Subject: (CARMA) CHICAGO FIRE DIGITAL TEST
Chicago Fire Department
CFD CONDUCTS FULL SCALE TEST OF IMPROVED RADIO SYSTEM
On October 14th at 8 a.m., the Chicago Fire Department will switch its Fire and Rescue dispatch from the current analog VHF radio platform to the new UHF Digital radio system for a multi-day full scale test.
The infrastructure for the new system is already in operation for the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division and is working well. During the test period, VHF channels traditionally used for North and South dispatch, (i.e. Main and Englewood) will be silent.
At the end of the test period, dispatch operations will revert to the analog system until the permanent switchover, before the end of the year.
Persons with interest in monitoring CFD communications should plan to replace analog radios with units designed for APCO P25 Digital UHF radio protocol as soon as possible. No VHF simulcast overlap operation will take place after the permanent switchover or during the interim test. When in Digital mode, “Main” will operate on 477.7875 MHz and “Englewood” will operate on 478.2125 MHz.
During the test period low power fireground operations will remain on VHF.
CFD CONDUCTS FULL SCALE TEST OF IMPROVED RADIO SYSTEM
On October 14th at 8 a.m., the Chicago Fire Department will switch its Fire and Rescue dispatch from the current analog VHF radio platform to the new UHF Digital radio system for a multi-day full scale test.
The infrastructure for the new system is already in operation for the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division and is working well. During the test period, VHF channels traditionally used for North and South dispatch, (i.e. Main and Englewood) will be silent.
At the end of the test period, dispatch operations will revert to the analog system until the permanent switchover, before the end of the year.
Persons with interest in monitoring CFD communications should plan to replace analog radios with units designed for APCO P25 Digital UHF radio protocol as soon as possible. No VHF simulcast overlap operation will take place after the permanent switchover or during the interim test. When in Digital mode, “Main” will operate on 477.7875 MHz and “Englewood” will operate on 478.2125 MHz.
During the test period low power fireground operations will remain on VHF.
