For the DOD I was referring more to the domestic use of radios on bases. Their security/law enforcement and other uses like public works and such all have to utilize P25 radios, that has been mandated for over 10 years now.
Thank You, Brian Webster www.wirelessmapping.com www.Broadband-Mapping.com From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of Eric Kuhnke Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2015 12:49 AM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT 2-way radio systems Re: your last paragraph, about the DOD, I'm pretty sure P25 is just another software load on a software defined radio. For military use things like the SINCGARS radios (Harris) are software defined and only talk to other DOD radios. I could see them wanting to have the ability to talk to public safety agencies in a major disaster situation but I do not think the DOD uses P25 natively. On Wed, Nov 4, 2015 at 3:57 PM, Brian Webster <i...@wirelessmapping.com> wrote: P25 or Project 25 was a Motorola proprietary technology that was developed in the 80’s. They championed it to APCO to become the digital standard for public safety radio systems. APCO would not adopt it until Motorola agree to license it to other manufacturers. That delayed the process a very long time and Motorola went kicking and screaming in to the agreements at first. It was not cheap for a manufacturer to go that way but APCO did not want a single vendor solution. In the rest of the world the Tetra standard was adopted but again this are older technologies. Now the push is for LTE and Voice over LTE. When the FCC mandated narrowbanding for analog VHF and UHF radio systems they gave a 15 year window to migrate. Even with that much lead time big cities like NYC, Boston, DC and others did not make the deadline because it was typically a complete system replacement. These big cities got waivers with a plan to migrate, those plans were special licenses for the Firstnet spectrum and the plan to develop a public safety grade/reliable voice over IP type network to become their primary dispatch radio system in conjunction with their data deployments. That VoLTE development is ongoing. They need a lot more reliability than what Nextel and CDMA push to talk cellular solutions currently deliver. Given that VoLTE development and the push for FirstNet systems, many folks argue that it’s a waste of money to go P25 at this point. There are even some Tetra deployments now in the US. Seems to me a standard that follows LTE and will also work in the narrowband spectrum of public safety radio systems is more productive. I started my wireless career in public safety radio designing and selling Motorola systems. I think they build a great product but P25 radios are way too expensive for smaller agencies to afford them. With the proliferation of sub $100 FCC approved Chinese radios out there, it’s real hard to justify these digital systems when one is on a budget. P25 radios are in the $1500 per radio price range. Small fire, EMS and law enforcement agencies have a hard time paying those prices. There are benefits to digital systems but in all honesty many users don’t take advantage of them. The cost of the central site controllers for the system really pushes the price tag up. To add insult to injury almost all federal grant programs now state that if there are radios involved, they HAVE to be P25 compliant. The DOD has mandated all radios be P25 compliant. If Utah is getting grant money that is probably why they are going P25. Thank You, Brian Webster www.wirelessmapping.com www.Broadband-Mapping.com From: Af [mailto:af-boun...@afmug.com] On Behalf Of ch...@wbmfg.com Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 4:56 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT 2-way radio systems Thanks, that is helpful. From: George Skorup <mailto:geo...@cbcast.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2015 2:50 PM To: af@afmug.com Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT 2-way radio systems Illinois has state-wide P25 (owned and operated by Motorola Solutions). Interoperability between agencies and all of the other P25 stuff is nice, but every little town can't afford it and that's why we still have little dispatch centers that represent small communities and make use of regular old analog VHF. Plus, a lot of users on the state system say the coverage sucks, and that would be Motorola not building enough sites. On 11/4/2015 1:16 PM, ch...@wbmfg.com wrote: In Utah, there is a very very large proposal to change all the 2-way radios for public safety out to a P25 system.� Some of the opponents say this is an outdated system.� I had not heard that before.� Looking for opinions.�
