Batboard

Hi all, fellow batlaber here that is responsible for maintaining the communications equipment and system for a small vol. fire department. Am getting ready to upgrade our equipment and looking for some input. We are going with the following equipment:

800 MHz XTS5000 model II and III with the following options
Q37 Astro CAI digital
H37 Smartnet (no smartzone or P25 any where near us)
H14 ID display
Ruggedized housing and NiMH battery FM
Ruggedized commander mic

800 MHz XTL5000 W7 dash mount
Same options

UHF XTS5000 model I and III
Same options plus G52 FFP

UHF XTL5000 W7 dash mount
Same options

UHF 100watt Quantar
X676 Triple cirulating filter
TDF6960 Duplexer

Also some XTVA with HHCH and amp
And some of the drop in vehicular chargers

We have specified in the contract that "M" must provide free of charge all DSP and Firmware upgrades for the 3 year period of the Express Service Plus plan. Also free of charge CPS upgrades for that same 3 year period. Also have been guaranteed that the voice announcement channel change option will work with the options we got.

What I am looking for is if any one can suggest any other terms we should include in the contract or any other options and why?

Thanx, the help from this board has always been great

Request the extended 2 year warranty. Motorola has been pretty good lately on providing this at no charge to the last few radio procurements in the area.

Thanx we aready have 3 year warranty with the express service plus plan

Are you guys actually operating on a trunked system? I know the MD system is pretty much open to anyone, but I know a lot of small Vol depts are not jumping onboard due to cost.

To give you a ballpark price figure...a W5 XTL5000 with just DVP-XL, Digital ID and IMBE was ran up just over $4K each. Smartnet will run you maybe 500-700 more.

If you don't need it right now, or anytime in the next few years, I would dump those options. If there is any chance in the next year or two, grab them now as they will cost less now than later.

I think our basic quantar was in the $15k range.

On the last batch of XTS5000 radios we bought the Motorola salesman got us a free upgrade to Impres batteries. You might look into that.

There are a couple of advantages - the Impres batteries come with a two year warranty. Also fire departments seem to like them. One of the problems fire guys have is that they go on a run - use the radio for an hour - then put it back in the charger. A regular battery system gives a full charge every time - thus burning up the battery early [also NiMHi batteries are not good for as many charge cycles as NiCad]

Impres batteries contain a chip that remembers how much use the battery has had since the last charge and the charger adjusts its cycle accordingly.

If you are going to use the Quantar in digital mode and want to connect it to a console you probably also need a DIU3000.

Scott,

Arlington County has started installing a true P25 system. Many refer to this as a 9600 baud system. If you want to interop with them as many of the other Washington then you
will need Smartzone and P25. I would like to give you a
competive bid.

Mike

PJ -- as of right now, there is no MD state 800 system, every county around us is or is switching to 800, most in digital. we use the 800 radios for mutal aid on a day to day basis.

We have included impress batteries on our specs.

Will have to check on Arl. co and P25. It is my understanding they are going to a Smartzone simocast system not a true Smartzone system like State of Del. If this is the case i belive we will only need Smartnet radios? Can any one confim this?

Again, Thanx for all the input and quick anwsers, KEEP THEM COMING!!!

Ok..Maybe I was thinking of the Deleware project

If they are using Smartzone, Smartzone is smartzone so you would need that option. Technically, you could get away with Smartnet, but that's not how you would want to order your radio's for public safety use....especially if an area you are in is at the boarder of two zones. If you lose coverage in one zone, the radio's will not switch to the other zone....either way, of an agency is using SZ, order SZ.

The only factor would be if someone is going to an SmartZone Omnilink system. DE, CT and a few others are just normal SmartZone systems and are statewide. I wouldn't worry about that. There really isn't a "SmartZone Simulcast" system. DE runs a regualar SZ system. What you may be thinking of is the use of Intellirepeaters which are sites that repeat in-use channels to fill in area's that lack certain coverage, but doesn't need to be a full blown trunking site.

If your mutual aid calls are going into area's in which you need trunked access, or are in the process of upgrading to a trunked system, by all means order the trunking options. If they are only going to run conventional, and no one is going trunked anytime soon, order conventional only. It will save you quite a bit per radio. You can always get the software upgrades later if you need it.

Every one around is aready trunked. I think you need to recheck about the smartzone simulcast. I put in a few of these sytems in the dc metro area and the user unit were smartnet. I dont belive the tiny co of arl. has any need to go to a true smartzone system.

It will work, but I wouldn't enter a building with a radio set for smartnet on a smartzone system. If the system went into failsoft or site trunking, you will most likely have a big problem.

Either way, talk to the system administrators of each town that you may be operating in, and see what they recommend or require for incoming companies.

Also check with the local MSS that serves the local systems, and see what they say since they service them...and will have a better intimite knowledge and experience.

According to Motorola catalog, one must order H38 which is Smartzone and Q361 which is P25 9600 trunking to get 9600 baud. These two options are $1,800 in addition to Q806 which is $515. You have to add these to the base radio which is $2,482 for a Type 3 5000 portable. The total is $4797 per portable before any charger, case or speaker/mic.

Alexandria may join Arlington on the new P25 system and operate as a
Smartzone system. They will double the number of channels since P25 uses 12.5KHz channels. I expect the rest of the Washington area to evenually change over to the open P25 architecture.

Insist on the new LCD heads for your XTL5000 radios. If not available at the get-go, then insist on a free upgrade (including de-installation of the old vacuum fluorescent heads) when they become available. Also be sure to insist on getting the new version mic and speakers that are slated for release with the new style heads. For the $'s these radios cost, they should be willing to do this.

Good Luck.

Larry