InterceptRadio.com Forums

Hi Everyone.
By any chance does anyone have a failsoft site/frequency/user list for the King County system? I was curious what would be the frequencies to listen to should an unfortunate failure occur.
Thanks much.

Thank you for the "Trunking 101" basics however that is not what I am asking. What I wanted to know is if such a list existed that would show what subscriber is slaved to what site and frequency pair should the King County system go into failsoft mode.

I was curious how it was organized due to how large the system is but I also wanted the info as a reference should the system go down. I've never heard that happen yet since I have lived here but anything is possible. So if I were in Seattle, what site and frequency would each PD zone or FD be slaved to? Same for Bellevue or Redmond. Etc. Etc.

Previously it would have only been 800 freqs; such as State Ops. With some users getting APX radios in 7/8, UHF/7/8 or VHF/7/8 splits, the list is a bit harder to guess.

I like cheese.

_________________
I generate Board Warnings

I heard they built a trunk system

_________________
I generate Board Warnings

If I'm not mistaken, you probably just think you did.

_________________
</>

Does it mean you mount the radio in the trunk of the car?

_________________
I generate Board Warnings

During the failure of a trunk system the traffic will be handled via rucksacks, duffel bags, A.L.I.C.E. packs and other such "soft" luggage.

_________________
That is how the people at DARPA think. they take things and use them in unconventional ways, to see what happens.

Jim, Sean... Help me out here... :shock: :mrgreen:

_________________
That is how the people at DARPA think. they take things and use them in unconventional ways, to see what happens.

In all seriousness, it is likely that the physical frequency assignments in the event of a "soft" trunked system failure (as to which "talkgroups" get which physical frequency) is something that to the "general public" will resemble the Monroe Talkgroup ID's :oops: :lol: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

_________________
That is how the people at DARPA think. they take things and use them in unconventional ways, to see what happens.

I once had the opportunity to use an early trunk system in fail-soft.
It was like being on I-5 during a football game, a concert, bridge closure, and a wreck.
Non-usable.

_________________
</>

I agree. Back in Virginia many of the local systems would go down from time to time due to the tropical storms. It was a madhouse because many users were just not familiar with how failsoft worked. The constant repeater carrier and display warning on their radios confused the users. I was curious how the KC system worked in failsoft mode. I know that the possibility of a total failure is remote due to the fact that there are redundant zone controllers and the ability for each site to default to its own site trunking mode. But if there was a total failure of both zone and site trunking, I was curious as to what the plan was, especially with wide area users like KCSO. Would each precinct default onto a specific frequency on ValleyCom or EPSCA. Is the plan to even use the system in failsoft mode or will users default to the StateOps or ICall/ITac? I can't imagine that many public safety and LEO users dumping to a small subset of state mutual aid frequencies.

Sorry that is has turned into a sort of drawn out discussion. It was more of curiosity thing for me.

Things got quiet after the Nisqually Quake. (The KC trunk).
I assume it was a failure/ over subscribed.
WSP ran around checking bridges.
WSR had a big crack around the 30' wall.
I was off that day. :D

_________________
</>

145.330 was quite active.
I heard info before the media got it.

_________________
</>

I was at a cell site finishing off an installation of a paging receiver antenna and the tower hand had finished his work and we were packing stuff up when the quake hit. I was stowing gear in the back of our 2 ton boxvan and thought the tower hand was rocking the truck around for some reason and I stepped out of the truck and the first thing I saw was all the blossoms floating out of the trees... looked like it was snowing. Then the coax in all the monopoles started slapping around inside the poles, and a minute or two later ALL the air conditioners on all the equipment shelters lit off. I had a look at the power meter on one of the sites and I had never seen one spin that fast, ever. With the last of the gear loaded we headed back to the shop in Tacoma. Got there around 2PM and one of the supervisors there said I might want to head home early in case they closed the Narrows Bridge and I didn't hesitate to do just that. Next day I heard from another tech who was working at a site near the epicenter and he said the top of the 150 foot pole at that site was swinging back and forth around 10 feet or so.

Another supervisor was on the Narrows Bridge Westbound when the quake hit... Said it felt like getting a flat tire... Apparently everyone else thought the same thing because everyone else on the bridge stopped, got out of their cars, looked for the non-existent flat tire(s) and finding none, got back in and continued on their way.......

The rumor I heard as to why the Narrows Bridge wasn't closed for inspection after the quake was because there were already a team of engineers performing a routine inspection at the time from the service trolley under the bridge deck, and that they decided to hastily move the trolley back to the East end of the bridge where it is normally parked when the quake hit, even though the bridge was wiggling around as it would during an earthquake, and noticed the trolley functioned perfectly...

Insofar as the functionality of the King County Trunked radio system goes, after the quake the Issaquah Police department installed VHF commercial gear programmed with appropriate 2 meter band ham frequencies, and one of the requirements for employment in that department is acquisition of the appropriate Amateur radio license :shock: Having everyone on the system simultaneously keying their mikes and asking "Is this an earthquake" might have negatively affected the operation of the system somehow :mrgreen:

_________________
That is how the people at DARPA think. they take things and use them in unconventional ways, to see what happens.