Noise on Amelia County

[chynst]

Does everyone get the loud hissing noise on Amelia frequencies? some times its louder than the modulation and I cant hear what they are saying. Ive tried three different radios and its the same on all of them. Any ideas?

 

[trainman111]

Amelia's audio volume has always been incredibly low for me. Hoping they'll improve their system soon.

 

[TJX400]

I don't think they have the money to upgrade anything on it. They're still using the HT750 portables for duty use. It wouldn't surprise me if there was something wrong with their repeaters that's causing the issue.

 

[trainman111]

And the HT750's that we do have on the ambulances there are barely holding on. Many have broken knobs, antennas, buttons etc. Here's a lengthy document outlining the upgrade options presented to the county by an outside firm:

http://www.ameliacova.com/Workshop%20Documents%20May.pdf

 

[jeepsandradios]

Issue is on the end users to some extent. I fought this up north in the fire service also. Users get new radios but run them into the ground and refuse to replace. Yet they buy new tools or other equipment when it wear out. If a radio has a broken knob, antenna or other issues it should get fixed. If it can't get fixed a new one should be ordered.

 

[BoxAlarm187]

If a radio has a broken knob, antenna or other issues it should get fixed. If it can't get fixed a new one should be ordered.

One of the issues is that there are a lot of agencies who are using radios that have already met end-of-life...and not just small, rural localities either. I've met with a number of folks who've resorted to purchasing parts off of eBay for their front-line public safety radios.

 

[TJX400]

There's no way anybody will convince them to purchase a Phase II simulcast system. I don't think any of the folks there will want to cough up the funds. I feel like them joining Powhatan's 800 system is a bit more likely since the cost may be less. I would think the most likely thing to happen is nothing. I hope I'm wrong, though. I always love when new systems come out.

 

[jeepsandradios]

That's my entire point. There is no need to upgrade infrastructure if the subscribers are junk. I ran into that at my old FD. We were using 20 year old junk radios. Everyone complained. I secured a grant to replace all our radios and it was like a new system. If agencies budgeted replacements like they budget for other equipment they could easily replace 2 or 3 radios a year. Especially analog stuff.

 

[maus92]

This tidbit pulled fro the CTA report may impact Powhatan monitors:

"Powhatan County is considering a new feature called the TDMA control channel. Typically, in a P25 Phase 2 trunked radio system, the control channel does not support voice communications. In this new configuration, the control channel can support a single voice talk-path, increasing capacity without adding another channel on the system."

 

[CurtisPayne145]

So reference the post from today, does that mean the people who monitor PCSO, PCFD & EMS won't be able to on the P25 system? If so that really sucks

 

[maus92]

So reference the post from today, does that mean the people who monitor PCSO, PCFD & EMS won't be able to on the P25 system? If so that really sucks

Possibly, but CTA (the consultant) says that Powhatan was "considering" using a TDMA control channel, aka not a done deal. The downside to that strategy is that all interoperability partners would also require upgrading their radios / software to support a TDMA control channel, and currently only Harris offers this "feature."

 

[TJX400]

Possibly, but CTA (the consultant) says that Powhatan was "considering" using a TDMA control channel, aka not a done deal. The downside to that strategy is that all interoperability partners would also require upgrading their radios / software to support a TDMA control channel, and currently only Harris offers this "feature."

Therefor, when they call for mutual aid from Chesterfield, Chesterfield will not have the ability to communicate directly with Powhatan without a patch, and that will have limited range since Chesterfield units will be pulling off of their own towers, not Powhatan's. I think, at this point, a TDMA CC is a bad idea for Powhatan based on their surrounding agencies that will more than likely have to provide mutual aid to them at some point.

 

[BoxAlarm187]

Therefor, when they call for mutual aid from Chesterfield, Chesterfield will not have the ability to communicate directly with Powhatan without a patch, and that will have limited range since Chesterfield units will be pulling off of their own towers, not Powhatan's.

With Chesterfield still on a P16 Smartzone system for the foreseeable future, patches will be the norm, both on Powhatan's existing system as well as their new one.

I think, at this point, a TDMA CC is a bad idea for Powhatan based on their surrounding agencies that will more than likely have to provide mutual aid to them at some point.

Powhatan has mutual and automatic aid with all surrounding counties, and interoperability was given a LOT of consideration during the design phase. Don't read too much into a single line from a neighboring jurisdiction's consultant's report.