THIS IS A WORKING DOCUMENT ITS CONTENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Transcription

1 Warren County Department of Public Safety Communications Center Upgrade Project PROPOSAL THIS IS A WORKING DOCUMENT ITS CONTENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE Last updated: December 11, 2009

2 Section One Communications Upgrade Project Background The Warren County Department of Public Safety was formed in 1993 to oversee the existing Office of Emergency Management, the Fire Marshal s Office and the newly created Communications Center Division. The Fire Academy and Public Safety Information Systems Divisions were later added to this department. The goal of the new Communications Center Division was to implement service in Warren County and consolidate all emergency call taking and dispatching functions under one roof. Prior to the county center s existence in 1994, small municipally based dispatch centers were receiving emergency calls from the public on different 7-digit telephone numbers and dispatching emergency units on small municipally based radio networks. These smaller centers were located in Washington Borough, Lopatcong, Hackettstown, Blairstown, Phillipsburg and Long Valley (Morris County). Residents in some Warren County towns needed to dial three different 7-digit numbers to reach police, report a fire, or request an ambulance. In addition, emergency vehicles venturing into other areas of the county for mutual aid were frequently out of radio range with their municipal dispatch center and home base. The first county emergency radio network was derived from some of these smaller municipal radio networks, most of which were not shared, had limited range, and were not well controlled. Only a small number of these frequencies could be licensed on a county-wide or regional basis. Police remained on the VHF-high radio band, most fire companies operated on the VHF-low radio band, and EMS communications were spread out across three different radio bands with several individual squads operating on their own municipally licensed frequency. This made interoperability nearly impossible. Over the next several years several police departments began sharing channels on a regional basis. Auxiliary receivers were installed to increase the radio range of vehicle and portable radios. Many of the fire departments consolidated radio operations on a few shared low band frequencies, and some EMS agencies began sharing frequencies with one or two other squads. However, Fire and EMS dispatchers still had to carefully switch to the proper frequency and radio tower site to alert, dispatch and continue conversing with specific agencies. Alerting a fire or EMS agency s voice pagers remained a complicated task with so many agencies being alerted off different frequencies and tower locations. This difficulty increased when trying to tone out different agencies at the same time across several frequencies and transmitter locations. An upgrade plan for the Warren County Communications Center was conceived in 2006 after being in operation over 12 years. This upgrade was planned to occur over a span of a few years in a set of phases. Phase I involved an upgrade to the microwave system that connects the communications center dispatch consoles to remote tower sites. The first real visible impact to the first responder community was seen during Phase II when a new paging channel was implemented and new voice pagers furnished to all fire emergency medical first responders. Phase III followed with upgrades to the communications center furniture, telephones, and radio interface. Phase IV (police radio network) and Phase V (fire and EMS radio network) are now in progress, and involve securing frequencies, strategic planning efforts, and the specifications and new radios that meet current and future industry standards, such as narrow banding and APCO Project 25. Phase I Microwave System Upgrades A microwave system connects the Communications Center to four remotely located radio towers, allowing received and transmitted radio signals to be sent between the center and those sites. The microwave also carries control signals used to monitor things like radio base station status, keying and 2

3 un-keying the transmitter, monitoring power, temperature, security access, and generator operation. Transmissions and control signals hop from tower to tower until they reach their final destination. A microwave loop originates at the Communications Center tower and then hops to the Upper Pohatcong Mountain (Mansfield) tower, to the Yards Creek tower (Blairstown), Scott s Mountain tower (Harmony) and finally to the Montana Mountain (Harmony) tower. A leased T-1 circuit exists between the Montana Mountain tower and the Communications Center, serving as a reverse loop in case the microwave equipment at any of the remote towers becomes inoperative. This allows the remaining towers to stay online within the loop. The microwave system was enhanced during phase I to 1) complete a hop to the new Scott s Mountain tower in Harmony, and 2) to replace and upgrade the microwave cards in the card bank at each site. The upgrade did not include new microwave transceivers, waveguide or dishes on the existing towers. Phase II Alert System Upgrade This second phase involved consolidation of voice pager tone alerting for all fire and EMS onto a single high band frequency. Prior to this, tone alerting was done over a multitude of channels some of which we also being used for ground communications at an incident or by vehicles responding to an incident. The new alert channel is simulcast, transmitting from all sites simultaneously in a synchronized manner. It is only used for transmitting alert tones and voice messages and does not allow for two-way communications by design between first responders and telecommunicators. This new alerting system allows first responders to receive their page anywhere in the county, not just in their home area as done in the past. This phase also included the purchase of new Motorola Minitor V pagers for all first responders. The pagers have advanced features such as voice store and playback, auto-reset, vibrate mode, and two channel capabilities. An operating guide for Motorola Minitor V pagers configured for the Warren County network is available online at Phase III Communications Center Upgrades This third phase included new console furniture, a new Zetron radio and telephone interface at each console and master controller in the equipment room, a new mapping program and interface to the Pictometry map imaging system, and new computer network cabling and central hub. A new UPS was also purchased to serve the Communications Center main room, back equipment room, microwave room and EOC. A new central alarm system was also installed to monitor activities and equipment at remote tower sites, including temperature, power and generators. The Zetron system also provided a new tone encoder system, console to console intercom, and tower site voting indicators to telecommunicators could see what radio transmissions from the field were being selected at which tower sites. The telephone network was upgraded for the entire facility from an older Verizon Centrex system and internal Meridian PBX to an Embarq switch and Zetron and telephone interface. 3

4 New Pictometry Mapping Product New Telecommunicator Consoles Phase IV Police Radio Network Upgrades This phase originally involved moving law enforcement communications to UHF frequencies, but an adequate number of UHF frequencies could not be obtained. It was hoped the high band frequencies law enforcement would vacate could then be used to support the Phase V plan and be re-used for fire and EMS Communications. At this time, police will remain on high band and interoperability channels will be provided so law enforcement can communicate directly to fire and EMS units. Phase IV will include re-licensing and engineering the current law enforcement frequencies for narrowbanding using APCO Project 25 compliant radio equipment. This includes county transmitters as well as subscriber units. A grant for $1.2 million has been earmarked by Senator Garrett s office for the purchase of subscriber units, and would require little, if any, additional county funds. The infrastructure costs, however, would be provided by the county. The upgrade plan for the Police radio network will consist of four regional channels, a new countywide police operations channel, and a new county-wide private, encrypted police channel. County law enforcement agencies will operate on the Police Operations channel and can interact with municipal departments on them. The private channel will be used for special operations and will be encrypted (and possibly digital) for security purposes. Phase V EMS and Fire Radio Network Upgrades This phase is in progress. Its main focus is to consolidate all fire and EMS radio communications onto narrow-banded high band radio frequencies, and the purchase and installation of new subscriber units for Fire and EMS that meet APCO Project 25 standards. The channel plan calls for a central alert channel (completed in phase III), two dedicated channels each for fire and EMS vehicles and officers to call in on, a command-only channel, and several repeated and simplex frequencies for ground operations. The plan also includes interoperability channels for use with in-county, out of county, and frequencies that conform to state and national interoperability plans. This is the most complicated, time-consuming, and costly of all the radio network upgrade phases. High band frequencies are scarce and hard to obtain and some will be limited in power, antenna height, and distance traveled. Many county base station transceivers will need to be converted to narrow-band frequencies that are simulcast and repeated. This will allow field units to hear each other and the dispatcher anywhere across the entire county. Base station antennas on county towers need to be 4

5 engineered to consider placement, interference, and directional or omni-directional transmit and receive patterns. The cost of end-user subscriber radios has and will be partially offset by separate AFG grants (Assistance to Firefighters) obtained as a joint effort by EMS agencies and fire agencies. County funds will be used to supplement required grant matches and some additional costs, such as installation, portable radio chargers, dual-head radios, etc. Communications Roundtable Group It was decided the Phase IV and V radio network upgrades would be a cooperative group effort and would include representatives from the user community. A Communications Roundtable Group was formed in December of 2008 and met several times starting in January of This group included representation from county and municipal law enforcement agencies, as well as fire, EMS and hazardous materials. The group was provided basic and advanced radio communications courses to become familiar with terminology such as simplex versus repeated radio channels, frequency bands, wide versus narrow banding, APCO Project 25, simulcasting, shadowing, unit IDs, encryption and other terms. The strengths and weaknesses of the current radio network were explored, and the desired capabilities and features of a new network were determined. The nominal group technique was used to determine and prioritize desired system features, functional radio channels needed, basic standard operating procedures and enforcement, and telecommunicator / end-user training points. The following members are on the Communications Roundtable Group: Municipal Police Subgroup: Chief Richard Guzzo, Greenwich Police (alternate: Chief Edward Mirenda, Phillipsburg Police) Lt. Thomas Cicerelle, Washington Twp. Police (alternate: Sgt. Todd Pantuso, Washington Twp. Police) Sgt. Robert Emery, Mansfield Police (alternate: Det. Aaron Perkins, Hackettstown Police) Fire Subgroup: Steven Alpaugh, Washington Borough Fire (alternate: Peter Ward, Harmony Fire) Michael Gibbs, Hackettstown Fire (alternate: Chad Koonz, Hope Fire) James Vergos, Washington Twp. Fire (alternate: Pete Pursell, Huntington Fire, Pohatcong) EMS Subgroup Scott Durlester, Blairstown EMS (alternate: Donald Obley, Lopatcong EMS) Michael Syckles, Independence EMS (alternate: Moses Acosta, Allamuchy-Green EMS) Charles VanDuersen, Washington EMS (alternate: Terry Clancy, Mansfield EMS) 5

6 County Agencies Subgroup William Eppell. W.C. Prosector s Office & TRT (alternate: Vincent Torre, W.C. Prosecutor s Office) Lisa DeLena, W.C. Office of the Sheriff (alternate: None) Christopher Grant, W.C. Corrections (alternate: None) Thomas Nigro, W.C. HazMat (alternate: Claude Mitchell, W.C. HazMat) Frank Wheatley, W.C. OEM (alternate: none) Warren County Public Safety David Gallant, Public Safety Director Patrick Rivoli, Public Safety Information Systems Manager (Municipal Police Subgroup liaison) Scott Danielson, Technical Services Supervisor (EMS Subgroup liaison) Steven Howell, Technical Services Assistant (Fire Subgroup liaison) Michael Burns, Communications Division Manager (County Agencies Subgroup liaison) Frank Wheatley, County Emergency Management Coordinator (Municipal OEM liaison) TuWay Communications William Landis, President Lisa Boligitz, Project Manager Derek Storm, Project Planner Kenneth Varley, Senior Microwave Engineer Robert Wodzicki, RF Engineer Matthew Smith, Wireless Networking Engineer The following Communications Roundtable Meetings were conducted: Dec. 11, 2008 Jan. 8, 2009 Feb. 19, 2009 Mar. 12, 2009 May 14, 2009 Jun. 4, 2009 Jun. 16, 2009 Sep. 10, 2009 Oct. 8, 2009 Kickoff Meeting, Member Expectations, Project Overview Strategic Planning Goals & Objectives, Nominal Group Technique Radio 101, 102, P25, Interoperability Class, Review Nominal Group Technique Results Channel Functionality Exercise and Work Session Vendor Presentation: Tait Radio Vendor Presentation: Motorola Radio Vendor Presentation: Kenwood Radio Functional channel and frequency plan and summer activity Functional channel and frequency plan and summer activity (make up) 6

7 Section Two Communications Network Features Several options were pursued regarding possible solutions to what frequency bands and technology could accommodate Warren County s upgraded radio network. These options began moving up or down in the possibilities list as frequencies and technologies were investigated. Cost was not initially being considered as a factor, but was later considered as part of the final list of possible options. It should be noted the main premise of the project was to move fire and EMS off low band and consolidate communications between them onto some other common band. With this in mind, the following feature options were researched and selected, with most having been identified and requested by the Warren County Communications Roundtable group during its strategic planning process. Implementation decisions or recommendations for any described option or feature are located in a boxed area following each section. APCO Project 25 Compliance / Compatibility Project 25 (P25) and APCO-25 are names that refer to a suite of standards for analog and digital radio communications for use by federal, state/province and local public safety agencies in North America to enable them to communicate with other agencies and mutual aid response teams in emergencies. It is basically a set of open standards developed by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officers for common technical and operational features and options that are vendor independent. Project 25's suite of standards specify eight open interface standards between the various components of a land mobile radio (LMR) system as follows: 1. Common Air Interface (CAI) standard specifies the type and content of signals transmitted by compliant radios. One radio using CAI should be able to communicate with any other CAI radio, regardless of manufacturer. This includes analog, digital, conventional and trunked networks. 2. Subscriber Data Peripheral Interface standard specifies the port through which mobiles and portables can connect to laptops or data networks 3. Fixed Station Interface standard specifies a set of mandatory messages supporting digital voice, data, encryption and telephone interconnect necessary for communication between a fixed radio station and P25 RF subsystem 4. Console Subsystem Interface standard specifies the basic messaging to interface a console subsystem to a P25 RF subsystem 5. Network Management Interface standard specifies a single network management scheme which will allow all network elements of the RF subsystem to be managed 6. Data Network Interface standard specifies the RF Subsystem's connections to computers, data networks, or external data sources 7. Telephone Interconnect Interface standard specifies the interface to Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) supporting both analog and ISDN telephone interfaces. 8. Inter RF Subsystem Interface (ISSI) standard specifies the interface between RF subsystems which will allow them to be connected into wide area networks The P25 standard consists of two phases as follows: Phase 1: Refers to radio systems operating in rthe 12.5 khz (narrowband) analog, digital or mixed mode. These radio systems involve standardized service and facility specifications, ensuring that 7

8 any manufacturers' compliant subscriber radio has access to the services described in such specifications. Abilities include backward compatibility and interoperability with other systems, across system boundaries, regardless of system infrastructure. In addition, the P25 suite of standards provides an open interface to the radio frequency (RF) subsystem to facilitate interlinking of different vendors' systems. Phase 2: Striving to improve spectrum utilization, phase 2 is currently under development, and will use the AMBE voice encoder ( vocoder ) to reduce the digital bandwidth needed on a single frequency. This phase also pays attention to interoperability with legacy equipment, interfacing between repeaters and other subsystems, roaming capacity and spectral efficiency/channel reuse. In addition, Phase 2 work involves console interfacing between repeaters and other subsystems, and man-to-machine interfaces for console operators that would facilitate centralized training, equipment transitions and personnel movement. It appears that APCO s P25 standard has some limitations. Some individual standards in the P-25 suite are mandatory, but many are not. Radio system owners may pick and choose from the optional standards, depending on their budget, what features they want to offer their users, and the product choices from the equipment vendors. Many optional standards may not be available at the descretion of the manufacturer. Finally, many of these manditory and optional standards apply only to digital, trunked, or P25 conventional / digital systems, and not to analog systems. This will be defined in more detail in a future version of this document. It was decided that any county purchased infrastructure or subscriber units will be compatable with APCO P25 Phase 1, with a preference to be phase 2 capable using a future flash upgrade. Phase 2 is a work in progress standard and it is possible that the electronic circuitry needed for phase 2 compatability might significantly differ from phase 1 compatable radios. Thus, any vendor claiming to be phase 2 capable should be held accountable by contract to either provide full flash upgrade compatability, hardware upgrades, or full replaceement of non-upgradable radios. Analog versus Digital Analog radio is a traditional radio format wherein a voice rides a radio carrier and can be easily picked up by any receiver, including a scanner, and thus is not considered secure. Digital radio involves encoding a voice into a digital radio stream and decoding it back to voice at the receiving end. The digital radio stream is transmitted over the air as data (a series of tones and blips) and cannot be understood until decoded by a receiver. Digital radio is inherently secure for this reason - the encoded voice data stream can be received by a common scanner but remains intelligible on a common scanner. Digital scanners are and will be available for public purchase, however they will be expensive when compared to the $99 hand held and base analog scanners that are currently available. All subscriber mobiles and portables purchased for the new network must support analog radio transmissions, but be capable of also supporting both digital and analog communications with a future upgrade. EMS and Fire portables purchased under the grant programs are digital capable with a future flash program upgrade. Law enforcement mobiles and portables may be purchased with both analog and digital formats to support a digital private, encrypted Police Private channel currently under consideration. While the digital format has several advantages, it is a very expensive option. Going digital would involve fork lifting out all existing VHF high band base station transceivers and auxiliary receivers, and 8

9 purchasing a flash upgrade for $595 for each new fire and EMS field radio that has already been purchased under the grant program. SIDE NOTE: There remains a possibility the one or more of the law enforcement channels in the new network could be made digital, with fire and EMS remaining in the analog world. This would preclude any fire and EMS agencies from wandering onto a police channel for receive or transmit purposes unless they purchased or upgraded to a digital capable radio. Law enforcement radios, however, have not yet been selected or purchased. They could be purchased with both digital and analog capabilities. Analog capabilities are needed so law enforcement radios are interoperable with analog fire and EMS frequencies, National IOP channels, SPEN channels, and out of county mutual aid (e.g. Long Valley, Mount Olive). There are many other advantages and disadvantages of digital system for law enforcement, plus additional infrastructure and subscriber unit costs need to be considered. Conventional versus P25 Conventional versus Trunked A conventional radio network consists of simple, traditional radio technology using simplex (single frequency) or repeated (dual frequency, repeated) radio channels. There is little control or interaction between radios other than transmitting or receiving a voice or data and perhaps transmitting a radio ID. A P25 conventional system allows for some control over remote radios, such as over the air programming and radio disabling, but continues to use simplex or repeated frequencies. A trunked system is much more advanced, providing better control and better allocation of available frequencies. A master trunking controller identifies and verifies each end user radio on the system and allocates an unused frequency from a general channel pool for a user to talk on. Users think in terms of groups and not frequencies. Trunking provides a more efficient use of frequencies, ultimate control of end-user radios, and more private, group oriented communications. Priority system access can also be given to specific field units on a permanent or ad-hoc basis. Trunking, however, is very expensive and requires a special control frequency that must be free and clear of any co-channel or adjacent channel interference. A trunked radio network actually requires two frequency pairs to serve as a primary and secondary (backup) control channel. To eliminate incoming and outgoing interference, these control channels must be licensed by the F.C.C. using the special FB8 designation. FB8 is a designation that comes with an FCC license stating that the licensed radio facility has a protected service area. Protection means that when FCC-certified frequency advisory committees (frequency coordinators) see the FB8 designation for a given frequency and location in their databases, they won't forward any applications to the FCC to use the same frequency nearby in a way that would interfere. Protection is necessary because the continuously transmitting control channel cannot tolerate any outside interference from co-channel and adjacentchannel users. It was decided that Warren County s new radio network would be a conventional system. This is due to the inability to obtain trunking control frequencies, the high cost associated with purchasing a trunking system s infrastructure, and the need to retrofit new subscriber units that were recently purchased under grants. In addition, the desire by fire and EMS personnel to hear their vehicles responding on channel two of their pagers would not be possible on a trunked system. Radio Identification This is the ability to assign a unique radio identifier to each base station and subscriber unit. The unit s identification could be displayed on all other capable base stations and field radios operating on the same 9

10 radio frequency. In addition, any radio equipment purchased must be able to support an alias list of at least 100 entries. This allows the radio ID to be displayed as an alias name such as Fire Chief. There is a separate section of this document that details the radio ID plan. It was decided the Motorola MDC-1200 standard would be used, and unique radio IDs would be assigned to each base station, mobile and portable. A future eye will be kept on APCO P25 radio identification standards, but will not be implemented at this time due to use of legacy equipment that will not support the APCO standard radio ID format. Encryption This feature was requested by law enforcement to provide a level of privacy for special events or operations. Encryption can be implemented on both analog and digital networks, although the digital framework inherently provides for a much more secure encryption options. Analog Encryption was selected as a requirement for the new Warren County radio network, and will be implemented on the new P-PVT radio channel / frequency pair. The ability to decode encrypted signals and the P-PVT radio channel will not be available or allowed in non-law enforcement radios. Emergency Call Button An emergency request may be initiated when a user manually depresses an emergency button on the subscriber unit, indicating a desire to transmit an emergency signal on a channel specifically monitored for this purpose. An emergency call may be automatically initiated, such as by a man down sensor. When an emergency call is activated a subscriber unit attempts to communicate the emergency call using the preferred communication resource, such as by initiating the emergency alarm call on its primary or home communication system. Activation usually includes the radio s unique ID and a timed, repeated alert tone. More advanced systems may also send a GPS location of the activated unit. Police, fire and hazmat personnel in Warren County have a high level of interest in this manually activated emergency call feature to indicate a threat to personal life or safety of the user. This feature is also applicable to EMS staff that perform technical rescues or operate in an IDLH environment (Immediate Danger to Life or Health), or those that may have a problem with an unruly patient. The automatic man down feature was of less interest due to its complexity and false activation possibilities. It was decided the manually activated emergency call feature would be a mandatory part of the new radio network. It will, however, require standard operating procedures to be developed for how and when it can be used, how assistance is coordinated, and what documentation of the event is required. This feature will also require training for both field personnel and telecommunicator staff. 10

11 Alert Tone Activation Also known as Voice SelCall, this feature allows a mobile or portable radio to be activated like a pager when it receives pager tones. These tones are assigned as a pair of unique tones to alert a specific agency, discipline, or all agencies located in a specific town. Mobile and portable radios must be capable of supporting at least 6 sets of alert tones or alert tone pairs, including 1) specific agency alert, 2) specific agency officer alert, 3) county wide all-call for all disciplines, 4) county wide all-call for a specific discipline, 5) town specific all-call, and 6) an evacuation tone. Evacuation Radio Tone Encoder / Activation Firefighters require the ability to receive a special evacuation tone to alert interior crews of possible imminent structural collapse or condition requiring immediate evacuation. This could be accomplished by reserving a two-tone alert combination that can be generated by the Communications Center and any mobiles. A two-tone evacuation alert will be implemented in the new radio network, and any Communications Center stations or mobile subscriber units must be capable to generating such a tone pair. Note that the Communications Center can transmit this tone over its alerting channel, but cannot transmit them over some of the ground channels due to licensing restrictions (e.g. ground channels may not be able to licensed for transmit by base stations). Mobiles in command vehicles and other emergency apparatus will have the capability of generating the same tones on these ground channels. Multi-Channel / Multi-Bank (min. 16 per bank, min, 8 banks) This feature allows for county-wide standard channel banks, agency customized channel banks, mutual aid and interoperability banks. All subscriber units purchased for the new network must allow for at least 8 channel banks or zones, with each bank or zone supporting at least 16 radio channels. Alphanumeric Display (Mobiles and Portables) This allows a combination of characters and numbers to display the selected channel name and/or received radio ID. Most alphanumeric displays will allow a minimum of 8 characters to be displayed for the channel name. At least 14 characters will be needed to display radio ID aliases so receivers can determine who is talking on the radio channel (e.g Fire Chief ). Alphanumeric displays are required on all subscriber units so channel names rather than channel numbers may be displayed. A minimum of 8 characters will be needed for this purpose. A 14-character display is preferred so that radio ID aliases can also be displayed External Microphone/Headset Capable (for portables) The use of optional external microphones and/or headsets must be allowed for any model portable radios purchased for the new network. 11

12 External Microphone/Speaker Capable or Dual Head (for mobiles) Some vehicles share a radio using a second control head, remote microphone/speaker assembly, or headset system. Radios purchased for the new network must permit this upgrade. VHF Low Frequency Band (44-47 MHz range) Most fire and many EMS agencies in Warren County used or currently use low band radio equipment and the goal is to get them off low band. Low band frequencies are prone to noise and interference, have limited range, cannot be trunked, repeated or simulcast, and manufactures no longer manufacture low band equipment or only offer a limited selection of equipment. On the positive side, low band frequencies are not subject to narrow banding requirements. It was decided that Warren County s new radio network would not include any VHF low band infrastructure, and the county would eventually relinquish their VHF-Low band licenses after the new VHF high band network is functionally accepted and in full operation. VHF High Frequency Band ( MHz) High band radio signals travel well within Warren County s varied terrain and some consider it the most favorable radio band for our area. However, VHF high band frequencies are in short supply, overloaded, and are prone to interference from co-channel and adjacent channel users. There are simply too many non-affiliated agencies sharing high band frequencies across the state and state borders. High band frequencies are subject to narrow banding requirements, but they can support trunking, repeating and simulcast abilities. Manufacturers offer a readily available variety of VHF High radios models with many features. It was decided that Warren County s new radio network for police, fire and EMS would consist of VHF High Band frequencies. This would help law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies that mutual aid with many of county agencies currently operating on high band. This includes Morris, Sussex and Hunterdon counties. UHF Ultra High Band ( MHz) UHF frequencies have a little more difficulty traveling in Warren County s mountainous terrain, but still offer range advantages over low band. UHF frequencies are in short supply but are somewhat less crowded or prone to interference from co-channel and adjacent channel users when compared to VHF log and VHF high band. UHF frequencies are frequently used in advanced radio networks that use trunking. Many entities have already locked up UHF frequencies as they came available several years ago, thus making them difficult to obtain. UHF frequencies are subject to narrow banding requirements. However, they support trunking, repeating, and the ability to be simulcast. Manufacturers offer a readily available variety of UHF radio models with many features. The county will continue to pursue a UHF link to the Northampton County Communications Center, and may consist of on demand patching of our new VHF high band Police OPS (County Law Enforcement) channel with a Northampton County UHF frequency possible located on out Scott s Mountain tower. It is 12

13 possible some of the UHF frequencies Warren County has access to could be used in the future for Public works / DPW communications, or as a trade for high band frequencies these agencies currently use. 700 MHz Radio Band A group of radio frequencies in the 700 MHz radio band have become available and are specially designated for public safety. Some people believe this new spectrum is the federal government s answer to true interoperability, with beliefs that all or most public safety radio networks will eventually migrate to it. This, however, is many years away. High power television stations were forced by the F.C.C. to move to high definition in mid 2008, thus releasing these 700 MHz for re-allocation. Thus, these frequencies are essentially considered empty and are not yet subject to co-channel and adjacent channel interference. A very strict application process for 700 MHz frequencies has been developed in an effort to prevent or reduce future interference from other user entities, essentially allowing for protected service areas. 700MHz channels will primarily be used for trunked and digital radio systems and are subject to future narrow banding requirements. A large selection of radio makes and models are available, with many manufacturers offering advanced features on these radios. It is not envisioned that many 700MHz licenses will start being granted to public safety until mid-2010 at the earliest. For more information, please visit The pursuit of the five 700 MHz Region 8 frequency pairs remains of interest to Warren County. This will require contractor assistance in preparing the Region 8 application and eventual FCC licensing. In addition, 700 MHz infrastructure will need to be installed at a minimum of one tower location (Montana Mountain or Mansfield) so these channel will be on the air and not taken away for lack of use. Spectrum is valuable, and this is Warren County s opportunity to gain some in the 700 MHz band for future radio networks. A decision must be reached if a monetary investment is justified. 800 MHz Radio Band 800 MHz has the same advantages and challenges as 700 MHz does, and radio hardware can typically support both bands. 800 MHz systems have been around for a while, and the majority of available frequencies have already been licensed. These frequencies are most typically used in large radio networks and trunked systems and work best in cities and flat metropolitan areas. Frequency allocations are heavily weighted towards commercial business, although some larger public safety entities do use this spectrum, and usually on a statewide or multi-county basis. Warren County has no interest in 800 MHz at this time due to a lack of available frequencies. We do, however, remain interested in 1) building into the UASI region and NJ State 800 MHz interoperability system, and 2) interfacing with the NJ State Police network. This would be contingent on the scope of the UASI network build-out and the NJ State Police s intention to let local agencies share their APCO P25 compliant trunked radio control switch to be installed within the next 2 years. 13

14 Section 3 Radio Channel Plan This section outlines the radio channels needed from a functional perspective. It was determined that due to technical or licensing limitations, the only viable option at this time was to move fire and EMS onto a conventional VHF high band system and leave the law enforcement agencies on the same VHF high band network for the next several years. Efforts would then continue behind the scenes to secure frequencies in the 700 MHz spectrum to allow for a future consideration of migrating police to that radio band. Fire and EMS could potentially follow. The 700 MHz system would most likely be a trunked radio system and would provide the ultimate in interoperability within and across state lines. This is being considered because the 700 MHz frequencies do not yet have other users on them and were specially allocated for Public Safety use. The following channel plan was the outcome of a joint effort between the Warren County Department of Public Safety staff, representatives from the user community, and TuWay Communications (Warren County s contracted consulting firm). It s basic philosophy is to provide zoned and shared radio channels for police, dedicated channels for fire and EMS vehicle and officer response to incidents, and ground operations channels that offer either locally contained communications (e.g. interior firefighting or EMS triage) or county-wide operations (e.g. water shuttle operations, mass causality communications). It was determined that not enough frequencies could be obtained, nor did it make good sense to allow for permanently assigned frequencies to be reserved for specific operations. For example, a frequency permanently dedicated to water supply would be infrequently used and waste of spectrum. The same could be said for interior hazmat operations, mass casualty triage, and other infrequently occurring operations. Instead, these rare but very important operations could be assigned on an incident by incident basis in an ad-hoc (as needed) manner from a pool of operational channels. Direct Operational (D-OPS) frequencies would be assigned when requested by an Incident Commander for operations that occur in a local or confined area of up to one mile. Examples include interior operations, ventilation, triage and treatment. When using D-OPS channels, end-user radio equipment talks directly with each other without any involvement of third party (e.g. county) base stations, repeaters or antennas. Thus, transmit and receive range is limited to the power of the user s radio. Other operations requiring more distant or county-wide communications would be assigned to an available Repeated Operational (R-OPS) frequency. These operations include water shuttles, EMS transport, move ups and standbys, storm and flooding response, and other events requiring widespread communications. R-OPS channels use fixed base station repeaters to boost the signals to other users over a longer distance. D-OPS and R-OPS channels will be assigned by the dispatcher either 1) at dispatch time or 2) at the request of the officer in charge or incident commander. For example, a fire company being dispatched to multiple flood locations or basement pumpings might be assigned an R-OPS channel at dispatch time due to the need for widespread communications. However, a pair of fire and EMS agencies being dispatched to a car fire would most likely be assigned a D-OPS channel due to the small size of the actual incident scene. The following chart shows the overall proposed plan for police, fire EMS, and Hazmat channels in a functional manner (no actual frequencies assigned). It is a conceptual view of the radio channel toolbox proposed for Warren County s use. Note that some channels are for ground operations only and are not monitored or able to be used to communicate with dispatchers. 14

15 Warren County, New Jersey Proposed Radio Channel Overview Diagram Zoned Municipal Police Channels: POLICE NORTHEAST (PDNEAST) POLICE SOUTH (PDSOUTH) POLICE CENTRAL (PDCNTRL) POLICE PHILLIPSBURG (P94) Shared Police Channels: POLICE OPERATIONS County Law (P-OPS1) POLICE PRIVATE Encrypted (P-PRIV1) Fire / EMS / Hazmat Units to Dispatch Channels: FIRE/HAZMAT RESPONSE (FIRERESP) EMS RESPONSE (EMSRESP) INCIDENT COMMAND (COMMAND) Direct (Local) Fire / EMS / Hazmat Channels: DIRECT OPERATIONS 1 (D-OPS1) DIRECT OPERATIONS 2 (D-OPS2) DIRECT OPERATIONS 3 (D-OPS3) Repeated (Distance) Fire / EMS / Hazmat Channels: REPEATED OPERATIONS 1 (R-OPS1) REPEATED OPERATIONS 2 (R-OPS2) Grayed area includes lower priority channels that may not be instituted until frequencies become available in the future. Interoperability Channels: WARREN COUNTY OPERATIONS (WC-OPS1) NATIONAL INTEROP CALL (VCALL-1) STATEWIDE POLICE EMER. NETWORK-3 (SPEN-3) NATIONAL INTEROP TACS (4) (VTAC-1,2,3,4) STATEWIDE POLICE EMER. NETWORK-4 (SPEN-4) - Repeated - Repeated and simulcast county-wide - No Dispatcher (cannot converse with and not monitored by Communications Center) 15

16 Section 4 - Radio Identification Plan Overview The technical staff at the Warren Communications Center has developed a plan for unique identification numbers assigned to radios operating on the upgraded Warren County radio network. This system will be first put into place when programming and installing new Police, Fire and EMS radios purchased for the new radio network. For the purposes of this document, a Radio ID refers to a unique, electronic 4-character alphanumeric string programmed into a radio, while the County ID system refers to the system used to number agencies, apparatus, and personnel when speaking over the radio. In situations where the County ID number is a unique 4-digit code, this same number can be programmed as a unique 4-digit Radio ID. General Radio ID Policy The Warren County Electronic Radio Identification Standard adheres to the following policy Mobiles, Portables and User Base Stations must conform to the Motorola MDC-1200 Radio ID protocol. Radio IDs must be requested by, approved through, and assigned by the Communications Center Technical Services staff. An agency may not assign, duplicate or program Radio IDs on their own accord. Radio IDs must be four alphanumeric characters in length, with each character in the range 0-9 or A-E in accordance with the Warren County Electronic Radio Identification Standard. Radio IDs must be unique to every radio with the exception of a pair of mobile and portable radios specifically assigned to an agency s senior officers (Police, Fire or EMS Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, EMS Captain). Where the County ID system allows for it, a vehicle number (e.g Chief s Car) should be used in a mobile rather than the officer s ID (Fire Chief). Any user radio having transmit capabilities on frequencies or talk groups that are monitored by and responded to by Communications Center Dispatchers must have an electronic Radio ID conforming to the MDC-1200 Radio ID standard. In-county radios without such a Radio ID may not be answered or acknowledged at some future date by Communications Center staff. All subscriber units (end-user mobiles, portables and base stations) will have their Radio ID programmed to transmit immediately when the microphone is keyed (precedes voice transmission). All Communications Center controlled base stations will have their Radio ID transmit when the microphone is unkeyed (follows voice transmission). The Motorola MDC-1200 Radio ID system will be used until such time as an open standards Radio Identification system (such as APCO Project 25) is implemented. An open standard will allow for multiple brands of radios to interoperate with all emergency services radios and base stations on a county network. 16

17 General Radio ID Format The MDC-1200 protocol defined a 4-character electronic Radio ID. Allowable characters include the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-E. The below Radio ID plan for Warren County assumes the numbers 0-9 and A-E are allowed in second through fourth ID character positions, with the first position only allowing 0-9 and A-D (E cannot be used in the first position). This is illustrated in the following table: CHARACTER A-D A-E A-E A-E POSITION Unique four digit vehicle or officer numbers defined in the county s long standing County ID numbering system will have no problem being programmed as a Radio ID. Unfortunately, the MDC-1200 Radio ID protocol is limited to four characters, thus five character IDs (example: 8350G ) cannot be easily represented and must be coded differently as a unique four character electronic Radio ID. Most vehicle radios and portables assigned to a ranking officer are represented in the county s unit numbering system using a unique 4-digit ID, where the first two digits represent the town or agency and the next two digits represent the unique vehicle or ranking officer number. Examples are 9810 (Greenwich Police car), 7330 (Independence OEM Coordinator), 8350 (EMS Chief/Captain), 7851 (Hackettstown Ambulance), 5760 (Franklin Fire Chief), 4661 (Blairstown Fire Engine), 2360 (Harmony Assistant Chief), 9499 (Phillipsburg Fire Police Chief). When a unique 4-digit ID (numbers only, no letters) is available, it will be programmed into the radio assigned to that unit or officer. The County ID system was expanded in 1997 to allow an alphabetic character to be appended onto the end of the 4-digit designation (e.g. 8350A). This was done to expand the number of portable radios that were being given out by squads to their EMS Lieutenants and Crew Chiefs. While 50 continues to designate the highest ranking EMS line officer (Chief or Captain), 50A was designated for the next line officer in charge, 50B for the next, and so on. Some EMS agencies gave their Crew Chiefs and members portable radios, and they were also given 50x letter designations, with some going as far down the alphabet as the letter J or more. Again, electronic Radio IDs only contain 4-characters (0-9 and A-E) per the Motorola MDC-1200 Radio ID standard. Obviously, it is not possible to represent an EMS crew chief s five-character County ID of 8350J in a four-character electronic Radio ID. 17

18 Section 5 - Interoperability Plan What is Interoperability? Interoperable Communications for Public Safety is defined as the ability of public safety services and support providers to talk with each other via voice and data on demand in real time when needed when authorized The need for Interoperable Communications varies depending on the how routine an incident is, its size and duration, number of responders, and diversity of agencies responding. Consider a routine motor vehicle stop, small mulch fire, or broken finger EMS call, versus a bank robbery, house fire, or multiple victim MVA, versus a detonated bomb, large apartment complex fire, or airplane crash What Interoperability Is Not Do we really want everyone talking to everyone? This could have dire consequences, such as Fostering violations of the chain of command (e.g. not requesting resources via proper procedures) Possibility of misunderstanding unfamiliar terms (e.g. firefighter misinterpreting a highly specific EMS term) Unnecessary or repetitive orders or updates ( EMS, did you also copy my instructions from fire division? ) Excessive radio traffic Interoperability Continuum Varying degrees of interoperability can be obtained in any radio network, ranging from a simple swapping of radios to a full bore open standards based network. However, there are other factors to consider. Governance is one, and involves formal and informal agreements among user agencies that need to interact with each other. Pre-established interoperability procedures, channel naming conventions, and other guidelines must be agreed upon and governed to reduce errors, misinformation and disagreements. Working groups from all disciplines must get together to design, monitor, and revise the rules of interoperability. Standard Operating Procedures can then be developed so tactical operations as well as incident command is supported in the interoperability plan. Technology plays a role as to what subscriber radio equipment and network infrastructure is needed, and what levels of interoperability can be supported. End user training and exercises are very important the entire system is only as good as the people using it. Finally, ongoing usage during real emergencies (local or regionalized) can provide a measure of how well the interoperable communications system is functioning. The following diagram shows how these five factors progress in scope and capabilities as interoperable systems are designed and used. 18

19 The specific technological solutions that the Interoperability Continuum identifies are as follows: Swap Radios Swapping radios can either involve emergency responders using radios from a compatible set of radios, called a radio cache, where available, or an agency providing one of its radios to a responder from another agency. The solution of swapping radios can achieve a basic level of interoperability; however, it can be time-consuming, management-intensive, and may only provide limited results. In addition, it is often best suited for command and control activities, unless a radio is available for every emergency responder. Gateways Gateway systems offer improved interoperability by connecting two or more radio networks. This allows users on one network to communicate with users of another network. This solution is limited by: (1) Gateways can be inefficient because, for each common talk path, they require one channel per interconnected network; (2) A gateway s effective geographic coverage may be limited to the area common to all systems participating in that link, unless the network uses designated common interoperability channels not inclusive to an individual participant or response agency; and (3) They often require significant time to set up or turn on; an emergency incident may be over before a supporting link can be established. Shared Channels Channels consist of frequencies, or pairs of frequencies for repeaters, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Shared channels, commonly referred to as interoperability channels, achieve an improved level of interoperability by establishing common channels over which multiple jurisdictions or disciplines can communicate. This solution can be achieved using existing systems and resources, as long as these channels are programmed into each piece of conventional, nontrunked radio equipment, and as long as radios operate in the same frequency band. Trunked systems must also be in the same band and be from the same or compatible manufacturer, for shared talk groups to be 19

20 effective. Limited availability of spectrum and channel/talk group congestion can limit the effectiveness of this solution. Proprietary Shared Systems and Standards-Based Shared Systems Shared systems refer to the use of a single radio system infrastructure to provide service to most agencies within a region. With the proper planning, standards-based, regionally shared systems can provide optimal interoperability in functionality for users of the system in the region. However, this type of solution can be costly to construct. Proprietary shared systems force users to procure one manufacturer s product and eschew any open competition. These technical solutions each have benefits and limitations. None can solely provide the highest interoperability. A combination of these solutions is required to best accommodate the communications needs of a region or community. However, this guide highlights the shared channel solution, because it can be achieved using existing systems and limited resources. Levels of Interoperability The amount of interoperable communications required by any incident depends on many factors. Of primary interest is the number of organizations coming to the incident, how disparate their services are, where they come from and what radio capabilities and training they have. In-county agencies that share radio channels and provide the same services (e.g. fire suppression) are lest apt to experience interoperability problems. Services coming from out of the county or across the state are less likely to share the same radio band or channels, and interoperability issues may arise. In County Used by in-county mutual aid agencies with formal and informal mutual aid agreements Multi-agency teams or functions communications needs (staging, tanker task force, EMS triage) Communications with County or Regional Teams (Hazmat, Search & Rescue, Tactical Response Team) Communications with Coordinators (Fire, EMS, OEM, hazmat, health) Out of County Communications with out of county mutual aid agencies (generally from adjacent counties) Communications with out of county resource coordinators (Fire, EMS, OEM) Statewide Communications with out of county mutual aid agencies (generally from non-adjacent counties) Interfacing with State Resources (National Guard, NJSP Bomb Squad, Dive Teams, UASI) Interacting with State Coordinators (NJSP, NJDFS, OEM, NJ 1st Aid Council, NJ Health) Note State and non-contiguous county resources generally obtained through county/state EOC or by county coordinators for fire/ems resources National Interoperability Channels Several national Interoperability channels have been expressly designated for use by Public Safety. They were initiated by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). They include specific frequencies in VHF low band (30-50 MHz), VHF high band ( MHz), UHF band ( MHz), 700 MHz A block (TV channels 63 & 68), 700 MHz B block (TV channels 64 & 69), and 800 MHz NPSPAC band ( / MHz). There are a total of 99 channels across these different bands. 20

21 The FCC and NTIA rules allow for some flexibility in frequency use by personnel directly involved in a situation where human life or property are endangered. This does not mean In an emergency, anything goes. The following guideline should be considered before assigning an interoperability channel to an emergency incident: Does the incident involve a response by three or more mutual aid agencies of the same discipline with a need to have interoperable radio communications? Does the incident involve one or more mutual aid agencies from out of county that normally operate on a different radio network? Are all county network interoperability and mutual aid channels in use for other events? If answering YES to any of the above questions, assignment and use of interoperability channel(s) is recommended for the incident with the following rules in effect: The Warren County Communications Center assigns use of a National Interoperability Channel at the request of the Incident Commander or designee. An interoperability channel should not be assigned that is already being used at a different incident in the same or nearby counties so that co-channel interference does not occur. Each national interoperability channel in the Public Safety Radio Services has a unique name developed according to a standardized format as follows: BtypennM where: B indicates the radio spectrum band: L=VHF Low, V=VHF High, U=UHF, 7=700, 8=800 type indicates the primary purpose or functional capability of the channel as follows: CALL Channel is dedicated nationwide for the express purpose of Interoperability calling only DATA Channel is reserved nationwide for the express purpose of Data transmission only FIRE Primarily used for interagency incident communications by Fire licensees GTAC Primarily used for interagency incident communications between Public Safety eligible entities and eligible non-governmental organizations LAW Primarily used for interagency incident communications by Police licensees MED Primarily used for interagency incident communications by Emergency Medical Service licensees MOB Primarily used for on-scene interagency incident communications by any Public Safety eligible agency using vehicular repeaters (FCC Station Class MO3) TAC Primarily used for interagency communications by any Public Safety eligible agency nn is the 1 or 2 digit channel unique number (1 through 99) as follows: 1-9 VHF Low Band (30-50 MHz) [No leading zero used] VHF High band ( MHz) UHF band ( MHz) MHz A block (TV 63/68) MHz B block (TV 64/69) MHz NPSPAC band ( / MHz) [Post-rebanding] and M is a single character modifier tag used to describe the technical configuration of the channel as follows: D Direct (Simplex) T Talk-Around (Simplex operation on a repeater output frequency) 21

22 VHF LOW BAND NATIONAL INTEROPERABILITY CHANNELS DESCRIPTION NPSTC ID SIMPLEX FREQUENCY Law Enforcement LLAW Fire (Proposed) LFIRE Law Enforcement LLAW Fire LFIRE VHF HIGH BAND NATIONAL INTEROPERABILITY CHANNELS DESCRIPTION NPSTC ID FREQUENCY USE Calling VCALL Base/mobile Tactical VTAC *1 Base/mobile Tactical VTAC Base/mobile Tactical VTAC *1 Base/mobile Tactical VTAC *2 Base/mobile Fire Mutual Aid (base and mobile) VFIRE21W VFIRE Mobile Wideband Mobile Narrowband Fire Mutual Aid (mobile) VFIRE22W VFIRE Mobile Wideband Mobile Narrowband Fire Mutual Aid (mobile) VFIRE23W VFIRE Mobile Wideband Mobile Narrowband Fire Mutual Aid VFIRE Narrowband Only Fire Mutual Aid VFIRE Narrowband Only Fire Mutual Aid VFIRE Narrowband Only EMS Mutual Aid (base and mobile proposed) VMED28W VMED Mobile Wideband Mobile Narrowband EMS Mutual Aid Narrowband Only (proposed) VMED Law Enforcement Mutual Aid VLAW31W Mobile Wideband (base and mobile) VLAW Mobile Narrowband Law Enforcement Mutual Aid VLAW Narrowband Only SARWFM Mobile Wideband FM Search & Rescue SARNFM Mobile Narrowband FM Search & Rescue (ground to air) VHF Marine Ch. 82A EMS Medical Support Mobile Wideband FM *1 VTAC11 and VTAC12 may not be used in PR/VI. *2 VTAC14 is designated for primary use for Search and Rescue Operations Default operation should be carrier squelch receive, CTCSS transmit. If the user can enable/disable without reprogramming the radio, the indicated CTCSS tone should also be programmed for receive, 22

23 Subscriber Radio Programming and Licensing It is strongly recommended that interoperability channels be programmed in each subscriber radio in a special Interoperability Channel Bank using the proper interoperability channel names as previously described. Note that a license is not required to program frequencies with transmit capabilities into a radio, however, a license is required to transmit on them. No license is needed to receive any frequency, but state laws may prohibit or restrict reception of these frequencies for members of the public (e.g. a civilian having a mobile or portable scanner receiver in their car). Transmit Authorization on Interoperability Frequencies is permitted in one of six ways as follows: 1. You or your employer may already have an FCC license or NTIA authorization, or may be covered by a higher authority s license. For example, Warren County holds mobile licenses for several frequencies that permit its authorized user agencies to operate on them. 2. Non-Federal National Interoperability channels VCALL10-VTAC14, UCALL40-43D and 8CALL90-8TAC94D are covered under a blanket authorization from the FCC for mobile operations. Base stations and control stations still require individual licenses. 3. A Special Temporary Authority (STA) may have been issued by the FCC. 4. The NTIA may issue a Temporary Assignment for use in a particular area. 5. When invited or approved by Federal Government agencies that are authorized by the NTIA, federal interoperability channels may be operated on using mobile or portable only equipment. This might occur at an incident where a federal response has occurred. 6. When necessary for IMMEDIATE protection of life or property, radio users may use prudent measures beyond the specifics of their license and normal communications systems are not available. Warren County Interoperability Channels Warren County has designated several channels for direct (local, simplex) ground operations at incidents or that may require mutual aid. These are termed D-OPS channels on which all user radios talk directly to each other. Thus, radio range on D-OPS channels are limited to the transmit and receive power of the user s radio itself. For operations requiring more distant communications, R-OPS (repeated) channels are available. R-OPS channels use base station repeaters to receive and retransmit signals over greater distances. L-OPS channels are preferred over R-OPS channels for local communications because user radios talk direct to each other and not through a repeater. For example, two firefighters in a basement should use an L-OPS channel to communicate since their portable radios are in the same general area. An R-OPS channel may not perform as well in this case because each portable s signal would have to travel out of the basement to a remote repeater base station, then travel back again into to the basement to another portable. Distance to the remote repeater may hamper the signal or its clarity. L-OPS and R-OPS channels will be assigned by the telecommunicators to incidents requiring ground unit to ground unit communications. This may occur at dispatch time or when a first unit responds. An incident commander also has the right to request another operation channel by defining its use (e.g. interior operations, water supply, triage, etc.). This use will determine the best type of operation channel to assign either an L-OPS or R-OPS channel. Generally, Warren County D-OPSn and/or R-OPSn channels will be assigned to an incident before a National Interoperability channel is assigned, unless out of county mutual aid agencies are involved. 23

24 Section 6 Project Status Law Enforcement Police North / East / South / Central / Phillipsburg are licensed and operating, but must be re-licensed and converted to narrowband by It is hoped that Police North and East frequencies will be merged after obtaining permission from licensees. This will require letters of concurrence and licensing to allow repeaters to be simulcast from both the Mansfield and Blairstown tower locations. This phase will pair Blairstown PD up with the rest of the police departments already on this channel (Hackettstown, Mansfield, and Independence). Frequencies for P-OPS1 (county-wide law enforcement) and P-PRIV1 (encrypted law enforcement) are being researched and then must be licensed. Note that these two channels may not make it into the initial programming for any new law enforcement subscriber units purchased in 2010, but will be added later when available. A $1.2 million grant was obtained by Director Gallant through the Offices of Congressmen Scott Garrett for the purchase of new mobile and portable radios for law enforcement. Law enforcement agencies will be evaluating loaner portable (and hopefully mobile) radios from different vendors during the first few months of Emergency Medical Services All EMS agencies (including Phillipsburg) are alerted on the new high band alert channel. An Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) was obtained by E. Scott Danielson, Joseph Groff and the Washington Emergency Squad. It was used to purchase new Motorola high band XTL-2500 mobile and base radios and XTS-1500 portable radios that were installed in the summer of All EMS agencies (excluding Phillipsburg) are responding and operating on the EMSDISP-1 channel. It is planned to repeat and simulcast this channel in 2010 so that all responding units and dispatchers can be heard county-wide. EMSDISP-1 will also be narrow banded and renamed EMSRESP (EMS Response channel) before this project concludes. National Interoperability Channels are programmed into the new EMS Motorola high band mobile and portable radios purchased using the AFG grant. EMS ground communications is occurring on the EMSTAC-2 ( ) and EMSTAC-3 ( ) frequencies. Note these frequencies may be renamed in the new radio network for use as a D-OPTn channel or an R-OPTn input frequency. Narrowband repeated channels (R-OPSn) and simplex/direct (D-OPSn) channels will be made available in the future as FCC frequency licensing is obtained. At this time, all EMS agencies previously operating on low band have been migrated to high band. Fire/Hazmat All fire agencies (including Phillipsburg) and Warren County Hazmat are alerted on the new high band alert channel. Assistance to Firefighters grant (AFG) was obtained by Fire Coordinator Steven Alpaugh and the Washington Fire Department. It will cover about ¼ of the purchase price of new high band mobiles, portables and base stations that will be purchased in The county has agreed to pick up the 24 Motorola XTL-2500 Motorola XTS-1500

25 difference and cover mobile radio installation costs. The will be the same radio models as purchased for EMS (Motorola high band XTS-1500 portable radios and XTL-2500 mobiles and bases) The minimum channels needed to support Fire Communications include the FIREDISP channel, at least two D-OPSn fire ground frequencies, and one repeated R-OPSn channel. The full fire radio network will include a COMMAND channel and additional D-OPSn and R-OPSn channels. Frequencies for these channels are under investigation and must be licensed by the county before the new high band fire radios can be distributed or installed. This will probably occur sometime between the end of 2010 and summer of National Interoperability Channels will be programmed into the new high band radios. Infrastructure Following an extensive, year long planning phase, the county will begin the engineering and design of its base station radio network (termed infrastructure ) in early For base stations, this phase will include determining transmit power, antenna height and which tower leg an antenna is mounted on. It will also determine which frequencies can be transmitted on from fixed base stations or tower locations. Other frequencies can only be used for ground operations from mobiles and portables. This information is required on F.C.C. license applications. Auxiliary receivers will be needed at specific locations throughout the county to help receive weaker signals coming from mobiles and portables. An additional radio tower site in Allamuchy is being planned and should be ready for new base stations by the end of An additional tower site is under consideration in the Oxford area The county s microwave system will need to be upgraded with additional channel paths to handle the new frequencies that will be made available at all tower sites. The microwave system is used to link to the Communications Center to transceiver base stations located at these remote tower sites. The completion date of this project is estimated to be summer of However, it is expected some new high band channels may become operational prior to this date. Training For law enforcement, officers must be made aware of the availability and purpose of the P-OPS1 countywide police operations channel and the use of the P-PRIV1 encrypted radio channel for secured communications. In addition, the purpose and use of the new VCALL and VTAC interoperability channels need to be explained. Radio ID and emergency alerts need to be demonstrated, as well as the use of talk-around frequencies. For routine EMS calls there is not a need for a large amount of ground communications over the radio. EMS radio traffic gets more intense on complex calls involving multiple EMS vehicles and/or mutual aid. However, fire department radio traffic is almost always heavy with multiple vehicles responding to and multiple firefighters operating on radios during routine incidents. Interior and exterior operations occur at incidents. Interior operations generally require a direct portable to portable D-OPSn channel while many outside operations require a repeated R-OPSn channel for more distant radio communications (EMS transport, staging and water supply). Fire and EMS responders will need to be educated on the availability and requesting of additional radio channels for specific operations, developing a radio channel plan for an incident, and when to use interoperability frequencies (V-CALL, V-TAC) during mutual aid situations. In addition, the Radio IDs, emergency alerts and evacuation tones need to be explained, as well as the use of talk-around frequencies on repeated channels. 25