New Emergency Radio System Has Weak Spots ? FireNews.net

COLUMBUS COUNTY ? It?s nothing that some repositioning of antennas can?t fix.

At least that is what county officials are hoping when it comes to a more than $1 million digital trunking radio system to be used for emergency communications in Columbus County.

Emergency Services Director Kay Worley told the board recently that installation of a sixth communication site in the Tabor City area was under way and is expected to improve communications in that area.

Worley said 17 fire and rescue departments were using the new system as well as five local police departments.

?Over the next few months we hope to ad parks and recreation and public utilities,? Worley said.

?There is very good coverage on the mobile radios in vehicles,? Worley said, adding that Columbus Regional is in the process of purchasing a radio for use in the emergency room that will allow communication between medics and doctors.

Worley said the new system has six to seven channels versus the old system that had all fire and EMS on one frequency.

Worley said weak areas in the Cerro Gordo and Evergreen areas have been found but the vendor hoped to reposition the antennae in Chadbourn to better cover those areas.

?There are some roads where the portable (hand held) radios have problems,? Worley said.

?In Nakina there are some weak areas on River Road,? Worley said.

County Commissioner Chairman Amon McKenzie was not happy.

?Did this problem just come up?? McKenzie asked.

Earlier in the year, testing with a limited number of radios was very promising, county officials said.

?A lot of departments are totally dissatisfied,? County Commissioner Buddy Byrd said.

?There are some paging issues,? Worley said.

?Why do we have weak areas?? McKenzie asked.

Worley reiterated that repositioning of communication antennae was planned. She said once the new Tabor site was functional the others could be adjusted.

?I don?t think we will get 100 percent portable coverage,? a representative with the communications firm said. ?I don?t think anybody does.?

McKenzie said that was not what the board was told more than a year ago when it voted on the new system.

?I was under the impression we didn?t want to purchase this and run into the same problems,? Byrd said. ?Some departments are even saying we made the wrong choice.?

?I?ve even heard a lot of people say they have lost confidence in your vendor,? McDowell said.

Lewis Hatcher of the Columbus County?s Sheriff department said his officers had not had problems with the radios.

?I?ve not had any problems,? Hatcher said.

?I am not aware of any problems we are experiencing.?

?There have been a lot of complaints,? Worley said. ?The old system is still in place with both systems patched together.?

Worley said that may be causing some problems but the distance from antennas can cause the signal to be weak.

?Once you are 12 to 13 miles from a site it loses its ability to penetrate some buildings,? Worley said.

Worley said the Delco site was working very weak and a water tank at Lake Waccamaw provided good coverage.

Commissioner Ricky Bullard asked if more antennae might be needed.

Commissioner Lynwood Norris asked about River Road and coverage along N.C. 904.

Columbus County Fire and Rescue Association President Tony Miller was one of several emergency officials who served on a radio committee that made the recommendation to go with a digital trunking system.

Miller said of two options considered the Kenwood Nextedge system was selected because in testing it was very durable and ?came out on top.?

Miller said that after being under water, the radio tested still worked.

Miller said the transition would ?take time? but that the system was a good one.

?Any radio system can be the best but a magnetic field between the North and South Pole may interfere,? Miller said. ?Any system is going to fail so much.?

?This system will work ? it will be state of the art,? Miller said.

The $1.5 million digital radio system and other 9-1-1 center upgrades were made possible with more than $1 million in restricted funds.

Those funds are collected as surcharges on phone services but the ability of counties like Columbus to use those funds for radio equipment was allowed on only a temporary basis.

The county?s existing analog radio system has been problematic for a number of years. Areas with no or distorted communication exist.

Former EMS director Jeremy Jernigan, along with a committee of fire and rescue personnel, recommended the trunked digital radio system that allows multiple users to share several channels, based on the volume of calls and traffic.

Jernigan left the position to take a job with Columbus Regional Healthcare System this year.

A base site coordinates communication, and as a call is received at the 9-1-1 center, a channel is created or group dedicated to that call.

The UHF digital trunking system and Kenwood Nextedge radios were chosen for features and affordability, officials said.

Source: http://www.firenews.net/7155/new-emergency-radio-system-has-weak-spots/

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