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Looks like MACC (Multi Agency Communications Center), the agency who dispatches all law enforcement, fire, EMS for Grant County has decided to move away from ultimate interoperability and create their own kingdom.

Here's the article from yesterdays Columbia Basin Herald:

http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/arti ... 490027.txt

Makes one wonder that after the switch how long it will be before fire moves back to VHF because they couldn't talk to their neighbors. (Example given: Benton County).

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Spectrum Communications, Inc.
526 S Locust Lane
Moses Lake, WA 98837

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"Hane explained no matter which choice the board made, they need (to) keep a VHF analog system"...

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"I was installing un-programmed radios"

smells like someone's gonna get a permanent VHF patched talkgroup.

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Rob
N7LXI - Seattle

What's wrong with them going VHF NB? Yea, its a crowded band, I understand that, but the rest of the state is on VHF, except the Seattle metropolis. Yea, thats what patches are for, BUT YOU CANT EVEN AFFORD THE SYSTEM! Sounds like MACC needs some money taken away from them if they don't know what to blow...er...spend it on.

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Interoperability is an attitude, not a technology.

LOL

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If I had an antenna, I would; but I can only transmit on 160 meters.
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DE K7MHI

Some group should award a "lemon medal" for biggist waste of the publics money & time and notify the media (local newspaper) and send a nice paper scroll to the head of MACC. Or should it be left to the local public of Grant County to choose??? ----- Talk is cheap and anger isn't worth the time. Any large Countywide system will require a local bond issue and the approval of the local residents of Grant County. Let the locals deside. Good or bad. If the public doesn't want to pay for it ---- the proposal will die. Just remember, the poor souls in hell might want ice water. Just because they want ice water -- doesn't mean that anyone will be getting ice water soon. Very good post Brian. Please keep us up to date on this issue.

It seems to me that since 9/11 government agencies and for that matter the federal government itself believes there is a bottomless bucket in Washington DC from which these proposals can be funded. Whether agencies want to admit it or not, we are in a severe recession. Tax revenues are dropping significantly, agencies (yes, even public safety) are being forced to cut back and administrators are going to have to be more accountable for their spending and priorities. Yes, the feds can print more money. Printing more money brings more inflation which hits us all, including the government.

I believe in officer or firefighter safety as much as anyone else. I also remember being sent on questionably or potentially "dangerous" calls and finding myself in a hole with no radio contact when I got there, and this was before the cellular era. Sometimes though the answer isn't in tossing out the old system and spending millions on a new one. Although the manufacturers/distributors won't tell you this, sometimes it is better to fix the old one. It sounds to me like there are a couple of Chiefs/Sheriffs who are looking at this from a proper perspective and urging restraint before going in head first and spending a lot of money which isn't available right now.

Just a few of my thoughts. It is time we slowed some things down a bit. This might be a place to start and let it carry over to other areas, geographic and otherwise. Again, safety must be a priority. I am convinced there are other ways to achieve this.

Wayne

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Wayne
KF7FYL

I could see the need for a full blown trunked system in the metro areas, but Grant County? Down here (Klickitat County) they added a couple of repeaters on county fire dispatch (154.130) to cover some dead spots. They run on the existing frequencies with different tones. I have an idea if they need tac channels, why not try to get a pool of 3 or 4 channels to share with nieboring counties. It should work out IMHO, you have interoperabitly and only a small chance of multipile incident interfearance.

They have such a "pool". They are call "interoperability" channels like the 5 VHF High band -- "V-Tac Channels", (151.1375, 154.4525, 155.7525, 158.7375, 159.4725) and LERN (155.37) and Osccr, (156.135) as well as the Red Fire channel (153.83) etc, etc. They all need to be used on a day to day basis -- if they are to work properly.

For a minute there, I thought Frank was going to be a savior! Brian, how do [you] think a 700mhz system is going to work in some of those in the north and south parts of the county?