Maryland FIRST 700mhz TRS

[u2brent]

TG 12498 very active today on Cecil site.
Haven't listened to recordings yet...
Anybody have a clue? Dorchester range??

; ? 12498

P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384009,    50,  Normal,       2,  2019/09/06 15:47,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384012,    50,  Normal,       1,  2019/09/06 15:53,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384015,    50,  Normal,       6,  2019/09/06 16:26,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384017,    50,  Normal,       2,  2019/09/06 16:27,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384022,    50,  Normal,       1,  2019/09/06 15:34,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384023,    50,  Normal,      21,  2019/09/06 16:26,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384028,    50,  Normal,       3,  2019/09/06 16:27,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384033,    50,  Normal,       1,  2019/09/06 15:55,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384036,    50,  Normal,       1,  2019/09/06 17:16,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384056,    50,  Normal,       7,  2019/09/06 16:29,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384058,    50,  Normal,       3,  2019/09/06 15:50,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384091,    50,  Normal,       8,  2019/09/06 16:02,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384095,    50,  Normal,      26,  2019/09/06 18:29,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384126,    50,  Normal,       5,  2019/09/06 16:20,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384139,    50,  Normal,       1,  2019/09/06 17:24,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384154,    50,  Normal,       7,  2019/09/06 15:21,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384250,    50,  Normal,      10,  2019/09/06 17:15,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384251,    50,  Normal,       7,  2019/09/06 16:02,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384256,    50,  Normal,       9,  2019/09/06 15:56,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384258,    50,  Normal,       2,  2019/09/06 15:52,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384263,    50,  Normal,       1,  2019/09/06 16:27,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384267,    50,  Normal,       7,  2019/09/06 15:02,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384268,    50,  Normal,      11,  2019/09/06 16:27,  ""
P25,       BEE00.4A2, 12498,      2384277,    50,  Normal,       4,  2019/09/06 15:10,  ""

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

@u2brent

12498 - Dorchester School Buses

I heard it active while I was in Worcester/OC this week. I was going to submit it soon....

 

[u2brent]

@u2brent

12498 - Dorchester School Buses

I heard it active while I was in Worcester/OC this week. I was going to submit it soon....

@ThePhotoGuy
Thanks!
Interesting, I guess they were traveling well beyond their normal range today..

 

[maus92]

@ThePhotoGuy
Thanks!
Interesting, I guess they were traveling well beyond their normal range today..

Maybe the install shop is up that way somewhere. Or a field trip.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

Finally going through some data from this past week in Ocean City.

12498 Dorchester School Buses (Submitted).

8389 - ""Park 1xx to "Camper contact", you are on wrong "station" switch to "Assateague Ops""

7452 - Encrypted. MSP/Wicomico Radio Id's.

7579 - DNR Patch

7580 - DNR Unknown

8222 "Radio 242 to 371, Radio check". DHMH? Worcester/Somerset Site.

11560 - Talbot. Encrypted. First time logging this talkgroup.

11557 -Talbot. "Stop by the office when you get a chance ." "10-4"

11563 - Talbot. Encrypted.

7473 - Encrypted. First time seeing this. Single RID, Patch? Worcester/Somerset.

 

[maus92]

TG 8335 doesn't appear to be the MTA Radio Shop based on the conversation I heard on it at ~10pm Friday night. Two women chit-chatting, one talking about a pregnancy, and the other about logging something. Sounded like a security post. They did sound like state employees, and they could very well work for MTA - just not sure it's the radio shop.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

Agenda for the Radio Control Board Meeting for Tomorrow...

https://doit.maryland.gov/support/Radio%20Control%20Board%20Minutes/September%2018,%202019%20Agenda.pdf

 

[slatescan]

Agenda for the Radio Control Board Meeting for Tomorrow...

https://doit.maryland.gov/support/Radio%20Control%20Board%20Minutes/September%2018,%202019%20Agenda.pdf

Sounds like we will get some fed govt users for interop on first soon

 

[Chris52]

Any idea when the First system will be up and operational in Southern Maryland ?

 

[maus92]

Any idea when the First system will be up and operational in Southern Maryland ?

Still months away. They completed the system design and backhaul, and are currently installing antennas and LMR equipment. The Nice tower structure will be delivered next week, and complete by the end of October. Not sure how long coverage testing will take once the sites are on the air.

 

[awal]

Any idea when the First system will be up and operational in Southern Maryland ?

I’ve heard it as far south as Waldorf, Chris....

 

[maus92]

I’ve heard it as far south as Waldorf, Chris....

I can hear the system on the ICC in Montgomery County (Howard site,) but that doesn't make it operational in the county. Chris can sometimes receive the Worcester / Somerset site from his location, but again the system is not operational in SoMD.

 

[maus92]

Agenda for the Radio Control Board Meeting for Tomorrow...

https://doit.maryland.gov/support/Radio%20Control%20Board%20Minutes/September%2018,%202019%20Agenda.pdf

Not a whole lot of new news from the RCB meeting. Phase 5 is on what seems to be a slow roll build out - I'd be surprised if any Zone 5 sites will be online by the end of the year. The Nice ASR site has just about completed its foundation work, and the tower structure should be completed by the end of October. Several existing towers need "remediation" (strengthening) to support FIRST equipment. The Calvert Cliffs North tower site is apparently tall (it can be seen from Dorchester Co. it will be used by Calvert's new system and FIRST, and will also support a MW link across the bay from Bucktown (Smithville.) . It was noted that there is some coverage already in Calvert County from Dorchester County sites, and they expect improved coverage in western Dorchester from the Calvert Cliffs (and other Calvert) sites.

The TV Hill site to support MTA ops will be a Baltimore Simulcast member, and not an ASR. The site should help improve coverage in central Baltimore City and will help to support state operations if required (the state has limited jurisdiction in the city.)

Cherrytown Chicken ASR plodding along; LMR equipment purchase contract is being modified, although the tower lease is signed.

Table Rock ASR is due to be complete in Spring 2020.

ICC / Georgia Avenue site moving along, but still needs to complete the local review process with MNCPPC.

Crisfield ASR: Somerset County has started construction on the tower, and will install its equipment in a temporary shelter until the state's shelter is built. The state has purchased its LMR equipment.

Cecilton ASR has incorrect antennas installed, apparently due to internal miscommunication between Motorola Solutions business groups. This has apparently been a continuing problem with Motorola - the localities that elect to join FIRST purchase their equipment from the local Motorola rep, the state is working with a different group that builds infrastructure / large systems. The state has expressed its displeasure with the situation.

Ocean City ASR antenna "remapping." The tower site is already at 115% loading, so it will require strengthening to support relocating antennas: ~$200K. Previously noted that they want to move antenna(s) to a different tower leg. Also noted that the receive antenna is located at the tower top, while the transmit antenna is only about 1/2 up (which I assume results in better talk-in performance.)

The UPS upgrades have been completed. Grid power reliability in Western Md is an issue, one reason why the UPS upgrades were necessary.

Garrett County onboarding. All Sheriff's deputies now have FIRST portable subscribers. Some state agencies loaned the county consolettes so they can interoperate to some degree. Some grant money was awarded to the county to buy equipment - not sure of the source or how much. Engineers are travelling to Garrett next week to explore the possibility of installing consoles in the existing 911 center.

NSA Police approved as Interoperability User. 72 TDMA radios. Note that the MSP currently have to borrow NSA radios for their security patrol. The NSA Police are seeking TG sharing agreements with the FBI, MSP, and Kent County (must be some secret facility in Kent County?)

Delaware will take another 5-10 years to get rid of their janky FDMA radios, but they are making an effort to replace radios in units that respond into Maryland. Sussex is reflashing all their radios to support TDMA.

The localities for some reason did not understand / were not told that the system will be transitioning to Layer 2 / Ethernet transport protocol to support future Motorola technology / system software loads. This has created a financial burden, and the state has agreed in principal to cover the cost of the necessary connectivity upgrades - although there are several more political / budgetary hurdles. The conversion to ethernet also affects the new MIEMSS backhaul network - MIEMSS MW and fiber carries a substantial amount of FIRST traffic. A board member seemed angry that Motorola is sunsetting its support for T1, but TBH it should be expected that a system designed 10 years ago and implemented over 8 years is going to face some obsolescence issues - it is the nature of technology.

 

[LordDonkey]

Oh boy do I know about the unstable power grid. In Garrett, especially areas west of Friendsville that don't have Potomac Edison for power, have very frequent power outages. Most of the time it's sunny and calm and poof, power is out. The Blooming Rose tower is probably welcoming those UPS upgrades.

As for Garrett County Sheriff's, I have seen quite a lot of new Sheriff's RIDs show up, I've been setting up aliases in SDRTrunk to correlate RIDs with unit numbers. I've noticed GCSO is still using analog for the most part in the Friendsville area. It seems like they have the tac channel patched into the dispatch channel for now.

 

[maus92]

The was an announcement on the Dorchester Fire Ops TG about a mandatory training session about a new radio channel layout. Not sure what's going to change....

 

[boatbod]

The was an announcement on the Dorchester Fire Ops TG about a mandatory training session about a new radio channel layout. Not sure what's going to change....

Interesting - I haven't heard anything about this but will make inquiries. Talbot units frequently respond to Dorchester for mutual aid, so it'd probably be good to know if they are changing something. Of course, it might just be a case of training catching up with the existing programming/usage, which was much different than how they operated prior to switching over to FiRST.

 

[LordDonkey]

Garrett County got some good news today! They got a $907,061.81 grant for new radios.

 

[maus92]

Does fit in with the engineer's trip to the county this week.

 

[awal]

I can hear the system on the ICC in Montgomery County (Howard site,) but that doesn't make it operational in the county. Chris can sometimes receive the Worcester / Somerset site from his location, but again the system is not operational in SoMD.

I misinterpreted what he was saying, I gotcha.

 

[maus92]

About Garrett's FEMA grant to buy radio equipment. I'm curious why a local fire department had to apply for the grant (with help from a fire grants service,) rather than the county. Is this a technicality in the structure of the grant program, that a local department is the applicant? The grant covers mobiles and one (?) portable per fire unit - are EMS companies included? I'm also assuming that this will be the initial tranche of subscriber radios, with more expected to be funded by the county at a later date? And i wonder if this includes consoles at the 911 center?