Volusia County New system?

[SkyPager]

I am hearing rumours that Volusia County will have a new system in operation in the late September or October time frame. The EDACS is going away. Has anyone information or can confirm or deny?

 

[bravo14]

I am hearing rumours that Volusia County will have a new system in operation in the late September or October time frame. The EDACS is going away. Has anyone information or can confirm or deny?

I did find this. The article is over 4 years old.

Volusia County, Florida, Migrates to Harris Corporation's P25 Digital Communications System to Improve Response Time and Save Money

 

[902]

I've heard that P25 is on the horizon, too, but don't know any timeframe.

 

[Homeboys-Scanna]

Given the high cost of these systems, at what point do governments settle down and just stick with what they've got?

 

[shadcall]

Given the high cost of these systems, at what point do governments settle down and just stick with what they've got?

Volusia has to change because EDACS will no longer be supported by Harris. At some point all the spare parts will be gone and you will not be able to repair any of the radios. So it's not a matter of staying with what we have. This makes change a necessity.

 

[Homeboys-Scanna]

So it's a game by the corporations by intentionally discontinuing stuff so you have spend more money. If agencies used conventional instead of proprietary trunking systems, would this sort of problem go away?

 

[mk262]

I am hearing rumours that Volusia County will have a new system in operation in the late September or October time frame. The EDACS is going away. Has anyone information or can confirm or deny?

Last I heard was 2015. It's possible they might have the system partially operational by then but I seriously doubt they will have made much of a transition that fast. I'm steadily seeing more and more of the XG-25P's issued. But there's still a lot of jaguars and p7100s out there.

They aren't upgrading the software on the p7100s for p25. I guess they did a cost/benefit and decided not to bother.

I do know there will be some encryption used on the new system. I would expect all of the swat, narcotics and vice stuff to be at least. Last I heard the LE# talkgroups would be in the clear. I don't know about DBPD but I would hazard a guess it would be cost prohibitive for them to encrypt their dispatch channels--and it would be an interop problem.

 

[mk262]

So it's a game by the corporations by intentionally discontinuing stuff so you have spend more money. If agencies used conventional instead of proprietary trunking systems, would this sort of problem go away?

I'm not saying these radio contracts are always well vetted but this is sort of like complaining your pentium II isn't good enough anymore.

Also, when you make the transition to p25 p2 you get essentially double the bandwidth, which is neat.

 

[shadcall]

I do know there will be some encryption used on the new system. I would expect all of the swat, narcotics and vice stuff to be at least. Last I heard the LE# talkgroups would be in the clear. I don't know about DBPD but I would hazard a guess it would be cost prohibitive for them to encrypt their dispatch channels--and it would be an interop problem.

What's your source for this?

 

[mk262]

What's your source for this?

County dispatch boss. Also I work for an agency in the county.

 

[902]

So it's a game by the corporations by intentionally discontinuing stuff so you have spend more money.

Yes, you've got it. Or, they sell things in response to manufactured crises, like narrowbanding (which didn't get us any more frequencies, but surely killed off a good number of working radios) and 800 rebanding (which was in response to a situation a leading manufacturer created).

If agencies used conventional instead of proprietary trunking systems, would this sort of problem go away?

No. Look at low band. The manufacturers have deliberately removed much of the buyers' choices in equipment. The underlying reason is that low band is largely infrastructure independent. That means that mobile radios can communicate over longer distances and varying terrain without needing repeaters. That doesn't sell radios any more than building them solidly, as they did with Motrac, Micor, MASTR-Pro, MASTR II, or RCA 1000 vintage. If radios don't break or go "unsupported," there's no need to replace them. Prior generations took pride in balancing salesmanship and workmanship. Our current crop of managers only wants revenue.

The deeper answer is a dual edged sword: trunking makes more efficient use of radio spectrum. All of the little systems in Volusia were largely replaced by 14 or 15 channels of wide area coverage. A small agency or user doesn't have to build a duplicate (or quintuplicate) system just for their own use and let it lie fallow 16 hours out of the day and completely unused 2 days a week. All of the resources are shared.

However - this degree of efficiency kills off competition. There's one shop around. No one else can come in and sell a competitive product. P25 addresses that... but only if the standard is not adulterated with proprietary elements.

 

[swstow]

I know pro-voice was talked about a few years ago when I still worked for one of the local departments, they were told that it would make scanning impossible, I explained that there was a way around it, and could be monitored , that was the last I heard any more about it but I did move away

 

[radiomanNJ1]

Just wondering if you are still watching a black and white TV. If it still worked. Oh wait a minute old TV's no longer work without a convertor. Do you have that?

Are you still using an Apple II plus computer? If not why did you upgrade?

Electronics, like everything else in our disposable world has a finite life. Scanning is a hobby and it's not always cheap.

So it's a game by the corporations by intentionally discontinuing stuff so you have spend more money. If agencies used conventional instead of proprietary trunking systems, would this sort of problem go away?

 

[MASTRTECH]

Last I heard was 2015. It's possible they might have the system partially operational by then but I seriously doubt they will have made much of a transition that fast. I'm steadily seeing more and more of the XG-25P's issued. But there's still a lot of jaguars and p7100s out there.

They aren't upgrading the software on the p7100s for p25. I guess they did a cost/benefit and decided not to bother.

I do know there will be some encryption used on the new system. I would expect all of the swat, narcotics and vice stuff to be at least. Last I heard the LE# talkgroups would be in the clear. I don't know about DBPD but I would hazard a guess it would be cost prohibitive for them to encrypt their dispatch channels--and it would be an interop problem.

Actually, P7100's can and have been up-graded to P25. I have done many up-grades.

 

[mk262]

Actually, P7100's can and have been up-graded to P25. I have done many up-grades.

That's what I'm saying. They = the county. I'm aware they can be upgraded. Also, the next sentence reinforces that concept.

 

[mk262]

I found this gem today. Looks like CI/Harris took too long getting the phase 1 system up that they will give the county phase 2 as a consolation prize.

I haven't heard any official word on this though. This might also explain why they aren't bothering with the P7100 upgrades since those don't do phase 2 as far as I know.

 

[BlueMoon2]

What's intersecting is that when I was down there a week and a half ago none of the firefighters or officers I talked to knew anything about it. Matter of fact it was the first any of them had heard about it.

 

[mk262]

What's intersecting is that when I was down there a week and a half ago none of the firefighters or officers I talked to knew anything about it. Matter of fact it was the first any of them had heard about it.

Not unusual. Most radio users don't care about that sort of thing.

 

[trooper890]

Volusia

Don't get too excited. This is a console project, not the RF infrastructure.

P25 is a good ways off....

 

[radiomanNJ1]

Hey Homey do you still have your brownie film camera? Do you have your black and white tv?

Wait till they encrypt everything and then you can give you scanner away.

So it's a game by the corporations by intentionally discontinuing stuff so you have spend more money. If agencies used conventional instead of proprietary trunking systems, would this sort of problem go away?