[Scan-DC] York Co Trunking Problems

[Alan Henney]

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11278851

911 radio system has flaws, some responders say
The county said the new radio system's bugs are being worked on.
By TED CZECH
Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated: 12/20/2008 10:14:18 PM EST


Red Lion's Leo Fire Company Chief Dave Stump uses a radio inside his
vehicle to communicate with other firefighters at a blaze at 28 S.
Main St. in Red Lion on Wednesday. York County's Department of
Emergency Services is now bringing on board a new dispatching system,
which means new radios for all firefighters, and with them increased
reception and range, said Brian Morrin, public information officer
with York County's Office of Emergency Management. (DAILY RECORD /
SUNDAY NEWS -- KATE PENN)A fire chief pulls up to a burning section of
row houses and needs more trucks and personnel.

Walking on fire-weakened floor, a firefighter falls partially through,
his body wedged.

Two EMTs realize a patient is too combative to transport to the
hospital.

In all of these situations, emergency responders use one tool -- their
portable radio, which connects them to York County 911, as well as
their fellow officers, firefighters or EMTs.

"The radio is our lifeline in today's world," West Manchester Township
Fire Chief Dave Nichols said. "If we get into trouble, we need to have
that lifeline to call for help. . . . Good communication is the key to
a successful outcome."

But problems with that vital lifeline have surfaced as York County's
911 center is booting up a new dispatchingsystem. Those problems -- 
such as lost or garbled transmissions -- have some county fire chiefs
frustrated.

Radios have had to be re-programmed several times, chiefs say.

Joe Stevens, a paramedic at Yoe and fire chief at Union Fire Company,
said it's like "buying a new car and sending it back for recall before
you can even drive it."

The installation, which includes setting up software, erecting tower
equipment and replacing portable radios, concludes with a "cut-over,"
during which agencies switch from the old analog system to the new
digital system.

The radio issues have pushed back the cut-over date more than once.

Nichols said that, as of earlier this week,


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it still had not been determined if many of the problems stemmed from
the new batteries or new chargers.
"We're excited about the new system, but we're also frustrated that
it's taking so long to be made available to us," he said.

Typical implementation?

Police departments, with the exception of York City Police, cut-over
in early November. Pitfalls ensued, such as lapses in transmissions
and the old system not being left running as a backup. But many of
those have been dealt with, said Brian Morrin, public information
officer with the county's Office of Emergency Management.

York County Department of Emergency Services Director Eric Bistline
would comment on this story only through Morrin.

The county's fire companies, which outnumber police departments 3-to-1
and use their radios in different ways, have yet to transition to the
new system. In fact, there was no new cut-over date as of Saturday.

In addition, firefighters' radios have been re-programmed with new
software more than once.

With the cut-over date in limbo, firefighters and emergency workers
are using the new system in conjunction with the old one.

"On the new system, if we're using two (portables) at any one time, if
one transmits, it seems to knock the other one off the system," said
Ted Hake, chief of emergency medical services for Yoe Fire Company
Ambulance Service Inc. "It seems that either the upper management or
their consultants completely underestimated working with 22 police
departments, 69 fire departments and 44 EMS agencies."

Morrin said the problems with the new system can be tied to its
distributor and installer, M/A-Com, a division of Berwyn-based Tyco
Electronics.

The problems, he said, were occasional and did not surface until the
first cut-over, he said.

"We actually have M/A-Com folks here every day; they're committed to
upholding their end of the contract," Morrin said. "They are working
very aggressively to overcome these

Related news:
· Nov. 8, 2008: County 911 switches to digital
· Feb. 28, 2008: Storm spurs action
· New 911 radios may be better than expected
· York County 911 log

problems, working on holidays, working on weekends."
Steve Frackleton, spokesman for M/A-Com, said the problems with the
system are akin to typical growing pains.

"For a system this size, yes, we're in the middle of a typical
implementation program," he said.

Frackleton said if a problem is found, it is identified and tested in
a controlled environment, and then M/A-Com works with the county to
develop a solution.

Testing phase

For three months over the summer and fall, representatives from a host
of police and fire agencies tested the system by taking portable
radios into schools, nursing homes and hospitals -- places where there
was a definite need for reception.

They were shooting for a 95 percent coverage countywide, 95 percent of
the time, Morrin said.

"We actually exceeded that," he said. "The old system was down in the
60 percent range."

Fred Smeltzer, chief of the Wrightsville Fire Company, said his
firefighters have had great reception with the new portables in areas
where they previously had none, including River Road, north of the
Accomac Inn.

"That's always been a problem area," where they'd have to radio
Lancaster to get a message to York County 911.

Still, Morrin said recently, some problems didn't come up until after
the testing.

He breaks them into three main categories: portables, towers and
batteries.

With portables -- as with cell phones -- as the user travels, the call
is switched automatically from one tower to another, he said.

"We believe the signal strength is so good, the radio tries to access
more than one zone (at one time)," Morrin said. "A portion of the
transmission may be interrupted."

However, Morrin wrote in an e-mail Friday that the problem had been
remedied, saying, "Programmers isolated the issue and made the
necessary code changes."

On radio towers, Morrin said, there is a "timing issue" -- 
transmissions are being held instead of passed along -- causing them
to drop out or sound like the user was speaking underwater.

Morrin wrote in his e-mail Friday that, on Thursday, two high-level
systems programmers from Tyco arrived in York County to continue
working on this issue.

On the battery issue, Stevens said the new system's nickel-cadmium
portable batteries "can't make it through an entire shift."

Morrin said that, typically, fire companies would have to deal with
M/A-Com on their own if they were having trouble with batteries and
charger. In this case, the county is helping out, he said.

Morrin said that, "Isolating the underlying cause has been a
challenge."

Seeking a successful conclusion

York City Fire/Rescue Services Deputy Chief Steve Buffington said
that, when he first heard of the new system, "I was probably one of
the biggest nay-sayers . . . now I'm a convert."

The above-90 percent coverage is what did it for him.

"They've delivered that," he said.

Glitches in a new system are to be expected, and pushing back the
cut-over date, rather than leaving problems unresolved, "was very
responsible and looking out for our well-being," Buffington said.

Manchester Township Fire Chief Richard Shank, who acts as a liaison
between York County 911 and the York County Fire Chiefs and
Firefighters Association, said some of the resistance might stem from
a fear of change.

"I'm not averse to change," Stevens said. "I really think the intent
is correct . . . but the way we've gone about this has been very
disappointing. . . . It's been less-than-user-friendly so far."

Morrin said he did not want the upgrade to the new system to cause
what some might perceive as a feud between fire companies and the 911
Center.

"This is not an 'us versus them,'" he said. "We are committed to
bringing a sound, solid, successful conclusion to this program."

tczech at ydr.com; 771-2033.



THE SYSTEM
Facts on York County's new 911 dispatching system:


Name: P-25 Trunk system

Manufacturer/installer: M/A-Com, a division of Tyco Electronics

Transition dates: York County police departments, Nov. 6-7; York City
Police: Dec. 15; York County Fire/EMS: no date set

Coverage rate: During testing, the county strove to cover 95 percent
of the county, 95 percent of the time. Morrin said they exceeded that.
York City Deputy Fire Chief Steve Buffington estimates it's at 98
percent.

Number of portable and stationary radios: Portables (hand-held) 2,857;
mobiles (vehicle-mounted) 1,021; base stations (in stations) 131.

Cost:$36 million to purchase radios, equipment and install




http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_10931122

York County 911 switches to digital
Most county police departments have moved away from analog radios.
By TED CZECH
Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated: 12/20/2008 02:30:37 PM EST


Ten months ago, service calls jammed York County 911's nine
frequencies, resulting in a backup that cost

responders precious minutes as they tried to help those in need.

County administrators hope 911's new digital radio system -- which
debuted Thursday at midnight for most police departments -- will
prevent that from happening again, said Brian Morrin of the York
County Office of Emergency Management.

"This new radio system is sorely needed," Morrin said.

The new system provides York County 911 dispatchers with more than 50
frequencies; within those frequencies, there is bandwidth for
additional "talk groups," he said.

"We're going to be able to avoid any delay or sharing of frequencies,"
Morrin said.

To test the new radios, Morrin said, hand-held radios were taken into
bunkered locales such as school basements and elevator shafts. The
radios were still able to receive and transmit with clarity, he said.

They also have a much-

improved range, he said.

"A police officer standing on a Dillsburg street will be able to talk
to an officer standing on the street in Delta," Morrin said.

The switch was not without its challenges. Both Springettsbury
Township and York Area Regional police departments reported
difficulties with the new system.

York Area Regional Sgt. Rod Varner said a crew of technicians arrived
at the police department in York Township Thursday morning and quickly
fixed the glitches with the system.

Springettsbury Township Chief


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David Eshbach said there was a temporary lapse in transmissions
between his officers and 911 after the switch.
"We experienced some problems in our zone . . . They put the new
system in, and the old system was supposed to remain up," as a backup,
but wasn't initially.

"Those problems got resolved," Eshbach said. "I guess that's to be
expected, you're going to have wrinkles that need to be ironed out."

Morrin said Thursday night the two systems were running together, and
would remain that way until it was safe to dismantle the old system.

tczech at ydr.com; 771-2033.


NEXT UP
Dates when emergency services will switch from analog to digital
radios:
--- York City Police Department, Nov. 16

--- York County fire departments/emergency
medical services, Nov. 20


TO TUNE IN
If you follow police and fire calls, Brian Morrin, York County's
Office of Emergency Management, said you will need to get a P-25
digital trunk scanner that is capable of receiving between 100 and 600
mhz.