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Will the County
System cover the buildings in my city? |
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The Palm Beach
County System covers all medium density buildings in the County
with 97.3% coverage when a portable radio and shoulder mounted
antenna (SMA) microphone is utilized. Light building portable,
outdoor portable, and mobile and coverage exceeds 98% coverage
County-Wide.
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How many radios
will the County’s system hold? |
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The County’s system is designed for over
8,000 subscribers. Currently the system has a little over 5,000
active units on the system.
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If I have
Motorola Smartnet II radios and would like to be interoperable,
what do I have to do? |
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The County requires an Interlocal Agreement
be signed that depicts the responsibilities of the user and the
responsibilities of the County. The County produces the Interlocal
by request. Contact Mark
Filla for further information.
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What if I don’t
have any radios that can access the system, what do I do? |
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You need to contact your local Motorola or
EF Johnson dealer to purchase them. The County can arrange
programming for a minimal charge. Expenditures incurred to access
the County system may be reimbursable with $12.50 ticket funds as
long as there is enough in the account to cover the expense and
the items purchased are used to be interoperable with the County’s
System.
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What is simulcast?
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Simulcast is a technology where two (2) or
more transmitters operating on the same frequency on different
towers transmit the same information simultaneously. This
technology allows for reception of the signals from multiple
directions reducing the possibility of the user missing a call.
The tower sites also utilize GPS systems for exact timing and a
voting receiver system for reliable talk-back from the portable
radios.
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What is trunking?
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Trunking is the technology where a pool of
frequency channels is available to a large number of different
user groups. The trunking system transmits a continuous data
channel that steers radios assigned to the same talk-group to one
of the system frequencies when there is a request by one of the
units to transmit. The technology is very efficient and has been
in use by telephone companies for a very long time.
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What agencies are on the County system?
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Currently the system supports PBSO, PBCFR,
County General Government and Emergency Management and agencies
dispatched by PBSO and PBCFR. In addition, over fifty (50)
agencies
have signed interlocals with the County for full time,
temporary, or mutual aid use of the system. The County also has
agreed to cross program with Broward Sheriff's Office, Martin County and the Coral
Springs/Parkland radio systems for Mutual Aid and
Interoperability.
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How is the County System set up for
Interoperability?
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The County has
mandated that any radio on the system be programmed with the
sixteen (16) Common Talk Groups designated for interoperability.
The Talk-Groups are assigned by discipline with 4 designated for
Emergency Mgt., 6 for Law Enforcement, and 6 for Fire Rescue. One
of each of these Talk-Groups is a "Calling Talk-Group"
for that particular discipline. The County also implemented the
NPSPAC Mutual Aid Conventional Repeater Systems for communication
capabilities with agencies not able to access the Palm Beach
County System under normal situations.
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What kind of standards was the system built
to?
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The County’s
Statement of Work was a 250+ page document that defined standards
that included but not limited to:
FCC Rules and Regulations
Electronic Industry Standards (EIA/TIA)
Military Specification 810 D,E, and F
Palm Beach County Building Code
APCO 16 and APCO Project 25 Guidelines and
NPSPAC Region 9 Plan
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What kind of back-up power are at the tower
sites?
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Each tower site has
a generator system with 3 days of fuel on premises and a UPS
system that provides consistent power during transitions from
commercial to generator back-up power.
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Can the system
survive a hurricane? |
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The County in its
design and implementation upgraded all of the tower facilities to
withstand 140 MPH winds. While no system could possibly survive a
full force hurricane without some failures, the County feels that
the site design and layout will allow for the system to remain
somewhat functional after the storm has passed. |
Webmaster (Diane Yonn)
