These are not full time patches, and tbh they are rarely used judging by only a few Joins and even few Grants. The one voice Grant I saw in March was on the OCPD North / Citywide talk group. It was not encrypted.
Worcester County - new channels
- Thread starter maus92
- Start date
I had them avoided in the past, because I figure why not just listen to them on WorCo's system so I didn't realize they were patched as needed.
DisasterGuy
Member
Those groups were in place as crosslinks for when MSP was first migrating to FiRST. They are no longer active.
DisasterGuy
Member
The system upgrade (server and network equipment replacement) has been approved as has the coverage enhancement project changing the antenna pattern at one site and adding an addition fill site in Snow Hill. This takes the Worcester Ocean City system to an 11 site system with over 99% coverage at 14dB attenuation and 99% at 20dB within municipalities and areas zoned commercial. The system will continue to operate with 4 NSCs (Master Sites) all geographically diverse and fully redundantThe Worcester County Commissioners ask for more information on the proposed $2M upgrade of various system networking components:
Worcester County delays radio purchase
The Worcester County Commissioners recently delayed a decision to buy radio system hardware until they get more information on the nearly $2 million proposal.www.oceancitytoday.com
It appears that the upgrade was budgeted, but apparently there are questions.
Since the patches referenced in post #40 are no longer used per @DisasterGuy, I will request they be removed from the rrdb.
Good job my friend, I hope everything will be status quo for ya now!
The upgrade proposals for the system was originally presented to the Board of Commissioners at their 2/20/2024 regular meeting. One proposal was for upgrading networking equipment and perform software updates for functionality and address cybersecurity issues. These are required to maintain seamless integration with the Ocean City system - both are in effect one combined system. The other proposal was to address coverage issues in the Snow Hill / Newark area by adding a new site in Snow Hill and changing out antennas at an existing site. The board tabled a motion to approve to the next board meeting in two weeks. The proposals were not addressed again until the April 2nd meeting. At some point between those board meetings, some board members and county staff conducted an informational meeting with Motorola and reps from the FIRST system to discuss an option to join the FIRST system instead of doing the proposed upgrade to the existing L3H system. Motorola was asked to present options which has not be completed as of now, but at least was able to produce coverage maps of the current coverage for yesterday's board meeting.
The discussion of the proposals was lengthy. The consensus of the board is that the original system design and proposal was not properly vetted. Some members were uncomfortable with spending another $2.7M on a system without a comprehensive coverage testing plan. All were frustrated with being backed into a corner and having to decide the best path forward against a May 1 deadline. The "deadline" is the result of Ocean City's decision to move forward with system updates that will require Worcester to do the same so both systems will remain in sync wrt software / hardware versions. If the county did not perform these updates, both parties will lose some of the benefits of a combined / tightly integrated system.
Below is a link to the April 2nd board meeting. Unfortunately there was a power failure that blanked out the actual vote to approve the proposals. What is unclear is what will happen with Motorola's presentation of options which was expected to take another two weeks to prepare, and whether or not it will be analyzed by Federal Engineering - there would be a significant cost. Discussion starts at 56:20.
Documentation of the proposals are in the meeting packets for the 2/20 and 4/2 Board of Commissioners meetings archive.
www.co.worcester.md.us
The discussion of the proposals was lengthy. The consensus of the board is that the original system design and proposal was not properly vetted. Some members were uncomfortable with spending another $2.7M on a system without a comprehensive coverage testing plan. All were frustrated with being backed into a corner and having to decide the best path forward against a May 1 deadline. The "deadline" is the result of Ocean City's decision to move forward with system updates that will require Worcester to do the same so both systems will remain in sync wrt software / hardware versions. If the county did not perform these updates, both parties will lose some of the benefits of a combined / tightly integrated system.
Below is a link to the April 2nd board meeting. Unfortunately there was a power failure that blanked out the actual vote to approve the proposals. What is unclear is what will happen with Motorola's presentation of options which was expected to take another two weeks to prepare, and whether or not it will be analyzed by Federal Engineering - there would be a significant cost. Discussion starts at 56:20.
Documentation of the proposals are in the meeting packets for the 2/20 and 4/2 Board of Commissioners meetings archive.
Meeting Files Archive | Worcester County
www.co.worcester.md.us
DisasterGuy
Member
For clarity, the upgrade is lifecycle replacement of networking hardware that was known since the original system purchase. The design, procurement, and timeline of that upgrade was being worked on by the county and town for 2-3 years with the intention to implement this winter. Upon presentation, staff were asked by one commissioner to evaluate an alternative. That alternative was to disband the current system and move to Maryland FiRST. It takes many weeks for such a proposal to be developed and evaluated and that time simply didn’t exist.
In the audio missing due to the power outage, staff informed the Board that the current system exceeds 99% 14dB in-building coverage and exceeds 99% at 20db within all towns and commercially zoned parcels within the County. In order to offer similar or better coverage than what is in place, the county would need to add a minimum of 5 sites to Maryland FiRST, replace all back haul, consoles, etc.
In the audio missing due to the power outage, staff informed the Board that the current system exceeds 99% 14dB in-building coverage and exceeds 99% at 20db within all towns and commercially zoned parcels within the County. In order to offer similar or better coverage than what is in place, the county would need to add a minimum of 5 sites to Maryland FiRST, replace all back haul, consoles, etc.
Lol, politicians have a habit of deferring action until faced with a deadline, then complain about being forced to make a decision - it's part of the game.
I was surprised that switching to FIRST was even on the table - the current design of FIRST in Worcester County would be inadequate for the needs of the county, particularly the fire service. It certainly would not make sense at this point considering the L3H system is in the middle of its lifecycle (unless there was some disastrous meltdown.) Adding the new site in Snow Hill and replacing antennas may be all that will be needed to correct current deficiencies, although I still see issues in Ocean Pines from time to time. Perhaps 5 - 6 years from now a move to FIRST should be considered in an analysis of alternatives. Hopefully the next time around the county will engage the services of a third party engineering firm from the beginning, both to provide broad expertise and political cover.
What I haven't seen mentioned for a while is the plan to re-channelize the system before the summer ducting season. Perhaps the subscribers were loaded with the necessary programming when the radios were touched to enable encryption.
I was surprised that switching to FIRST was even on the table - the current design of FIRST in Worcester County would be inadequate for the needs of the county, particularly the fire service. It certainly would not make sense at this point considering the L3H system is in the middle of its lifecycle (unless there was some disastrous meltdown.) Adding the new site in Snow Hill and replacing antennas may be all that will be needed to correct current deficiencies, although I still see issues in Ocean Pines from time to time. Perhaps 5 - 6 years from now a move to FIRST should be considered in an analysis of alternatives. Hopefully the next time around the county will engage the services of a third party engineering firm from the beginning, both to provide broad expertise and political cover.
What I haven't seen mentioned for a while is the plan to re-channelize the system before the summer ducting season. Perhaps the subscribers were loaded with the necessary programming when the radios were touched to enable encryption.
Last edited:
There was an interesting comment made by one of the commissioners about Ocean City not being entirely satisfied with the performance of their system - first time that I've ever heard that said by a public official.
DisasterGuy
Member
Expect the frequency change in the next 30-45 days.
Staff of both the county and town are very happy with the performance of their systems. Sometimes dealing with vendors and contracts can be challenging though.
Staff of both the county and town are very happy with the performance of their systems. Sometimes dealing with vendors and contracts can be challenging though.
WNZT398
Member
It is challenging to ask for or approve funding knowing that you are going to take a beating and be made to look like you are responsible for problems and failures. There is much more to most every issue than what is condensed or filtered into a public meeting. The fact is that P25 Radio Systems are very expensive to purchase and operate. If every need and want was included in a proposed system, nobody would ever approve a purchase. From the very beginning of a system design, the buyer and seller begin a dance that attempts to balance the need and cost. The vendor proposal often looks very different by the time it becomes a contract, with a statement of work, because the buyer asks for a lower cost or additional features or guarantees. Sometimes technology changes during the time involved in design, budget and choosing a vendor.
I know firsthand that a huge effort to evaluate design needs and proposed solutions from Harris, Motorola and the Maryland FiRST System took place before Harris was selected. Motorola provided proposals to both Worcester County and Ocean City. They were considerably more expensive with less features and included the same type of ongoing cost that brings staff back for funding requests.
I have no doubt that Motorola can provide a very good solution to Worcester County. I do doubt that Worcester would be any happier when it is time to pay to refresh hardware or software or enhance a poor coverage area.
Some of the “countless problems” reported during the recorded public meeting, was system interference by cochannel users. I have never heard of any vendor that provides a guarantee for performance issues related to or caused by radio interference.
I hope the scheduled rebanding in Worcester resolves most or all their performance issues. When I managed the Ocean City System, there were no clean 800MHz channels during ducting conditions that arrived every year when the system was in heavy use. As you operate further inland away from the water, the destructive interference was reduced. Ocean City kept the six cleanest 800MHz channels and included them in their P25 design at the Ocean Pines “inland site” to provide inland coverage. 700MHz channels were licensed at the beach.
Ocean City and Worcester County taxpayers benefit from the shared resource that comprise the P25 System, both in cost savings and public safety response. Maybe the next generation design will see the Worcester/Ocean City resources being folded into the Maryland Statewide System. Time will tell.
I know firsthand that a huge effort to evaluate design needs and proposed solutions from Harris, Motorola and the Maryland FiRST System took place before Harris was selected. Motorola provided proposals to both Worcester County and Ocean City. They were considerably more expensive with less features and included the same type of ongoing cost that brings staff back for funding requests.
I have no doubt that Motorola can provide a very good solution to Worcester County. I do doubt that Worcester would be any happier when it is time to pay to refresh hardware or software or enhance a poor coverage area.
Some of the “countless problems” reported during the recorded public meeting, was system interference by cochannel users. I have never heard of any vendor that provides a guarantee for performance issues related to or caused by radio interference.
I hope the scheduled rebanding in Worcester resolves most or all their performance issues. When I managed the Ocean City System, there were no clean 800MHz channels during ducting conditions that arrived every year when the system was in heavy use. As you operate further inland away from the water, the destructive interference was reduced. Ocean City kept the six cleanest 800MHz channels and included them in their P25 design at the Ocean Pines “inland site” to provide inland coverage. 700MHz channels were licensed at the beach.
Ocean City and Worcester County taxpayers benefit from the shared resource that comprise the P25 System, both in cost savings and public safety response. Maybe the next generation design will see the Worcester/Ocean City resources being folded into the Maryland Statewide System. Time will tell.
As of today, Worcester has not yet integrated their new interference - free channels into their channel plan. I mention this as today I'm able to decode some NJ systems (Atlantic County - Egg Harbor in particular). Not sure if the heat is arranging the atmospheric layers to enable this.
That is quite a catch from Worcester and very odd as well. Good one!
As a visiting Whacker I would love this. As a system user I know how frustrating that can be.
Of course. And I’ll be there the weekend of the air show so I guess I’ll be doing some last minute rejiggering on my SDS 100 a week from now. Yay!!
You can always add the new frequencies to Sentinel manually and upload the programming to the radio now. The new band plan table will populate via the control channel whenever that occurs.
Yeah. That was my weekend project before I got busy this week and forgot about it. They couldn’t have waited until September?
X9009X
Member
The Rebanding of the Worcester County system is now complete.
Similar threads
