REPEATER COMMUNICATIONS
When we surveyed public safety agencies around the USA, the number one complaint was poor range and dead spots. There are a variety of reasons for this complaint. Mainly, it is an issue of expanding corporate limits and increasing dependence on portable communications. The systems designed in the 60's are simply unable to perform the services required today.
There are other contributing factors including interference from an ever-increasing number of users and poor maintenance. There was a time (a better time in the writers opinion) when the FCC required periodic maintenance checks, even maintenance logs. While this may have been a little intrusive on our rights, it at least assured some degree of standard operating efficiency. Today, there is no such requirement and systems have been allowed to deteriorate or worse yet, never properly installed and tuned.
Frequency congestion is being manifested in ways never anticipated. Several years ago, the FCC announced plans to split the existing frequencies (they have already been split once) and are scheduled to be split again! There is no mandatory compliance for existing users to comply with these new requirements, but if they dont, they run the risk of severe interference from new users who are being assigned frequencies that bleed into the older channels.
This is a very real problem! Case in point is one of our local area police departments who was suddenly covered up with interference from a school bus operation in a neighboring county. In the process of trying to alleviate the problem, interference was caused to another law enforcement agency over a hundred miles away. All users (at least to the best of our knowledge) were legally operating on their assigned FCC frequencies. The problem was caused by equipment that did not have the new narrow band capability.
As the change is made to narrow band 12.5 kHz operation, there can be a loss of range primarily as a result of reduced audio as compared to the older 25 kHz systems. The solution is to use equipment capable of compandering (shrink audio in the transmission process and expand when received). Motorola has taken the lead in developing this technology with a feature known as X-Pand.
The long term solution is to replace older equipment with 12.5 kHz narrow band equipment with X-Pand capability and to install a new repeater station capable or providing coverage over your current operating area. The newer repeaters have the ability to separate different user groups (police, fire and utility for example) so that they do not have to listen to calls other than their own. As system requirements grow, it is possible to trunk these repeaters to increase efficiency by a factor of three to one.
The process of installing a new repeater often entails the requirement for licensing of new frequencies. Only narrow band frequencies are now being assigned by the FCC with power generally limited to no more than 50 watts. This means it is necessary to select the best location and plan your system for maximizing performance using narrow band technology. The cost of implementing new technology can be addressed in any one of several ways. Obviously, there will be some who get grant assistance if they can make a strong case for interoperability with other agencies, mobile data capability, or other measures that will provide the agency with a higher operational level for Homeland Defense requirements.
Realistically, government agencies must increasingly deal with the reality that they are ultimately responsible for equipment upgrades, proper system design, and good maintenance. That is where Falcon Wireless gets involved. Our job is to help you develop payment terms and plans to suit your budget while simultaneously addressing your total needs.
You will note that the information on this web page does NOT include pricing. The purpose of this web page is to acquaint you with the real needs, both for now, and the future. It is not our intent to give our competitors a blueprint and pricing guide. We assume they are capable of developing their own strategies. What this web page DOES do is help you address each item of need and develop a plan for implementation. When you are ready to review pricing, please send an email to sales@falconwireless.net and request Front-Line US pricing. In your email, tell us your name, title, organization, location, phone number, and email address. When we have this information, we will provide access to additional information with pricing.
Our main objective at this point is to focus on each element of system planning. For most users, this would begin with a new narrow band repeater and the associated costs related to the licensing, purchase, installation, and maintenance.
