Rocky River fire on 2/23/2020

[lowes1]

I was able to monitor much of the activity relating to the fire on Marcs-IP Westcom Fire Dispatch 13503. I was wondering if anyone had any success in hearing anything on any of the fireground channels. I have other Westcom channels programmed in my SDS 100 including 13514, 54691,14208 and 13583. As I am writing this, I am finally receiving traffic on 13509 which is listed as Westcom Fire 2. It took me a few hours to discover this. Perhaps this was the active fireground channel which I am receiving loud and clear from Parma Heights.

 

[KWs]

Been listening all evening from Kent .. traffic was on Westcom Dispatch 13503, Westcom Ch 2 13509 and Westcom Ch 3 13514. I’m not sure those Ch 2 and 3 are properly identified in database .. when the incident began IC repeatedly told companies to use Ch 16 ....which seemed to be Ch 2 . Maybe 16 is simplex patched to Ch 2 ?? . Also seemed they were using an on scene repeater as all radio traffic IDs displayed as Westlake Ladder Truck 72 (from my UID database of UIDs) . Just my observations.

 

[wmlovell]

Been listening all evening from Kent .. traffic was on Westcom Dispatch 13503, Westcom Ch 2 13509 and Westcom Ch 3 13514. I’m not sure those Ch 2 and 3 are properly identified in database .. when the incident began IC repeatedly told companies to use Ch 16 ....which seemed to be Ch 2 . Maybe 16 is simplex patched to Ch 2 ?? . Also seemed they were using an on scene repeater as all radio traffic IDs displayed as Westlake Ladder Truck 72 (from my UID database of UIDs) . Just my observations.

Right, the WESTCOM Depts go to a simplex Fireground and patch those to the WESTCOM2 & WESTCOM3 talkgroups so that it can be recorded and dispatch can monitor (and we can hear their FG traffic as a result).

 

[lowes1]

When I heard the order for responders to go to channel 16, it threw me off. Thanks for the input. I'll be better prepared to listen to channels 2 and 3 the next time.

 

[medic5399]

The Westshore FG is channel 16 on their radios and goes to Westcom 3 which appears to be labeled as Westcom 2. Lakewood's FG is Channel 15 on their radios and goes to Westcom 4

 

[KWs]

So ... trying to make sense of this ...
database is incorrect on labeling Westcom 2 and 3 ?? ....
Westcom 3 should be 13509 ?
Westcom 2 is 13514 ?
Westcom 4 is what Talkgroup ?

 

[wd8chl]

Been listening all evening from Kent .. traffic was on Westcom Dispatch 13503, Westcom Ch 2 13509 and Westcom Ch 3 13514. I’m not sure those Ch 2 and 3 are properly identified in database .. when the incident began IC repeatedly told companies to use Ch 16 ....which seemed to be Ch 2 . Maybe 16 is simplex patched to Ch 2 ?? . Also seemed they were using an on scene repeater as all radio traffic IDs displayed as Westlake Ladder Truck 72 (from my UID database of UIDs) . Just my observations.

I find it disgusting that westcom traffic is trying up channels all the way down to Kent. That's a huge problem with that system-locals have a hard time getting a channel because the site's tied up with out of town traffic.

 

[wmlovell]

I find it disgusting that westcom traffic is trying up channels all the way down to Kent. That's a huge problem with that system-locals have a hard time getting a channel because the site's tied up with out of town traffic.

Nah, it's not like that. You can receive the Cuyahoga Simulcast Site in Kent. I was listening from Aurora, too ...off the Cuyahoga site.

 

[KWs]

Correct ... All that radio traffic that night was from the Cuyahoga simulcast site, as I locked on to Cuyahoga. Occasionally day to day radio traffic hits the Summit site but that is fairly rare. I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed Westcom hitting the Kent site.

 

[wd8chl]

Correct ... All that radio traffic that night was from the Cuyahoga simulcast site, as I locked on to Cuyahoga. Occasionally day to day radio traffic hits the Summit site but that is fairly rare. I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed Westcom hitting the Kent site.

I can't imagine hearing any cuyahoga 7/800 from Kent-not without a big yagi on a tall tower.
We barely hear Grafton from Lorain.

 

[wa8pyr]

So ... trying to make sense of this ...
database is incorrect on labeling Westcom 2 and 3 ?? ....
Westcom 3 should be 13509 ?
Westcom 2 is 13514 ?
Westcom 4 is what Talkgroup ?

Known and confirmed correct:
WESTCOM2 = 13509
WESTCOM3 = 13514

I know WESTCOM4 is out there but haven't seen confirmation of the talkgroup ID.

If different agencies call them different things, that's extremely improper of them; talkgroups are not supposed to be renamed, so there's always a common reference.

 

[KWs]

I have been told, the confusion at least on my part, WESTCOM 2 simulcasts simplex channel 16 on the portables,
WESTCOM 3 simulcasts simplex channel 15 which Lakewood FD uses.
Radio talk referenced the channel number on their portables ..
so when you hear say , go to channel (position) 3 (on a portable ) that is WESTCOM 2. But since they were using Fireground simplex ch 16, what listeners were hearing was on WESTCOM2.

And Westcom 3 is channel position 4 on the portable . So maybe thats the incorrect reference as WESTCOM 4 .

Make sense ? it’s confusing.

Regarding listening from Kent ... I‘m listening to Cuyahoga simulcast on a Uniden SDS 200 .. with either Scantenna in my attic or the supplied unit antenna, both work fine for acquiring Cuyahoga simulcast.

 

[wa8pyr]

I have been told, the confusion at least on my part, WESTCOM 2 simulcasts simplex channel 16 on the portables,
WESTCOM 3 simulcasts simplex channel 15 which Lakewood FD uses.
Radio talk referenced the channel number on their portables ..
so when you hear say , go to channel (position) 3 (on a portable ) that is WESTCOM 2. But since they were using Fireground simplex ch 16, what listeners were hearing was on WESTCOM2.

And Westcom 3 is channel position 4 on the portable . So maybe thats the incorrect reference as WESTCOM 4 .

Make sense ? it’s confusing.

Also keep in mind that which channel is patched to which can change based on the needs of the moment. If WESTCOM3 is in use at one incident when another incident occurs making use of the patch necessary, the patch will have to be moved to a different talkgroup.

Leaving a patch permanently fixed to any specific talkgroup is very poor planning. It's also a very big no-no per MARCS; if they're doing it from truck-based repeaters which are not active all the time they could probably get away with it, but doing it full-time from the dispatch center or another fixed location is forbidden.

Interesting to note that they're still trying to equate talkgroups to fixed knobs on the radio as if it were a conventional system with no named channels; they'll get over that sooner or later. Tradition dies hard, especially in the fire service.