I've noticed several school districts and two contract school buses have gone to either dmr or nxdn in Monroe county.
Several school districts!
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iMONITOR
Silent Key
Some here in S.E. Michigan as well (DMR).
My favorite is the one running DMR on a GMRS frequency and no license to be found ... probably because one cannot GET a license to run DMR on a GMRS frequency ....
School Bus systems have evolved from the traditional antenna on the roof of the school or a tower at the bus garage on either a horribly crowded simplex VHF channel with other users or a UHF repeater system that barely covered the district.
NXDN and DMR radios are now cost competitive with analog and offer advantages like unit ID and GPS capability without the annoying pre or post MDC1200 squawk. So digital is an attractive choice even for an in-school or limited coverage system.
Digital trunked systems offer many advantages over the old analog community repeaters that were the early alternative to a private system. The Mobiletech analog LTR-NET trunked system was a pioneer with wide area roaming capability which was great for keeping in touch with a bus on a field trip or sports event at a distant location. It also offered an optional integrated GPS tracking capability even with the limitations of the analog technology.
There are many vendors in the Rochester area now with digital trunked systems. RadioMax (formerly Finger Lakes) DMR-TIII and Rochester Radio NX96 systems are single site covering Monroe and some adjacent counties. FM Communications NX96 is a 3 site system covering the Erie-Genesee-Wyoming County area.
SaiaNet is a multi site DMR Connect + system based in Buffalo but covering western NY including the Rochester area and now expanding into Syracuse and features wide area roaming and GPS tracking.
Mobiletech is migrating their wide area roaming and GPS tracking capability from the legacy analog LTR-NET to digital NX 24, beginning with their core Rochester-Finger Lakes- Syracuse area but expanding. Their licenses for some major school system sites include UHF NXDN along with the VHF network. I assume the UHF is for on-campus use and is integrated with the wide area roaming for the buses. I am not in range of any of the UHF sites to confirm this.
This isn't a sales pitch since I have no connection or financial interest with these systems but I am impressed with the developing technology that can offer advantages to school bus and other fleet operators. I am particularly impressed with how Mike Saia and Jeff Pfeiffer (Mobiletech) continue to enhance their systems over the years.
Similar systems are available or under development in other areas. Someone recently asked on the forum "Who cares about school buses?". My response was it is primarily parents that want to be aware of delays or incidents. My interest in monitoring and documenting business oriented trunked systems for the RRDB is to keep aware of developments in technology rather than monitoring the subscriber's communications other than how they use radio to enhance their operations.
NXDN and DMR radios are now cost competitive with analog and offer advantages like unit ID and GPS capability without the annoying pre or post MDC1200 squawk. So digital is an attractive choice even for an in-school or limited coverage system.
Digital trunked systems offer many advantages over the old analog community repeaters that were the early alternative to a private system. The Mobiletech analog LTR-NET trunked system was a pioneer with wide area roaming capability which was great for keeping in touch with a bus on a field trip or sports event at a distant location. It also offered an optional integrated GPS tracking capability even with the limitations of the analog technology.
There are many vendors in the Rochester area now with digital trunked systems. RadioMax (formerly Finger Lakes) DMR-TIII and Rochester Radio NX96 systems are single site covering Monroe and some adjacent counties. FM Communications NX96 is a 3 site system covering the Erie-Genesee-Wyoming County area.
SaiaNet is a multi site DMR Connect + system based in Buffalo but covering western NY including the Rochester area and now expanding into Syracuse and features wide area roaming and GPS tracking.
Mobiletech is migrating their wide area roaming and GPS tracking capability from the legacy analog LTR-NET to digital NX 24, beginning with their core Rochester-Finger Lakes- Syracuse area but expanding. Their licenses for some major school system sites include UHF NXDN along with the VHF network. I assume the UHF is for on-campus use and is integrated with the wide area roaming for the buses. I am not in range of any of the UHF sites to confirm this.
This isn't a sales pitch since I have no connection or financial interest with these systems but I am impressed with the developing technology that can offer advantages to school bus and other fleet operators. I am particularly impressed with how Mike Saia and Jeff Pfeiffer (Mobiletech) continue to enhance their systems over the years.
Similar systems are available or under development in other areas. Someone recently asked on the forum "Who cares about school buses?". My response was it is primarily parents that want to be aware of delays or incidents. My interest in monitoring and documenting business oriented trunked systems for the RRDB is to keep aware of developments in technology rather than monitoring the subscriber's communications other than how they use radio to enhance their operations.
D
DaveNF2G
Guest
If SaiaNet comes too far east, they will have to change their network ID.
My understanding is there is no geographical limit to where a network ID can cover. Looking at SaiaNet current coverage, I would expect expansion to Utica, and south to Bath and Corning. Seems like a natural expansion to me.
D
DaveNF2G
Guest
SaiaNet's ID is the same as OneVoice.
radioman2001
Member
The migration to a rental system is a sign of the times. No more 350 watt low band 250 watt VHF systems (there are still some, but very far and few between),and School District bean counters love fixed amount costs every month. Around here they sell you the radio at cost to prevent internet sales, and then charge a monthly contract fee for radio service, and or repeater rental. What the shops get you on is removal/installs, broken antenna's and microphones which aren't covered. The service shops buy the radios with 3 year warranty and just send the bad ones out for repair. Another option is to pay monthly for the radio in addition to the above with a buyout clause so you have the radio replaced at the end of the contract. This gets you a new radio about every 3 years or so, but you actually bought a new one every 18 months. The shop then either recycles the radio to other customers at a discount or sells them outright on Fleabay.
Having the same ID isn't a problem, as they have different frequency files and the radio ID/SN will not be in Controller user records, so the user radio simply won't register to the other system.
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