Maryland FIRST 700mhz TRS

[ThePhotoGuy]

" We continue to add new radio communication sites as part of our Coverage Improvement Program. Sites at Taylorsville and Sykesville are being added, creating a new simulcast cell in Carroll County, and new sites at the Maryland State Police Barrack in LaVale and Swallow Falls are currently in progress. "

"The two proposed new radio sites for FY 23 are at Harvey Gummel in Carroll County and at the Greenbriar State Park in Washington County."

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/meeting_material/2022/app%20-%20132894357292222592%20-%20CAP%20Budget%20Hearing%202.16.22.pdf

 

[policefreak]

Apologies if this has already been answered, I've searched the thread and Google and all i have is a PDF document from 2015ish. Is there a resource that lists the tower locations for the FIRST system? Mainly looking for Cecil County, Harford and Kent County. Thanks in advance.

 

[west-pac]

Apologies if this has already been answered, I've searched the thread and Google and all i have is a PDF document from 2015ish. Is there a resource that lists the tower locations for the FIRST system? Mainly looking for Cecil County, Harford and Kent County. Thanks in advance.

The FCC licenses typically list the tower locations.

 

[maus92]

The FCC licenses typically list the tower locations.

Unless the sites are using state channels. There is no public document that lists tower sites, but the system makes heavy use of existing state and county owned towers.

 

[west-pac]

Unless the sites are using state channels.

That's why I said "typically".

And after looking past the first Cecil Co site, I see the rest appear to be simulcast sites using statewide licenses.

 

[west-pac]

Apologies if this has already been answered, I've searched the thread and Google and all i have is a PDF document from 2015ish. Is there a resource that lists the tower locations for the FIRST system? Mainly looking for Cecil County, Harford and Kent County. Thanks in advance.

You could always try reading city, town, and county meeting minutes online for those counties. It's likely that a lot of responders in those counties know (or heard) where the sites are. When changing from one radio system to another, radio coverage is always part of the discussion. When you're trying to 'sell' a simulcast site to those who hold the purse-strings, or to those who will use the system, site locations are always nonchalantly disclosed. Look for newspaper articles as well. Somebody is paying for 4, 5, 6, etc..radio sites, and hundreds of radios,... there will be public record and discussion about it.

 

[west-pac]

Apologies if this has already been answered, I've searched the thread and Google and all i have is a PDF document from 2015ish. Is there a resource that lists the tower locations for the FIRST system? Mainly looking for Cecil County, Harford and Kent County. Thanks in advance.

Also search social media pages in those counties. Sheriff, small town FD's, small town PD's, 911 centers, EMA, Red Cross, any public safety agencies, or anyone who may be a user of the system (city utility/departments), etc... look for posts about tower installs, antenna work, new radios, etc...

Another idea, look at social media pages for the local radio dealers and installers. They like sharing what they're doing, tower pictures, equipment rack pictures, etc.... identify landmarks in the background.

 

[IStebleton]

Apologies if this has already been answered, I've searched the thread and Google and all i have is a PDF document from 2015ish. Is there a resource that lists the tower locations for the FIRST system? Mainly looking for Cecil County, Harford and Kent County. Thanks in advance.

There was a PDF a little while back that showed an overview of where the tower sites were, and I matched that up to specific towers throughout all of Maryland. I used that info to make my own Google earth map. I can't seem to find the PDF right now, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

MD First P25 Site Map

 

[maus92]

There was a PDF a little while back that showed an overview of where the tower sites were, and I matched that up to specific towers throughout all of Maryland. I used that info to make my own Google earth map. I can't seem to find the PDF right now, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

MD First P25 Site Map

Good work, but there are some errors and omissions in Zone 5, i.e. some missing sites in St Mary's County and Calvert Simulcast, and some mislabeled sites in Charles County.

 

[Dispatcher308]

Good work, but there are some errors and omissions in Zone 5, i.e. some missing sites in St Mary's County and Calvert Simulcast, and some mislabeled sites in Charles County.

There is a few things missing from that list.

 

[policefreak]

Thanks for the map. I'm sure it isn't perfect but I found it helpful for Cecil, Kent and Harford Counties.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

14254 should be another Forestry Western area talkgroup.

14230 Forestry East Ops? Active on QA Site doing a burn.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

Another SHA Shop appears to have gotten FiRST Radios.

7254 - Active on AA Site. Call Signs of 33xx.

 

[maus92]

Another SHA Shop appears to have gotten FiRST Radios.

7254 - Active on AA Site. Call Signs of 33xx.

33 is the Laurel Shop; 34 is the Marlboro Shop.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

8426 appears to be a new Federal Talkgroup. Fully Encrypted. RID: 12904xx. Baltimore Site.

 

[maus92]

8426 appears to be a new Federal Talkgroup. Fully Encrypted. RID: 12904xx. Baltimore Site.

I had the tg logged on the AA site back on 22JAN2021, various RIDs in the 1290xxx range. Some of the RIDs also show up on MD LAW tacs.

 

[maus92]

Some notes from today's RCB meeting:

New Interop user:

DC Unified Communications, with 8,000 TDMA and FDMA subscribers; only TDMA are approved. Plans to become a Limited Primary user in the future.

Phase 5 update:

Motorola is redesigning the backhaul. The old design was not performing to public safety GOS and will be abandoned. The new design will incorporate MLPS technology, new hardware, and additional fiber to support dynamic routing. Plans and cost estimates are due on Friday. The state intends to incorporate MLPS throughout the system when Phase 1 - 4 is upgraded to Ethernet over the next few years, which is earlier than planned. Completion of the new Phase 5 backhaul is estimated to take 6 months, so SoMD and NCR regions will not become operational for some time.

Coverage Improvement Program:

TV Hill subsite of the Baltimore Simulcast went on the air in December and is now officially in service.

The Safety Drive subsite of the QA Simulcast raised the transmit antenna 100,' with a slight improvement in coverage. Waiting for foliage testing to determine the next step.

The Grange subsite in Worcester and the Wastewater ASR in Savage may also get antenna work to improve coverage in PG, including a switch to omnis.

FY21 sites: The Sykesville site is now live and is a subsite of the Westminster prime site which went live last year. The Taylorsville subsite needs a fiber connection and should go live in May. Collectively, they comprise the Carrol County Simulcast.

FY22 sites: The LaVale MSP site will install tower equipment next month and is scheduled to go live in June. The Swallow Falls site is in process with no ETA.

FY23: Install a subsite on the new AACo tower built to support the county's P25 system. The site has adequate shelter space and existing fiber service so should be straightforward. The site will augment coverage in AA and PG. Greenbriar State Park will be the first in the system to utilize an outdoor BDA. The site is designed to support DNR in the campground area of the park, which is in a bowl shaded from surrounding tower sites. A downtown DC site is planned, pending grant funding.

 

[maus92]

To clarify, the AACo tower site is in Davidsonville. And it's a MPLS network, not MLPS.

 

[BM82557]

... Greenbriar State Park will be the first in the system to utilize an outdoor BDA. The site is designed to support DNR in the campground area of the park, which is in a bowl shaded from surrounding tower sites...

What is an BDA?

 

[maus92]

What is an BDA?

Bi Directional Amplifier. It is most commonly used inside buildings to enable portable subscribers, but they are also used outdoors - the PA Open Sky system used them to try to fix their coverage issues….

The BDA typically uses a rf link to a donor site to relay signaling, and a low power transmitter to cover its service area.