surfacemount
Member
hm
I have no idea who that would be? We used to have several main line comms dealers around here. I would bet they would buy whatever they wind up picking off the state contract on EDISON.
The state of Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN)
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I have no idea who that would be? We used to have several main line comms dealers around here. I would bet they would buy whatever they wind up picking off the state contract on EDISON.
RadioCopFFFR
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radiocrazy123
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Lots missing from the database, you better get busy then.
surfacemount
Member
I'm not sure if this is set to auto archive or close after so many days, been almost a month so I am just posting to keep it alive; there's a lot of great information in here and I'd hate to have to start a new thread.
ccfire
Member
Has anyone heard anything else about the new site in Sweetwater
I'm seeing traffic on TGID 47215. It's linked/patched/simulcasted (something) to Blount Co SO and LE MA 05, so I'm certain it's LE traffic. It's in a block of otherwise State TGIDs. Lots of Unit IDs from various LEAs (BCSO, THP, KCSO, TBI). My Unitrunker actually shows a whole block of TGIDs here (47212-47217) with varying amounts of activity. 47215 is the only one active recently. I'm monitoring Windrock (002-017) and Knox (003-010).
What state agency is conspicuously absent (if any) on the TACN TGID listing? Ideas?
What state agency is conspicuously absent (if any) on the TACN TGID listing? Ideas?
Blount Co had a deputy killed in the line of duty. It is related to the manhunt as the offender fled on foot
I'm aware of the LODD, one of the reasons I'm paying special attention to the comms in that area.
Tobashadow
Member
Nothing so far not even site work done, it's needed badly for signal issues in Sweetwater
From an article in the Johnson City Press:
ELIZABETHTON — The Elizabethton City Council unanimously took steps Thursday night to join the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network.
This system will eventually allow the city’s police, fire and other emergency departments to communicate with other state and local agencies from Mountain City to Memphis. Just as important as the statewide communication, the network will also provide more effective communication between the emergency units of the city of Elizabethton and those of Carter County.
While the statewide system has been established for many years, there will be some expensive adjustments the city must make to allow the communications to reach every part of the city. The problem is to provide an additional antenna so the system will be able to reach inside many buildings in the city. There will also be additional costs to provide the city’s emergency departments with new radios.
The county has also been transitioning to the statewide system and it also has to make additional investments in infrastructure to allow communications to reach the mountainous sections of Roan Mountain, Poga and Elk Mills.
To cover some of the costs, the council’s deliberations on Thursday night were focused on a resolution to accept a $2 million grant from the Tennessee Violent Crime Intervention Fund that will provide the funding for needed radio coverage in the city. It will also provide for the purchase of 35 new radios. This grant requires no matching funds. Elizabethton City Manager Daniel Estes said two-thirds of the proceeds of the grant will go toward equipment costs and expenses for the radio antenna, while the remainder would fund some of the radios the city’s emergency departments will require.
The city already has an antenna on Paty Hill, but a taller antenna is needed. The Paty Hill property is too small to allow a taller tower. Communications experts determined a 190-foot-tall cell tower on Jackson Avenue could do the job. By renting space on the tower, some upfront costs will be reduced, but there will be recurring costs in the future.
In addition to the lease payments, the city will also be required to pay the costs of electricity, propane, maintenance costs for the backup generator and site insurance premiums. After the first two years, the city will be required to pay annual costs of $34,800, with a 2% annual increase for 15 years. The total annual payments to Crown Castle Co., the owner of the Jackson Avenue tower, over the 15 years would be $601,810.95. Due to equipment delivery time and the project construction timeline, it will be 12 to 18 months before the system will be up and running.
In addition to the 35 radios that will be purchased through the grant, the city will have to purchase a large number of new radios, with a total costs of $814,159.96. This amount includes 84 radios in vehicles at $4,999 each, for a total of $419,922.72. An additional 76 handheld radios will be required at a cost of $4,569.16 each, for a total of $347,256.16. Nine base radio stations would be required at $5,220.12 each, for a total of $46,981.08.
Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw told the council his staff was continuing to work on finding additional grants to fund the transition to TACN. Shaw said “this is something that is very important to us, especially now that the county is in the process of going (to TACN).” Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier is also seeking grants for fire departments in the process of upgrading their communications equipment.
Carrier provided the most vivid reason for the existence of TACN. He described the experience of his firefighters when they deployed to Gatlinburg to fight the 2016 forest fires. He said firefighters from many agencies responded, but he said no one could talk to each other because everyone used different frequencies and radios. He said the same problem was experienced in Elizabethton when the North American Rayon plant caught fire and firefighters from around the area provided mutual aid. He said the emphasis on making sure all emergency responders could communicate with each other goes back to the 9-11 terrorist attack.
Estes told the council “in my opinion, we can’t straddle the fence, we are going to have to do this.” Carrier said the city had a good shot at getting additional funding for fire departments, but would not know if the city will receive the additional grants until late spring or early summer.
Estes said that based on what Carrier had said, he thought that it made sense to go to the TACN system for interoperability reasons. He said city departments needed to be able to communicate with mutual-aid responders who come here to help the city and also when city departments deploy to help other cities. He said the city has an opportunity to receive $2 million now. He said he did not like that the full cost was not met by the grant, but there was still time to seek additional funding opportunities.
There were additional resolutions unanimously approved by the council authorizing the approval of the state TACN contract with Motorola, which provides the equipment for the network. The council also authorized a lease contract with Crown Castle.
In other matters, the council gave approval for city staff to apply for a federal grant of $4,824,778 “to improve and enhance the safety, security, and aesthetics” of the downtown streets of East Elk Avenue and East E Street. The grant from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program would enable the city to carry out some of the recommendations in the city’s Downtown Mobility Plan that was completed by WSP Associates last summer.
ELIZABETHTON — The Elizabethton City Council unanimously took steps Thursday night to join the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network.
This system will eventually allow the city’s police, fire and other emergency departments to communicate with other state and local agencies from Mountain City to Memphis. Just as important as the statewide communication, the network will also provide more effective communication between the emergency units of the city of Elizabethton and those of Carter County.
While the statewide system has been established for many years, there will be some expensive adjustments the city must make to allow the communications to reach every part of the city. The problem is to provide an additional antenna so the system will be able to reach inside many buildings in the city. There will also be additional costs to provide the city’s emergency departments with new radios.
The county has also been transitioning to the statewide system and it also has to make additional investments in infrastructure to allow communications to reach the mountainous sections of Roan Mountain, Poga and Elk Mills.
To cover some of the costs, the council’s deliberations on Thursday night were focused on a resolution to accept a $2 million grant from the Tennessee Violent Crime Intervention Fund that will provide the funding for needed radio coverage in the city. It will also provide for the purchase of 35 new radios. This grant requires no matching funds. Elizabethton City Manager Daniel Estes said two-thirds of the proceeds of the grant will go toward equipment costs and expenses for the radio antenna, while the remainder would fund some of the radios the city’s emergency departments will require.
The city already has an antenna on Paty Hill, but a taller antenna is needed. The Paty Hill property is too small to allow a taller tower. Communications experts determined a 190-foot-tall cell tower on Jackson Avenue could do the job. By renting space on the tower, some upfront costs will be reduced, but there will be recurring costs in the future.
In addition to the lease payments, the city will also be required to pay the costs of electricity, propane, maintenance costs for the backup generator and site insurance premiums. After the first two years, the city will be required to pay annual costs of $34,800, with a 2% annual increase for 15 years. The total annual payments to Crown Castle Co., the owner of the Jackson Avenue tower, over the 15 years would be $601,810.95. Due to equipment delivery time and the project construction timeline, it will be 12 to 18 months before the system will be up and running.
In addition to the 35 radios that will be purchased through the grant, the city will have to purchase a large number of new radios, with a total costs of $814,159.96. This amount includes 84 radios in vehicles at $4,999 each, for a total of $419,922.72. An additional 76 handheld radios will be required at a cost of $4,569.16 each, for a total of $347,256.16. Nine base radio stations would be required at $5,220.12 each, for a total of $46,981.08.
Elizabethton Police Chief Jason Shaw told the council his staff was continuing to work on finding additional grants to fund the transition to TACN. Shaw said “this is something that is very important to us, especially now that the county is in the process of going (to TACN).” Elizabethton Fire Chief Barry Carrier is also seeking grants for fire departments in the process of upgrading their communications equipment.
Carrier provided the most vivid reason for the existence of TACN. He described the experience of his firefighters when they deployed to Gatlinburg to fight the 2016 forest fires. He said firefighters from many agencies responded, but he said no one could talk to each other because everyone used different frequencies and radios. He said the same problem was experienced in Elizabethton when the North American Rayon plant caught fire and firefighters from around the area provided mutual aid. He said the emphasis on making sure all emergency responders could communicate with each other goes back to the 9-11 terrorist attack.
Estes told the council “in my opinion, we can’t straddle the fence, we are going to have to do this.” Carrier said the city had a good shot at getting additional funding for fire departments, but would not know if the city will receive the additional grants until late spring or early summer.
Estes said that based on what Carrier had said, he thought that it made sense to go to the TACN system for interoperability reasons. He said city departments needed to be able to communicate with mutual-aid responders who come here to help the city and also when city departments deploy to help other cities. He said the city has an opportunity to receive $2 million now. He said he did not like that the full cost was not met by the grant, but there was still time to seek additional funding opportunities.
There were additional resolutions unanimously approved by the council authorizing the approval of the state TACN contract with Motorola, which provides the equipment for the network. The council also authorized a lease contract with Crown Castle.
In other matters, the council gave approval for city staff to apply for a federal grant of $4,824,778 “to improve and enhance the safety, security, and aesthetics” of the downtown streets of East Elk Avenue and East E Street. The grant from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program would enable the city to carry out some of the recommendations in the city’s Downtown Mobility Plan that was completed by WSP Associates last summer.
ccfire
Member
surfacemount
Member
It costs $35k a year to rent space from CC???
$35K.....+2%, X15 years for a spanking of $601,810.95! I can just reach into my wallet an hand out the "chump change" right now. Can't everyone into radio afford that bargain basement deal? (Yes that was sarcasm.) CC, like any owner of prime property in the field of telecommunications, can easily charge pretty much anything they want because you have no choice but to pay them if you want an antenna up on their tall structure. Unless you have enough balls and power as an government entity to pull the backstabbing "Eminent Domain" crap on them. (Also an typical TN tactic, ask Nashville about how they played ball with the "Star" to get r done.)
As I have stated before the TACN owned part of the system as in West Tennessee is now free if you do not need a site added.
Several Cities and Counties have been added to the TACN System at no monthly cost just site upgrades.
Several Cities and Counties have been added to the TACN System at no monthly cost just site upgrades.
True, but this area is needing to add 2, possibly 3 sites? They would probably be better off with an simulcast set up, but that would mean using even more critical thinking and the cites, towns, and county all actually working together, not just mouthing off interop to only cover radio usage. True interop is when everyone actually does work together not just pushing PTT, but in setting up the system to begin with. (Yes, setting up an multi site simulcast cell actually is cheaper than building out 2 or three stand alone sites. But again, you can't be the big fish and pee on everyone else in the pond with real cooperation.)
Have you folks priced steel lately? And all the other components of a tower? And the recurring maintenance and inspections to go with it? $3,000 per month isn't as horrible of a deal when you compare the $600,000 over 15 years to the almost $2.5 million it would cost to erect a self-supporting tower of any significance. A system near me went with a Crown Castle lease instead of a new build and I also called them crazy, until they told me the ROI was going to be 35 years to break even. That doesn't even take into consideration the lead time to build a tower over the next two years if they started the process yesterday and had a suitable location to build. I'm also calling shenanigans on the fact that a simulcast is cheaper to build than ASRs, but what do I know.
I am very well schooled on site cost and all you have to get approved before you can even start digging then you have all the hardware Tower link paths ect. Plus all the hoops you have to jump through with Motorola Engineering to get an existing site approved for use as a TACN Site.
surfacemount
Member
I wonder what the MSI Engineering report told these people they needed? I've noticed a pattern over the years...
Probably the standard, "Must be able to fully support our infrastructure with no interference. Must support our backup power with no interference. Must be accessible 24/7 by Motorola without need to ask for permission.... Your gear must never cause any RF interference.... If Moto gear blows your crap up, too bad... Anything you see the Motorola MIB's doing you never saw, sign these 50 NDA's.... Oh, wait, you saw the "actual" costs of our stuff? Please look into this "eye exam device".."
surfacemount
Member
I was thinking more about what they told the juridiction their drive-thru / walk-thru said they actually needed, but I am certain you're not too far off.
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