Patched STARS sites?

[mejnetguru]

Are some of the STARS sites "patched" together? Not sure if that's the right term.

There are several sites that would cover the territory of VSP STARS users in Fairfax (D7). I heard traffic about an incident on I395 near the District line that I would expect responding users to be affiliated to be with the Arlington site, not the Independent Hill site for. Experimenting around, it appears FFX and Independent Hill appear to carry the same traffic on FFX 1 and FFX 2 talkgroups (and I would assume Arlington, but I'm too far away to pick up that one to confirm and maybe Dumfries), but not Mount Weather).

Is this normal/standard for the area or was it maybe a temp patch? Can a user be simultaneously affiliated with multiple sites? Do we know what sites are "patched" together?

 

[jonwienke]

It's not a patch. All sites in a system are connected together through a common data backbone, either point-to-point microwave relay links, or a wired connection. Talkgroups can be programmed in one of the following ways:

1. The talkgroup is only broadcast from one site.

2. The talkgroup is broadcast from a fixed list of sites.

3. The talkgroup is broadcast on sites that have authorized users of the talkgroup within range. For example, a state police hostage rescue team may operate anywhere in the state, but doesn't have enough users to justify broadcasting that talkgroup from every site. So each site checks to see if a hostage rescue radio is within range. If so, it broadcasts the hostage rescue talkgroup. If not, it doesn't.

4. The talkgroup may be broadcast from all sites. This is rare, because it ties up a voice channel on every site in the system. It is generally used only for emergency announcements and that sort of thing.

 

[KI4SXZ]

Remember, its based off of what towers a ‘radio monitoring a channel’ is on. So, a vehicle turned to ffx1 will allow that talkgroup to broadcast on every tower it touches.

Ffx 1 & 2 will almost always be broadcasted on the ffx tower because of the location of the ‘combined comm center’ in nova. That tower is also in a prime position for most of nova.

The arlington tower catches north arlington and legion bridge areas good. Alot of valleys over there.

Independence Hill is over by the weight station on 95. So there are usually trooper cars there, so radios can be on any channel they choose.

Not to mention that the safety patrol trucks also are on D7 channels also, so the towers jump with them too.

It gets pretty jumpy sometimes. On my commutes, i leave almost the entire talkgroup database open but gps control the towers. I hear richmond & salem sometimes, even just oneway talk or even one transmission during a conversation. Even get transmissions from Corrections buses doing runs between regional jails. And we dont have one in nova either. Just how the radios work.

I hope it makes sense what i’m saying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[beastieboy101]

Remember, its based off of what towers a ‘radio monitoring a channel’ is on. So, a vehicle turned to ffx1 will allow that talkgroup to broadcast on every tower it touches.

Ffx 1 & 2 will almost always be broadcasted on the ffx tower because of the location of the ‘combined comm center’ in nova. That tower is also in a prime position for most of nova.

The arlington tower catches north arlington and legion bridge areas good. Alot of valleys over there.

Independence Hill is over by the weight station on 95. So there are usually trooper cars there, so radios can be on any channel they choose.

Not to mention that the safety patrol trucks also are on D7 channels also, so the towers jump with them too.

It gets pretty jumpy sometimes. On my commutes, i leave almost the entire talkgroup database open but gps control the towers. I hear richmond & salem sometimes, even just oneway talk or even one transmission during a conversation. Even get transmissions from Corrections buses doing runs between regional jails. And we dont have one in nova either. Just how the radios work.

I hope it makes sense what i’m saying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Independent Hill is further West of 95 on Rt 234. About 1/2 way between Dumfries & Manassas.

Independent Hill is the VSP Division 7 Area 11 Area Office. There is a tower there.

There is also a tower at the SB 95 Truck Scales near Exit 152 (Rt 234 Dumfries/Manassas)

The Independent Hill tower had trouble reaching certain areas on 95 in Prince William Co. The Dumfries tower was built to improve the gaps in coverage.