STARS Funding

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Stick0413

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Lets not start spreading wrong information here. Virginia State Police still have the low band
channel of 39.54 installed in most of their vehicles. They use this channel for communications with
the various counties around the state. The counties still use this to talk with the local VSP units
working their counties. It is used more in the rural regions than in the larger cities.

Jim


You are right I forgot about SIRS. I know the Hopewell Sheriff's Office units that run radar on 295 have SIRS radios in their cars. That is the one time I've heard traffic on SIRS was a Hopewell Sheriff's unit talking to the Prince George dispatcher about an accident in PGs jurisdiction.
 

Ghstwolf62

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I hear traffic occasionally but to show you how it has gotten I once monitored an FBI unit calling our local SO repeatedly on SIRS and not getting a response. I finally called dispatch and said they might want to check their radio. The dispatcher informed me they never monitor or even have it on anymore but would turn it on and see if they could get the agents calling.
 

Eugene

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When I posted the STARS funding.....I didn't mean funny "ha-ha" I meant funny as in odd.....sorry for the misunderstanding. As far as "my cousin heard it from his friend...etc" My friend works for the Office of EMS as a regional codes and compliance agent and has been to budget meetings and has heard it straight from the horses mouth. I'm not saying he is 100% right but he is seldom wrong. Now...as far as what may be going on behind the scenes that isn't known when these meetings occur (and as you know governments do not always communicate effectively) is another issue.
 

John

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Could your source have possibly meant that OEMS STARS funding was cut and not the whole system? From what I have heard each department and agency has to pay for their participation in STARS. So perhaps OEMS is opting out of using STARS and will revert to their legacy radio system. Sort of like VDOT staying on their legacy system instead of migrating everyone to STARS. In the short term that would likely save the department money. In the long term it may not as they have to address supporting their legacy system.

If this is a case, I am sure it will still present problems for STARS. From what I understand STARS is scambling to get enough VHF channels to provide adequate system capacity. Their plan had been to use the legacy VHF channels to complete the build out. So any agency deciding to keep a legacy VHF system will impact STARS.

John
 

KF4ZTO

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Any agency except for VDOT....and I know OEMS does have lowband licenses, we've already discussed that.

However, VDOT's entire legacy system is on 47MHz...so even if they never adopted STARS and stayed on lowband forever...it wouldn't help or hurt STARS not having enough frequencies.

If anything, I would make it easier, using STARS for routine VDOT traffic would certainly require more frequency pairs for each site.
 

Nitsud

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FWIW- We are supposed to be going for STARS training the week of June 10, in order to go "online" at 1200 June 10th. This is coming from a few people who would know if its true or not..anyone else heard anything else? This is at Div 2
 
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Eugene

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John....you may be right. It could be that Other agencies may have been cut....leaving SPD intact. So that would be why SPD users have been hearing different things. The moral to the story is right now with all the budget "tweaking" who knows,,,,I guess as Motorhead said his horses say different, I guess it depends on whose horse you listen to,
 
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