ff026 said:
im sure the system was designed for portable coverage. the reason you have 8 simplex channels is you can not run a fire and fireground on a trunked system properly and the poor coverage.
The system is actually being designed for 95% MOBILE IN-STREET coverage throughout the system. I believe there are 9 tower sites: Valhalla, Peekskill, North Salem, Bedford, Pound Ridge, Yorktown, Ossining, Yonkers and Port Chester.
It is NOT designed for portable in-building coverage. That is why they put out 8 simplex fireground channels.
Designing systems for mobile in-street coverage is what gets people killed, unless of course you are using it for what Westchester is...interoperabilty, command, MCI's, etc...and then it's fine. Morris County, NJ built a similar analog/digital system called MIRS for the same thing, interoperabiltiy. Every police agency, EMS agency, fire department, public works, buses, etc. has access to the system.
This is why alot of agencies in New York State will not be switching to the Statewide Network that is being built...it is designed for the same...95% mobile in street coverage. I feel sorry for troopers in rural areas of the state, especially since they are the primary and only agency in certain towns. Wait until they go into a house for a domestic and their portables don't work. Enough ranting....
I also believe NFPA mandates firegrounds operations to be analog and simplex. How many departments use repeaters for firegrounds ? I know departments that are using 800 trunked repearters for firegrounds ! It's because alot of agencies just don't know other than what the radio sales guy tells them...and he just wants to make a sale since he gets paid commission. I did say enough ranting....
Lastly, ff026...tell Palm Beach County and Broward County, FL that you can not run a fireground on a trunked system. They do it everyday. But, their systems are designed alot better and for in-building portable coverage. I still believe analog simplex is best for ths type of operation.
Hopefully you guys in Rockland will built it the way it should be IMO...in-building portable coverage for trunked, with analog simplex firegrounds. You can even put the firegrounds up on all the towers going to a voter so control can monitor, especially for calls for help.