to add two additional ASR sites (one in California, and one TBD) and two additional frequencies per site. What we don't know yet is if STMC has contracted with Motorola to actually build the additional infrastructure and if they plan to move operations to FIRST. It's possible that STMC intends to use FIRST as a backup system to their current Harris system, but an investment in additional infrastructure of this scale would not be insignificant, and would be borne by the county.
 
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ThePhotoGuy

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Not to sound stupid but can you break this down for me (you're abbreviations) ? What will this mean ? From what I'm gathering is that fire and EMS personnel want to ditch the Harris system all together due to multiple issues from recent to years past and have the First System as their primary

Saint Mary's County was recently approved to become "Primary Users" on FiRST. There has been some conflicting information if they will definitely use FiRST for primary communications or just use talkgroups (maybe their own or MD Tac's) when they have radio issues. But the information that "maus92" makes it seem like they might move forward to actually becoming primary users.

There is a link on a past post from the County's Commissioner meeting that discussed this. The issue is money. They will need to increase sites (ASR's) and possible radios and other equipment that is likely to cost a lot of money and from the meeting it didn't sound they were fully on board in spending hundreds of thousands if not millions required for the best coverage needed.
 

ThePhotoGuy

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Had wildcard on for a little bit yesterday on Talbot Site. My G4 reception wasn't perfect but pretty amazing to receive a site that is ~30 miles away!

11557 - Talking about conditions of sidewalks.

11569 - Encrypted. I wonder if this is a schools/school resource officer talkgroup. Noticed one of the RID's was a School Radio ID. I also remember reading that they were going to add a talkgroup with the schools that would be encrypted.

Also noticed encryption on Easton Police Tac 3. Not sure if it is full time now or just partial.
 

maus92

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Can you tell if these TG are "patched" to their existing system, or are units operating directly on FIRST with APX radios?
 

maus92

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I'm thinking the new TGs are crosslinked (at the system level vs. RF) to their existing VHF system. The county rebudgeted a $5.7M capital expenditure for new (subscriber) radio equipment from FY19 to FY20, due to a loss of grant money. However, funding was approved for dispatch center equipment and the county's share of funding for the Table Rock site. But maybe they somehow secured grant funding for radios after the FY19 budget was approved
 
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