Harris has announced the release of the next generation of the OpenSky system. OpenSky2 is an enhancement to the current OpenSky system which provides radio communications for public safety, utility, industrial and transit organizations. OpenSky2 will offer improved user services, enhanced coverage and a number of audio improvements and features!
DPS will share more on this release as we learn more about OpenSky2.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
July 2010 PTT Report
Statistics on Push-to-talk (PTT): The number of times a radio was used to make a voice transmission. The following stats are discipline specific county wide.
Law Enforcement – 121,964
Fire – 46,209
EMS – 45,735
Agencies –85,168
DPS – 4,097
County Agencies – 62,869
Municipal – 6,178
Total County Wide – 372,220
PTT's for the Month of MayMonthly PTT’s from the main dispatch (9-1-1 Center) talk groups:
Fire – 26,143
EMS – 38,516
Police West – 22,878
Police East – 72,925
Police Data – 20,515
Site Utilization (Percentage of site use)...
Forward = Calls to the sites from the radios
Reverse = Calls from the sites to the radios
Lambs Gap- 10.14% Forward 4.71% Reverse
Reesers Summit- 11.24% Forward 3.82% Reverse
EOC- 8.7% Forward 2.21% Reverse
Courthouse- 10.28% Forward .75% Reverse
Commonwealth Technology Center- 9.11% Forward .36% Reverse
3 Square Hollow- 7.69% Forward .47% Reverse
Ship Cell- 8.67% Forward .52% Reverse
South Mountain- 7.69% Forward .48% Reverse
Waggoners Gap- 7.75% Forward .43% Reverse
Rose Garden- 6.88% Forward .2% Reverse
Boiling Springs- 6.89% Forward .12% Reverse
Shippensburg- 5.32% Forward .22% Reverse
Dickinson Twp- 6.78% Forward .14% Reverse
Holy Spirit- 7% Forward .12% Reverse
Kings Gap- 4.9% Forward .06% Reverse
Pine Grove- 4.02% Forward .14% Reverse
*There were no queued calls this month. As of this report we have 2,383 radios on the system in Cumberland County and 399 Talk Groups.
Control Stations: 23
Mobiles: 658
Portables: 1702
Law Enforcement – 121,964
Fire – 46,209
EMS – 45,735
Agencies –85,168
DPS – 4,097
County Agencies – 62,869
Municipal – 6,178
Total County Wide – 372,220
PTT's for the Month of MayMonthly PTT’s from the main dispatch (9-1-1 Center) talk groups:
Fire – 26,143
EMS – 38,516
Police West – 22,878
Police East – 72,925
Police Data – 20,515
Site Utilization (Percentage of site use)...
Forward = Calls to the sites from the radios
Reverse = Calls from the sites to the radios
Lambs Gap- 10.14% Forward 4.71% Reverse
Reesers Summit- 11.24% Forward 3.82% Reverse
EOC- 8.7% Forward 2.21% Reverse
Courthouse- 10.28% Forward .75% Reverse
Commonwealth Technology Center- 9.11% Forward .36% Reverse
3 Square Hollow- 7.69% Forward .47% Reverse
Ship Cell- 8.67% Forward .52% Reverse
South Mountain- 7.69% Forward .48% Reverse
Waggoners Gap- 7.75% Forward .43% Reverse
Rose Garden- 6.88% Forward .2% Reverse
Boiling Springs- 6.89% Forward .12% Reverse
Shippensburg- 5.32% Forward .22% Reverse
Dickinson Twp- 6.78% Forward .14% Reverse
Holy Spirit- 7% Forward .12% Reverse
Kings Gap- 4.9% Forward .06% Reverse
Pine Grove- 4.02% Forward .14% Reverse
*There were no queued calls this month. As of this report we have 2,383 radios on the system in Cumberland County and 399 Talk Groups.
Control Stations: 23
Mobiles: 658
Portables: 1702
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Radio Project Timeline-22 Years
Every wonder how the 800 MHz radio project got it's start? Well it was 22 years in the making to get where we are today and there are lots of plans for the future of this radio system.
800 MHz Radio Project Timeline
1988– Cumberland County contracts third party to conduct a study on the public safety legacy radio system in use at the time. Study recommends several upgrades to the sites (Lambs Gap and 3 Square) and the addition of the South Mountain site. Study also forecasts the need for a future study to look into the eventual replacement of the legacy system.
1995– Study conducted by SE Technologies explores options for a new radio system in the near future. Study recommends an 800MHz trunked digital system. At the time 18 800MHz frequencies were available and Cumberland County attains licenses for these frequencies from the FCC.
1998– Cumberland County requests proposals/bids for an radio system falling under the specifications of the 1995 study. Proposal submitted by Motorola, AMP Wireless/M/A Comm, and Ericcson. All three bids are rejected.
August 1999– Commonwealth of Pennsylvania awards contract for state radios system to M/A Com. M/A Com submits unsolicited proposal to Cumberland County and offers state contract pricing for the project.
May 2000– Cumberland County signs contract with M/A Com for a $6,000,000 800MHz trunked digital system. Contract is for 6 high profile radio sites and 5 cell sites.
2004– During testing phase, DPS begins noticing minor interference from cell phone carriers. The FCC releases a report in August requiring thousands of radios systems nationwide to relocate on the 800 MHz band to solve cell interference issues. FCC directs Sprint Nextel to cover full cost of nationwide rebanding. DPS files with the FCC for the first time to report interference from cell phone carriers. Previously Cumberland County had been dealing directly with Nextel Partners (before they were acquired by Sprint Nextel) Cumberland County hires SSI (later to become Kimball) to serve as a consultant during the potential rebanding process.
Tower sites are added at Pine Grove State Park as well as Waggoners Gap to improve coverage.
December 2005– Law enforcement agencies in Cumberland County officially transition to 800 MHz system.
2006– County fire police officially transition to the 800 MHz system. Also this year the Shippensburg Cell Site is added to increase radio coverage in the Shippensburg area. Cumberland County submits request for planning to 800 MHz Transition Administrator.
This request would begin the process for Cumberland County to seek an agreement with Sprint/Nextel, resulting in Sprint/Nextel as the party financially responsible for Cumberland County’s rebanding.
2007- County Fire and EMS departments officially transition to 800 MHz system. New sites added at Holy Spirit and Courthouse. Frequency Reconfiguration Agreement (FRA) process begins between Cumberland County and Sprint Nextel.
2008– Cumberland County continues to experience, investigate and file with the FCC reports of cell phone interference.
Aug 2009-Cumberland County begins to receive equipment for rebanding to warehouse, managed by Kimball.
Jan/Feb 2010– Cumberland County receives final FRA from Sprint/Nextel. This final FRA was three years in the making, as numerous hurdles were over come in the process. The Commonwealth of PA was also negotiating an FRA, which influenced Cumberland County’s RFA, Tyco was purchased and transitions to become part of the Harris Corporation, and several amendments had to be made to the original FRA. Cumberland County, along with Kimball, Harris, SSC and B. Moyer Communications, began the process to exchange 1,461 portables, and reprogramming of 468 mobile radios and 80 control stations.
June 2010– Radio exchanges and reprogramming completed. CTC, Lambs Gap, Shippensburg University, Pine Grove and the Shippensburg Cell site are all retuned. DPS receives approval to place a new tower site in Middlesex Township. Tower site upgrades and 4.9 Link Shot project begins. Project to be completed by end of 2010. This is a $1.7 million upgrade to the system.
Fall 2010—”Second touch” schedule to occur, in which old frequencies will be removed from portables. Mutual aide sites are also scheduled for retuning in the fall (3 Square and South Mountain).
Future Plans– Cumberland County has plans to add 3 additional sites, to improve system coverage. No dates are set.
800 MHz Radio Project Timeline
1988– Cumberland County contracts third party to conduct a study on the public safety legacy radio system in use at the time. Study recommends several upgrades to the sites (Lambs Gap and 3 Square) and the addition of the South Mountain site. Study also forecasts the need for a future study to look into the eventual replacement of the legacy system.
1995– Study conducted by SE Technologies explores options for a new radio system in the near future. Study recommends an 800MHz trunked digital system. At the time 18 800MHz frequencies were available and Cumberland County attains licenses for these frequencies from the FCC.
1998– Cumberland County requests proposals/bids for an radio system falling under the specifications of the 1995 study. Proposal submitted by Motorola, AMP Wireless/M/A Comm, and Ericcson. All three bids are rejected.
August 1999– Commonwealth of Pennsylvania awards contract for state radios system to M/A Com. M/A Com submits unsolicited proposal to Cumberland County and offers state contract pricing for the project.
May 2000– Cumberland County signs contract with M/A Com for a $6,000,000 800MHz trunked digital system. Contract is for 6 high profile radio sites and 5 cell sites.
2004– During testing phase, DPS begins noticing minor interference from cell phone carriers. The FCC releases a report in August requiring thousands of radios systems nationwide to relocate on the 800 MHz band to solve cell interference issues. FCC directs Sprint Nextel to cover full cost of nationwide rebanding. DPS files with the FCC for the first time to report interference from cell phone carriers. Previously Cumberland County had been dealing directly with Nextel Partners (before they were acquired by Sprint Nextel) Cumberland County hires SSI (later to become Kimball) to serve as a consultant during the potential rebanding process.
Tower sites are added at Pine Grove State Park as well as Waggoners Gap to improve coverage.
December 2005– Law enforcement agencies in Cumberland County officially transition to 800 MHz system.
2006– County fire police officially transition to the 800 MHz system. Also this year the Shippensburg Cell Site is added to increase radio coverage in the Shippensburg area. Cumberland County submits request for planning to 800 MHz Transition Administrator.
This request would begin the process for Cumberland County to seek an agreement with Sprint/Nextel, resulting in Sprint/Nextel as the party financially responsible for Cumberland County’s rebanding.
2007- County Fire and EMS departments officially transition to 800 MHz system. New sites added at Holy Spirit and Courthouse. Frequency Reconfiguration Agreement (FRA) process begins between Cumberland County and Sprint Nextel.
2008– Cumberland County continues to experience, investigate and file with the FCC reports of cell phone interference.
Aug 2009-Cumberland County begins to receive equipment for rebanding to warehouse, managed by Kimball.
Jan/Feb 2010– Cumberland County receives final FRA from Sprint/Nextel. This final FRA was three years in the making, as numerous hurdles were over come in the process. The Commonwealth of PA was also negotiating an FRA, which influenced Cumberland County’s RFA, Tyco was purchased and transitions to become part of the Harris Corporation, and several amendments had to be made to the original FRA. Cumberland County, along with Kimball, Harris, SSC and B. Moyer Communications, began the process to exchange 1,461 portables, and reprogramming of 468 mobile radios and 80 control stations.
June 2010– Radio exchanges and reprogramming completed. CTC, Lambs Gap, Shippensburg University, Pine Grove and the Shippensburg Cell site are all retuned. DPS receives approval to place a new tower site in Middlesex Township. Tower site upgrades and 4.9 Link Shot project begins. Project to be completed by end of 2010. This is a $1.7 million upgrade to the system.
Fall 2010—”Second touch” schedule to occur, in which old frequencies will be removed from portables. Mutual aide sites are also scheduled for retuning in the fall (3 Square and South Mountain).
Future Plans– Cumberland County has plans to add 3 additional sites, to improve system coverage. No dates are set.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Site Outage Updates
All 5 sites that were scheduled for work last week were successfully rebanded and are back on line working properly. Two more site retunes and outages will occur in July. These sites will take care of the NPSPAC Mutal aid sites. The outage will be very similar to the outages that occured last week and will effect the Three Square Site and the South Mountain Site. When dates and times are finalized they will be posted on the blog.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Site Outages Week of June 28th
Over the next week several sites will be out of service briefly due to rebanding or site modifications that need to occur. Below is the schedule for outages as they will occur. During these outages you should have adequate mobile coverage but portable coverage will be affected so please use the VTAC accordingly if you have one within your fleet. We are confident that the outage will more than likely go un-noticed.
Reeser's Summit
June 28 @ 0300 hrs site will be down 30 minutes to an hour at most. This site outage is a result of the microwave link from CTC to Reeser's being upgraded therefore causing the site to be down which coincidentally is unrelated to the rebanding project.
CTC (commonwealth technologies center - located in Harrisburg above Farm show complex)
June 29 @ 0830 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
Lambs Gap
June 30 @ 0500 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
Shippensburg University
July 1 @ 0930 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
Pine Grove State Park
July 2 @ 0930 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
We will notify you if any major changes to the schedule occur!
***As always if there is an incident at the time we need to take the site down we will postpone the outage until such time it is safe to do so***
Reeser's Summit
June 28 @ 0300 hrs site will be down 30 minutes to an hour at most. This site outage is a result of the microwave link from CTC to Reeser's being upgraded therefore causing the site to be down which coincidentally is unrelated to the rebanding project.
CTC (commonwealth technologies center - located in Harrisburg above Farm show complex)
June 29 @ 0830 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
Lambs Gap
June 30 @ 0500 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
Shippensburg University
July 1 @ 0930 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
Pine Grove State Park
July 2 @ 0930 hrs site will be down for approx 30 minutes or less.
We will notify you if any major changes to the schedule occur!
***As always if there is an incident at the time we need to take the site down we will postpone the outage until such time it is safe to do so***
Monday, June 21, 2010
Portable Case Problems
A quality issue regarding some of the portable cases issued during the recent equipment has been brought to the attention of DPS. Users are experiencing issues with rivets coming off and the paint rubbing off.
DPS has brought this issue to the attention of the Harris Corporation and they are actively working to resolve the issue. At this time we are asking that you contact Megan with any issues you are experiencing with the cases so that we may continue to report the issues to Harris.
Megan Silverstrim
mmoriarty@ccpa.net
717-240-6400
DPS has brought this issue to the attention of the Harris Corporation and they are actively working to resolve the issue. At this time we are asking that you contact Megan with any issues you are experiencing with the cases so that we may continue to report the issues to Harris.
Megan Silverstrim
mmoriarty@ccpa.net
717-240-6400
Emergency Button Testing
The Emergency Button Focus Group formed several months ago to explore the possibility of reactivating the emergency button for Fire, met last night at Company 30, Station 1. The focus group along with representatives from several fire companies from throughout the county, conducted testing and held open discussion regarding potential options for reactivating the emergency button. This group plans on meeting and conducting testing on future occasions, so that the best possible solution can be reached.
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