OTTAWA COUNTY MICHIGAN

[bodnarp]

Still looking for Ottawa VHF fireground frequencies rx/tx/pl. Please help

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Are you certain they're VHF? Direct from the database...

Ottawa County Central Dispatch Authority​

Fireground operations use 800 MHz national interopability frequences.

 

[afera15]

Ottawa will typically use there 70F##OPS channel on MPSCS for foregrounds. ## being the FD number

 

[bodnarp]

Are you certain they're VHF? Direct from the database...

Ottawa County Central Dispatch Authority​

Fireground operations use 800 MHz national interopability frequences.

Yes they use VHF I am a ham radio operator and we work parades in Springlake and we use their fireground 9 which is vhf. They also dispatch both on 800 mhz and vhf Their fireground vhf go to 1-10

 

[bobw4]

It seems to be typical for Ottawa County Fire to have everyone on a fire scene switch over to a Fireground Channel when there is a major fire. At that point, scanner monitoring becomes pretty much non-existent for the remainder of that particular event (other than a few communications with dispatch on the main paging channel). Sometimes some of the communications take place on one of the 800 MHz “OPS” channels (which can be monitored) but I never hear any communications on the “Fireground” channels.

Questions….

Are the newer 800 MHz radios only capable of 800 MHz transmissions or are they capable of VHS transmissions (sending/receiving) as well?

Are these Fireground channels that they switch over to while fighting a major fire strictly low powered 800 MHz simplex channels and thus do not route thru the MPSCS system?

Is there a list of the actual frequencies available (either VHS or 800 MHz) that can be matched up to the various Fireground channels that are used in Ottawa County (Fireground 6, Fireground 7, Fireground 8, Fireground 9, etc.).

I am curious why Ottawa County continues to page their fire calls on the older VHS system as well as on the newer 800 MHz system. Are pagers/monitors on the old VHS system still in use?

Are some of the older VHS Fireground frequencies still in use for fighting fires or are those used strictly for non-critical events (one member mentioned here that the Spring Lake VHS fireground frequency was used for a parade)?

 

[BSchaner]

Depends on which model of 800 mhz radio a department has. Ottawa county has the Motorola APX8000 radio that is all band VHF/UHF/7-800MHz. Kent and I think Muskegon county have APX6000 radios which are single band. The fireground channels are simplex channels that are only monitorable from a mile or so away. These simplex channels are in P25 mode which you'd need a capable scanner or Unication pager to listen to them. Some have said they use the National interop 8-tac frequencies but I haven't had any luck on those.

Ottawa County replaced VHF equipment on towers for fire paging at the same time they built towers for 800MHz. Currently the Fire North and Fire South VHF frequencies are active for the paging system. At some point when they feel like it, they'll switch to 800MHz paging, especially since every boarder county is strictly on the digital system.

As far as the older VHF frequencies being used, according to the data base, some of them have a few more years before they expire so they might be used for events or emergency management situations.

 

[depster00]

Ottawa County replaced VHF equipment on towers for fire paging at the same time they built towers for 800MHz. Currently the Fire North and Fire South VHF frequencies are active for the paging system. At some point when they feel like it, they'll switch to 800MHz paging, especially since every boarder county is strictly on the digital system.

Recent Ottawa County Dispatch meeting minutes said that migration to 800mhz paging was being left up to the fire chiefs, and would not currently be directed by the Dispatch Authority.

 

[depster00]

Is there a list of the actual frequencies available (either VHS or 800 MHz) that can be matched up to the various Fireground channels that are used in Ottawa County (Fireground 6, Fireground 7, Fireground 8, Fireground 9, etc.).

Are some of the older VHS Fireground frequencies still in use for fighting fires or are those used strictly for non-critical events (one member mentioned here that the Spring Lake VHS fireground frequency was used for a parade)?

I'd suggest searching the FCC ULS database for VHF/UHF frequencies in the PW service group. It should help narrow down the search for what is and isn't active regarding local frequencies.

 

[bodnarp]

Ferrysburg/Springlake for working parades

 

[bodnarp]

Ottawa fd do not trust 800mhz paging