res6cue

http://www.firehouse.com/forums/t69591 http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/4080.html#13593

The CSP system uses the P25 CAI for talkgroup voice, but the system itself is fundamentally the same as the current Westchester system. I agree, though, analog vs digital voice is obviously a significant difference (especially when it means a few hundred dollar difference between an analog or digital scanner!)

Negative, they operate on totally different frequency bands and are not compatible. The current system operates in the UHF T-Band (470-478 MHz), whereas the new system operates in the 700 MHz band. By the way, to expand a little on Seth's post...$6 million is budgeted for 2014, however the total budget for the system is (at least) $30 million over the next 5 years. Rockland's system was around the same cost, with approximately $12 million of it going towards the price of the radios (90 base stations, 850 mobiles, 1,600 portables). Rockland's system cost also factored in 6 UHF fireground receivers each at all 10 sites, as well as a 10-site simulcast UHF fire paging system...so it's not really an apples to apples comparison with Westchester, but gives you some idea of the cost of the radios.

The CSP system you linked to is a Motorola Type II, which is the same as the current Westchester system. The new CSERN system is P25, however it's Phase I not Phase II. Rockland's new 700 MHz system is P25 Phase II, which is what Westchester (and Orange) are looking to implement. http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=7128 Also here: http://info.uniden.com/NewScanners

APCO 25 Phase II systems use TDMA technology, so I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say. That's exactly what Rockland's system is, P25 Phase II TDMA. The system does not "suck"...but you're obviously entitled to your own opinion.

No, it will not. This will be a digital system, Trunk Tracker III's are only capable of scanning analog systems. It will also need to be Phase II TDMA capable. As I type this post, the only scanner capable of that is the GRE PSR-800. Uniden is announcing new scanner models in about 2 hours, and it's expected that they will decode Phase II TDMA, but hasn't been confirmed yet. None of Uniden's current models will work on the system (HomePatrol-1, BCD396XT, BCD996XT, etc.).

Yes, although Orange County's system will mix 700 and 800 MHz frequencies on the same system for additional capacity (reusing the 800 MHz frequencies currently in use on the EDACS system). 700 and 800 MHz are considered the same band on these systems, easily intermixed.

The county is looking to build out a 700 MHz P25 Phase II system (same type of system as Rockland). It will replace the current Motorola trunked system, and will have transmitters at the same 9 sites that the current trunked system occupies. Unlike the current trunked systems, there will not be "North" and "South" zones, instead it will be a simulcast system that will cover the entire county. The system will be comprised of 12 frequencies, however because this system is Phase II and uses TDMA technology, each voice frequency gets divided into 2 time slots which allows for double the amount of voice channel capacity. The control channel occupies a full single frequency on its own, which leaves 11 frequencies available for voice transmission. TDMA technology means there will be 22 voice channels available. Contrast that with the current system, which has 12 frequencies. Because there is a North and South zone, there are 2 frequencies dedicated for each zone's control channel. That leaves just 10 frequencies for voice traffic, 5 on each zone. The new system will double that capacity + 2 additional voice channels. For comparison, Rockland's system is a 10 site, 10 frequency simulcast (18 voice channels).

FireWatch will never show every unit that responded (except for maybe a very small incident), because that is not how 44-Control logs them in CAD. Only the first responding apparatus and/or officer is logged in CAD for each incident. When an incident is first created and appears in FireWatch, you will only see "27 Fire Department" until a unit signs in service, then you will see the ID of the first unit in service. If a piece of apparatus signs in service before an officer, you will see the rig's ID. Normally once an officer signs on the air, their ID will also be entered in CAD. So for this incident, 16-2 signed in first, so he is the only ID noted in CAD. http://www.44-control.net/historicdetails.aspx?cfsid=-149047 For this incident, 17-Rescue signed in before 17-43, so both are logged in CAD. http://www.44-control.net/historicdetails.aspx?cfsid=-149041 Another factor is which unit establishes command or terminates command. Those will also get logged in CAD for each event. For this call, 6-2 signed in service first, but 6-4 got on scene first and established command, so both were logged. http://www.44-control.net/historicdetails.aspx?cfsid=-149016 If you see the Base Station listed, that means someone acknowledged the call from the firehouse radio, which stops the "4 Minute Rule" countdown clock (AMA is dispatched if no one responds within 4 minutes) Note that nothing precludes the dispatcher from logging every unit if they're inclined to do so, but it's not policy to do so.

Gee, I wonder who posted that over there? Oh wait...it was me. Next time do the right thing and post a link back to the thread on RR, instead of picking our brains over there then coming back here and posting a few select quotes. Bad form, bro. http://forums.radioreference.com/industry-discussion/274735-building-portable-coverage.html

So...they buy this brand new, multi-million dollar piece of sophisticated equipment just a handful of years ago, then ground it because they don't want to pay the pilots to fly it? Brilliant.

Rockland's helicopter has been OOS since last summer. It's undergoing a major overhaul, updates, etc. As far as Westchester's helicopter, I have no idea why they were unable to respond. They were requested by 44-Control, that much is certain. Not the first time they've been requested by Rockland and have been unable to answer the bell. It'll be nice when Rockland's helicopter is back in service so the county doesn't have to totally rely on outside agencies for air support. NYPD Air-Sea Rescue responded along with NYSP 1H17 (i.e. Lifeguard 17) out of Newburgh.

Thanks for the kind words, Steve! I do my best to keep NYS accurate and up-to-date on RadioReference, but obviously the database is never going to be totally perfect over there. If any of you have any additions, changes or corrections for Westchester (or anywhere else for that matter), you can make a submission right to RadioReference (click the Submit link like I've circled in red in the attached screenshot). Or if you'd rather not make an account over there, send me a PM here and I'll work with you.

Thanks, Seth. After I posted the photos I noticed this thread, and wanted to make sure using their sharing feature was kosher.

I just posted two photos of the Iona Island firehouse from Flickr. In both cases, I used Flickr's very own "Share" links, which included the BBCode to post the full sized version of the photo itself. You mentioned "no hotlinking", however if Flickr did not intend for the photos to be shared in that manner, they clearly would not provide the tools on thier site for doing exactly that. Additionally, users on Flickr have the option of turning sharing off if they don't wish for their photos to be displayed elsewhere in that manner. http://www.flickr.com/help/sharing/ I realize you guys are trying to cover your butts when it comes to copyright infringement, however when sites like Flickr make these sharing tools readily available, and even encourage their use, that has to factor in to any policies you're going to try to enforce. Just my 2 cents.

Here are two photos of the firehouse from Flickr. The first is a scan of an old slide, unsure of the exact date the photo was taken. The bay doors are still in pretty decent shape, the building number is still visible, and the chain link fence hasn't been installed yet. Iona Island Naval Depot Firehouse by rchrdcnnnghm, on Flickr The second was taken on July 13th 2008. Note that the new light and conduit hadn't been installed yet, so it must be fairly new. firehouse by prefers salt marsh, on Flickr

From my Rockland County Fire Apparatus history list: U.S. NAVY AMMUNITION DEPOT, IONA ISLAND - DEPT 41 1942 American LaFrance Type B-612 500 series open cab 750 gpm/500 gwt L-1884 "41-750" Olive Drab That's the only rig I have listed for Iona Island, I'm unsure if they had any others stationed there.

I really love some of the negative replies to this topic directed at the FD. It really makes me wonder if any of you guys telling the brothers in Nyack to "man up and shut up" even read the article in its entirety, or processed what the point of it actually was. Yet, the first time someone gets in a wreck with a POV or apparatus going to a totally preventable false alarm at the same location for the 5th time that week, it'll be the same guys pointing the finger blaming the "yahoos", right? There is a huge difference between responding to an alarm system properly doing its job, regardless of the outcome, and responding to the same location over and over again because there is a default with the system or a situation that can be corrected to prevent outright false alarms. The former is not what they are complaining about, it's the latter.

Greenwood Lake Airport is significantly closer to lower Orange County and Rockland County than Stewart. But, that logic doesn't always translate to the closest medevac getting called. A lot of lower Hudson Valley counties are still habitually calling for "Stat-Flight" (LifeNet), even though Air 1 hasn't been based at WCMC since August of 2009. I have heard NorthSTAR fly into Rockland on occasion, but it's usually as the 2nd or even 3rd medevac requested. Whether or not the Hackensack medevac gets called to Orange/Rockland remains to be seen. I'm not familiar enough with the protocols for calling an out-of-state medevac to say for certain, insofar as what certification is required or what procedures Orange 911 and 44-Control would have in place to call Hackensack before they would call LifeNet. I forgot to mention in my previous post that Atlantic Air 3 is only available between 11am and 11pm.

The other new medevac in Northern NJ is Atlantic Air 3. It's based out of the Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon (Sussex County). http://www.atlantica...12040310230.pdf http://www.atlantica...tlanticAir3.pdf These two new medevacs are based less than 10 miles from each other.

17-EM was disbanded as a BLS unit in the late 90s, not long after they purchased the 1996 International/Road Rescue. Rockland H&L hasn't run EMS calls since that time, although they still have the rig. They use it as a light/backup rescue truck as 17-EQ.

2011 Rockland County Totals from 44-Control's CAD* Dept 1 - Blauvelt - 162 Dept 2 - Central Nyack - 215 Dept 3 - Congers - 324 Dept 4 - Haverstraw - 260 Dept 5 - Hillburn - 95 Dept 6 - Hillcrest - 939 Dept 7 - Monsey - 817 Dept 8 - Nanuet - 591 Dept 9 - New City - 872 Dept 10 - Nyack - 610 Dept 11 - Orangeburg - 304 Dept 12 - Pearl River - 375 Dept 13 - Piermont - 171 fire, 191 EMS** Dept 14 - Rockland Lake - 14 Dept 15 - Sloatsburg - 248 Dept 16 - Sparkill - 155 Dept 17 - Spring Valley - 1,076 Dept 18 - Stony Point - 338 Dept 19 - Suffern - 336 Dept 20 - Tallman - 714 Dept 21 - Tappan - 156 Dept 22 - Valley Cottage - 234 Dept 23 - West Haverstraw - 228 Dept 24 - West Nyack - 430 Dept 25 - South Spring Valley - 219 Dept 26 - Thiells - 235 TOTAL - 10,309 (up 1,309 from last year) * Actual totals are a bit higher, these numbers only reflect calls dispatched by the county and don't take into account "silent alarms" and whatnot ** No FD's in Rockland run EMS except for Piermont FD's "13-EM" BLS ambulance

The location of the MVA was not in the Village of New Square, it was on the west side of Rt 45 opposite the Village. The hydrant is not so much in the middle of a driveway as it is towards the end of a small parking lot. The house used to be a dentist's office, and the hydrant has been there forever. The riser pipe did stick out of the asphalt quite a bit. You can see that the hydrant did in fact breakaway as it was supposed to, unfortunately with the pipe sticking out of the ground, it really didn't make much difference. http://g.co/maps/scbu6

Per Steve, the boat will no longer be traveling down the Hudson.

Yeah he got back to me really quickly, and on a Saturday morning no less. Talk about awesome customer service!