An article found at Pantagraph.com looks into the high costs of the switch to narrowband radio frequencies and some concerns about the coverage that will come with it.
A federal mandate requiring emergency service providers to switch to narrowband radio frequencies is costing many departments hundreds of thousands of dollars and could result in a 30 percent reduction in coverage area.
Failure to meet the Jan. 1 deadline, set by the Federal Communications Commission, could result in a $16,000 daily fine, said Paul Maplethorpe, treasurer/comptroller for the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System.
“I’ve been a communications technician since 1978,” Maplethorpe said. “Based on my experience, it (the switch) will not provide any benefits and will cause a 20 to 30 percent loss of range.”
Danvers Fire Chief Glen Rosecrans said his department is buying repeaters for its trucks to combat the range reduction. Repeaters retransmit radio transmissions through the truck’s higher wattage radio. A repeater system can run about $3,000 per truck.
The FCC mandate, requiring licensees to switch from 25 kHz radio systems to 12.5 kHz channels, was announced in 1995 and is designed to be a more efficient use of VHF and UHF land and mobile bands, allowing more channels to become available. Most radios purchased in the past six to eight years are capable of narrowband and just need to be reprogrammed at a cost of between $40 and $75 per radio.
The entire article can be found HERE.
thanks Dennis
#1 by Drew Smith on April 29, 2012 - 12:19 AM
There is no spectrum to auction off when discussing the fire service VHF frequencies. In this bandwidth new channels occupy the space between the current frequencies. For more detail see the diagram on page 3 of the following link http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/docs/clearinghouse/guidelines/Narrowbanding_Booklet.pdf
It should be noted that 12.4 kHz separation is not the final “narrowbanding.” In the future channel separation will be further reduced to either 7.5 kHz or 5 kHz.
Narrowband channels have been licensed by MABAS-IL for over ten years. Below you can see how the MABAS fireground and IFERN2 narrowband channels fit in between the current channels.
153.830 Red
153.8375 Gold
154.265 IFERN
154.2725 Black
154.280 White
154.2875 Gray
154.295 Blue
154.3025 IFERN2
154.310 DUCOM Fire West
Those that have tried to listen to the MABAS black, gold and gray firegrounds know there is bleed over. That is because these narrowband frequencies are being used in wideband equipment and adjacent frequencies overlap. This will not happen.
Also, after February 14, 1997 new radios approved by the FCC must be narrowbandable via reprogramming.
As for the simplicity of reprogramming, it may be simple to one person but not another just as some people easily install software on their own computer and others struggle. At our FD we do it ourselves but it’s one member and not every FF. We also have a small investment in software and cables. In our radios there are 48 positions to program (three zones with 16 frequencies in each zone). For each position the transmit and receive frequencies must be entered as well as any CTCSS/PL code for the transmit and receive frequencies. There are other options that must also be set, and in our mobile radios we can program the transmit power as well. With there being several makes and models of radios, a radio shop could have a small investment in equipment. Add to that travel, a tech’s time, and the initial set up of the first radio (plus any profit – what? A private business can’t make a profit) there could be more than a few minutes of work. Subsequent radios of the same exact model can cloned using the first radio or same set up but everything needs to be exactly the same – no exceptions. And that includes the radio model number and generation of the model. With that said, I’m not sure what is fair but if you don’t have the equipment or talent then I guess you need to shop around.
Finally, this is not new news. It has been well publicized in various fire service publications for more than seven years.
#2 by Jay on April 28, 2012 - 11:01 PM
Nick N. there you go. The Motorola software costs about $300.00 for s subscription depending on what type of radio, there is NO software package that covers all radios. Then you need the programming cable, again one size DOES NOT fit all, a lot of RIB cable knock offs on that auction site, but read the Motorola forums and see just how well many of them work. Motorola is VERY PROTECTIVE about their software, there is NO freeware program to do it’s job. They will and do go after pirates. But, give it a try. LoL.
So go spend the cash for the software and volunteer to go update all those that need it for free. If it is so easy, go purchase it and the necessary accessories and go do it for free and you will become the hit of your area. Good Samaritan.
Just remember a tech has to go to the customer’s site or put the radio on the bench, he gets paid, the radio shop has overhead, paying for the software, etc….SO if they went and did it free…hmmm.
But, you my friend GO DO IT FOR free….You work for free, right? Would be nice if everything in your universe was FREE!
#3 by Nick N on April 28, 2012 - 5:08 PM
“Nobody is “extorting” anyone”
Well look at it from the radio user’s prospective. Let’s remind ourselves what the point of this narrow banding was in the first place. According to the FCC, the change is to allow “greater spectrum access for public safety and non-public safety users”. The FCC is telling people to change over or pay up, most likely so they can simply resell the soon to be freed up spectrum at auction for money.
“You have to read the radio and change the freq settings, IT AIN’T automatic.”
What does the Motorola produced Motorola Customer Programming Software do? I haven’t used it, but according to several sites I read, it seemed pretty easy and straight forward to use. According to one person who claimed to have used it, “You simply hook a PC to them, read the radio, change the channel bandwidth from 25 to 12.5 and write the radio and you are done.”
I also watched a youtube video in which the user hooked up the radio and got to the channel selection page in less then 2 minutes. Personally, if that is the case, I don’t think $40-$75 is an acceptable cost for less then 5 minutes of work … Another few sites said the whole software package described costs around $300. What am I missing here?
Perhaps if it takes you so long, you should consider using this setup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nwJQvM79LA
#4 by Jay on April 28, 2012 - 12:30 PM
The reason you perceive that the sound quality is “going down the tube” is that you are listening to a NARROWBAND signal via a WIDEBAND receiver. Most scanners are wide band receivers so when in put in a narrowbanded freq you will loose something.
Nobody is “extorting” anyone. The FCC mandated the change over to narrowbanding. Plugging into a computer and “automatically” programming is nonsense. You have to read the radio and change the freq settings, IT AIN’T automatic. And then the radio needs to be checked to verify it doing what’s it supposed to do. Know what you are talking about!
Yeah, I am a Motorola radio tech of 30 yrs. So it goes….
#5 by Nick N on April 27, 2012 - 9:50 PM
And that is why the sound quality of two way radios radios is going down the tube. Typically as the channel width is reduced, sound quality also goes down. Also, how are companies managing to extort $40-75 per radio??? If I think they are doing what they are doing, that is absolutely insane. Many newer radios can be plugged into a computer, and automatically programmed.