Massive system patch for Gulf oil spill in the works

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rattlerbb01

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This should probably be moved to a general forum, but I have it on a very reliable source that several systems across the Gulf states, including TxWARN and the Greater Austin area system, are being patched together with common talkgroups, using ISSI, to deal with the oil spill emergency management efforts. This includes Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi systems obviously, so any of us in range of these systems will be in for a treat very soon.
 

KE5TLF

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mfn002

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Any chance the ISSI TGIDs could come over the Brazos and Washington County sites?

Another thing...
Here in Texas, I would monitor the following ISSI TGIDs:

2226: TxWARN/GATRRS Ch. 1
2227: TxWARN/GATRRS Ch. 2
2254: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 1
2255: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 2
2256: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 3
2257: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 4
2258: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 5
2259: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 6
2260: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 7
2261: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 8
2262: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 9
2263: TxWARN/LWIN Ch. 10
2264: TxWARN/MWIN Ch. 1
2265: TxWARN/MWIN Ch. 2
2266: TxWARN/MWIN Ch. 3
2267: TxWARN/MWIN Ch. 4
2268: TxWARN/MWIN Ch. 5
2279: TxWARN/LWIN/MWIN Ch. 1
2280: TxWARN/LWIN/MWIN Ch. 2
2281: TxWARN/LWIN/MWIN Ch. 3
2282: TxWARN/LWIN/MWIN Ch. 4
2283: TxWARN/LWIN/MWIN Ch. 5
 

rattlerbb01

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Seeing as TEEX is training a lot responders for this, I would say the chances of radio traffic in Bryan are high.
 

mfn002

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Seeing as TEEX is training a lot responders for this, I would say the chances of radio traffic in Bryan are high.

Bingo. Haven't heard anything yet as far as ISSI goes. Keep in mind that TransOcean and BP have a command center set up somewhere in Houston, according to what I've read in the papers. However, considering that the spill is in no way going to affect Texas, why would they need to connect with Austin?
 
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KE5TLF

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Towers of Mississippi has been working on installing a tower site on Horn Island all day today. They have been attempting to align the microwave links shoreward to the MSWIN Fountainbleu site for about the last 3 hours. They called it a night just prior to this posting time before getting the peaks they needed on that side. As they were winding down they mentioned they would work on the link to the offshore side tomorrow. So it seems this big patch is real and at least one link will be established directly through MSWIN. :)

http://forums.radioreference.com/mi...2629-official-mwin-thread-31.html#post1316603
 
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Cynergyze

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Info on ISSI connectivity in Gulf Coast Interoperability (CGI)

I can provide some background since I lead the ISSI trial deployment project last year which is now being tapped for GCI. I'll take a moment to explain that I resigned as a director at Motorola to start my own interoperability firm, and am now on retainer with TX DPS. They have asked me to help out on GCI if I can.

Here's some background info, and some questions:

> The P25 trunking systems in Louisiana (LWIN), Harris County (Houston) and Austin Travis County, are linked together to a test system in Schaumburg, IL over PC prototype "ISSI.0" gateways.

> The network connections were put in place as part of the "Texas Talks Trial" (TTT) which successfully concluded last fall and also connected Parker County (near Dallas) and the City of Laredo (on the border). If you google it, you should find a report from my website.

> After the TTT was concluded, LWIN accepted my invitation to connect and that was put in place last November.

> When the oil erupted, the state of Texas (TX DPS specifically) offered a team to help activate the trial equipment to see if it could be of some help in the cleanup efforts.

> In addition to the ISSI connections, MSWIN and Orange Beach, AL are connected using a radio-over-IP technology to patch selected tgs together. The result is that trunked talkgroups can be activated across 6 systems, 8 coverage areas and 4 states. I'm not sure it's "massive" but is VERY cool -- a true "system of systems", for sure.

> The ISSI connections are network connections (and in general we don't consider them "patched", per se), so they don't introduce audio and delay degradation created by console and roIP connections.

> I was able to sit in Schaumburg and hear gulf users on the ISSI network from there. Some sounded like they were standing right next to me. It was ASTONISHING.

>Unfortunately, the traffic loads from the gulf are peaking beyond what my off-the-shelf PCs can handle so they are resetting frequently. Motorola is scrambling to replace the PCs with the commercial ISSI.1 versions. Hopefully, this can be done very soon.

>I'm working on some illustrations, hopefully I can publish them soon. I'm also helping to advise TX DPS on how/if to put a production system in place to support ongoing cleanup and future response efforts.

Now for some questions:
> As the hurricane season unfolds, how might needs change should (God, forbid) a hurricane begins pushing the spill toward the western gulf coastlines?
> Could forums, blogs and social networking be used to get the word out?
> What other connectivity is needed? For instance, it's seems obvious to pursue similar wireline connectivity to other systems such as the Coast Guard Rescue 21 network.
> Anybody have ideas on how to get some quick funding? How to share costs?
 

bassman21

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I have been hearing some Louisiana coastguard activity on the P25 mutual aid talkgroups from the Downtown Houston site.
 

KE5TLF

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Seems the expansion of the MSWIN into the Gulf was for the sole benefit of the MS Naional Guard's surveilance flight ops comms with each other and their Incident Command Center in Gulfport. At least to this point anyway. Those guys are a lot of fun to listen to at times BTW. They take their mission seriously of course, but don't forget to have a little fun, usually at each others expense, along the way too. :D
 
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mfn002

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Have any of you been monitoring the marine shortwave freq's? I know it's kind of a dumb question, but I am curious to know what's going on there. If anyone's interested, I can email a copy of a channel list I've created, but an SSB-capable shortwave radio is required to listen.
 

eorange

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Does your list contain all general SSB marine channels, or specific ones used in that area / operation?

Either way, posting the contents here would be appreciated by many, I'm sure. :)
 

mfn002

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Does your list contain all general SSB marine channels, or specific ones used in that area / operation?

Either way, posting the contents here would be appreciated by many, I'm sure. :)

To be honest, I've never actually listened to them because I don't have an SSB shortwave radio. The list is pretty long and contains the marine VHF and HF channels, as well as the frequencies used by the Coast Guard. The whole thing was compiled from seperate lists posted here on RadioReference, and the HF frequencies are from a list posted on the US Coast Guard website. Anway, I guess I'll post it here:
 

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n5ims

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"Motorola officials supplied the ISSI technology and were heavily involved in the entire buildout, making it all work, Mitchell said. “I honestly don’t think we’ve paid a thing for it. They’ve been helping with everything to assist with the disaster cleanup and demonstrate the capabilities of the technology,” he said."

Assuming this is even half as successful as it sounds like it's turning out to be, the costs should easily be covered by the Motorola marketing for their white paper on how they can quickly interconnect the systems over such a wide area. I'm sure it'll also provide valuable research on the network, systems, and site loads caused by such an interconnection as well as handling such an emergency like this.

If they can find a way to make the links perminant (or even expand the coverage), it'll be useful during mass evacuations caused by the large storms.
 

texasemt13

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I agree with n5ims, this look slike quite a successful interoperability operation, and a great marketing tool for Motorola (kudos to them). From the few things I've read about this multi-P25-system patch, it's working seamlessly.
 

Russell

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I also agree on the success of the interconnect. Ominously missing from the GCI is Florida SLERS with their encrypted EDACS system, though clearly a large part of the Gulf Coast.
 
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