Mower County ARMER status

[Nathaniel_L]

Does anyone know when Austin/Mower County is slated to complete their ARMER transition? They already have the equipment set up (the county law channel is already on), and the news said the change was supposed to take effect last summer.

Thanks for any info.

 

[bbedsole]

I was wondering the same thing. I am trying to help someone in the Austin area program a scanner, and there APPEARS to be a tower in Austin, but there are no frequencies for it.

???

Does that mean it is really new, and no one has figured out the frequencies yet?

ARMER - https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=3508

 

[ofd8001]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...ApBorJFga3CErhDYhwiGxEQ&bvm=bv.68693194,d.b2U

The above link is to Mower County's participation plan. It is a PDF file that will download. You should see some good information on what is currently operational in that area, what enhancements are envisioned and a fleetmap for radios.

If for some reason the link doesn't work, do a Google search using the terms ARMER Mower County Participation Plan

As best as I can tell, they would like to construct a tower in Austin, but that project is in the "search for a location" phase which is the first of ten phases. Another tower in Leroy was in the construction phase as of January 2013. The Oakland Woods, Hayfield, Elkton, Rock Dell, Pleasant Grove and Wykoff towers are operational and have some coverage in Mower county.

 

[bbedsole]

Wow. Great info. Thanks a lot.

It sounds like Mower County has pretty adequate coverage from the Elkton Tower and the one in Oakland Woods.

So I guess the Austin tower would be more of a "bonus" if it materializes down the road.

Again, thanks.

 

[ofd8001]

The Austin tower would allow better system talk-in for portable radios in the Austin vicinity. Usually state wide trunking systems are designed for "open areas". They don't provide real great coverage for larger buildings such as hospitals, shopping centers and warehouses.

So local municipalities are "on the hook" to provide additional sites to provide coverage to these concrete/steel structures. Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Duluth and St. Cloud are good examples of these. If the community is "sprawling" you'll often see these "sub-systems" as simulcast systems.

Also another benefit of a local tower would be a greater number of voice channels available for use.

There is a wealth of information on the Minnesota State Radio Board's site and makes for good reading if you have the time:

https://dps.mn.gov/entity/srb/Pages/default.aspx