STARCOM21 PATCH

[Nbraves]

Looking for insight... when I monitor my ISP troop/districts patch to Illinois State Police's "IREACH" (D11/T8) I see digital communications that aren't always broadcasted over VHF and VHF comms that aren't always broadcasted over Starcom. What does that patch depended on to make sure it works when needed? Is there an ISP dispatcher that flips a switch when it is needed or something? I have also noticed something similar thing happen on ISPERN where only few times is SC21 traffic patched over and vise versa. For example, we have an Air Evac Helicopter that relies on Starcom21 for air-to-ground operations but not all fire departments in the area have the capability to broadcast directly over Starcom but rely on the VHF to Starcom patch.

P.S. It can't be that the TG must be affiliated with to have VHF broadcast over SC21; I have already tried that (legally, I promise)

Thanks for your time,
NB

 

[Starcom21]

They turn on the patch, when needed/requested, at least in the Troop 8 area.

Also, the talkgroup for St Clair County I believe is patched to the Troop 8 IREACH talkgroup.

Once in a while, I'll hear units just talking to each other on the talkgroup, in the same fashion it would have been on the old VHF.
When STARCOM21 first came on the air, just like the ISPERN Patches, they were patched full time. But they both started having issues with other district base stations, distant signals getting into the system and tying up the talkgroup.

For a while, some districts had a PL tone attached to the VHF ISPERN. For a long time IREACH was CSQ. D156 was added to IREACH, at least for transmit in the last years. I still hear plenty of transmission on IREACH that are CTCSS.

Also, 155.055 is used in Missouri by many agencies (not a statewide frequency there), which would also activate the patch.

So, it just seems they turn it on upon request. ISPERN seems to be activated turning an active chase or event.

*****This is just my opinion of what I've seen/heard happen. But a lot of this is what I have heard from others involved

 

[Nbraves]

They turn on the patch, when needed/requested, at least in the Troop 8 area.

Also, the talkgroup for St Clair County I believe is patched to the Troop 8 IREACH talkgroup.

Once in a while, I'll hear units just talking to each other on the talkgroup, in the same fashion it would have been on the old VHF.
When STARCOM21 first came on the air, just like the ISPERN Patches, they were patched full time. But they both started having issues with other district base stations, distant signals getting into the system and tying up the talkgroup.

For a while, some districts had a PL tone attached to the VHF ISPERN. For a long time IREACH was CSQ. D156 was added to IREACH, at least for transmit in the last years. I still hear plenty of transmission on IREACH that are CTCSS.

Also, 155.055 is used in Missouri by many agencies (not a statewide frequency there), which would also activate the patch.

So, it just seems they turn it on upon request. ISPERN seems to be activated turning an active chase or event.

*****This is just my opinion of what I've seen/heard happen. But a lot of this is what I have heard from others involved

This would make sense, other then I see the the T8 IREACH TG17031 have random conventional traffic sometimes with no need for being broadcasted over StarCom21; unless there is a unit affiliated making the system think patch is needed maybe??

When I started to do a little digging into the patches in my area I was looking at TG 8403 which is Madison County’s Fire Patch with 154.43. I noticed it will broadcast over StarCom21 under the conditions
•TG8403 is affiliated with
•VHF unit is in reach of tower
•VHF unit has correct PL tones

I was trying to compare these two patches and notice that IREACH isn’t always active (hence the topic of the thread) under the same conditions as County Fire’s Patch.

It would make sense for ISPERN to be activate by ISP but do they monitor IREACH 24/7? If not when would they know to open the patch for cross-band comms?

 

[cubn]

METCAD in Champaign patches IREACH to the county TRS only when necessary like when a medical helicopter was landing in rural Champaign County. They would patch IREACH to whatever Fireground TG was in use for the incident.

 

[Nbraves]

METCAD in Champaign patches IREACH to the county TRS only when necessary like when a medical helicopter was landing in rural Champaign County. They would patch IREACH to whatever Fireground TG was in use for the incident.

Who/What determines when it is "necessary" to patch conventional IREACH (VHF) and an IREACH TG (SC21)?

Ex 1) If I key-up calling for ARCH 1 (Medical Helicopter out of Granite City) with my SC21 radio that only has access to trunking, TG17031 (ISP D11 IREACH TG) to land on the interstate how will I know if that traffic I just broadcasted over StarCom21 will patch through to IREACH conv 155.055 Mhz so that ARCH that only utilizes VHF will receive my message?

Ex 2) If I only have a VHF unit and I call for Air-Evac 156 (Medical Helicopter out of Maryville) on 155.055Mhz with correct PL tones how will I know if my broadcast was carried to SC21, being that the helicopter only utilizes SC21 and communicates through TG17031 (ISP D11 IREACH TG)?

Just searching for the, "why does it only work sometimes"? And the "will it work (everytime) when it is needed"

 

[Elpato]

they both started having issues with other district base stations, distant signals getting into the system and tying up the talkgroup.

I can't overstate how annoying it was hearing troop 9 base bleeding over troop 3's ISPREN .. im glad they finally disabled it.

 

[cubn]

As for as Champaign County, fire units only carry 800 mhz radios that the helicopter doesn't have so METCAD will patch IREACH to the METCAD 800 mhz fire talkgroups while the helicopter is enroute and then deactive at some point after it lands.

Metcad can directly transmit on IREACH and does occasionally but provides the patch so the units on the ground can talk directly to the helicopter.

 

[VASCAR2]

Many times the tele-communicator calls the specific medical helicopter whether local county 911 PSAP or ISP. The Tele-Communicator many times confirms frequency or talk group when contacting a specific medical helicopter. I know old District 19 tele-communicator enabled the IREACH patch from their console. Usually a Trooper would request the patch or would use his High Band mobile on IREACH or a VHF/800 portable to talk to any medical helicopter.

I think the Starcom ISPERN TG was continually patched to VHF ISPERN 155.475. The older STARCOM Motorola 800’s could monitor six to eight TG’s if the scan was enabled. Frequently local Agencies arrived on scene before Troopers and local 911 PSAP made the request for medical helicopters. In my area the Fire Dept. or EMS on scene would advise what frequency to use for communicating with medical helicopters.