Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Police, fire radio fix ready by the fall

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 06:45:28 -0400

Wednesday, April 9, 2003

Police, fire radio fix ready by the fall

By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A $35 million system that will transform emergency
communications in Hamilton County should be up and running
by summer's end, county officials say.

"Things are progressing at a very rapid pace," said Greg Wenz,
operations manager for the Hamilton County Communications
Center.

The county is building an 800-megahertz system that will allow
police and fire departments from Anderson Township to
Harrison to talk to each other by radio and eliminate most
spots where they can't be heard. The system will replace a
police UHF system that's almost 25 years old and a low-band
fire and emergency system that's half a century old, Wenz
said.

"There are times I cannot speak to my firefighters as they're
going into a burning building," Springfield Township Fire Chief
Robert Leininger said. "We're very optimistic that this new
system will allow us to talk to one another."

He compared the current systems' incompatibility with dueling
VCR formats in the early days of that technology.

"Emergency responders throughout the country are moving to
the frequency, and locally, Clermont and Warren counties have
made the switch.

"Hamilton County has bought nearly 2,000 radios for the
40-plus communities participating, Wenz said. However, a few
cities that share a combined emergency dispatch system
rather than using county dispatch have not yet joined.

The Silverton and St. Bernard police departments are in that
camp, partly because the county is charging fees to those who
want to join the 800-megahertz system while keeping their own
dispatching. Also, St. Bernard Chief Steve Moeller said, the
county system will not reach its full potential until Cincinnati
finishes building its 800-megahertz system.

When Cincinnati's system debuts in about one and a half
years, those on the county system will not only be able to talk
to each other, but they'll also be able to communicate with
Cincinnati police and fire. The city system is expected to cost
about $24.3 million, Project Manager Kent Ryan said.

Norwood has not committed but is in talks to join Cincinnati's
system, he said.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/04/09/loc_radios09.html

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