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Post by Box_2565 on May 13, 2004 13:04:46 GMT -5
Has any progress been made in obtaining the funding to acquire the building on Bald Knob for the new fire/police communications center?
Also, has a date been set for the switch to 800 frequency radios?
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Post by district5 on Jul 24, 2004 20:45:34 GMT -5
The latest edition of The Relay Line indicates that the new system will be on line in October or November.
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Post by RigBuff on Jul 26, 2004 15:56:38 GMT -5
Hello. Does this mean that the 460.600 on all of our scanners will no longer pick up the CFD? Thanks.
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Post by Box_2565 on Jul 27, 2004 11:33:33 GMT -5
Some departments continue to simulcast their dispatch after transferring to the 800 system. Hamilton County is currently doing this. I don't know what CFD's plans are. If you want to hear everything it's time to buy a new scanner. If you use this link you can read additional information regarding the type of system being used in Hamilton County. www.siscom.net/~mmeece/hamcountytrs.html
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Post by district5 on Sept 17, 2004 20:35:13 GMT -5
$6M grant for communications
The Cincinnati Post September 17,2004 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By Kevin Eigelbach Post staff reporter
The news that Cincinnati is getting nearly $6 million to upgrade communication equipment has at least one Northern Kentucky fire chief beaming. "I am ecstatic that my friends from the city of Cincinnati got this grant," Covington Fire Chief Joe Heringhaus said.
The reason for Heringhaus' joy is that the grant money stands to directly benefit his and seven other Northern Kentucky cities.
In 1999, the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners agreed to upgrade the communications system for the county's emergency personnel to an 800 megahertz system.
In 2000, the city of Cincinnati followed suit.
The grant announced Thursday -- $5,978,250 from the U.S. Department of Justice -- will allow Cincinnati to extend the system to Northern Kentucky.
It will pay 75 percent of the cost of designing the expansion, buying the transmission equipment and the hand-held radios, city spokeswoman Meg Olberding said.
When it's complete, she said, the system will enable firefighters and EMS workers in Hamilton County to communicate directly with their counterparts in Bellevue, Bromley, Covington, Dayton, Fort Thomas, Ludlow, Newport, Villa Hills and at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
"This is a huge tool to enable the emergency and safety responders to all work together," Olberding said.
Republican Congressmen Steve Chabot and Rob Portman, who announced the grant, agreed.
"We're pleased to see that the (Bush) administration continues to support our local needs," they said.
Cincinnati was one of 23 agencies nationwide to get funding through the COPS Interoperability Communications Technology Program.
In many communities, first responders rely on communications systems that aren't compatible with those of nearby agencies, which makes interagency communication difficult.
If some disaster happened on the Ohio River or on the Brent Spence Bridge, and Covington and Cincinnati fire departments needed to talk quickly, they would have a problem, Heringhaus said.
The departments already have some radios they can talk to each other on, he said, but not enough. It would be a great benefit for everyone in his department to have access to one, he said.
The grant to Cincinnati comes just days after the announcement of a $2.8 million grant to improve communications for first responders in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.
First responders include police, firefighters and emergency medical workers.
Publication Date: 09-17-2004
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Post by district5 on Oct 23, 2004 13:02:29 GMT -5
Looks like the city is now targeting March or April of 2005 to switch to 800 MHz TRS.
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Post by Box_2565 on Mar 18, 2005 18:26:12 GMT -5
I have heard that the switch to the 800 radios is to take place on April 1st.
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Post by Box_2565 on Apr 15, 2005 1:13:42 GMT -5
The latest switch over date to the new system that I have heard is April 29. Anyone know if this is correct?
Steve
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Post by district5 on Apr 16, 2005 10:52:58 GMT -5
The last I heard was May 2nd, but I am sure that will change again.
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Post by wefr15 on Apr 18, 2005 20:50:49 GMT -5
Does any one have the talk groups for the Cincinnati TRS? Been searching but not hear much. So far have heard some 800 MHz street corner operations.
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Post by wefr15 on Apr 21, 2005 17:38:51 GMT -5
Rumor has it CFD will be going "live" on May 3 at 0700.
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Post by Box_2565 on May 3, 2005 22:37:36 GMT -5
And the winner is! WEFR15 - Bill was correct in that the switch did occur at 0700 today. Although my scanner is programmed for the new frequencies I can't hear a thing in Edgewood. Hopefully this is due to my radio having some minor malfuntion.
I seldom can hear any of the Hamilton County traffic, I hope this doesn't hold true for CFD. Has anyone had success in monitoring the 800 frequencies?
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Post by wefr15 on May 3, 2005 23:20:04 GMT -5
Steve, I was picking up CFD Dispatch (32768) today and they sounded ok but the audio was a little weak on some transmissions. Let me know if I need to come down and see what tweaks I can do for you?
Bill
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Post by Box_2565 on May 23, 2005 13:19:35 GMT -5
One interesting effect of the radio changeover is that I am now receiving skip on some of the old CPF frequencies. I can now hear the Jefferson County (Kentucky) EMS dispatch and Lexington PD wanders in on occasion. I still can't hear Cincinnati....
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Post by district5 on Jan 14, 2010 22:45:24 GMT -5
Cincinnati.Com » Local news Last Updated: 8:19 pm | Thursday, January 14, 2010
Dropped radio calls put firefighters in danger
By Sharon Coolidge • scoolidge@enquirer.com • January 14, 2010
Hamilton County firefighters hate a communication system that taxpayers spent $35 million on because it doesn't do what it's supposed to do when they're in a burning building: Let them talk to each other.
The radio failures - which some firefighters say happen daily - played a role in the death of two Colerain Township firefighters nearly two years ago and local fire chiefs say if a solution isn't found other firefighters' lives are at risk.
The issued surfaced again last week when radio problems resulted in near miss for Cincinnati Firefighter Kevin Phillips who fell down a set of stairs, which knocked his helmet and air mask loose, causing him to become disoriented.
A transcript of the radio transmissions obtained by The Enquirer shows it took three minutes before fire command at the scene responded to the mayday call by Phillips' partner, an eternity in a burning building, firefighters say.
Cincinnati Fire Chief Robert Wright did not return two calls for comment. Firefighters at the Glenway blaze say Wright met with them Tuesday, listened to their concerns and asked what would help them.
Hamilton County taxpayers spent $35 million on the digital Motorola system which was activated in 2003, replacing a fire radio system that dated to the 1940s and a police system that was nearly as old. The new system was hailed for allowing agencies to talk to each other, an impossibility on the old system.
But problems crop up when more than one firefighter tries to talk at once, resulting in firefighters getting a busy signal when they try to call and in garbled transmissions due to background noise like engines and burning buildings. In addition, metal construction blocks communication when firefighters are inside large buildings like downtown high rises or hospitals.
"We're finding out this is happening every day, not just in big fires," said B.J. Jetter, Sycamore Township Fire Chief and president of the Hamilton County Fire Chiefs Association.
"And not only with fire and EMS, but for police too," he said. "It's system wide."
The issue came to the forefront in April 2008, when Colerain fire Capt. Robin Broxterman and firefighter Brian Schira died in a blaze on Squirrel's Nest Lane. A review of the radio calls made during the fire showed the firefighters repeatedly made mayday calls, which were never transmitted.
"I don't think the full impact or level of concern (about the issue) was realized until we were able to see the radio call log from the Squirrel's Nest fire," said Colerain Fire Chief Bruce Smith.
Broxterman's parents are suing over the fatal fire, naming in the lawsuit among others, Motorola.
The problem became evident to all county public safety agencies during the Sept. 14, 2008, windstorm. All agencies were trying to use the radios at once. While that is an extreme situation, it locked up radios and prevented people from communicating.
County communication center officials questioned Motorola about possible fixes, but there isn't a solution right now, the company told the county, said Mike Bailey, of the Hamilton County Communication Center.
"This is not an extreme emergency at this point, but it is a very big concern," Bailey said.
A Motorola spokesman in charge of public safety for North America did not return a call for comment.
Cincinnati Fire department spokesman Capt. Michael Washington said the current system is better than the old one, and the department must work with what it has.
As the county grapples with what to do, Jetter said firefighters, police officers and the public are in danger. "It gives me heartburn that we have this situation," he said.
Fire departments nationwide have reported problems with the digital radios.
The city of Phoenix has the same system, but when fighting a blaze the fire department uses the old analog system that transmits calls radio to radio, instead of through a computer system.
The International Association of Fire Fighters is now recommending fire department not use digital systems in fires.
"Radios are the most important piece of safety equipment a firefighter has," said Richard Duffy, assistant to the president of the international union. "If you can't communicate on the fire ground, you put yourself and others at risk."
Duffy said Motorola should be held accountable.
Jetter said the problem is so bad it's almost like having no communication at all. "We're going back to the old days of using runners, where somebody runs in to deliver a message," he said. "In an age of technology, this shouldn't be an issue."
Cincinnati Fire Union President Marc Monahan said last week's missed mayday call "could have been really bad." "We've had problems, we've pointed them out and nothing has been done," he said. "Hopefully, this is enough evidence that will force some changes."
The union plans to once again address the issue with fire administrators at the quarterly safety committee meeting Wednesday. Jetter said he's not sure what the solution is. "We can complain all we want," he said. "I don't know how this gets resolved."
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