Maggie’s communication issues

[HSNARC]

I work for a small LE organization, and we are experiencing some possibly dangerous communication issues. We do not operate like normal Officers or Deputies, were a plain clothes investigations task force. Since we don't operate out of normal squads we have never used traditional "trunked" radios, instead using Nextel push to talk cell phones. Nextel worked ok for the most part, but we would still occasionally lose communications at important times.

A few weeks back we decided to try Verizon push to talk phones, they have been a disaster for the most part, seeming to fail at only the most important times.

I have been tasked with providing a remedy to this issue, weather it be a different technology we haven't tried, or just going the more traditional radio route. I need to be able to talk on a group (maybe 10 people) at the push of a button. We operate in a large somewhat rural county so i may need to talk to someone 50 miles away.

Currently we all have 800 MHz portable radios that are basically only good for line of sight on our frequency. If i change over to the sheriffs dept frequency its good for 30-40 miles depending on terrain or buildings.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, should i look for another more reliable form of push to talk that runs on cell towers, or pay the very large price to have our own repeaters put up on towers around the county so out handhelds can get out?

 

[jcfd2201]

Re: communication issues

Probably the most economical remedy would be to jump on board with the county's 800mhz system as they already have the system established. You can still keep your radios separate to some extent with encryption. There is a system from Motorola called Mototurbo that is affordable and gets you digital capabilities as well as narrowbanding but does not meet the P25 requirements.

I think the PTT cell phones is not the best of ideas for an LE operation and that radios are a much better and more secure choice.

You should be able to have a radio dealer do a coverage map for you for free. They can look at current repeater locations and/or possible repeater locations to provide coverage you need. Motorola offers state contract pricing for most states to include local agencies. I handle the comm's for my FD so feel free to PM me if you have any questions. If I don't have the answer I'm sure my radio dealer will.

 

[HSNARC]

Re: communication issues

thanks 2201

now that i think about it if the SD can talk anywhere in the county on a handheld then why shouldn't we be able to. Im sure the cost of having our own covert channel on the county repeaters wouldn't be all that bad, and really can you put a price on safety?

Just really not looking forward to trying to conceal a handheld radio along with all my other equipment.

 

[yerbyray]

Re: communication issues

I was a communications officer for 12 years with the state here and feel that the best approach to your situation would be to piggy back on with the county.

Phones and all the like will let you down when the situation goes bad.

I am not a huge fan of repeaters but they are a necessary evil when you have a huge jurisdiction.

 

[jcfd2201]

Re: communication issues

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HSNARC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">thanks 2201

now that i think about it if the SD can talk anywhere in the county on a handheld then why shouldn't we be able to. Im sure the cost of having our own covert channel on the county repeaters wouldn't be all that bad, and really can you put a price on safety?

Just really not looking forward to trying to conceal a handheld radio along with all my other equipment.

</div></div>

The beauty of a trunked 800mhz system and digital technology is you can operate on the same frequency independently of the SO. As for radios check out the Motorola APX4000. It is fairly small by today's standards and I believe they offer a stubby antenna for them. The APX4000 is loaded with features and probably more than you need or would ever use but has them if you ever need them.