What's the buzz with 800 MHZ?
I have been doing research on the new 800 MHZ radio system and want to get everyone researching it for themselves. In Minnesota, the only areas that are using the 800 MHZ system is the Minneapolis / St. Paul area and Itasca County. You may also have heard this system referred to as the ARMER system. Right off the bat it looks like a great system for law enforcement. But I wonder what fire departments and EMS systems think? From my reading and talking with various people from users, radio technicians, and ARMER staff it's not what the fire service needs. First, there is no paging system, so VHF systems have to be maintained. Secondly, the coverage area in Northern Minnesota is not very good. For example, Itasca County had 2 radio towers for their VHF system. Now with the 800 MHZ system, they have over ten tower sites. The state is going to look at sites to ensure coverage along the state highway system because MN DOT and State Patrol are all moving to 800 MHZ in the upcoming years. One ARMER representative told me that to ensure good coverage the local jurisdictions will have to build their own tower sites if they so choose. The cost per site is $1 to 2 million dollars by the time you get done with finding land, buildings, power, construction, equipment, etc. Thirdly, there isn't any simplex channels in a trunked radio system. That means you have to ensure your portables can trip the repeaters while fighting a fire inside a house. The digital system is hard to understand in a loud setting. Unlike the analog VHF systems now, we as dispatchers can kind of make out what is being said, which isn't the case with digital. This is a big problem for interior firefighting operations when firefighters are donned with SCBA's. The price for digital 800 MHZ portable radios are around $3,000 depending on what brand you go with.
I encourage you to research the 800 MHZ system. I have only touched on a couple of the issues that the fire service has with an 800 MHZ radio system. A few reference websites as listed below.
Voice & Radio Communications Guide for the Fire Service.pdf
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me!
Geoff Galaski
GalaskiG@co.st-louis.mn.us