MERA upgrade nears conclusion

[ErikVanR]

So, what do you think about the new system's audio quality? For me, the voice loudness is quite variable among users transmitting, and that's from hearing it on three different radios: Uniden SDS100, Uniden BCD325P2, and a Unication G4. I was at my old workplace recently, and they commented on the generally weak/low audio quality from the station radio. And that is from a Motorola system radio(!)

 

[officer_415]

I haven't noticed any issues, it sounds pretty much the same as the old SmartZone system to me. My understanding is that only dispatchers have the ability to change their talk volume. Novato PD has always seemed quieter than every other agency, even on the old system.

 

[ErikVanR]

I can tell the ultra-narrow bandwidth (6.25 KHz) format does compress the audio somewhat. Maybe the new vocoder is part of it. The Phase II AMBE+2 vocoder is supposed to deal better with background and wind noise than the previous Phase I IMBE vocoder. The IMBE seemed to often "soak up" the background/wind noise and drown out the voice.

 

[officer_415]

There are a number of talkgroups in the 141xx range that are being used for volunteer paging. They are multi-selected with FD DISP on the initial dispatch for calls involving volunteer FDs. Presumably the volunteers have Unication pagers that are set to alert when their talkgroup becomes active. So far I have:

14101 - Tiburon Station 10
14103 - Bolinas
14112 - Stinson Beach
14114 - Tomales

Also there is a TG 15700 with around 35 affiliated radios but no voice activity. There are around 35 staffed fire stations in the county, so I think this is some kind of data talkgroup for the new fire station alerting system.

I've collected all the volunteer paging TGs using voice logging, and added them to the DB.

 

[officer_415]

MERA Gen 1 (UHF SmartZone) east and west simulcast cells are off the air. Sonoma Mountain IR is still on the air, but in site trunking.

 

[officer_415]

Sonoma Mountain is offline as of this evening. RIP MERA Gen 1