will northern nj ever be all digital or encrypted?

[xpawel15x]

What are your thoughts/opinions on the future about northern nj. I'm worried that one day my local town will go digital or even encrypted and I will have to discontinue this great hobby. So far all bergen county towns are conventional and I wish this could stay forever. Do you think small towns in bergen county will go digital any time soon? If im correct, Rutherford police went digital already.

 

[jantman]

Living in Midland Park (still not even Trunked), I don't see it happening any time in the near future. Especially in smaller towns, the equipment is so expesive (digital or encrypted) I doubt they'll make the change soon.

Plus, it plays havoc with mutual aid work. Either every agency (PD, Fire, EMS) would need a common channel (possibly on a seperate radio) or everyone would need compatible equipment (which is close to impossible in the real world).

Being on the ambulance corps, I'm not too worried about ever being "locked out" of the radios.

 

[jaymatt1978]

Rutherford HAS NOT gone digital!

 

[xpawel15x]

Rutherford HAS NOT gone digital!

Why does it say APCO-25 in the database than?

 

[TonyS]

I firmly believe the municipalities that have the $ will eventually go digital, and encrypted. It's just a matter of when. The argument that criminals won't be able to monitor the cops, thereby giving cops the edge and making them safer, always will win, especially in this post-9/1/1 time.

 

[Alarmguy]

Very doubtful. Digital probably but not fully encrypted. Living also in Midland Park, I dont think a town of our size would even be able to afford the equipment at this stage. Only way that any towns might go digital and trunked is with the county system, and even that will not be fully encrypted.

 

[ctrabs74]

I was under the impression that all public safety agencies had to operate on digital by 2013. I had read that in other threads in other forums here in the past, but perhaps someone can clarify that statement...

 

[ff026]

public safety has to go narrowband by 2013. in order to recover the audio expect agencies to go to P25.

 

[mondaro]

We where all going to be P25 by this time too, But that never and will not ever happen.

 

[Litleabey]

Bayonne just spend $5 million on a new digital system. There claim is they want to lead the way in a new form of communication.

 

[elk2370bruce]

Why does it say APCO-25 in the database than?

Just because they are licensed for digital does not mean that they are, or will soon become, APCO 25. Other departments are doing the same thing with their licensure.

 

[Joseph11]

They're not licensed for digital, but the database says "APCO-25" for them.

 

[elk2370bruce]

They're not licensed for digital, but the database says "APCO-25" for them.

Yeah.. And APCO-25 means analog? I don't think so.

 

[nydxa]

When Pigs Fly
Seriously, each town seems like it has it's own agenda. When Bergen County anounced that it would one day like to have everyone on it's system, many town responded, loudly, against the proposal. Slowly things will go digital and lagging just behind will be companies like Uniden who will have new scanners.

 

[elk2370bruce]

There are a total of 70 autonomous municipalities in Bergen County. Many jealously guard their local home rule ethic. Any regionalization of communications services will be seen by some as the beginning of regionalizationof services, loss of autonomy, and must be fought at all cost. From a purely economic standpoint, changeover to a county-wide trunked system would cost the towns BIG money to convert their existing workable systems (that are costing them nothing except for maintenance) as part of the implementation program. Homeland security money will, also, not pay for all of this transition to a county-wide system leaving the towns to cough up tax dollars they do not have. I agree with my colleague Charles. Ain't gonna happen in any short time frame (or even the lifetimes of us older guys).

 

[Rmin1]

Rutherford HAS NOT gone digital!

uh....you are wrong, Rutherford Police went digital about one week ago. They are using Astro.

 

[SM166]

there is money to switch to the county system, the county even gave out to the fire departments - oem/mutual fire coordinators radios which are astro /anolog, and can trunk, some towns dont want to switch they would rather spend their own money on thier own freq, this way no one (and the county) can hear them??
yet there are some who wont admit to it have recently switch to new freq which they got from the county -
PS dont tell anyone (Them) i posted this

 

[Archie]

Reply

FYI to the first posting:

Encryption: In a new radio system it can increase the total price by 20% according to a source in the business. So some agencie will only encrypt one or two frequencies out of several. Curious to see what Jersey City does...so tell us when you find out please.

Everybody Digital by 2013: Another laughable mandate by the feds with no legal basis if an agency does not go digital by that timeframe. It's just their recommendation only.

Happy Holidays to all.

 

[ff026]

Everybody Digital by 2013: Another laughable mandate by the feds with no legal basis if an agency does not go digital by that timeframe. It's just their recommendation only.

Happy Holidays to all.

there is no mandate to digital by 2013, there is a mandate to go Narrowband by 2013. from 25 kHz to 12.5 kHz.

 

[ctrabs74]

there is no mandate to digital by 2013, there is a mandate to go Narrowband by 2013. from 25 kHz to 12.5 kHz.

Thanks for clarifying. I knew that there was the Narrowband mandate, but I wasn't sure if that included digital conversion as well...