Somerset County TRS Site Changes

[rr60]

Have you seen any activity on it lately? I remember when you initially posted it only to see work being done on the Wiley tower. However, I have not seen any radio fleet changes indicative of 700 support, and the license still booming but not discoverable in general ULS search (callsign only). Looking forward to hearing back, thanks.

I have not dialed that conventional channel in.

 

[lynchy135]

I know its slightly off topic, but still dealing with Somerset County...
Heard Franklin FD on the county system (FD Reg 5) today saying that District 3 (I believe their Smartzone) is reporting Failsoft.

 

[FT752]

I know its slightly off topic, but still dealing with Somerset County...
Heard Franklin FD on the county system (FD Reg 5) today saying that District 3 (I believe their Smartzone) is reporting Failsoft.

Yep. Just went back into Failsoft again. This should be interesting.

 

[FT752]

@lynchy135 Did you hear about Franklin TRS going into Failsoft again today at approximately 1042 hours per 27F?

 

[lynchy135]

@lynchy135 Did you hear about Franklin TRS going into Failsoft again today at approximately 1042 hours per 27F?

I did not, I didn't have my scanner on today. I don't want to go too off topic, but how is Franklin connected to the Somerset core, a smartX converter?

 

[FT752]

Nonsense, that's related to Somerset County and the TRS! This is something I have always been curious about too. I wonder what the nexus is since the Franklin FD TGs mostly simulcast on the SZ system and the associated Somerset County TRS TG. When running Unitrunker on Franklin and DSD+ on Somerset County, I get regular RIDs. But, when I monitor from an authorized department radio, every ID has 7 appended to it. For example, an FTPD console which is RID 10203 on Somerset shows up as 710203 on Franklin. Or, a RWJ BLS unit with RID 33120 is 733120.

 

[GTR8000]

The 7 prefix indicates a Motorola 4.x system; all of the TGID's and RID's were entered into the system like that. You would see the same thing with the NJSP and NJICS system, some of the RIDs that were prefixed with a 7 would drop the 7 on the ASTRO 25 system.

I'm not intimately familiar with Franklin and Somerset, except that I believe both were originally on a 4.x SmartZone system, and the county transitioned to an ASTRO 25 system while Franklin remained on 4.x? If that's the case, and if the systems are linked, then they are almost certainly linked via SmartX site converters much like NJSP 4.x and the NJICS were linked.

 

[FT752]

The 7 prefix indicates a Motorola 4.x system; all of the TGID's and RID's were entered into the system like that. You would see the same thing with the NJSP and NJICS system, some of the RIDs that were prefixed with a 7 would drop the 7 on the ASTRO 25 system

That definitely explains it, thanks for the information.

I believe both were originally on a 4.x SmartZone system, and the county transitioned to an ASTRO 25 system while Franklin remained on 4.x?

Correct, the Somerset SZII was discontinued sometime in 2016 per the Franklin TRS notes. It is about the time my agency switched up to trunking, so that corroborates it.

As an aside, I notice that very few Franklin Fire radio events come up on Somerset when idle, but anything from an outside agency going onto their TGs will show right up. District 1 voice activity can be hit or miss at peak use, but District 3 and Ops 1 seems to be the most consistent reporter. If anyone has experiences of their own to share with respect to monitoring Franklin independently or through Somerset County TRS, please do share.

 

[rr60]

I see/hear District 3 on Somerset TRS from time to time. Sometimes D1. Both TG’s, Fire Region 5 and Fire Ops 5. One RID has a fair amount of activity with them that jumps out, 1806481.

D3 is just a few miles east of Somerset’s TRS tower, Rocky Hill 500/700. Fuzzy memory says that is a 185’ tower.

After a call at 4:00pm they were returned to D3 after being told repairs made. Must still be using a T1 line. Franklin Fire does not benefit from the 700 Site on Harrison Tower either. I suspect the 500 cells unrelated to the 700 site are just barely being held together and certainly not improved. This is another sign that the end may be near for the 500 cell. How long that takes is anyones guess.

When I compare RSSI level of 500/700 cells the difference is significant. 700 performance way better. I have places within 5 miles of a 500 cell and loose CC completely, yet 700 CC reports -90 dBm. Sad but true. Mission Critical? For some, not all.

 

[FT752]

One RID has a fair amount of activity with them that jumps out, 1806481.

Hmmm, that is not one I have on record surprisingly. I have other Bridgewater units which have come up, which appear to be Green Knoll units that also have the mystery TG 3729. At first glance, 1806481 might be one of those radios based on the neighbors. Then again, every town seems to provision IDs differently, which leads to a different outcome. These new IDs ending with 4XX would make me think it's a fire mobile; however, it seems instead each section of Bridgewater gets their own block. If I then follow this hypothesis, that'd land 1806481 in the Bradley Gardens section (400 for Bradley Gardens, 500 for Finderne, 600 for Green Knoll, 700 for Martinsville).

This is another sign that the end may be near for the 500 cell. How long that takes is anyones guess. [...] When I compare RSSI level of 500/700 cells the difference is significant. 700 performance way better. I have places within 5 miles of a 500 cell and loose CC completely, yet 700 CC reports -90 dBm. Sad but true. Mission Critical? For some, not all.

As a critical user of this system, I really want this change to come sooner than later. If they want to continue getting back their investment into the T-Band sites, then by all means, let F&M, the municipal DPWs, and the other low-hanging fruit have at it. When it works, it works. If not, they're more likely to be able to pick up a phone or wait for the "storm" to pass. However, the conditions of the T-Band are getting worse before they get better. Two years ago, it was mainly seasonal to the "hot, humid, and hazy days". Now, day in and day out of interference across the board. If it's your lucky day, it is Mission Critical. But not all days will be that way, that is for sure. I already know a certain someone is going to throw a conniption if I have to come up on SPEN 1 just to get a message across, but safety is not a game of telephone.

 

[rr60]

As a critical user of this system, I really want this change to come sooner than later. If they want to continue getting back their investment into the T-Band sites, then by all means, let F&M, the municipal DPWs, and the other low-hanging fruit have at it. When it works, it works. If not, they're more likely to be able to pick up a phone or wait for the "storm" to pass. However, the conditions of the T-Band are getting worse before they get better. Two years ago, it was mainly seasonal to the "hot, humid, and hazy days". Now, day in and day out of interference across the board. If it's your lucky day, it is Mission Critical. But not all days will be that way, that is for sure. I already know a certain someone is going to throw a conniption if I have to come up on SPEN 1 just to get a message across, but safety is not a game of telephone.

Logic says the reason LEO was moved off the 500 cell was because unreliability (tropo). In order to cover Bridgewater and North County PD’s they had to get a 700 cell up on Stagecoach. It was only 500 MHZ. That happened.

The picture below is a plot of 24/7 DTV 19 RF 500-506MHZ monitoring. Note that there are about 20 events in 2022. These TV signals destroy sensitivity of 500-506 MHZ repeater inputs weather they are conventional or trunked, especially those sites with elevation. Further distortion of control channels occur in subscriber units.

The pilot frequency of DTV TV19 is 500.310. The TV stations shift each pilot a few hertz so as to minimize interference to each other. What that means is I can see (on spectrum monitor) the spike of each station on TV19. I have seen as many as three TV19 stations at one time during band openings. On TV20 506-512 MHZ I can see 5 stations at once!

 

[FT752]

Logic says the reason LEO was moved off the 500 cell was because unreliability (tropo). In order to cover Bridgewater and North County PD’s they had to get a 700 cell up on Stagecoach. It was only 500 MHZ. That happened.

The picture below is a plot of 24/7 DTV 19 RF 500-506MHZ monitoring. Note that there are about 20 events in 2022. These TV signals destroy sensitivity of 500-506 MHZ repeater inputs weather they are conventional or trunked, especially those sites with elevation. Further distortion of control channels occur in subscriber units.

The pilot frequency of DTV TV19 is 500.310. The TV stations shift each pilot a few hertz so as to minimize interference to each other. What that means is I can see (on spectrum monitor) the spike of each station on TV19. I have seen as many as three TV19 stations at one time during band openings. On TV20 506-512 MHZ I can see 5 stations at once!

When I first heard about the 700MHZ cell, I thought it was going to be strictly Bridgewater or a couple of other agencies in their vicinity. You had Regions 1-5 or so populated- and then there's Bridgewater holding all the way out on Region 10. If anything, I was under the impression they were not only on 700MHZ, but E! Obviously, that is a very outdated thought as I began educating myself from the wealth of information here. LE definitely needs to have reliable means of communication, so I get them being first up, which happened.

Wow, 5 stations at once. I mean, dead on with the entire operation of the 500 cell, packed in that DTV 19 plot.

 

[rr60]

We have yet another new paper location for North County.

A site with a Chester address on the Somerset Border. 4 Rodgers Road. This would
need a tower and all the fixings I believe.

This is about 1 mile from a paper site already on the books, at the water tank on Pottersville Rd off RT206.

Will cows fly? 🤣

 

[GTR8000]

Two new proposed subsites, actually. Seeing Eye Breeding Station in Chester Township (same location as Morris's new subsite), and Bernards Township Municipal Complex. Red pins on the map.

 

[richee2000]

We have yet another new paper location for North County.

A site with a Chester address on the Somerset Border. 4 Rodgers Road. This would
need a tower and all the fixings I believe.

This is about 1 mile from a paper site already on the books, at the water tank on Pottersville Rd off RT206.

Will cows fly? 🤣

A lot of weird animals on this blog... Flying cows and dead horses 😂😂😂

 

[rr60]

Two new proposed subsites, actually. Seeing Eye Breeding Station in Chester Township (same location as Morris's new subsite), and Bernards Township Municipal Complex. Red pins on the map.

View attachment 142940

Ummm not really. Mentioned in many threads here. Been on air at Bernards PD for a long time. Covering tracks. Maybe SOMEONE is listening 🤣 Search forum “monopole” or “Bernards”.

 

[richee2000]

yup..... Bernards PD site been there for years.....

 

[rr60]

Seeing more evidence of (2) new Sites North County as discussed above.

Pending microwave applications for both Seeing Eye and Pill Hill. Tower construction
in the spring of 2024 perhaps? Tiny Bernardsville and Peapack Gladstone will have a total of (4) sites providing coverage.

After decades Kevin might finally get a chance to leave lowband! Something to
be said for standing your ground.

 

[richee2000]

About Time!! If Bernardsville goes to County, that only leaves Warren and Watchung on their own UHF channels....

 

[rr60]

About Time!! If Bernardsville goes to County, that only leaves Warren and Watchung on their own UHF channels....

Need more 700MHZ TRS sites. Terrain and building coverage issues. Warren has about 8 remote receive sites to get HT coverage.