Dutchess Simulcast

[PVFD233 68]

Don't believe this has been brought up on the board yet.

Is the Transition in going to a simulcast dispatch causing pagers/radio to no open up on some dispatches?

Anyone with a problem?

[EJS1810 7]

For the benifit and education of members not from Dutchess, could you elaborate further on what this change is please. Is this related to the report I have heard about DC-911 no longer transmitting on 46.360?

[JetPhoto 626]

For the benifit and education of members not from Dutchess, could you elaborate further on what this change is please. Is this related to the report I have heard about DC-911 no longer transmitting on 46.360?

46.36 still goes off Clove Mt.

[markmets415 524]

I still have a low band 46.36 pager but the county only sends out tones off the Clove tower, the thing works now better than ever.

All calls will be going out off all towers as a simulcast, as far as I know this has not happened yet.

I do know that there is on going work on the towers to get them ready for the change and some have been taken o/o/s for a few days and this has had an impact on pagers opening up.

[PVFD233 68]

For details click below.

Dutchess Gov Website

Also from my understanding the changes should be done by end of month.

[Guest]

I still have a low band 46.36 pager but the county only sends out tones off the Clove tower, the thing works now better than ever.

All calls will be going out off all towers as a simulcast, as far as I know this has not happened yet.

I do know that there is on going work on the towers to get them ready for the change and some have been taken o/o/s for a few days and this has had an impact on pagers opening up.

Not sure aboute 46.36 the only simulcast is police so far

[markmets415 524]

Joe whatever their doing with the low band tell them they need to continue after the simo goes online, I like my old low band pager, as stated it works better now than ever.

[Guest]

will do I work days on wed. will ask like i said before see you on the next one

[markmets415 524]

I have a 16 hour shift on Wed. so maybe I'll give you a shout early afternoon @ the 911 center.

[rvwscan 20]

DC 911 PD Police Channel 1 (155.415) is now simulcast. Fire Dispatch (453.900) will be in the very near future.

Low Band (46.360) is currently only working off of Clove and will be completely taken down in the near future. Removing all of the Low Band freqs was part of the plan since the UHF radio system was conceived in the 90's. 46.36 was only held onto to facilitate purchasing UHF alerting equipment. Well, its been well over 12 years I hope you worked it into your budgets by now.

Anyone with Low Band alerting equipment (pagers, plectrons, siren controls, etc) start looking to purchase UHF equipment soon (NOW!)

[Doc 11]

Oh well, looks like I have to find some alternative arrangements. It seems the constant march of progress is stripping my ability to go to calls. UHF can't get over / around the ridge into my house reliably. Some days my UHF radio is OK, others it might as well be a rock. That plus it's 3-hour at best battery life, my department issued radio is heavy, cumbersome junk. I'd have to bring three batteries to work with me (only have two and one is pretty dead) and watch to swap batteries. Now I only turn it on when my spidersense says we're going to get a call (spidersense doesn't work well), assuming I would bother - the reception in Newburgh is poor - which is Ok, it IS a whole river's width away from Beacon. Yes, it opens for calls but all I get for audio is static - sort of like a portable roof siren. At least the VX-180U is heavy enough to hammer framing nails efficiently so I can't call it useless - and it makes nice beeping sounds when I turn the fancy knobs.

Does anybody know how to hook a Minitor III to a roof antenna and how many feet of cable is reasonable? I'll need at least 200 feet so I can have my pager working and on my person when doing yard work. Otherwise my option is hoping we're going mutual aid with the Village and I'll be outside to hear their roof siren. No, I'm not expecting the county to fix my problem that didn't previously exist. I'll just move.

Also, aside from paperweights, anybody have a use for some minitor II's? I was going to use them to hold down the tarp on my picnic table this winter.

So, when will DC911 get with cell phone messaging. Working with some folks from Orange and Ulster, I've seen that it doesn't suck. It would be nice when us folk in the boonies of Dutchess get caught up these new-fangled gizmos from the big cities like Middletown and Walden.

[markmets415 524]

Oh well, looks like I have to find some alternative arrangements. It seems the constant march of progress is stripping my ability to go to calls. UHF can't get over / around the ridge into my house reliably. Some days my UHF radio is OK, others it might as well be a rock. That plus it's 3-hour at best battery life, my department issued radio is heavy, cumbersome junk. I'd have to bring three batteries to work with me (only have two and one is pretty dead) and watch to swap batteries. Now I only turn it on when my spidersense says we're going to get a call (spidersense doesn't work well), assuming I would bother - the reception in Newburgh is poor - which is Ok, it IS a whole river's width away from Beacon. Yes, it opens for calls but all I get for audio is static - sort of like a portable roof siren. At least the VX-180U is heavy enough to hammer framing nails efficiently so I can't call it useless - and it makes nice beeping sounds when I turn the fancy knobs.

Does anybody know how to hook a Minitor III to a roof antenna and how many feet of cable is reasonable? I'll need at least 200 feet so I can have my pager working and on my person when doing yard work. Otherwise my option is hoping we're going mutual aid with the Village and I'll be outside to hear their roof siren. No, I'm not expecting the county to fix my problem that didn't previously exist. I'll just move.

Also, aside from paperweights, anybody have a use for some minitor II's? I was going to use them to hold down the tarp on my picnic table this winter.

So, when will DC911 get with cell phone messaging. Working with some folks from Orange and Ulster, I've seen that it doesn't suck. It would be nice when us folk in the boonies of Dutchess get caught up these new-fangled gizmos from the big cities like Middletown and Walden.

Me too Doc, my old low band pager now works better than ever since going off clove, I get every dispatch that is made from the 911 center. My UHF pager/portable sucks, If I rely on it I will never make a call. Without an external attenna my UHF pager does not open in my house. Not sure why the low band can't stay up on Clove, but I guess it most liklely is a cost factor. I can't see where the simo is going to help open the pagers that are in your home, if it isn't opening now with them going off the nearest tower than going simo most likely will not help.

[rvwscan 20]

So, when will DC911 get with cell phone messaging.

I can't believe that DC911 hasn't jumped on board with this yet. Even hillbilly Columbia County is sending text messages of dispatched alarms. Works great as a supplement to pagers. Though Columbia 911 still has the luxury of VHF-Low to cover its hilly terrain. I wish Dutchess would keep VHF-Low for alerting. UHF is great when the terrain allows, but in an area with such diversified terrain it is tough.

[Guest Photounit]

It appears to me that the simulcasting has been at least partially, implemented on dispatch (453.900). I have heard they were going to install new antennas and feed lines as part of the upgrade so maybe that explains it.... I can hear dispatches in my work location where I never could before...... When they are done, this will be an extremely beneficial upgrade to DC's fire dispatch system....... The idea of digital paging is great be it by cell phone or pager but you are relying on someone else's equipment to get the digital pages out and to me, the reliability of these systems is not good enough to depend on for emergency service usage..... And with the voice storage option on the Minitor V pagers, you can't beat a voice dispatch...... JMO......

[celticmedic643 2]

I can't believe that DC911 hasn't jumped on board with this yet. Even hillbilly Columbia County is sending text messages of dispatched alarms. Works great as a supplement to pagers. Though Columbia 911 still has the luxury of VHF-Low to cover its hilly terrain. I wish Dutchess would keep VHF-Low for alerting. UHF is great when the terrain allows, but in an area with such diversified terrain it is tough.

This has been discussed at several of the chiefs council meetings. The reasoning we were given was that it was not feasable with the CAD system that DC 911 operates with. In order for it to work with the CAD the dispatcher would have to manually enter each cell phone #. I believe the county is working with the CAD manufactuer to fix this "glitch " in the software.

[JetPhoto 626]

Doc, sounds like you need a shot of Yager!

Some towers are now simulcasting. That is why the tones sound a little strange. In fact an anouncement just went out for Amenia and it was loud and clear in Chelsea, it was never so clear!

[Guest jbgfd314]

You would have thought that before making such a huge financial decision that there would have been some more investigating done on the subject first. This system would work awesomely if we all resided in one of the plain states but last time I checked this wasn't Iowa!! But now due to the overall amount spent on this waste of dispatching gadgetry, we must adapt. Isn't it bad enough as tax payers we fronted the bill for this disaster but now as local fire tax payers we must once again front the bill to make our departments compatible with the defective system. P.S. I'm tired of my Minitor 5 going off at 4am for Milbrook's tones. Can't anything go right around here.

[JetPhoto 626]

Give the new system a chance before you start complaining about it.

You think this cost is a lot, look at this farce of a project NYS is trying to install NYSWN. This has been worked on for years with no success. They say that NY won't pay a dime until the radio company proves it works, then they will get billions. I hardly believe the radio co. is doing BILLIONS in radio work for a payment they may not get if they fail.

[NWFDMedic 58]

Doc, the simulcast may actually help you believe it or not. I live in New Windsor and my portable only opens for a Mobile Life dispatch (if I actually have it on at home); the rest is just squelch. I'm rather certain they dispatch Mobile Life off of Illinois Mountain. However, that same portable will pick up dispatches off Clove Mountain (say Union Vale) like I'm standing in the DC911 center. Sometimes the closest tower as the crow flies may not be the best transmitting tower to your house.

[x129K 1,393]

this wasn't Iowa!!

Ooohhhhh..............how I wish it was!

[Guest Photounit]

You would have thought that before making such a huge financial decision that there would have been some more investigating done on the subject first. This system would work awesomely if we all resided in one of the plain states but last time I checked this wasn't Iowa!! But now due to the overall amount spent on this waste of dispatching gadgetry, we must adapt. Isn't it bad enough as tax payers we fronted the bill for this disaster but now as local fire tax payers we must once again front the bill to make our departments compatible with the defective system. P.S. I'm tired of my Minitor 5 going off at 4am for Milbrook's tones. Can't anything go right around here.

Huh? Whats Iowa got to do with anything? What waste of money? I think not....... "dispatching gadgetry" OK, If you say so.... Adapt ? We all know what happened to the dinosaur.....And FYI, Mintor 5's have had issues falsing so before you blame the system, maybe you should look at your pager...... Based on you comments I would say your knowledge of communications systems is very limited to say the least....

[markmets415 524]

I live in the middle between the Silver and Dover towers and as far as the best tower well it seems that Clove may be my best, time will tell, at this point we have no choice but to see if it works, there is no going back now. Hopefully the simo will reach you no matter where you and that is the goal.

[Doc 11]

I'm not going to deny the need to move the technology forward, but sometimes I get sore when my classic scanners and radios become worthless shiny bricks and I'm forced to cough up for new rigs that will also turn into shiny bricks. Hence the reason that I'm no longer into scanners.

The benefits of the UHF system over low band are obvious and the simulcasting move is going to be an improvment. There are other technologies that would be great to bring on board and provide valuable new capabilities, improved reliability and versatility, and admittedly others that aren't much more than an excuse to expend taxpayer dollars for cool toys and bragging rights. However, keep in mind that mission critical NASA technology is often run on much older, proven computer hardware. In matters of safety, the bleeding edge of technology is liable to leave you bleeding and systems that cannot be allowed to fail must be tested to an appropriate standard before deployment. I am sure that none of this communication technology is rolling out without thorough NON-manufacturer, third party testing, and even then there will be minor problems, expecially in the difficult Hudson Valley terrain.

In the meantime I'll be sending my personal Minitor II out for a UHF board conversion.

Oh, yeah... JetPhoto, and the Jager fixed most of the problem.

Edited November 21, 2008 by Doc

[Medic137 6]

What is the down side of keeping the low band dispatch frequency alive? I can't believe it is very expensive. Given the topography of the county, no matter how advanced the UHF system is, there will be dead spots. Why not have one more way to get the dispatches to the FFs and EMTs?

[markmets415 524]

What is the down side of keeping the low band dispatch frequency alive? I can't believe it is very expensive. Given the topography of the county, no matter how advanced the UHF system is, there will be dead spots. Why not have one more way to get the dispatches to the FFs and EMTs?

That was my thinking.

[dougeng41 1]

My experience with text messaging for calls has not been the greatest. I have had experiences where my VHF low-band pager has gone off twenty minutes prior to my cell phone receiving the text message. Now with that said, most cases I receive the text message one to two minutes after the page and in one or two cases prior to receiving the tone on the VHF pager. There have been more than enough calls though where I have not gotten immediate notification that I do NOT rely on my text messages.

[201/65 94]

All I know is they need to fix the lapse in UHF coverage so I dont have to write any more incident reports and wake up an administrator at 1230am.

[rvwscan 20]

My experience with text messaging for calls has not been the greatest. I have had experiences where my VHF low-band pager has gone off twenty minutes prior to my cell phone receiving the text message. Now with that said, most cases I receive the text message one to two minutes after the page and in one or two cases prior to receiving the tone on the VHF pager. There have been more than enough calls though where I have not gotten immediate notification that I do NOT rely on my text messages.

I think cell phone text messaging has its place as a supplement to radio dispatching. I do not beileve in any way that it should be relied upon as the sole or even primary means for alerting members. Having to rely on cell service carriers equipment and network is unacceptable for public safety applications such as this, but it does offer a nice supplemental benefit. It is not a solution to poor radio coverage though.

[Guest]

What happens if you live in an area that has no cell service or poor cell service as we all know there are areas in Dutchess that is like this ie Town of Washington on 343? Just asking?

[x129K 1,393]

What happens if you live in an area that has no cell service or poor cell service as we all know there are areas in Dutchess that is like this ie Town of Washington on 343? Just asking?

Get rid of Nextel!

I HAVE noticied my pager acting screwy lately....it will open during a tone, but not "beep"..then it will beep, and cuts out every few seconds...I have to press the squelch to hear the whole dispatch.....very odd.