Official: Don't Trust Ma/com Radios

[brey1234]

They've had problems for several months. Chief Fred Scott said the problem is not limited to his force, as other nearby departments have made similar reports.
When the radios gave out during a May 31 emergency services drill at Shippensburg Area Senior High School, Scott and Moriarty decided they would wait no longer than July 1.
The radios gave out inside the school, forcing police to switch to their Nextel handheld units.
Moriarty was concerned for the implications of such a failure.
"We need to be able to talk with the corresponding departments and I need to be able to talk to the county in the event of an emergency,"

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_9618116

In a related manner there is this report from NY State:

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/371285.html

 

[ocguard]

bob!

We f--king get it. OpenSky sucks. We REALLY DO get it.

Did M/A-Com murder your family? What's the deal!?

M/A-Com has proven (with EDACS) and will continue to prove (with P25ip) that they can and do build quality radio networks.

And OpenSky probably DOES have it's place -- in non-mission-critical wide-area cellular-type networks.

But Bob, we get your point. I PROMISE!

 

[dcr_inc]

Imagine that... MOTOROLA KILLED 600 Public safety officers in NYC on Sept 11th 2001...

That statement has as much validity as your repeated Open Sky bashing....


M/A Com Tyco Electronics has MANY Quality Public Safety products that are on the market and on the air..

The York Co. P25 system is going to be a SHINING star system when turn over this year.. Can't say the same for Dauphin's Batwing mess.. But I don't see you bashing that one..

Nuff Said !!

Out !!

 

[SCANdal]

MOTOROLA KILLED 600 Public safety officers in NYC on Sept 11th 2001...

I'm curious...where did this quote come from and in what context?

SCANdal

 

[Dispatcher308]

I think he was being facetious Scandal. I dont think that is a true statment.

I have to agree with everyone else OPENSKY does suck, however I have seen other systems made by M/A COM that out perform alot of other systems. Dave and Matt how does the saying go for Motorola you'll never pay more but you can always find better.

 

[SCANdal]

I agree with your assesment of OpenSky...

I think he was being facetious Scandal. I dont think that is a true statment.

308,

Thank you; I hope that that's the case. If dcr_inc was quoting someone who actually made a statement like that, I would have had a few choice words for the fellow who would have made such a claim...

SCANdal

 

[brey1234]

Keep in mind I do NOT bash Open Sky. The bashing comes in the form of newspaper articles that are written about the system. I also do post "positive" info on the system.
Please take a look at:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/PA-800MHZ/

 

[dcr_inc]

IT WAS FICTICIOUS !!!!!!!

It goes along with the OpenSky "Facts".....

OpenSky has a lot of GOOD features, they just don't work for public safety...

To put an article out saying DONT TRUST M/A COM RADIOS is not wise.....

M/A Com has and is building MORE Trunked networks worldwide than the Batwings.. Almost every military base and Gov'T office is using or is contracting M/A Com to build their P25 Networks...

Nuff Said on my part....

I am a believer !!! I have seen the light !!! Our P25 system is smokin' !!!

 

[SLWilson]

Article...

They've had problems for several months. Chief Fred Scott said the problem is not limited to his force, as other nearby departments have made similar reports.
When the radios gave out during a May 31 emergency services drill at Shippensburg Area Senior High School, Scott and Moriarty decided they would wait no longer than July 1.
The radios gave out inside the school, forcing police to switch to their Nextel handheld units.
Moriarty was concerned for the implications of such a failure.
"We need to be able to talk with the corresponding departments and I need to be able to talk to the county in the event of an emergency,"

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_9618116

In a related manner there is this report from NY State:

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/371285.html

The article is "very sketchy" about what is going on there....

They talk about faulty radios. Then they talk about the "new" radios NOT ARRIVING until July.

What were they using at the school that "failed" them?

Is this another one of those cases where a salesman comes in, tells everyone how good their product is (without being completely truthful about the number of necessary tower sites to make it work right) greatest thing since sliced bread and everyone fell for it?

I just can't tell with the info provided in the article...In the second article about NY, I don't know what they are doing wrong there...

Here in Ohio, I can be in the southern end of the state, pick up my MOTO XTS5000 portable and talk to a unit or dispatcher on Lake Erie.

The Ohio Highway Patrol has direct statewide communications.

Every county sheriff's office in the state can talk to every other county sheriff's office (all 88 of them)...

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (game wardens) can talk from one state park to rangers in another area of the state.

Trunked radio CAN and DOES work. Ohio is proof of that. But remember, in the DESIGN stages, Ohio told Motorola WHAT they expected out of the system. MOTO came through!

Steve/KB8FAR

 

[brey1234]

I don't want to get into an arguement but take a look at the title. It says :OFFICIAL: Don't trust Ma/Com radios.
It's not me saying it---it was one of the officials in the article!

 

[SLWilson]

Good Point!

I don't want to get into an arguement but take a look at the title. It says :OFFICIAL: Don't trust Ma/Com radios.
It's not me saying it---it was one of the officials in the article!

I wasn't trying to be argumenative. Sorry if I came across that way...I wasn't mad at you!!!!

I just get so mad at these "public officials" that have NO IDEA how something is supposed to work. They buy it anyway. Then complain when it "doesn't work right"...Like it is someone elses fault!

Steve/KB8FAR

 

[GTR8000]

OpenSky has a lot of GOOD features, they just don't work for public safety...

Well then...perhaps M/A-COM shouldn't continue to aggressively push OpenSky as a public safety solution?

I am a believer !!! I have seen the light !!! Our P25 system is smokin' !!!

You're comparing apples to oranges. P25 systems are based on open standards that all manufacturers have to meet, not on proprietary technology like OpenSky is.

By your own admission/opinion, OpenSky does not seem to be a viable solution for public safety applications. And yet, we see M/A-COM continue to market it as such. Maybe they ought to man up about the system not being reliable enough for critical public safety apps, and push their P25 solution instead. That'll never happen though, not as long as there is money to be made selling proprietary junk.

The bottom line is that the OpenSky system has been a miserable failure across the board in both PA and NY. Until they actually start passing some of the tests on these systems, it's perfectly appropriate for public safety officials to distrust the OpenSky radios. Human nature takes over from there, and leads them to distrust the entire M/A-COM brand, right or wrong. Again, M/A-COM has to look themselves in the mirror if that is happening, as ultimately it is their system that is failing and causing the distrust. It's really irrelevant that one of their "other" systems works great, as that's not the multi-million dollar system they sold these agencies!

 

[scan-pa]

Also remember it is no longer MA/Com, it is now Tyco Communications, as they have sold off the MA/COM name and there entire non Land Mobile Radio Divisions. Tyco will continue to sell, support and build EDACS, ip25, OpenSky, and other Trunked Radio systems. Like someone else said, the system will only be as good as Planned. If the user wants to cut corners and tower sites, and other needed features, then don't expect it to work.