New DPD radios...

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mass-man

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Several times this week I have heard dispatchers tell officers they are on the wrong channel...one officer acknowledged and then said "gotta love these new radios!"

Anyone got any details...new analog or something we are not expecting???

Inquiring minds want to know!!!
 

hiegtx

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mass-man said:
Several times this week I have heard dispatchers tell officers they are on the wrong channel...one officer acknowledged and then said "gotta love these new radios!"

Anyone got any details...new analog or something we are not expecting???

Inquiring minds want to know!!!
There were a couple of posts earlier this year on the DFW Yahoo group about some DPD officers field testing several different models of new analog radios, presumably to pick which one to procure.

Somebody made a comment last year, either here or on the Yahoo group, about Dallas going digital and/or trunked. But I think that was pure speculation. Nothing has shown up (that I've seen) in the paper or on any newscasts about a budget proposal or grant application to do that. With the current tight budget, I have my doubts. The present system has good coverage. Improvements could always be made, but do they really require a totally new system, with new radios for all personnel and vehicles involved?
 

mass-man

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Agreed...

I too think it will be quite sometime before Dallas has the funds to update the PD and FD radios...what a big deal that would be. I wouldn't think they could get another city to go in on a trunked system, as all the suburbs seem to be set in their communications needs.

That being said, Dallas does operate that trunk system for all the other city services...wonder if it has the capacity to handle PD and FD???

I guess a 996 or 396 is not too far away to hear the DPS but the Pro2006 should work for Dallas for a long time.
 

CLTX11

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I dont listen to Dallas much at all but it still boggles my mind they are on conventional. I guess since they arent sharing with other citites it isnt that big of a deal. They have plenty of cities surronding them that it seems they would try and get a deal with them to share the trunked system.
 

RESCUE4NFD

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Dallas Police Radios

DPD is just field testing different brands/models,there are NO plans for a new system anytime soon.Dallas Fire/Rescue when to a "Different" system a few years ago and it didn't work!So the City of Dallas will take a hard and long look before going to anything NEW.
 

hiegtx

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Rescue4NFD said:
DPD is just field testing different brands/models,there are NO plans for a new system anytime soon.Dallas Fire/Rescue when to a "Different" system a few years ago and it didn't work!So the City of Dallas will take a hard and long look before going to anything NEW.
At one time, Dallas had plans to go to a trunked system, as Mike mentioned.I believe there were some news reports that it was planned to tie into DART's system, in the event of a light rail incident, especially in the tunnel. But there were too many dead areas to cover withoutout breaking the budget with additional repeaters and/or voters. Part of that outcome was that the frequencies that would have been used for moving DFD to the trunked system were optioned to one of the PCS companies in exchange for radio equipment (repeaters, handhelds, & vehicular units) that enabled Dallas Fire to move from their old Vhf-high frequencies to the current Uhf channels. Part of that change allowed the fire & EMS vehicles, for the first time, to contact the PD directly, although that's only on the Traffic Division channel (Ch 7, 460.275). As far as I know, none of the PD units has a fire channel of any kind in their lineup. Never heard any of them come over to a fire channel.; it's always been a fire or EMS unit contacted the PD dispatch on Ch 7 as far as any cross-communication (anybody who listens long enough will get the double meaning of "cross" there).

The current Dallas local government TRS has a number of frequencies, with probably some excess capacity. However, I doubt it could take both PD & Fire ops, along with the current users. Also don't know what it's signal strength is all over the city, if it would meet officer safety requirements for either department.
 

mass-man

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Dallas TRS

Do you regularly listen to the Dallas TRS? I have never put it in the 780 but was going to spend the weeken updating the scanners...
 

Stephen

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Dallas is testing out the xts5000 portables and I believe some XTS3000 portables for use on their force. They are an upgrade since the old saber portables they own are no longer serviceable and the MTS-2000 is out of production.
 

VictorXray

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DPD Patrol officers are getting issued personal XTS2500 UHF model 1.5's.
 

Microwavemike

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Dallas XTS's

From what I have seen they are getting XTS series SDH band radios. They are High split
UHF analog radios. I doubt they are paying for a digital flash.
I saw the same thing in Phoenix before the change to the Motorola P-25 800 MHZ system.
You can't parts for the aging Saber and MTS series radios. My guess is that the same thing is happening to the Mobil radios, switch from Spectra to XTL series.

The big change with the channel selector from Saber to XTS is that a Saber has 12
Channel frequency switch and the XTS have 16 channels.
Also DPD may use the three-position toggle switch to change Zones on the XTS radios.
A big change from the menu zone change in a Saber.
With any change in radios, there is a learning curve to get over.
Training, training, training!!!!

Let’s hope Dallas will NOT move to the 800 Digital bandwagon.

mm
 

jason51

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New radios

Last I heard, the City of Dallas radio contract was up for bid. That was some time ago. About a month after I heard that, I noticed DPD had xts 5000 radios. I guess Motorola got the contract again? As someone had said in an earlier post, the sabers are not repairable any more, at least not if you ask Motorola, and they were looking to replace some radios.
As far as a trunked system goes, I think Dallas learned their lesson years ago when GE majorly screwed up on their contract and installation of the edacs system. I heard from city leaders back when that happened that they were going to stay on UHF and were not the least bit interested in going on a trunked system after dealing with GE/Ericsson.
Dallas is way better off on uhf anyway, easier to listen to and the range is great.
The way Dallas has their system set up, with voters and all, is an excellent system. Far better than any Trunked system can offer. And besides, has anyone listened to DPD lately? It is like listening to the Looney Toons, it is hilarious. I don't think alot of city PD and Fire workers could figure out how to operate a trunked radio.
 

hiegtx

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When is Dallas Fire switchin to digital? Will they be encrypted?

See http://forums.radioreference.com/te...epting-p25-ph-ii-system-bids.html#post2391528

Dallas has requested bids on a new P25 system, for both the City and County of Dallas. However, proposals are not due until next January (2016), so I would not expect much change for maybe the next couple of years. Once a new system is up and running, and users switched over, then we'd have an idea of whether Dallas will encrypt PD and FD talkgroups. However, I have not seen anything that indicates their intentions. Very little of Dallas Public Safety comms are encrypted at all at the present time, and nothing has come out (at least so far) that they intend to follow the same path as Ft. Worth, Grand Prairie, and the upcoming Arlington switchover.
 
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