West Milford to install new PS radio system

[railtrailbiker]

West Milford gets $2.9M federal grant for new police, fire radio system

West Milford officials recently incorporated a $2.9 million federal grant to fund a new radio system for the town's police and emergency responders.

www.northjersey.com

 

[Alarmguy]

Long overdue, who even other than Kenwood makes Lowband Equipment? Kenwood Is only 39-50 mhz at that.

 

[murse_joe]

Any idea on what kind of radio system it'll be?

 

[NParkNJ]

Any idea on what kind of radio system it'll be?

According to the article “same radio system as state police” NJICS. Unsure at least from what I read, but it seems all services will be moving. If I had to take a wild guess, based of how things are for lowband, of course that can change….1 Channel PD dispatch, 1 channel fire dispatch, 1 channel ems dispatch. Outside of that, who knows…

 

[MFR465]

Can tell you this... I finally pinned down a PL for 155.7375 of 225.7 (database updated accordingly thanks to GTR8000). Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Alarmguy]

Any idea on what kind of radio system it'll be?

Probably be tied into the NJICS West Milford site.

 

[NParkNJ]

Probably be tied into the NJICS West Milford site.

I don’t believe New Foundland is up/online yet…

They’ll definitely have rights on Passaic county, and Morris County sites, at the very least as their total coverage area is really spread out.

 

[GTR8000]

Probably be tied into the NJICS West Milford site.

I don’t believe New Foundland is up/online yet…

There is no such site. A subsite of the Passaic cell was planned for that location years ago, however it was eventually scrapped. Whether or not they once again plan to build a subsite in the area based on this $2.9 million remains to be seen.

 

[GTR8000]

According to the article “same radio system as state police” NJICS.

The article stated "The new communications system will also be linked to the New Jersey State Police and allow for easier communication with neighboring municipalities.", it did not explicitly state that it would be the "same radio system as state police".

In any event, this has been in the works for a while now. There was an article from January that was written slightly better than the one posted in this thread.

$2.9M to pay for emergency communications equipment

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5, and local officials said West Milford will receive nearly $2.9 million in federal funds to purchase equipment for a state-o...

www.westmilfordmessenger.com

"To enable West Milford first-responders to be on the same system as New Jersey State Police for easy communication."

Still doesn't make clear if the township will actually operate on the NJICS primarily, or if they will simply have the ability to operate on the system by purchasing multi-band radios. Probably the former, as there doesn't seem to be anything yet pending for new township licenses that would indicate a new system being planned.

 

[8000XE]

If I was a betting man, I would put the house up.... NJICS

 

[murse_joe]

Interesting. I know things change but it seems West Milford has amongst the worst coverage for the NJ system. Even the mobile map on the site has patchy areas there, and the portable is worse.

https://nj.gov/njsp/njics/pdf/NJ_Statewide_Mobile_Map_RT.pdf

 

[GTR8000]

They mention "new antennas and infrastructure" in the articles, so it's certainly possible that they'll be building a subsite for the Passaic cell in the area, perhaps just not at the originally planned Bearfort Mtn location.

PS - @NParkNJ you might be confusing the Echo Lake Stables (aka Newfoundland) subsite with the originally planned/later scrapped Bearfort Mtn (aka West Milford) subsite that @Alarmguy mentioned.

 

[rr60]

Reading the article and then seeing this resolution, the following is my guess.The grant will cover infrastructure. A bond issue will cover subscriber units. The amount of up to $88,360 is likely for system design. I suspect we may see a new 700 MHZ system.

 

[GTR8000]

I suspect we may see a new 700 MHZ system.

I suspect you missed @8000XE's post. I'd like to know what sort of discrete 700 MHz P25 system you think can be built out for less than $3 million, though.

 

[rr60]

If I was a betting man, I would put the house up.... NJICS

Ahh I see. Well then lots of terms thrown around like infrastructure design and bonding for subscribers. I would say “bet the house” is the trump card @8000XE however.

 

[8000XE]

I don't mean to start any arguments - I had just heard from someone that PD is in the contract / review phase with NJICS.

 

[NParkNJ]

They mention "new antennas and infrastructure" in the articles, so it's certainly possible that they'll be building a subsite for the Passaic cell in the area, perhaps just not at the originally planned Bearfort Mtn location.

PS - @NParkNJ you might be confusing the Echo Lake Stables (aka Newfoundland) subsite with the originally planned/later scrapped Bearfort Mtn (aka West Milford) subsite that @Alarmguy mentioned.

Fair enough. Thanks for the clarification GTR. I’m pretty interested to see how it’s all going to pan out. Any word on your end if all services are moving over? I know 8000XE mentioned PD.