COMPREHENSIVE RADIO ANALYSIS REPORT Radio … · surveyed radio sites, inventoried equipment,...

COMPREHENSIVE RADIO ANALYSIS REPORT

FINAL REPORT

SUBMITTED SEPTEMBER 2015 TO:

Broward County, Florida

Mission Critical Partners | i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 1

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 6

2. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................ 6

INITIALIZATION MEETING ............................................................................................................................... 6 USER INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................................................................ 7 WEB SURVEY ............................................................................................................................................... 7 INTEROPERABILITY INTERVIEWS ..................................................................................................................... 7 RADIO SITE SURVEYS ................................................................................................................................... 7 REPORT DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................................ 7

3. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................................................ 8

TECHNICAL BASELINE ................................................................................................................................... 8 System Descriptions .......................................................................................................................... 8 Coverage .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Capacity ........................................................................................................................................... 13 Lifecycle Considerations .................................................................................................................. 14 Subscriber Units ............................................................................................................................... 17 Frequencies ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Backhaul Connectivity ...................................................................................................................... 27 Dispatch ........................................................................................................................................... 29 Neighboring Systems ....................................................................................................................... 33

Intra-county Interoperability .............................................................................................................. 35 Summary of Technical Requirements .............................................................................................. 36

OPERATIONAL BASELINE ............................................................................................................................. 37 User Agencies .................................................................................................................................. 37 Summary of Operational Requirements ........................................................................................... 38

4. ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................................................... 39

COVERAGE................................................................................................................................................. 39 CAPACITY .................................................................................................................................................. 40 SPECTRUM AND FCC LICENSING ................................................................................................................. 42

UHF (450 – 512 MHz) ...................................................................................................................... 42 800 MHz (806 – 860 MHz) ............................................................................................................... 45 700 MHz (769 – 805 MHz) ............................................................................................................... 45 Spectrum and Capacity .................................................................................................................... 47

INTEROPERABILITY ISSUES AND STANDARDS ................................................................................................ 48 Interoperability Continuum ............................................................................................................... 48 Technology on the Interoperability Continuum ................................................................................ 49

SYSTEM LIFECYCLES .................................................................................................................................. 56 RADIO SITES .............................................................................................................................................. 57

Grounding ......................................................................................................................................... 63

Mission Critical Partners | ii

Site Security ..................................................................................................................................... 64 Uninterruptable Power Supplies ....................................................................................................... 64 DC Power Supplies .......................................................................................................................... 64

DISPATCH CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 65 CONNECTIVITY ........................................................................................................................................... 66

Leased Phone Lines ........................................................................................................................ 66 Fiber-optic Networks ........................................................................................................................ 67 Microwave ........................................................................................................................................ 67

ALPHANUMERIC PAGING ............................................................................................................................. 68 FIRE STATION ALERTING ............................................................................................................................. 69

5. ASSESSMENT SUMMARY AND OPTIONS .................................................................................................... 70

SYSTEM FEATURES .................................................................................................................................... 71 System Technology .......................................................................................................................... 71

REDUNDANCY AND SURVIVABILITY ............................................................................................................... 76 MAINTENANCE ............................................................................................................................................ 78 COST ESTIMATES ....................................................................................................................................... 80

6. NEXT STEPS .................................................................................................................................................... 86

7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................... 86

APPENDIX A – RADIO SITE EVALUATIONS ........................................................................................................ 88

APPENDIX B – FOCUS GROUP SESSION ......................................................................................................... 139

APPENDIX C – INTERVIEWS WITH DISPATCHERS ......................................................................................... 147

APPENDIX D – INTEROPERABILITY PARTNER INTERVIEWS ........................................................................ 150

APPENDIX E – WEB SURVEY USER SUMMARY INPUT .................................................................................. 161

APPENDIX F – WEB SURVEY USER DETAILED INPUT ................................................................................... 166

APPENDIX G – EXISTING COVERAGE MAPS ................................................................................................... 186

Mission Critical Partners | 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Mission Critical Partners, Inc. (MCP) respectfully submits this Comprehensive Radio Analysis report to

Broward County, Florida (County). The County contracted with MCP to assess its existing 800-

megahertz (MHz) Motorola SmartZone trunked simulcast communications system, microwave system,

fire station alerting system, and alphanumeric paging system, and to determine the best approach for

replacing the systems and improving radio communications within the County.

MCP’s assessment focused on establishing both a technical and operational baseline for the existing

communications systems. The technical baseline is objective and identifies the equipment that is in

place today. To complete the technical baseline, MCP interviewed Broward County technical staff,

surveyed radio sites, inventoried equipment, reviewed Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

licenses, and performed radio system coverage studies. The operational baseline is subjective and

establishes the perspective of first responders regarding the existing communications system. To

complete the operational baseline, MCP conducted a Web survey and focus group interview to gather

input from the first responder agencies within the County. Interviews were conducted with

representatives of the neighboring systems to gather interoperability requirements and determine

pending system upgrades.

The County currently is operating on a ten-site, 28-channel SmartZone simulcast system that operates

on 800 MHz spectrum and serves more than 10,000 subscriber radios. The SmartZone system initially

was installed in 1992 and subsequently was upgraded in 2002. Based on the information gathered,

MCP determined that there are numerous critical issues affecting the current system. These issues

include:

1. The SmartZone system includes numerous components that no longer are supported, including

the prime controller and site controllers. This is mitigated by having a sufficient number of spare

components. Critical components, including Gold Elite consoles and Quantar repeaters, will

reach end-of-life within the next three to five years.

2. The SmartZone system has experienced numerous recent failures that have impaired

communications, including some events lasting several hours in duration. Most of the system-

affecting issues have been contributed to frequency interference (signals interfering and, most

importantly, radio subscribers (maintenance and improper accessories).

3. Maintenance of the existing subscriber radios has been inconsistent. This has led to poorly

tuned radios, causing them to affiliate to the system much more than normal. This begins to

affect reliability, causing outages in the system controller.

4. When the SmartZone system approaches its capacity limit, it results in busy responses during

peak usage periods, primarily reported in the morning and evening.

5. The current system design has single points of failure that can leave first responders with no

way to be dispatched or to communicate for an extended time if a failure does occur. Those

points include the connectivity to the two receive-only sites, maintaining both prime site

controllers at the same location (gap in geodiversity), and single site controllers. Combined with

the reduced reliability of aging components, the overall system is at risk.


6. The Tadiran CM6 microwave backhaul system has reached end-of-life and needs to be

replaced.

7. The Unipage ultra-high frequency (UHF) T-Band alphanumeric paging system is well past its

period of support and will need to be replaced. The system is operating with significantly

reduced coverage due to equipment failures that cannot be repaired reasonably. The T-Band

frequency currently being used for paging will need to be vacated prior to 2022 (per FCC

mandate), and will therefore need to be replaced with a new frequency.

8. The Zetron Model 26/6 fire station alerting system is an aging technology that does not offer

feature sets consistent with modern fire station alerting systems. The platform is still supported

by Zetron, and thus does not pose an immediate concern. The wireless transmitter is a

Motorola Quantar station that will reach end of life in 2020, and therefore needs replacement.

The T-Band frequency currently being used will need to be vacated prior to 2022, and therefore

will need to be replaced with a new frequency.

9. The SmartZone system has a coverage gap in the Deerfield Beach area and in the western

portion of the county over the Everglades (down Alligator Alley). The system has a gap for in-

building coverage in dense structures throughout the county, including high-rises, schools, and

hospitals.

Based on the results of the technical and operational baselines, MCP determined that the diminishing

support for the existing systems and interference issues are the primary reasons the existing

communications systems will need replacement. Supplementary limitations include coverage and

redundancy, capacity, and the need for additional feature sets. Mitigating or eliminating these

limitations should be the requirement of the selected communications system solution.

The existing SmartZone communications system cannot be upgraded to meet these requirements in its

present configuration. Therefore, a new public safety communications system is required. In addition,

the microwave, fire station alerting, and alphanumeric paging systems will need to be replaced because

they have reached end-of-life.

MCP evaluated all available public safety technologies to determine what solutions are available that

could address the gaps faced by the County. The analysis focused on solutions that would either

maintain or improve radio communications within the County. The evaluated solutions included Project

25 (P25) trunking systems operating with either P25 Phase I and/or Phase II technologies. A

replacement alphanumeric paging system operating in the general public safety frequency pool was

identified as the optimal paging solution to allow users to reuse their existing pagers. An IP-based,

loop-protected microwave system providing a minimum throughout of 150 megabits per second (Mbps),

and connecting all radio sites and dispatch centers, was identified as the ideal backhaul solution.

The first option evaluated by MCP is a 44-channel, P25 Phase I system to accommodate the number of

reported active users on the system. The system must be built into two simulcast cells or geographic

zones to accommodate the increased loading requirement, providing more talk paths than the existing

system can accommodate. An additional 20 percent capacity was included for the roaming that would

take place on these multiple cells or zones. The benefit of a Phase I system is greater capacity for


Phase I subscribers, allowing fielded XTS/XTL subscribers to be utilized by all agencies until their end

of life. The limitation of a Phase I system is a more complicated infrastructure design, requiring more

antennas and more floor space inside the shelter.

The second option evaluated by MCP is a 19-channel, P25 Phase II system, providing a significant

capacity increase with nine more talk paths than the existing system. The benefit of a Phase II system

is that it maximizes the utilization of each frequency, requires fewer antennas (less loading on tower

structures) and reduces in-shelter floor space requirements (minimizing power consumption, heating,

and the need for additional shelter space). The largest limitation is that all fielded XTS/XTL subscribers

would need to be replaced immediately upon system implementation, providing a significant cost

burden on user agencies. The system also would make interoperability with Phase I subscribers

operated by mutual-aid partners far more challenging.

The third option evaluated by MCP is a 700 MHz, P25 Phase II, hybrid trunked simulcast radio solution

utilizing between 25 and 30 channels across one simulcast cell. This option would replace the end-of-

life components, provide improved coverage through additional radio sites, and improve reliability by

including geo-diverse components and eliminating single points of failure. By implementing a hybrid

system, the infrastructure would support a combination of Phase I frequency division multiple access

(FDMA) traffic and Phase II time division multiple access (TDMA) traffic. This would allow

approximately one-third to half of the system traffic to continue operating in the Phase I mode, enabling

some user agencies to continue using the widely fielded XTS/XTL series subscriber radios, and to

replace those radios with Phase II-compliant radios over the next three to five years. The exact number

of channels will depend on the number of subscriber agencies that will be fully converted to P25 Phase

II operation.

Based on MCP’s calculations, 30 channels are needed to provide a sufficient level of capacity for

Phase I and Phase II subscribers. Coverage would be enhanced through the addition of radio sites,

and capacity would be enhanced through the use of TDMA. The system will provide 36 talk paths,

providing a significant capacity increase from the 27 talk paths available today. At the point that all

subscribers are Phase II compliant, there will be 11 channels that surpass the capacity supported by a

single simulcast cell. At that point, these channels could be configured as a second overlapping

simulcast cell to be utilized for interoperability, data, non-public safety, or other functions that require

overhead capacity.

All of the evaluated options would provide improved coverage through the addition of radio sites with a

delivered audio quality (DAQ) score of 3.4. MCP recommends an in-building coverage requirement for

dense structures throughout the heavily built-up areas of the county. To accomplish this level of

coverage, MCP recommends replacing the Tamarac and Deerfield receive-only sites with full

transmit/receive locations on new towers. Additional towers are recommended in the Hollywood, Fort

Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, and North Lake areas, for a total of 14 full simulcast locations to enhance

coverage in user-reported weak coverage areas. A five-channel multicast site is recommended along

Interstate 75 to provide improved coverage in the western half of the county over the Everglades,

providing a total of 15 sites.


Regardless of the option selected, backhaul, paging, and fire station alerting replacements will remain

the same.

In addition to the primary communications systems, the County should consider enhancing its backup

capabilities to support communications in the event that the primary system becomes impaired or

overloaded. Recommended resources include a mobile communications platform with a combination of

transportable repeaters, gateways, cache radios, and control station-equipped workstations. Buildout

of the proposed grant-funded Region 7 Regional Domestic Security Task Force (RDSTF) 700 MHz

system will provide Broward County with backup capabilities that deliver limited in-street coverage (but

no in-building coverage) in addition to enhancing interoperability. MCP recommends enhancing the

RDSTF system to include four (4) total locations, providing in-street portable and a limited amount of in-

building coverage. In addition, MCP recommends adding additional fixed conventional repeaters at

locations spread throughout the County to provide backup capabilities in the event of a complete

backhaul failure.

Further, MCP recommends that user agencies on the Broward County system execute agreements

with the independent system operators in the County to allow system access in the event that the

County system is impaired or overloaded. In order to improve the effectiveness of these resources, as

well as any other regionally fielded resources, a comprehensive training-and-exercise program is

recommended for first responders and dispatch personnel.

Cost estimates, based on budgetary pricing, have been developed for each option. These costs are

inclusive of radio site electronics equipment, backhaul network, tower site facilities (i.e., tower and

shelter modifications), paging system, fire station alerting, vendor services, and backup systems. The

cost estimates are intended to be conservative to account for variability during procurement. The table

below summarizes the estimated costs for each system option.

Table 1 – Estimated System Cost Overview

System Option Description Total Infrastructure

Price

Option 1 700/800 MHz P25 Phase I $54,405,175

Option 2 700 MHz P25 Phase II $40,631,800

Option 3 700 MHz P25 Hybrid $44,127,050 to

$47,014,550

The number of repeaters needed for either Phase I or Phase II is the main factor that affects costs.

Upon selecting the desired system option, the County should budget the appropriate funds based on

the cost estimates provided. MCP recommends a procurement strategy that allows for the separate

procurement of system components, including radio, microwave, paging, and site development.


Splitting the procurement will yield greater cost savings by reducing the amount of subcontracting

required by a single prime vendor.

Based on the age of the SmartZone system, replacement is recommended as soon as reasonably

possible. The Broward County system is the primary backup for all other systems in the county in the

event of major failures of those systems.

The typical implementation period for a radio system is 18 to 24 months. Consequently, given the

necessary planning and procurement tasks, it may be two years before a new system is implemented

and operational. With the challenges faced by the existing system, time is of the essence. The

estimated completion date for all users migrated to the new system is the second quarter of 2018. The

new system will contain a one-year warranty that will not require any maintenance fees to be paid, with

the exception of tower leases, until approximately the second quarter of 2019.


1. INTRODUCTION

The Broward County radio communications system is a countywide network that serves most public

safety agencies within the County, with the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Coral Springs, and

Plantation operating their own systems. The system is manufactured by Motorola and operates in the

800 MHz frequency band.

The system began its evolution in 1992 as a six-site, 20-channel SmartNet system. Since then the

system has received numerous upgrades with the agencies incrementally joining the system including

Deerfield, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, and Plantation. The expansion included radio sites to add

additional coverage and the addition of radio channels to improve capacity. With those additional

agencies, the system evolved to the current state of eight transmit and receive sites, 28-channel

SmartZone system with two additional receive only sites. In 2012, the County’s central controller

reached end-of-life. In order to extend the life of the system, the County entered into a leasing

agreement with Motorola Solutions to operate on a hosted master site (HMS) located in the company’s

manufacturing facility in Plantation.

The system is now facing numerous imminent end-of-support dates for critical components. Most

notably, the site and prime controllers no longer are supported, and the system consoles and repeaters

will be approaching end-of-life within the next three to five years. Supporting systems, including the

microwave backhaul system, the fire station alerting system, and the alphanumeric paging system have

all reached end-of-life as well. Based on the number of components that soon will reach end of life and

the substantial investment that would be required to further extend the life of the system, the County

determined that a system replacement is necessary.

The County hired Mission Critical Partners Inc. (MCP) to assist with the replacement of the radio,

microwave, paging, and fire station alerting systems. Specifically, MCP will assess the existing system,

evaluate user needs for the new system, and conduct a competitive procurement for a new Project 25

(P25) system to replace the County’s existing radio system, as well as its microwave, paging, and fire

station alerting systems.

2. METHODOLOGY

This section provides a description of MCP’s approach for assessing the various Broward County

communications systems.

INITIALIZATION MEETING

An initial meeting was held with Broward County personnel on May 28, 2015. During the meeting, the

project team reviewed the scope of work, agreed on content that would be contained in the deliverables

and established a project schedule. Dates were established for staff interviews, site surveys, a Web

survey, and the Communications Council and Radio Advisory Board meetings.


USER INTERVIEWS

MCP attended a join public safety users meeting with representatives from law enforcement and

fire/EMS agencies on July 15, 2015. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the plans and gather

feedback from various agencies regarding the existing communications systems, and to understand the

requirements for the new communications system.

WEB SURVEY

A Web survey was developed—with input from Broward County personnel—to obtain feedback from

each public safety agency within the County. Specifically, the survey was distributed to all first

responders within the County in order to acquire user feedback— above and beyond the data that was

gathered during the focus group sessions—regarding the communications systems,. Users unable to

attend the focus group sessions were able to utilize the Web survey to provide their feedback.

INTEROPERABILITY INTERVIEWS

Interoperability interviews were conducted with all of the jurisdictions that surround Broward County, in

order to evaluate the interoperable capabilities that should be maintained and where interoperability

can be improved. Additional information was gathered regarding pending migration plans for

neighboring systems, in order to ensure that interoperability solutions are implemented that would

accommodate any planned upgrades.

RADIO SITE SURVEYS

Radio site surveys were conducted to inventory the existing system infrastructure, assess the condition

of the existing facilities and evaluate their ability to support new or upgraded equipment in the future.

Radio site surveys were conducted starting in June 2015 and continued through July 2015. Current

Broward County radio sites and dispatch facilities were surveyed.

REPORT DEVELOPMENT

MCP developed this radio assessment report based on the information collected. The report is divided

into six primary sections: Introduction, Methodology, Findings, Analysis, Assessment Summary and

Options, and Next Steps. The Findings section details all of the information gathered regarding the

current system, and includes technical and operational baselines. The Analysis section includes a

description of available radio communications technology and how it could be utilized to the benefit of

Broward County. The Assessment Summary and Options section includes MCP’s options for updating

the County’s radio communications system with an improved system targeted to addressing the

County’s needs. The Next Steps section includes the goals of the functional design and next steps for

the procurement of the system.


3. FINDINGS

This section of the report is split into two primary sections: the technical baseline and the operational

baseline. The technical baseline identifies technical information gathered regarding the existing

system, including equipment inventories, components, and other related information. The operational

baseline identifies input from system users regarding the performance of the existing system, as well as

the needs for the new communications system.

TECHNICAL BASELINE

The technical baseline identifies factual and objective information gathered regarding the existing

communications system. Information has been provided for each of the four primary system

components included within the study: the 800 MHz trunked radio system; the microwave network; the

alphanumeric paging system; and the fire station alerting system.

System Descriptions

800 MHz Trunked Radio System

The 800 MHz trunked radio system is the primary means of communications for first responders

operating on the Broward County regional radio system. The system is comprised of eight transmit-

and-receive radio sites, with two additional receive-only locations. All of the sites are arranged in a

single simulcast cell, with 28 total channels. These channels allow for 27 concurrent talkgroup calls,

with the remaining channel utilized for the control channel. The system operates primarily in analog

mode, although five channels have been implemented with both analog and ASTRO Digital capability.

The simulcast prime controller and system management terminals are located at the Broward County

public safety building (PSB). The PSB previously housed the system’s master site; however, the

master site was removed once the County migrated to the Motorola P25 HMS. The Broward County

simulcast cell is interfaced to the HMS through a SmartX gateway. All of the radio systems in Broward

County are interfaced to the HMS, including those in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Plantation, and

Hollywood. This configuration allows for wide-area talkgroups that are available on each of the various

systems throughout the County.

While Motorola now hosts the master site, the remaining devices are Model 6809 controllers. There is

a backup co-located prime controller, but no backup site controllers. Each of the remote radio sites

with transmit and receive capabilities are nearly identical. All sites, with the exception of two receive

only tower sites (Deerfield and Tamarac), include a total of 28 Quantar transmit/receive repeaters, four

separate 10-channel combiners feeding four transmit antennas, and two separate 24-port receive

multicouplers connected to two receive antennas. A tower-top amplifier (TTA) is located on each

receive antenna line. The repeaters are connected directly to the local Model 6809 site controller.

Motorola TeNSr channel banks are utilized to interface site traffic to the microwave network.


The system’s Master Site or “Core” location utilizes Motorola Quantro repeaters in place of Quantars

due to the higher output power offered by the Quantro repeaters, which is needed to provide greater

countywide coverage in the event of a system failure. Meanwhile, the receive-only sites utilize a

combination of Quantar receivers and AstroTac receivers. However, the receive-only sites do not have

combiners or transmit antennas, and interface to leased circuits rather than the microwave network.

Figure 1 below displays the various locations on the trunked radio system.

Figure 1 – Broward County 800 MHz Trunked Radio System Sites

Microwave

A loop-protected Tadiran CM6 microwave network provides primary system backhaul. The Tadiran

microwave equipment was manufactured by California Microwave and sold and labeled by Motorola at

the time the equipment was installed; however, the equipment is now produced by Microwave


Networks. The microwave system utilizes the digital Time Division Multiplex (TDM) method to transmit

and receive radio signals. The microwave links all operate in the 6 gigahertz (GHz) band, and utilize 8-

foot microwave dishes. Neither Motorola nor Microwave Networks supports the Tadiran microwave

equipment, so the availability of support and spare parts is limited.

The network topology is arranged in a reversible dual-loop configuration, with the northern and

southern loops connected through the PSB. With the exception of the PSB site, a failure at any

location will not result in a loss of connectivity. Figure 2 below depicts the microwave network

topology.

Figure 2 – Broward County Microwave System Sites


Alphanumeric Paging System

The County’s alphanumeric paging system is used as a backup dispatch system for various agencies

within the County. The system operates on the Post Office Code Standardization Advisory Group

(POCSAG) platform, and utilizes a UHF T-Band frequency. The system includes five radio frequency

(RF) sites arranged in a simulcast configuration. The paging controller is a Motorola Unipage terminal

located at the PSB. The transmitters are Motorola PURC5000 stations that have been out of

manufacturer support since before 2007. Backhaul between the remote paging sites and the paging

terminal is provided over the microwave network.

The paging system is interfaced directly to the County’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system.

Separate CAD inputs are provided from each of the County’s three dispatch centers. Pages are

generated using information generated directly into the CAD system. No interface is provided between

the paging system and the dispatch console system.

The paging terminal and base station transmitters all are well beyond the vendor support period. At the

time the study was conducted, only two paging transmitter locations were operational. The system has

not been narrowbanded; the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required that all land mobile

radio systems operating between 150 MHz – 174 MHZ and 421 - 512 MHz to convert to 12.5 kHz-wide

channels from 25 kHz-wide channels by January 1, 2013, but excepted T-Band users. Nevertheless,

the T-Band channel on which the Broward County paging system currently operates will need to be

replaced prior to 2022, which is mandated by the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2012. The system is

not supported by a maintenance contract.

Figure 3 below depicts the paging system’s transmitter locations.


Figure 3 – Broward County Paging System Sites

Fire Station Alerting

The County maintains a fire station alerting system that is used for dispatching firefighters residing at

fire stations. When a particular fire station is dispatched, the fire station alerting system sends a

wireless signal that activates various sirens and lights at the appropriate station.

The alerting system is based on the Zetron Model 6 and Model 26 platforms. When the CAD system

recommends a fire station for dispatch, a signal is sent to the Zetron Model 6 unit, which encodes a

frequency shift keying code unique to the station to be dispatched. The signal then is sent to a

Motorola Quantar repeater for transmission of the wireless signal. Control stations located at each fire

station receive the wireless signal. When a station receives an appropriate FSK signal, the Model 26

station unit activates the lights and sirens for that specific station.


Zetron Model 6 and Model 26 devices have been replaced with newer IP-based systems, and the

Motorola Quantar repeater platform will reach end-of-life by 2020. Meanwhile, the wireless portion of

the system, similar to the paging system, also operates on the UHF T-Band, so the frequency will need

to be switched prior to 2022, as mandated by federal legislation.

Coverage

Radio system coverage is the most critical aspect of any communications system. Understanding the

coverage provided by the existing systems is critical for determining the coverage that must be

provided by their replacement systems. MCP has analyzed coverage utilizing a combination of

coverage propagation modeling and user input to gain a complete understanding of how the system

performs. This section summarizes MCP’s findings pertaining to objective propagation modeling.

800 MHz System Coverage

The 800 MHz system utilizes ten simulcast locations, with two of those locations being receive-only

locations. The system initially was designed to provide in-building coverage for portable radios

throughout the populated portions of Broward County. The original system was designed for 95

percent coverage within the County for 15 dB medium buildings with a DAQ score of 3.0. During the

original system design 15-20 years ago, population was much less than it is today. The system was

not designed to provide high levels of coverage in the Everglades, which covers approximately half of

the County’s geographic area.

Capacity

Capacity on the existing 800 MHz trunked system is based on the maximum number of simultaneous

talkgroup calls. The current system operates in a single simulcast cell with 28 channels that support 27

concurrent talkgroups. When a talkgroup call is placed that exceeds the maximum number, the call is

placed in a busy queue. Once a channel becomes available, the talkgroup is given access to the

system and the call goes through.

While the system as a whole supports up to 27 concurrent talk paths, only five channels on the system

are configured for digital operation. Digital operation is required for encryption or interoperability with

digital primary systems, such as that used by the City of Hollywood. The digital-capable channels can

be dynamically assigned to either analog or digital talkgroups. The channels are set as a low priority

for analog talkgroup assignments, so they will not be assigned to an analog talkgroup unless all other

analog-only repeaters are active. A digital talkgroup call that exceeds the number of available digital

channels will be placed in the busy queue.

Based on observations of the ZoneWatch terminal, the system approaches the 27-channel capacity

limit more often than preferred in random observations conducted during the assessment.


Significant system busies have been noted when school busses are on the road, due to the additional

system load that they create.

Motorola engineers also have identified that a large number of users attempting to access the system

has caused an effect known as “throttling” in the Model 6809 site controller. When access requests

exceed the capacity of the controller’s buffer, the controller denies further affiliation attempts until the

buffer is cleared. This results in system busy tones and/or “NO COMMS” error messages received by

radios attempting to access the system.

Lifecycle Considerations

Lifecycle considerations are one of the driving factors regarding the need for replacing the County’s 800

MHz system and the supporting paging, fire alerting, and microwave systems.

Radio equipment vendors typically will manufacture a product for somewhere between five and ten

years. After the equipment is no longer manufactured, the company will continue to support the

product with spare parts, repair services, and technical support for an additional five to seven years.

Once that support period expires, the manufacturer will support the product based on best effort, but

will not guarantee the availability of spare parts or technical expertise to resolve any issues that occur.

Parts and services may be available from third parties; however, such avenues of maintaining

equipment are not reliable and may be cost prohibitive. The longer a system component goes beyond

its lifecycle, the more likely the component will fail and the less likely the parts and expertise will be

available to repair the component.

With most of the Broward County system components being more than 15 years old, many of the

components already are past their support dates. The remaining components will be approach end-of-

life within the next several years.

MCP completed a detailed review of critical components within the system, and confirmed the end-of-

life dates associated with each component. Table 2 below identifies the implications of those end-of-life

dates.


Table 2 – Broward County Radio System End-of-Life Implications

Component End of Life Date Implication

6809 Prime Site Controller December 31, 2009 The prime controllers coordinate traffic

between all radio sites. Failures of the

primary and backup prime controllers

will result in a complete loss of system

functionality. Failure of a controller at

any single radio site will result in a loss

of coverage from that site.

Digitac Comparator December 31, 2018 Votes audio from the different tower

sites. A failure of any one component

will result in the channel being taken off

the air across the system.

Efratom GPS December 31, 2009 A failure of this component will result in

a loss of coverage from the impacted

site. The County mitigated the risk by

having sufficient spares.

Quantar Repeater December 31, 2020 Primary repeater platform used across

the system. A failure of a repeater will

result in the channel being taken off the

air across the system.

Gold Elite Console System December 31, 2018 Primary dispatch console platform used

at each of the three primary County

public safety answering points

(PSAPs). A failure may impact

individual positions, individual

channels, or the entire center.

Tadiran CM6 Microwave December 31, 2009 The system can accommodate the

failure of any single microwave radio

due to the loop configuration. A loss of

multiple units on a ring will result in one

or multiple sites going off the air. The

County mitigated the risk by having

sufficient spares.

Quantro Base Station December 31, 2009 Quantro base stations are utilized at

the Core radio site. A failure of any

one station will take the channel off the

air across the entire simulcast cell.

PURC5000 Base Station No longer supported Base station platform used on the

alphanumeric paging system.

Equipment failures already have

occurred with no spare parts or support

available. The County advised users in

2012 to migrate to commercial based

paging.



Unipage Terminal No longer supported Single unit responsible for controlling

the alphanumeric paging system. A

failure will result in loss of the paging

system.

T-Bar Automatic Switch December 31, 2009 The T-Bar switch allows for the handoff

from primary to backup components.

This switch is utilized between the

primary and backup prime controllers.

A failure of this component will prevent

the handover to occur in the event of a

failure to the primary prime controller.

Siemens Channel Banks December 31, 2009 The majority of channel banks in the

system are Motorola TeNSr units. A

pair of Siemens channel banks are

utilized to connect the Tamarac site to

the prime site. A failure of this unit will

impact that one radio site. The County

mitigated the risk by having sufficient

spares.

Badger Monitor System December 31, 2009 The Badger monitoring system is used

to monitor radio site environmental

alarms, such as site temperature,

generator tests, and

heating/ventilating/air-conditioning

(HVAC) failures. A failure of this

component will result in the inability to

monitor events that could damage

equipment.

MCS2000 Mobile Radio No Longer Supported No Longer Supported

MTS2000 Portable Radio No Longer Supported No Longer Supported

Astro Spectra Mobile Radio No Longer Supported No Longer Supported

XTS3000 Portable Radio No Longer Supported No Longer Supported

XTS1500 December 31, 2019 Limited support and availability for flash

upgrades to P25 Phase I ONLY by

December 31, 2015



December 31, 2015



December 31, 2015

XTL1500 December 31, 2019 Limited support and availability for flash


December 31, 2015





December 31, 2015



December 31, 2015

Subscriber Units

800 MHz Trunked System

Subscriber units represent a critical component of the Broward County communications system. With

the average mobile or portable radio ranging in price from $4,000 to $6,000 per unit, the investment

made in subscriber units often is near the cost invested in the system infrastructure.

Subscriber radios on the County system vary greatly in vintage and model number. All subscriber

radios operating on the system were manufactured by Motorola. This is due to the proprietary

SmartZone technology on the existing system, which prevents third-party manufacturers from making

compatible radios. Some radios date back to the original installation in the early 1990s. Some of these

models include the MCS2000 and MTS2000 series radios. However, the majority of radios on the

system are from the XTS/XTL series that was widely deployed during the 2000s. Some agencies have

purchased newer APX series mobiles and portables, which are capable of P25 Phase II operations.

Subscriber radio purchases, ownership, and maintenance are the responsibilities of the user agencies

on the County system. Agencies have replaced radios over time based on their individual needs and

subscriber replacement cycles. The only standard for subscriber radios on the existing system is that

they must support 800 MHz SmartZone trunking. The County does not have any responsibilities

pertaining to subscriber equipment.

The existing subscriber radios are not consistently maintained to the same level of standards for all

users. This has led to poorly tuned radios causing them to affiliate to the system much more than

normal. This begins affecting reliability causing outages in the system controller. A preventative

maintenance program for subscriber radios will help maintain the radios to consistent standards to

avoid negative impacts to system reliability.

As the County looks to implement a P25 system, many fielded radios will need to be upgraded or

replaced. Many of the older fielded radios are no longer supported and cannot be upgraded to P25.

Moreover, there are radios that are upgradeable to P25 Phase I, but not Phase II. The system

migration path selected by the County ultimately will determine the subscriber radios that will need

replacement. In addition to core hardware functionality, compatibility with P25 systems is dependent on

the software options enabled in each radio. For most agencies, there is no clear record of whether their


P25-compatible radios were provided with the P25 features enabled. This will need to be provided by

each end agency to completely determine the technical and financial impact.

MCP reviewed subscriber inventory sheets from most agencies operating on the County system.

Based on the total radio count from those individual inventories, MCP estimates that 10,427 primary

subscriber radios are on the system, including 7,328 portable radios and 3,099 mobile radios. In

addition to these units, MCP estimates there are an additional 3,000 to 4,000 subscriber radios

programmed with the ability to access the Broward County system for interoperability purposes.

Table 3 below summarizes the primary subscriber radios on the Broward County system by agency and

model number.


Table 3 – Broward County Subscriber Radio Inventory

Agency

Portable Radios Mobiles Unknown Radios

MTS 2000

Saber

XTS 3000

XTS 1500

XTS 2500

XTS 5000

APX 4000

APX 6000

APX 7000

MCS 2000

MAXTRAC

Spectra

XTL 1500

XTL 2500

XTL 5000

APX 4500

APX 6500

APX 7500

Broward County Schools 173 35 197 31 190 4 1 422 1,289 47 1

Broward County Department of Detention 16 478

Broward County Fire 58 455 76 9 2 1 393

Broward County Sheriff's Office 318 38 1,426 235 1 2 48 24 27 9

Coconut Creek Police 26 27 14 95 36 29 42 4

Broward County Local Government 126

Dania Local Government 7

Davie Fire 9 6 51 84 7 15 3 26 36 7

Davie Police 226 3 2 1 50

Hallandale Fire 2 57 2 19

Hallandale Police 1 150 1 3 1

Hillsboro Beach Police 2 15 5

Lauderhill Fire 22 7 54 2 4 31 2

Lauderhill Police 150 21

Lighthouse Point Police 1 1 36 2

Lighthouse Point Fire 3 6 3 5 4

Lauderdale by the Sea Fire 39 12 7 3

Margate Fire 61 3 1 1 6 4

Margate Police 15 4 164 4 10 8

Miramar Fire 55 190 2 20 13 4 14

Miramar Police 1 5 24 143 62 76 1 2 18 5


Agency

Portable Radios Mobiles Unknown Radios

MTS 2000

Saber

XTS 3000

XTS 1500

XTS 2500

XTS 5000

APX 4000

APX 6000

APX 7000

MCS 2000

MAXTRAC

Spectra

XTL 1500

XTL 2500

XTL 5000

APX 4500

APX 6500

APX 7500

North Lauderdale Fire 5 26 9 6 6

Oakland Park Fire 16 21 21 2 4 12

Pompano Beach Fire 1 165 8 13 34 4

Pembroke Pines Fire 27 119 18 5 32

Pembroke Pines Police 94 303 65 17 7 53 1 35

Seminole Fire 40 1 1 4 25 2

Sunrise Fire 19 22 85 4 11 4 11 22

Sunrise Police 4 163 171 4 1 6 7

Sea Ranch Lakes Police 4 25 1

Tamarac Fire 43 45 3 12 2 27 2

Total 916 5 64 176 317 3,564 190 1,398 698 555 5 112 1,318 170 707 0 155 56 21

Table legend:

Radios that are not upgradeable to P25 and will need to be replaced

Radios that are upgradeable to P25 Phase I, but not to Phase II

Radios that are upgradeable to P25 Phase I and Phase II

Radios of unknown make and model

.


MCP has included a description of each radio model documented to be in use on the Broward system,

as follows:

Portable Radios

MTS2000 – MTS2000 portable radios are older series 800 MHz trunked

Motorola radios that were sold during the 1990s. These radios likely

date back to the original installation. These radios have reached end-of-

life and are no longer supported by the manufacturer. These radios are

not upgradeable to P25 and will need to be replaced.

Saber – Saber portable radios are older series 800 MHz trunked

Motorola radios that were sold during the late 1990s. Only a few of

these radios were documented to be in use on the system. These

radios have reached end-of-life and are no longer supported by the

manufacturer. These radios are not upgradeable to P25 and will need to

be replaced.

XTS3000 – XTS3000 portable radios are older series 800 MHz trunked

Motorola radios that were sold during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Only a few of these radios were documented to be in use on the system.

These radios have reached end-of-life and are no longer supported by

the manufacturer. These radios are not upgradeable to P25 and will

need to be replaced.

XTS1500 – XTS1500 portable radios are 800 MHz trunked Motorola

radios that were sold primarily during the 2000s. The XTS1500 series

was designed as a lower tier of trunked radios with more limited feature

sets compared to higher-tier models in the XTS line of portable radios.

These radios are no longer being manufactured but are still supported

by the vendor. These radios are upgradeable to P25 Phase I, but not to

Phase II.



was designed as a mid-tier trunked radio. These radios are no longer

being manufactured but are still supported by the vendor. These radios

are upgradeable to P25 Phase I, but not to Phase II.



was designed as a high-tier trunked radio. These radios are no longer




APX4000 – APX4000 portable radios are 800 MHz trunked Motorola

radios in current production. The APX4000 series is designed as a low-

tier radio with fewer feature sets when compared with other radio

models in the APX series. These radios are upgradeable to P25 Phase

I and Phase II.


radios in current production. The APX6000 series is designed as a mid-

tier radio within the APX series. These radios are upgradeable to P25

Phase I and Phase II.


radios in current production. The APX7000 series is designed as a high-

tier radio within the APX series, offering more feature sets when

compared with other models. Most notably, the APX7000 is a multiband

radio that can support operation in either the VHF or UHF bands, in

addition to the 700/800 band. These radios are upgradeable to P25


Mobile Radios

MCS2000 – MCS2000 mobile radios are older series 800 MHz trunked





MAXTRAC - MAXTRAC mobile radios are older series 800 MHz trunked





Spectra - Spectra mobile radios are older series 800 MHz trunked

Motorola radios that were sold during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Only a few of these radios were documented to be in use on the system.

These radios have reached end-of-life and are no longer supported by

the manufacturer. These radios are not upgradeable to P25 and will

need to be replaced.


XTL1500 – XTL1500 mobile radios are 800 MHz trunked Motorola

radios that were sold primarily during the 2000s. The XTL1500 series

was designed as a lower-tier of trunked radios with more limited feature

sets compared with higher-tier models in the XTL line of mobile radios.

These radios are no longer being manufactured but are still supported

by the vendor. These radios are upgradeable to P25 Phase I, but not to

Phase II.



was designed as a mid-tier trunked radio. These radios are no longer





was designed as a high-tier trunked radio. These radios are no longer



APX4500 – APX4500 mobile radios are 800 MHz trunked Motorola

radios in current production. The APX4500 series is designed as a low-

tier radio with fewer feature sets when compared with other radio

models in the APX series. These radios are upgradeable to P25 Phase

I and Phase II.


radios in current production. The APX6500 is designed as a mid-tier

radio within the APX series. These radios are upgradeable to P25



radios in current production. The APX7500 series is designed as a

high-tier radio within the APX series, offering more feature sets when

compared with other models. Most notably, the APX7500 is a multiband

radio that can support operation in either the VHF or UHF bands, in

addition to the 700/800 band. These radios are upgradeable to P25



Paging Subscribers

Paging subscribers for the alphanumeric paging system vary by model and vintage. Paging

subscribers are the responsibility of each agency. Paging subscribers must meet the POCSAG

standard in order to be compatible with the County’s infrastructure. The current paging system

operates in the UHF T-Band.

The County’s existing paging infrastructure is at end-of-life and will need to be replaced. The new

system must be compatible with existing fielded POCSAG subscribers to ensure that replacement units

are not necessary. Because the UHF T-Band must be vacated, an alternate UHF frequency must be

identified in the public safety UHF general band. MCP reviewed the inventory of paging subscribers

and determined compatibility with UHF frequencies in the general public safety pool (450 to 470 MHz).

The primary pager model utilized throughout the County is the Apollo AL-A25 Gold. The AL-A25 Gold

pager supports operation from 450 MHz to 473 MHz. This operational range will accommodate UHF

channels that fall within the general public safety paging pools. Assuming an alternate UHF frequency

can be identified, the County should be able to switch frequencies out of the T-Band without requiring

agencies to purchase new pager units. MCP confirmed with the pager manufacturer that the

subscribers can accommodate an alternate channel in the desired band. A pager retune will be

required to reconfigure each unit. During the transition, the old and new paging systems will need to be

operated in parallel until all units can be retuned to the new frequency and system.

Frequencies

The following sections detail frequency considerations for each of the Broward County systems:

800 MHz Trunked System

The 800 MHz trunked system utilizes twenty-eight 800 MHz frequencies. Based on the current

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) design, these channels provide a total of 27 concurrent

talk paths, plus one active control channel.

The new system will require either 700 MHz or 800 MHz frequencies for operation. Depending on the

specific design that the County chooses for implementation, it is likely that some reuse of the existing

800 MHz channels will be required.

While there are 28 channels operating on the system, only 21 are licensed to Broward County. The

Broward County School Board holds the license for the remaining seven channels. Depending on the

system usage ultimately decided upon by the School Board, the seven channels licensed to them may

or may not be available for use on the new system.

The County has reported interference issues occurring on the existing frequencies, which may render

certain channels undesirable for use in the new system. Further, if co-channel agencies have short-


spaced to the County’s existing tower sites, it may prove difficult for the County to license additional

tower sites.

While all of the County’s frequencies are in the 800 MHz band, the channels are split between the

National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) range (851 – 854 MHz) and the

interleaved range (854 – 861 MHz). Channels in the NPSPAC band are subject to regional planning

and Region 9 must approve modifications. Channels in the interleaved range are subject to specific

rules enforced by certified public safety frequency coordinators.

In order to evaluate the presence of likely interferers or the ability to modify licenses in the future to add

additional radio sites, MCP conducted frequency searches on each of the County’s 800 MHz

frequencies. Table 4 below summarizes the nearest co-channel and 12.5 kHz adjacent-channel

incumbent agencies.

Table 4 – Broward County 800 MHz Frequencies Evaluation

Frequency Call Sign(s) Closest Co-Channel

(km)

Closest Adjacent-

Channel (km)

851.1875 WQBC532, WQBC531

(School Board)

N/A N/A

851.6875 WQBC532, WQBC531

(School Board)

N/A 42 (WPCJ404)

852.0375 WQBC532, WQBC531

(School Board)

182 N/A

852.7125 WQBC532, WQBC531

(School Board)

182 77

853.0625 WQBC532, WQBC531

(School Board)

N/A 42 (WPCJ404)

853.1875 WQBC532, WQBC531

(School Board)

158 101

853.7625 WQBC532, WQBC531

(School Board)

N/A 42

854.4625 KNJH368, WQAV305 140 N/A

855.2375 KNJH368, WQAV305 127 N/A

855.5625 KNJH368, WQAV305 155 N/A

855.6625 KNJH368, WQAV305 173 N/A

856.4875 KNJH368, WQAV305 140 N/A

856.7375 KNJH368, WQAV305 157 N/A

857.1875 KNJH368, WQAV305 N/A N/A

857.3625 KNJH368, WQAV305 N/A N/A

857.4875 KNJH368, WQAV305 140 N/A

857.7375 KNJH368, WQAV305 157 N/A

857.9875 KNJH368, WQAV305 157 N/A

858.3625 KNJH368, WQAV305 N/A N/A

858.4875 KNJH368, WQAV305 153 N/A


Frequency Call Sign(s) Closest Co-Channel

(km)

Closest Adjacent-

Channel (km)

858.7375 KNJH368, WQAV305 157 N/A

858.9875 KNJH368, WQAV305 157 N/A

859.3625 KNJH368, WQAV305 N/A N/A

859.4375 KNJH368, WQAV305,

WNPH750

140 N/A

859.4875 KNJH368, WQAV305 140 N/A

859.7125 KNJH368, WQAV305 69 N/A

859.7375 KNJH368, WQAV305 157 N/A

859.9875 KNJH368, WQAV305 157 N/A

Based on its review of co-channel and adjacent-channel incumbents, MCP identified that the 859.7125

MHz frequency is licensed co-channel to the City of West Palm Beach. Based on the distance between

the systems it is not likely that the frequency can be shared without causing destructive interference.

Meanwhile, three frequencies licensed to the School Board were identified that are adjacent-channel to

the system operated by the City of Coral Gables. Based on the current SmartZone system and

Enhanced Digital Access Communications System (EDACS) operated by Broward County and Coral

Gables respectively, the 20 kHz channel bandwidth likely will cause interference. Once both of these

systems have been converted to P25, the likelihood of interference occurring will be reduced greatly.

Paging System

The alphanumeric paging system operates on the UHF T-Band frequency. Based on the implications

of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2012, the frequency will need to be vacated prior to 2022. With a

replacement of the system planned, an alternate frequency will need to be identified in the general

public safety pool (450 to 470 MHz) to allow reuse of the existing pagers. The channel was excluded

from the narrowbanding mandate because it is in the T-Band.

The license shows that only two locations are operating under the license, even though the channel

actually operates at four sites in a simulcast configuration. There is currently a freeze on any licensing

changes in the T-Band, so a correction of the license will not be possible.

Fire Station Alerting System

The fire station alerting system operates on the UHF T-Band frequency. This frequency also will need

to be vacated prior to 2022 due to the implications of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2012. With a

replacement of the system planned, an alternate frequency will need to be identified in the general

public safety pool (450 to 470 MHz) to allow reuse of the existing pagers.


Microwave

The microwave system operates in the licensed 6 GHz frequency band. Separate licenses are held for

each fixed location. The microwave links will need to be reevaluated for the new system design. While

some links might be reused within the new design, it is likely that new sites will require updating the

microwave design and the associated path frequencies.

Of the available licensed microwave bands, the 6 GHz band has the longest wavelength and therefore

requires the largest microwave dishes. A reduction in dish sizes may be necessary if the County

converts any paths to the 10 GHz or 11 GHz frequency bands.

Backhaul Connectivity

The County’s microwave system utilizes Tadiran CM6 microwave radios powered by 48-volt, direct

current (DC) power supplies. Each radio site includes a minimum of two microwave radios to allow

continued operation in the event of a failure to any one radio. The system is arranged in a loop

configuration, which can account for the loss of any one microwave path due to rain fade or a

component failure, without impacting data flow over the network.

The microwave system is based on a circuit-switched platform supporting DS1, DS3, and STS-3

connections, with up to 155.52 Mbps of throughput per link. Motorola TeNSr channel banks are utilized

to multiplex the various radio traffic sources to the microwave system.

Figure 4 below depicts the microwave paths utilized by the Broward County system.


Figure 4 – Broward County Microwave Paths

Modern P25 networks operate on IP-based platforms. While IP networks can be configured to operate

over legacy circuit-switched microwave links, an extra interface is required and additional latency is

added. Regardless of whether the existing microwave system technically could support a P25 system,

the system is no longer supported by the manufacturer and will need to be replaced.

Backhaul to the HMS in Plantation is provided utilizing redundant leased Synchronous Optical

Networking (SONET) connections from the prime site located at the PSB. Connectivity is provided from

the HMS to each of the regional dispatch centers utilizing redundant leased circuits. Figure 5 below

summarizes the overall system connectivity.


Figure 5 – Broward County Backhaul Connectivity

Dispatch

Dispatch centers served by the Broward County communications systems include three regional

consolidated PSAPs serving most public safety agencies within the county; however, the cities of Coral

Springs and Plantation operate their own PSAPs.

The consolidated centers are located in Sunrise, Pembroke Pines, and Coconut Creek. The following

sections provide detailed information regarding each of the centers.


Central Dispatch (Sunrise)

Figure 6 – Central Electronics Banks Equipment and Control Stations

Central Dispatch is the largest of the three regional consolidated PSAPs, serving portions of the

Broward Sheriff’s Office, the City of Fort Lauderdale, and numerous other municipalities. The center

operates on Motorola CENTRACOM Gold Elite dispatch consoles. The Central Electronics Bank (CEB)

located in an adjacent equipment room provides control for the console system. The CEB is interfaced

to the HMS utilizing a Motorola Gold Elite gateway to compensate for the varying signal formats and

baud rates between the P25 IP master site and the legacy Gold Elite console system. The center

operates 24 Gold Elite dispatch console positions.

The equipment room has 17 backup consolettes, including ASTRO Spectra and XTL5000 models.

Most of the backup consolettes connect to legacy systems that have since been replaced, and are


therefore not functional. Two consolettes connect to talkgroups on the Palm Beach County system for

public safety interoperability between the two counties.

The center dispatches for the City of Fort Lauderdale, which currently operates a SmartNet system and

is in the process of implementing a P25 system tied to the HMS. If the County elects to implement a

solution that does not require use of the Motorola HMS, a solution will be necessary to provide console

connectivity for the Fort Lauderdale dispatch positions located at the center.

North Dispatch (Coconut Creek)

Figure 7 – Central Electronics Bank Equipment


The Coconut Creek dispatch center serves portions of the Broward Sheriff’s Office, and various

municipalities operating in the northern portion of the County. The center operates on Motorola

CENTRACOM Gold Elite dispatch consoles. The Central Electronics Bank (CEB) located in an

adjacent equipment room provides control for the console system. The CEB is interfaced to the HMS

utilizing a Motorola Gold Elite gateway to compensate for the varying signal formats and baud rates

between the P25 IP master site and the legacy Gold Elite console system. The center operates 21

Gold Elite dispatch console positions.

The equipment room has 12 backup consolettes, including ASTRO Spectra and XTL5000 models. The

backup consolettes are programmed to the center’s dispatch talkgroups for operation in the event radio

consoles are inoperable.

South Dispatch (Pembroke Pines)

Figure 8 – Central Electronics Bank Equipment


The Pembroke Pines dispatch center serves portions of the Broward Sheriff’s Office, and various

municipalities operating in the southern portion of the County. The center operates on Motorola

CENTRACOM Gold Elite dispatch consoles. The Central Electronics Bank (CEB) located in an

adjacent equipment room provides control for the console system. The CEB is interfaced to the HMS

utilizing a Motorola Gold Elite gateway to compensate for the varying signal formats and baud rates

between the P25 IP master site and the legacy Gold Elite console system. The center operates 18

Gold Elite dispatch console positions.

The equipment room has 12 backup consolettes, including ASTRO Spectra and XTL5000 models. The

backup consolettes are programmed to the center’s dispatch talkgroups for operation in the event radio

consoles are inoperable.

The center dispatches for the City of Hollywood, which operates an ASTRO Digital system tied to the

HMS. If the County elects to implement a solution that does not require use of the Motorola HMS, a

solution will be necessary to provide console connectivity for the Hollywood dispatch positions.

Logging Recorder

Each dispatch center operates a Replay Systems logging recorder that records both radio and

telephony traffic. The audio interface to the 800 MHz trunked system records traffic on a per-talkgroup

and per position configuration.

Once a new P25 system is installed, a new interface will be required for the radio system. These

interfaces typically allow a direct IP connection between the trunked system and the logging recorder.

A specialized programming interface will be required to connect the Replay Systems recording system

to the radio system. Radio recording can be accomplished in this manner utilizing a single recorder at

a centralized location.

Neighboring Systems

Interoperability with neighboring radio systems is critical to the operations of first responders. This

section details the systems operated by neighboring agencies and any pending migration plans for

those systems.

City of Hollywood

The City of Hollywood has a three-site, 800 MHz simulcast system that operates in a mixed mode

configuration with public safety exclusively on digital. The system is tied to the Motorola HMS. While

roaming (on wide area resources only) is technically possible between the Hollywood system and the

County infrastructure, this method of interoperability should not be practiced in order to preserve

capacity on the County system. Rather, because the County infrastructure adequately covers the City

of Hollywood for most interoperable events, interoperability occurs on the County system.


The Hollywood system, like the County system, includes components that are at end-of-life and will

need to be replaced. The City currently utilizes Broward County’s system for interoperability and back

up in case of a City system failure for public safety users only. While the County is responsible for the

system equipment, the City is responsible for the towers, antennas, and ancillary systems (UPS,

generators, HVAC, etc.). No plans exist at this time for replacement of the City system. Dispatch is

provided for Hollywood by the County’s South Regional Dispatch Center.

City of Coral Springs

The City of Coral Springs recently implemented an 800 MHz P25 Phase I Motorola trunked system tied

to the HMS. Coral Springs subscribers are Motorola units programmed with Broward County

talkgroups. Interoperability between County system users and Coral Springs users occurs on the

County’s interoperability talkgroups. The City currently utilizes Broward County’s system for back up in

case of a City system failure. Those radios that are P25 capable on the County system are not yet

programmed to access the City system. Coral Springs operates its own dispatch center. Control

station connectivity between the County regional’s PSAPs and the Coral Springs system has not been

configured.

City of Plantation

The City of Plantation currently utilizes Broward County’s system for interoperability and back up in

case of a City system failure. Plantation intends to continue to utilize the countywide interoperability

talkgroups after the County’s new system is implemented.

The City is in the process of purchasing and implementing a new single-site, P25 Phase II system tied

to the Motorola HMS. Estimated completion is first quarter 2016. Future discussion regarding the

implementation of an ISSI connection will have to be directed to Motorola Solutions; however, the HMS

does have an ISSI server available for use.

Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County operates a legacy Motorola SmartZone 3.0 countywide trunked system. Cross

programming of the Broward interoperability talkgroups is provided on the Palm Beach system, with an

Interlocal agreement (ILA). Users on the Broward system have radios programmed with talkgroups on

the Palm Beach system based on need. Palm Beach County is in the process of procuring a new P25

system to replace its end-of-life infrastructure. Broward County also has radio consolettes programmed

to Palm Beach County’s public safety interoperability talkgroups for communications back to Broward

County’s dispatch center.

Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade County recently implemented a countywide P25 Phase I, 800 MHz system manufactured

by Harris Corporation. The system replaces the County’s aging 800 MHz Harris EDACS system.


Interoperability is accomplished between users on the Broward and Miami-Dade systems utilizing

conventional interfaces. Miami-Dade has one control station configured to talk to a Broward County

talkgroup for the police department. Broward County has four talkgroups set up on their system for

Miami-Dade fire to come onto the County system. Miami-Dade fire also has the County’s MEDCOM

talkgroups ten, eight and five available. While some subscriber radios on the Broward system are P25

capable, none have been programmed on the Miami-Dade system at this time. Cross programming of

the two systems will be readily available for all subscribers once the Broward system is converted to

P25.

Collier County

Collier County is in the process of implementing a countywide P25 Phase I, 800 MHz system

manufactured by Harris Corporation to replace its aging EDACS system. Interoperability between the

counties typically occurs on mutual-aid repeaters. Subscriber radios historically have not been able to

be cross-programmed due to the proprietary technologies operated by both counties. Cross

programming of talkgroups will be available once both systems have completed their migrations to P25.

City of Miami

The City of Miami operates a legacy Motorola 800 MHz simulcast system. Subscriber radios are cross-

programmed between Broward County and City of Miami subscriber radios. The City currently is

evaluating options for the replacement of its system with a new P25-compliant system.

City of Miami Beach

The City of Miami Beach operates a legacy Motorola 800 MHz simulcast system. While the systems

are compatible, talkgroups currently are not programmed between Broward County and Miami Beach.

The City is exploring funding options to replace its aging system with a P25-compliant system.

City of Hialeah

The City of Hialeah operates a legacy Motorola 800 MHz, 10-channel SmartNet 3.1 simulcast system.

While the systems are compatible, talkgroups currently are not programmed between Broward County

and Hialeah. The City is exploring funding options to replace its aging system with a P25-compliant

system.

Intra-county Interoperability

Interoperability within Broward County is primarily conducted on the County’s communications system

because the system has both the capacity and coverage footprint required. Specific talkgroups have

been defined for interoperable events, and are the primary talkgroups utilized for events involving

multiple jurisdictions. In some instances, agency-specific talkgroups are utilized for multiagency


response. The regional interoperability channels are the primary talkgroups shared with neighboring

agencies outside of Broward County for interoperability purposes.

In addition to the regional interoperability talkgroups, dispatchers in certain circumstances may patch

together two talkgroups in order to interconnect various agencies, utilizing the Florida Interoperability

Network (FIN).

Summary of Technical Requirements

Based on the factual objective information gathered by MCP, the following list summarizes technical

requirements for the County’s radio communications system:

Numerous system components already have reached end of life, the most critical of which are

the Model 6809 prime and site controllers. Numerous other critical components will reach end-

of-life in the near future, including the Gold Elite dispatch consoles and the Quantar repeaters.

With reduced system reliability due to age and a limited availability of support and spare parts,

components replacement is necessary to refresh the system infrastructure.

Several recent events occurred that resulted in the system failing to handle the traffic load of the

subscriber base, which in turn resulted in dropped calls and failed call attempts. Motorola

attributed the issues to the controllers failing to have the processing power needed to manage

the system load due to the high amount of affiliations that are occurring because of improperly

maintained subscribers.

Several portable in-building coverage gaps were identified. Additional radio sites are necessary

to fill in these gaps.

Portable outdoor coverage gaps were identified in the western half and Northeast section of the

county. An additional tower site is necessary to fill coverage within these areas.

The system regularly approaches its capacity limits of 27 concurrent talkgroup calls. Additional

capacity is necessary within the new system to account for current capacity levels and future

growth.

The microwave system has reached end-of-life, and should be replaced with a native IP system

that will integrate with a new IP-based P25 system.

There is a substantial number of fielded subscriber radios that are not P25 Phase II-capable.

Any non-P25 Phase I-capable subscriber will need to be replaced.

There is a substantial number of fielded subscriber radios that are P25 Phase I-capable but not

Phase II-capable. These radios may be upgraded to operate on the new system if a Phase I

solution is implemented, but will need to be replaced if a Phase II only solution is implemented.

The alphanumeric paging is well past its end-of-life, and is barely operating with only limited

functionality. A system replacement is required immediately to ensure continuous delivery of

the paging service.

The County’s radio sites have been well maintained. Additional structural studies will need to

be executed to validate that the towers can handle the load of both the existing equipment and

the new equipment during the transition period.


Most of the County’s existing radio shelters are in good condition. However, grounding and

HVAC upgrades should be required at some locations.

Most of the existing shelters have sufficient space to accommodate equipment for the new

system. However, some equipment will need to be configured in a temporary manner until the

old system can be decommissioned. Electrical loads and HVAC concerns need to be calculated

to determine further risks of having existing and new systems operating simultaneously.

Several frequencies were identified that pose a high risk of causing or receiving interference.

Replacement channels will be necessary, along with additional channels to support added

capacity if a P25 Phase I system is implemented.

The County dispatches for the cities of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. A dispatch solution

must be implemented that can integrate with both the new County system, the Fort Lauderdale

P25 system, and the legacy Motorola Hollywood system.

The logging recorder will need to be integrated with the new P25 system.

The paging system will need to be integrated with the County’s CAD system.

The fire station alerting system will need to be integrated with the County’s computer aided

dispatch software.

OPERATIONAL BASELINE

The operational baseline describes various user groups and feedback regarding the system. The

purpose of the operational baseline is to determine the needs that the current communications system

satisfies and those that it does not. Using this information, a set of requirements is established that

defines what features the new communications system must provide.

This section includes a summary of the agencies that utilize the Broward County radio system,

feedback collected regarding the system during interviews with end-users and interoperability partners,

feedback collected regarding the system from Web surveys and MCP’s assessment of the most-critical

system concerns that should be addressed in an improved or new communications system.

User Agencies

The Broward County regional communications system serves all public safety agencies in the county

with the exception of the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Coral Springs, and Plantation. While all

other municipalities are on the system, some have law enforcement and fire/EMS services provided by

the Broward Sheriff’s Office. In addition to public safety responders, the system supports several

County and municipal government operations, as well as operations for the Broward County School

Board. Table 5 below summarizes user agencies on the system.


Table 5 – Broward County Communications System User Agencies

Broward County Schools Lighthouse Point Fire

Broward County Department of Detention Lauderdale by the Sea Fire

Broward County Fire Margate Fire

Broward County Local Government users* Margate Police

Broward County Sheriff's Office Miramar Fire

Coconut Creek Police Miramar Police

Broward County Local Government North Lauderdale Fire

Dania Local Government (Ocean Rescue) Oakland Park Fire

Davie Fire Pompano Beach Fire

Davie Police Pembroke Pines Fire

Deerfield (Ocean Rescue) Pembroke Pines Police

Hallandale Fire Seminole Fire

Hallandale Police Sunrise Fire

Hillsboro Beach Police Sunrise Police

Lauderhill Fire Sea Ranch Lakes Police

Lauderhill Police Tamarac Fire

Lighthouse Point Police

*Broward County is migrating all County Local Government agencies to a local government only radio

system by end of 2015.

Summary of Operational Requirements

The following list summarizes issues identified by system users or interoperability partners that need to

be considered with the design of the system:

Coverage – The existing system does not adequately penetrate dense buildings, including high-

rises, schools, and hospitals. A greater level of in-building coverage should be considered to

account for current buildings and future growth. Coverage also needs to be improved in the

western half of the County (Interstate-75 and Everglades), and in Deerfield Beach (NE section

of County).

Capacity – Capacity issues were noted by most user groups on the system. Capacity on the

system needs to be improved. Many of the capacity issues are a result of subscriber issues, i.e.

high number of affiliations and inefficient use of frequencies. In addition, users on other systems

have the capability to roam to the Broward County system that starts utilizing channels on both

systems.

Reliability – The system has suffered from numerous outages related to subscribers that have

reduced confidence in the system. The new system must include added redundancy or

capability in design to avoid similar issues.

Maintenance – Many agencies indicated that they do not have a preventive maintenance

program for subscribers. Poorly maintained subscribers will contribute to the perception of poor


system coverage and performance. A preventive maintenance program is needed for all

subscriber radios on the system.

Paging – Users of the paging system desire improved reliability, improved coverage back to

original design levels, and continued support of the existing system until the point that the new

system is installed.

Fire Station Alerting – Users had few complaints regarding the fire station alerting system.

Requests were made for the new system to be backward compatible with the existing system.

The system should support a flexible platform to allow stations to implement a variety of “bells

and whistles” according to their needs.

Dispatch – Talkgroup capacity needs to be expanded to allow access to all possible tactical

talkgroups that may be assigned.

Data functionality – Numerous features were identified as important or critical that require data

functionality, including GPS, OTAR, and OTAP.

Interoperability gaps were primarily with agencies on other systems, including State and Federal

agencies. User training is necessary in the new system for both end users and dispatch

personnel to review available and new interoperability capabilities. This would include when and

how to use different talkgroups and other resources such as FIN.

Opportunities were identified with interoperability partners for improved connectivity now that

most systems are migrating to P25 and cross-programming of systems will be available

Various subscriber radio esthetic features were identified as important to some agencies,

including specialized knobs, screens, colors, etc.

4. ANALYSIS

In order to establish a direction for the Broward County radio network, an analysis must be completed

that reviews industry standards and trends, and determines which technologies will most benefit the

Broward County user community. This section explores the various components and technologies that

will determine the recommended specifications for Broward County.

COVERAGE

Coverage in Broward County was documented by MCP using a combination of radio propagation

studies and feedback provided by system users (see Appendices E and F for user comments). MCP

uses EDX SignalPro to conduct the studies by using the industry standard TSB-88 documents for as

accurate studies as possible for public safety. Radio propagation studies indicate that the current

system provides a high level of both mobile and portable outdoor coverage throughout the County’s

population center. However, portable outdoor coverage is unreliable throughout most of the western

half of the county over the Everglades. Portable in-building coverage was evaluated at on street and

15 dB of attenuation for medium-rated buildings and is located in Appendix G.


The in-building studies indicate that numerous areas exist that experience unreliable coverage on the

existing analog system that appears as “noisy” or “scratchy” transmissions to users. Because every

building is different, these studies do not guarantee that the radio system will cover any particular

building. Conversely, buildings closer to tower sites will receive signal levels stronger than the

minimum threshold on any particular study. Based on the in-building coverage studies, the portions of

the county with the weakest coverage include the cities of Deerfield, Davie and Tamarac, as well as the

western portions of Weston and Miramar.

User feedback confirmed coverage problems within the areas identified in the propagation studies. In

addition to these areas, numerous coverage gaps were identified in dense structures, such as high-rise

buildings, hospitals and schools. Because these coverage problems are localized to specific buildings,

it is likely that these coverage gaps are the result of building density. In areas where these in-building

coverage problems are concentrated, it may be realistic to add a radio site or sites. However, it is not

realistic to expect that sites can be added to every building. Once the new system is installed,

coverage should be reevaluated in problematic buildings. If the coverage issues persist, Bi-Directional

Amplifiers (BDAs) should be considered to improve in-building coverage.

It is MCP’s opinion that a greater coverage requirement is necessary along the eastern border of the

county, where high-rise buildings are most prevalent. Additional in-building coverage is required in the

cities of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. Finally, coverage improvements are needed in the Deerfield

Beach area and in the western half of the county over the Everglades, along I-75.

Based on these requirements, MCP recommends the following coverage enhancements:

1. Replace receive-only sites in Deerfield and Tamarac with full simulcast transmit/receive sites

2. Add additional simulcast radio sites in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale to provide greater in-

building penetration and ocean-front coverage

3. Add additional sites along the coast in the North Lake and Pompano Beach areas to provide

greater in-building penetration and ocean-front coverage

4. Add a multicast site with five channels along I-75 in the western portion of the county

This approach would result in 14 simulcast, transmit and receive sites and one multicast site, for a total

of 15 sites. MCP will confirm the estimated number of radio sites during the design phase.

CAPACITY

Based on radio inventories, the Broward County system supports more than 10,000 subscriber radios

from primary users on the system. In addition to the primary users, there are several thousand

additional units that access the system for interoperability purposes, including regular access by in-

county users from the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Plantation and Coral Springs.

With 28 channels in the existing system, 27 active conversations can be supported at any given point in

time. Feedback from radio system administrators indicates that the system regularly approaches its


capacity limit. User feedback confirms that busy signals are received on the system; however, users

often cannot discern between a busy tone and a deny tone.

Feedback provided by the radio system administrator indicates that the School Board is one of the

heaviest users on the system. The system is busiest in the mornings and afternoons when school

busses are active.

Because trunked systems dynamically assign frequencies to active channels, capacity is defined as the

probability that the system will not have an available frequency to accommodate a talkgroup request,

resulting in the subsequent queuing of the call. Erlang C calculations can determine the appropriate

number of channels for a trunked system based on the number of active users, the average number of

calls per hour, and the average duration of each call.

Based on the user survey results provided in Appendix F, MCP evaluated the GoS based on the

reported number of active number of radio users that are on shift at any one point in time. This provides

an approximate 4,848 active users with an average of five calls per hour and an average duration of

four seconds. Table 6 below summarizes the results of the Erlang C calculations for the 4,848 active

users.

Table 6 – Erlang C Calculations Reported

System Erlangs

# Of Users Average

Call Duration

# of Calls per Hour

Acceptable Queued Call

Delay (in seconds)

Maximum # of Voice

Channels

26.93 4,848 4.0 5.00 1.0 30

Number of Voice

Channels

Probability Call

Request Blocked

Average Queue Depth

Average Call Delay

Queued Call Delay

(in seconds)

Arbitrary Call Delay

% Calls Exceeding Acceptable Queued Call

Delay

36 0.07 0.19 0.03 0.10 0.01 0.7%

35 0.09 0.32 0.05 0.13 0.01 1.3%

34 0.14 0.51 0.08 0.17 0.02 2.3%

33 0.19 0.84 0.12 0.22 0.04 4.1%

32 0.26 1.37 0.20 0.28 0.07 7.3%

31 0.35 2.31 0.34 0.36 0.13 12.6%

30 0.46 4.06 0.60 0.46 0.21 21.5%

29 0.60 7.87 1.17 0.60 0.36 36.0%

28 0.78 19.61 2.91 0.77 0.59 59.5%


Consequently, additional capacity is required in order to: limit future busies; accommodate increased

interoperability access from neighboring agencies migrating to P25; account for increased surge

capacity; and account for the potential addition of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood users. Additional

capacity can be accomplished through multiple simulcast cells (or zones) if a P25 Phase I design is

implemented, or through the implementation of time division multiple access (TDMA) technology with a

P25 Phase II design. Capacity would be increased because TDMA provides two talk paths for every

one frequency.

SPECTRUM AND FCC LICENSING

Frequency acquisition is one of the most challenging, time consuming, and uncertain aspects of any

radio system implementation. In many cases, the availability of frequencies can dictate the frequency

band in which a system is constructed.

This section addresses the strengths and weaknesses of each available public safety frequency band,

as well as the frequency availability in each band.

UHF (450 – 512 MHz)

The UHF frequency band covers the range from 450 MHz to 512 MHz. The upper portion of the band

(470 to 512 MHz) encompasses the UHF T-Band that Broward County currently utilizes for its paging

and fire station alerting systems. The lower portion of the band (450 to 470 MHz) includes the general

public safety and industrial/business frequency pools. UHF band is heavily utilized in the region by

municipal public works systems, including the MOTOTRBO system implemented by Broward County.

The UHF band provides fixed offsets between transmit and receive frequencies, thus supporting the

use of repeater systems.

As indicated previously, the federal government has mandated that agencies vacate the T-Band prior to

2022 as a condition of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2012. No information has been provided that

would indicate public safety agencies will be provided relief for systems operating in the T-Band. Most

recently, the FCC has prioritized portions of the 700 MHz band for agencies vacating the T-Band. MCP

is aware of several agencies around the country that already are taking action to move operations out

of the T-Band and to the 700 MHz band at their own expense. These changes require complete

system overhauls involving subscriber unit and infrastructure replacements.

Based on the pending requirement to vacate the T Band, the ideal option for the paging and fire station

alerting systems would be to find UHF channels in the 450 to 470 MHz general public safety pool. An

alternate frequency would ensure that the County does not need to consider another upgrade within the

next five to seven years, would allow for the reuse of existing subscribers, and would permit a phased

cutover where both the existing and new systems could operate in parallel until the new system is

constructed.

JDeZayas

Highlight


MCP conducted a frequency search of the UHF public safety pool frequencies and identified the

channels listed in Table 7 below for consideration. MCP notes that many of these channels already are

licensed to municipalities in Broward County. Consequently, the County would need to work with these

agencies to identify which channels are not in use and could be repurposed for the paging or fire station

alerting systems.

Table 7 – Potential UHF Frequencies for Use by Broward County

Frequency (MHz) Closest Incumbent Closest Co-Channel

Excluding Incumbent (km)

453.0250 Pembroke Pines Fire

Rescue (WPGV944) 127


Rescue (WPGV944) 78

453.1625 City of Oakland Park

(WQRJ623) 71

453.1875 Cooper City

(WQGF266) 95

453.2250 Broward Sheriff’s Office

(WPUI538) 33

453.2625 City of Pembroke Pines

(WQHI932) 33

453.2875 City of Coral Springs

(WPUE349) 61

453.3000 Broward County

(WQVQ763) 34


(WQVQ763) 78


Rescue (WPGV944) 42

453.4875

City of Pompano Beach

Utilities Department

(WPGI658)

43


(WQVQ763) 54


(WQVQ763) 35


(WQVQ763) 35


(WQVQ763) 33

453.6875 City of Coral Springs

(WPJZ727) 52


(WQVQ763) 33


Frequency (MHz) Closest Incumbent Closest Co-Channel

Excluding Incumbent (km)

453.7500 Broward Sheriff’s Office

(WPUI537) 27

453.7625 City of Pembroke Pines

(WQJG980) 59

453.7750 City of Sunrise

(KRA368) 72


(WQVQ763) 33

453.8750

The School Broward of

Broward Count, FL

(KNBL836)

61

453.9000 City of Sunrise

(KRA368) 33

453.9125 City of Hallandale

Beach (WPHJ772) 34

453.9500 South Broward Hospital

District (WPUH654) 55

453.9625 City of Miramar

(WPAU930) 34

460.0500 City of Fort Lauderdale

(KNCM867) 76

460.1000 City of Fort Lauderdale,

(KNCM867) 131


(KNCM867) 45


(KNCM867) 76


(WQVQ763) 33

460.5750 City of Lauderhill

(WRU991) 53


(WPKT964) 112

460.6000 City of Margate

(WPLY494) 131


(WPKT964) 142


Rescue (WPWD481) 45


(WPTK964) 99


Based on MCP’s evaluation of these frequencies, the two that would be best for the fire station alerting

and paging systems are 460.5875 MHz and 460.6125 MHz. Both of these channels already are

licensed to Broward County and are clear with sufficient co-channel spacing to operate with minimal

risk of causing interference. In the event that these channels cannot be used, the 460.6375 MHz

frequency, also licensed to Broward County, likely could be licensed. The next best alternatives are

460.6 MHz (licensed to the City of Margate), 453.025 MHz (licensed to Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue),

and 460.1 MHz (licensed to the City of Fort Lauderdale).

800 MHz (806 – 860 MHz)

Frequencies in the 800 MHz band are pre-paired for repeater operations, with mobile frequencies 45

MHz below the base frequencies. The frequencies are assigned in two licensing pools: the interleaved

band, which is governed by frequency coordination rules (854–860 MHz); and the NPSPAC band,

which is governed by regional planning committees (851–854 MHz). The 800 MHz band is heavily

encumbered and frequency acquisition will be more limited.

The 800 MHz frequency band is the band used by the current trunking system. This frequency band

has been widely deployed throughout the region, and is used by most of the primary trunked

communications systems in south Florida.

Broward County is licensed for 22 channels in the 800 MHz band, 21 of which are sufficiently clear to

be relicensed for the new communications system. There are seven additional channels in use by the

County that are licensed to the Broward County School Board that are sufficiently clear to be used

within the new system.

However, based on how highly encumbered the 800 MHz band is, it is not likely that additional 800

MHz channels could be secured to support increased capacity.

700 MHz (769 – 805 MHz)

Frequencies in the 700 MHz band are pre-paired for repeater operations, with mobile frequencies 30

MHz above the base frequencies. The 700 MHz frequency band provides the most likely source of

spectrum for Broward County. The band is not heavily encumbered and frequency assignments

already have been made to Broward County. Twenty-five 25-kHz channel blocks in this band are

assigned for use within the County. Of those 25 channels, MCP identified applications submitted by

Broward County to Region 9 for 20 channels. Those channels show an approval date of January 25,

2011, by the RPC, but do not appear to ever have been licensed. A frequency search confirms that

those channels are still available should Broward County choose to implement them. Table 8 below

summarizes the 700 MHz channel allotments for use in Broward County.


Table 8 – 700 MHz Frequencies Available for Use in Broward County

Class Bandwidth Channel Base Frequency

Mobile Frequency

Notation

General Use Voice 25.0KHz 41-44 769.262500 799.262500 Application Pending

General Use Voice 25.0KHz 53-56 769.337500 799.337500 RDSTF Project Reserved
























Use of the 700 MHz frequency band requires systems to operate with digital modulation and to have

radios that are capable of accessing the 700 MHz interoperability channels in the P25 conventional

mode. There were limitations previously that required systems to operate with a 6.25 kHz channel

efficiency by 2018, which would require P25 Phase II systems with TDMA capabilities. This

requirement has since been eliminated by the FCC, allowing the use of Phase I FDMA systems for the

foreseeable future.


Spectrum and Capacity

Based on the heavy loading levels on the existing 28-channel system and the potential for increased

user groups on the system from the cities of Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale, a substantial increase in

capacity is recommended. Based on the design options provided, the capacity increase will be

accomplished through the addition of channels if a Phase I design is selected, or through conversion to

TDMA if a Phase II design is selected.

The maximum number of conversations supported by a single Phase I simulcast cell is 29 for a

maximum 30 RF channels. The maximum number of conversations supported by a single Phase II

simulcast cell is 36 for a maximum 19 RF channels. When more than maximum channels exist on any

one cell, there is a higher probability that collisions can occur, which would result in subscribers being

denied access to the system. The alternative approach to expanding capacity beyond a single

simulcast cell is to construct a separate simulcast cell with the same geographic footprint. This

approach essentially requires building a separate system with identical site locations and coverage

footprint. An overlapping simulcast cell design is not recommended due to reduced trunking efficiency

from splitting the channels, and the potential for cross-zone roaming between the two cells.

Assuming a P25 Phase I design, 44 channels will be required for the primary zone and an additional

five for the multicast site totaling 49 channels. The County could reasonably secure 20 channels in the

700 MHz band allocated for use to Broward County in the National Public Safety Telecommunications

Council (NPSTC) Computer Assisted Pre-coordination Resource and Database (CAPRAD). The

remaining 29 channels would be pulled from the County’s pool of 20 licensed 800 MHz channels that

have sufficient co-channel spacing from incumbents. This still leaves an additional nine channels

required to build the system yet to be identified. This introduces a risk factor to acquire all the channels

necessary. This approach would require a combination of 700 MHz and 800 MHz antenna systems to

accommodate repeaters operating in both frequency bands. Combiners and antennas are available

that cover both bands, so this is a challenge that can easily be overcome but it will severely impact the

equipment at the sites and loading on the towers. Likewise, a hybrid design with 35 channels would

require the use of both 700 and 800 MHz spectrum.

If a P25 Phase II design is selected, then 19 frequencies will be required for the primary zone and an

additional five for the multicast site totaling 24 channels. For this approach, migration entirely to the

700 MHz band would be recommended for the primary zone. Migration to 700 MHz entirely would

greatly simplify the cutover process since none of the existing channels would be utilized on the new

system. This would allow both the old and new systems to remain entirely functional for an extended

period of time, allowing users adequate time to cut over their operations.

License modifications will be required regardless of the option selected. Acquiring the 700 MHz

channels will require filing of an application with the Region 9 RPC. An application previously was

submitted by Broward County in 2010 for 20 channels. The application was approved by the Region 9

RPC, but the County was not allowed to proceed due to the build out requirements. These channels

still appear to be clear and Broward County still should be able to license them.

JDeZayas

Highlight


Modification of the County’s 800 MHz allotments will require filing with a certified public safety

frequency coordinator. All of the channels fall within the 800 MHz interleaved pool and therefore

approval through the RPC is not required. Radio sites can be added on these channels as long as they

are separated by more than 113 kilometers (km) from other co-channel incumbent licensees. Twenty

of the County’s 21 licensed channels will satisfy this requirement.

Meanwhile, alternate channels are needed for the alphanumeric paging system and for the fire station

alerting system if a wireless triggering solution is implemented. MCP identified two UHF channels in

the general public safety pool that are licensed for low-power, mobile-only usage, and which are clear

enough to support the paging and fire station alerting systems. MCP confirmed that these channels are

used by the Broward Sheriff’s Office for special weapons and tactics (SWAT) operations. MCP

recommends repurposing these channels for the paging and fire station alerting systems, and licensing

alternate channels for SWAT operations.

The microwave system operates on the licensed 6 GHz frequency band. This frequency band is

recommended for continued use due to its resistance to rain fade. Once the microwave design is

finalized, a filing will need to be made with a certified microwave coordinator.

INTEROPERABILITY ISSUES AND STANDARDS

One of the primary goals of any communications systems is to provide interoperability for emergency

response personnel. MCP’s assessment of interoperable communications in the County is based on

the Interoperability Continuum developed by the federal SAFECOM program and adopted by the

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the national standard for evaluating interoperable

communications. The Interoperability Continuum provides a basis for planning both tactical

interoperable communications programs and strategic initiatives to improve interoperable

communications. Federal grant programs that provide funding for interoperable communications

initiatives use the goals and standards encompassed in the Interoperability Continuum.

The information that follows provides a foundation for MCP’s approach to assessing interoperable

communications.

Interoperability Continuum

Interoperability planning should be based on the principles developed by the SAFECOM program—

including the Interoperability Continuum, which is depicted in Figure 9 below—for achieving effective

communications interoperability.


Figure 9 – SAFECOM Interoperability Continuum

The Interoperability Continuum was established to depict the core facets of interoperability, according

to the stated needs and challenges of the emergency response community. It will aid emergency

responders and policymakers in their short- and long-term interoperability efforts, as they plan and

implement interoperability solutions.

Making progress in all aspects of interoperability is essential, because the elements are

interdependent. Therefore, to gain a true picture of a region's interoperability, progress along all five

elements of the Interoperability Continuum must be considered together. For example, when a region

procures new equipment, that region should plan training and conduct exercises to make the best use

of that equipment.

Technology on the Interoperability Continuum

Since this assessment is based primarily on radio technology, MCP focused on how current and future

technologies might support effective interoperability for first responders within Broward County.


Although technology is a critical tool for improving interoperability, it is not the sole driver of an optimal

solution. Success in each of the other elements is essential to the proper use and implementation of

technology, and should drive its procurement. Technology is highly dependent upon existing

infrastructure within a region. Multiple technology solutions may be required to support large events.

The Interoperability Continuum identifies five levels of technology from least effective to most effective:

Swap radios—Swapping radios or maintaining a cache of standby radios is an age-old solution

that is time-consuming, management-intensive, and may provide only limited results due to

channel availability

Gateways—Gateways retransmit across multiple frequency bands providing an interim

interoperability solution as agencies move toward shared systems. Gateways, however, are

inefficient in that they require twice as much spectrum because each participating agency must

use at least one channel in each band per common talk path, and because they are tailored for

communications within the geographic coverage area common to all participating systems

within the region

Shared channels—Interoperability is promoted when agencies share a common frequency

band, air interface (analog or digital) and are able to agree on common channels. However, the

general frequency congestion that exists across the United States can place severe restrictions

on the number of independent interoperability talk paths available in some bands

Proprietary shared systems, and standards-based shared systems—Regional shared systems

provide the optimal solution to interoperability. While proprietary systems limit the user's choice

of product with regard to manufacturer, standards-based shared systems promote competitive

procurement and a wide selection of products to meet specific user needs. With proper

planning of the talkgroup architecture, interoperability is provided as a byproduct of system

design, thus creating an optimal technology solution

Swapping Radios (Radio Caches)

Swapping radios, by maintaining radio caches, is one way to provide interoperability among agencies

jointly responding to an incident. Radio caches allow on-scene responders from all agencies to swap

incompatible radios. This allows all responders to use a common, compatible set of radios. For a radio

cache to be an effective shared resource, it should have the following characteristics:

Be fully charged and maintained, ready for deployment at all times

Include extra charged batteries for extended deployments

Provide personnel to transport the radios to the incident scene

Provide technicians for on-scene support during the deployment

Provide check-out and tracking procedures during the incident to assure that the radios are

properly returned to the cache following the incident


Radio caches are maintained by several agencies within Broward County. In addition to in-county

caches, deployable assets equipped with radio caches are operated by numerous agencies in south

Florida that are available to any requesting agency.

Radio caches represent one of the primary tools available in Broward County to support interoperability

with agencies operating in the VHF or UHF frequency bands, with radios not properly programmed to

operate on the Broward County system, or with no radios at all. They represent the most reliable way

to establish communications when no other radio infrastructure is present. However, the use of radio

caches as the sole method to achieve interoperability is not desired. Properly maintaining a radio

cache and assuring that radios are always ready to be used is labor intensive and time consuming.

Also, users of cache radios may not be familiar with the equipment or the system. In addition,

resources are limited to the number of cache radios, which typically is insufficient in the event of a

major disaster when many users must operate on a neighboring system.

While it certainly would be desirable to eliminate the need to maintain two radio platforms to provide

mutual-aid communications with neighboring jurisdictions, it is important to point out that interoperable

gateways require overlapping coverage from both systems to be effective. It is likely that this

requirement will not be met when users are responding to another jurisdiction in order to provide

mutual-aid. For this reason, cache radios can be an effective tool when other interoperability solutions

are not available. During a major disaster, emergency response agencies from all over the state or

country may respond. During these events, all aspects of the interoperability continuum become

critical, including cache radios.

Interoperable Gateways

Gateway systems provide connections between two or more radio networks, allowing users on one

network to communicate with users on other networks. For example, a group of users on an 800 MHz

channel used by Agency A can be connected to a group of users on a VHF channel used by Agency B.

The interconnection is created when two or more radio channels or voice paths are connected to each

other via a gateway device, such as a console patch.

Gateway systems can be configured to support any number of channels. Using gateway systems,

usually through a dispatch console, a dispatch operator can select the appropriate channels to

interconnect. With many gateways, multiple interconnect sessions involving distinct groups can be

established at any given time by the gateway operator. The maximum number of simultaneous

interconnect sessions in progress depends on the gateway system.

Gateway systems typically are used in regions where there is overlapping coverage of participating

radio communications systems. For example, two agencies responding to an incident can have

channels from their respective communications networks interconnected; however, this is only useful if

the coverage area of each network includes the incident location. An agency must be able to access its

own communications network. Thus, the service areas for a gateway system generally are restricted to

the overlapping service area of all participating agencies.


Mobile gateways refer to field-deployable devices that can be used to enhance tactical interoperability.

Mobile gateways are the most useful when agencies do not have overlapping coverage and must

respond to a localized event, such as a rural brush fire. The gateway allows for the interconnection of

simplex channels in different frequency bands, and permits localized interoperability within the limited

coverage area of the gateway transmitters and antenna systems. The problem with these systems is

the time delay associated with deploying the equipment and training limitations due to the infrequent

use of equipment.

There are numerous gateway systems available in Broward County. The most commonly used

gateway is the Gold Elite dispatch consoles operated at the consolidated Broward County PSAPs.

Most neighboring systems have talkgroups tied to the console system through conventional gateways,

allowing dispatchers to patch those talkgroups to talkgroups on the Broward County system. This

patching solution is effective where there is overlapping coverage, particularly along the borders

between Broward County and either Miami-Dade or Palm Beach counties. There are numerous

deployable gateways maintained by various agencies throughout the county.

In addition to gateways within the County, the State of Florida operates a network of MOTOBRIDGE

gateways connected to various systems and interoperability repeaters throughout the state. The

Florida Interoperability Network (FIN) provides a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) access portal

where agencies can establish patches, remotely monitor station traffic, and activate repeaters that are

otherwise left in the receive-only mode.

While gateway systems can be an effective tool in certain circumstances, there are also challenges with

gateway use. If too many channels are patched together, the result may be a single congested channel

that is not operationally useable and which utilizes a large number of system resources. Also, patches

typically can be removed only by the original creator. If someone forgets to disable a patch,

communications can be impaired once the need is diminished.

While gateways are an effective method to establish interoperability, they are not the ideal method due

to the need for overlapping coverage and the loading of channels in multiple systems. However,

situations certainly exist where patching is an effective interoperability tool. Consequently, continued

use of patching systems would be an effective part of the solution to meet the interoperability needs of

Broward County users.

Shared Channels

Shared channels refer to common frequencies that have been established and are programmed into

radios to provide direct interoperable communications among disparate agencies. In order to use this

option, all user radios must be capable of operating on the same frequency band with the same

modulation scheme. Shared channels and shared systems are the only types of interoperable

communications equipment that are always available, because no third-party intervention or

overlapping system coverage is necessary.


Shared 8CALL and 8TAC frequencies in the 800 MHz band are deployed throughout Florida, and are

accessible by any 700/800 MHz-capable subscriber radio, regardless of manufacturer. Most subscriber

radios are programmed with these channels. These mutual-aid repeaters are used in circumstances

where responding units within the coverage footprint of a repeater do not have compatible systems or

overlapping coverage for gateway usage. The Florida Mutual Aid (MAFLA) frequency (854.6375 MHz)

is another shared mutual-aid channel that is available statewide.

While these shared channels provide an excellent resource for interoperability across the state, the

available capacity in any given area is extremely limited. As agencies migrate to P25, the need for

interoperability repeaters is diminished. However, there still will likely be scenarios where responding

units have 700/800 MHz radios that are not properly programmed to access the local systems. In these

circumstances, mutual-aid repeaters still will be required.

Proprietary Shared Systems

Proprietary shared systems refer to the use of a common technology among multiple agencies that is

proprietary to a specific vendor. Examples of proprietary systems include the Motorola SmartZone

system currently operated by Broward County. Multiple users operating with a proprietary technology

have the ability, with proper permission, to access the talkgroups and features of the system. This has

been the common mode of achieving interoperability for agencies within Broward County for many

years. Seamless interoperability is available provided that all users are using the same proprietary

technology in the same frequency band.

Proprietary systems have the inherent limitation of being specific to an individual vendor. Use of

proprietary systems as a regional interoperability solution requires the consensus of all stakeholders on

the vendor and technology to implement. Individual agencies that choose to operate proprietary

solutions without the consensus of interoperability partners within the region create an interoperability

scenario that is limited to a gateway solution. Even if that consensus is achieved, regional proprietary

systems limit the capabilities of users from outside the region to communicate.

Interoperability has been limited between users of Motorola and Harris systems in south Florida for

many years due to proprietary technologies, requiring the use of gateways or mutual-aid repeaters to

establish interoperability. Most of these proprietary systems either have already been replaced or will

be replaced in the near future with standards-based P25 systems.

In the present public safety radio market, proprietary systems are not recommended as an

interoperability solution. Proprietary systems became popular during the advent of trunking systems in

the 1980s and 1990s. However, with the development of P25, proprietary systems are less desirable

given their inherent interoperability limitations and vendor restrictions.


Standards-based Shared Systems

Standards-based shared systems involve the implementation of a common standards-based

technology. P25 is an example of a standards-based technology.

By implementing standards-based shared systems, radio users have the flexibility to purchase

equipment from different vendors and still maintain shared communications on trunking architecture.

This allows users from different agencies to access shared talkgroups on neighboring systems in much

the same way that shared channels are used. However, shared system access in this case provides

the guest user access to the wide-area coverage, security and other feature sets provided by trunked

systems. In addition, trunked systems are better able to manage system loading and capacity, and are

thus better able to accommodate an influx of interoperability traffic. Because these systems are

standards-based, it is more likely that users responding from outside the region that have radios based

on a common standards-based technology will be able to operate on the system.

The only interoperability limitation of standards-based shared systems concerns the frequency band.

When users operate in disparate frequency bands, the only solutions available to allow cross-band

communication are gateways or multiband radios.

Most agencies in the region either have already implemented P25 systems or are in the process of

implementing such systems. As additional agencies convert to P25, there are opportunities for shared

talkgroup programming that was previously not possible. Examples of agencies with which Broward

County will experience increased interoperability include Miami-Dade County and Collier County.

Along with shared talkgroup programming, P25 offers additional features such as the ISSI that can be

further leveraged to enhance interoperability.

The system being proposed for Broward County is a standards-based shared system.

Interoperability Requirements

With the implementation of P25, there are opportunities to implement additional features and

capabilities that did not exist on the previous system. The expansion of cross-system programming into

Broward County subscriber units provides immediate capability to users. Cross-system programming

exists today for the agencies within Broward County and within the Palm Beach and City of Miami

systems. However, cross-system programming previously has never been available with the

neighboring systems operated by Miami-Dade and Collier Counties due to proprietary technologies

from a non-Motorola manufacturer. With these agencies in the process of implementing P25 systems,

there are increased opportunities for system sharing. In specific, cross-system programming can be

supported with the following agencies:

City of Fort Lauderdale

City of Plantation



Miami-Dade County

Palm Beach County

City of Miami

City of Miami Beach

City of Hialeah

Collier County

Depending on the subscriber vendor selected, programming may or may not be possible with the City

of Hollywood as long as it remains on a legacy Motorola platform. The APX subscriber radios operated

by Hollywood can however operate on whatever P25 platform the County chooses to implement.

Channel sharing is available for the Broward County Zones 12 and 14, which cover the countywide

interoperability channels. Broward should confirm with the other system managers which talkgroups

would be most appropriate to program.

In addition to cross-system programming, the County can purchase an ISSI for connecting to the

Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County 800 MHz systems. The ISSI will enable shared cross-system

talkgroups, and system-to-system roaming, if that specific feature is implemented. Once system-to-

system roaming is implemented, talkgroups could be implemented that will operate anywhere within the

three-county area. At the point that this feature becomes available, the region should consider

implementing region-wide talkgroups that can be used for cross-border events, police chases, prisoner

transports, or other events that traverse multiple systems.

In addition to the ISSI, the implementation of the Console Subsystem Interface (CSSI) component of

the P25 standard provides an interface to various console systems in the region to the Broward County

system. The CSSI will enable connected console systems to access any authorized talkgroups on the

Broward County system without requiring control stations for each channel. The following PSAPs are

recommended for CSSI connectivity, at a minimum:

1. HMS-connected agencies (Plantation, Coral Springs)

2. Miami-Dade County Law Enforcement

3. Miami-Dade County Fire

4. Palm Beach County

MCP recommends that the County proceed with implementing the Regional Domestic Security Task

Force (RDSTF) 700 MHz overlay system as a standalone trunked P25 Phase I location. This system

will provide some backup capability to the Broward County system in the event of a system failure, and

provide an alternate means to communicate for responders that do not have access to the primary

Broward County system. However, procurement of this system must be expedited in order to have

funds expended before they expire at the end of 2015.


MCP recommends that the County continue to maintain 800 MHz repeaters on the national 800 MHz

interoperability calling and tactical channels, as well as the Florida MAFLA channel. There are

additional opportunities to simulcast the MAFLA and NPSPAC interoperability channels to simplify their

use and provide improved coverage. The repeaters currently operated by Broward County are

MSF5000 or Quantar stations that will need to be replaced.

When the system is replaced, agencies operating radio caches and gateways will need to ensure that

all radios are updated with the new Broward County programming information. Replacement

subscriber radios may be retained for use as cache radios in the future. However, older MTS/MCS

series, Astro Spectras, XTS3000 radios will not support P25; therefore, they likely will be used in the

future only on the conventional interoperability channels, or in the simplex mode.

SYSTEM LIFECYCLES

Two-way radio equipment always has had a replacement lifecycle. The lifecycles of today’s robust,

feature-rich radio systems particularly have been impacted by rapidly advancing and changing

technologies. Replacement cycles may vary based on factors such as the need for new technology

and general wear and tear. Once equipment reaches the end-of-life, it is time to upgrade that

equipment. Table 9 below shows lifespan expectations.

Table 9 – Equipment Lifespan

Facility Equipment Lifespan

Building 20-30 Years

Towers 30-50 Years

Generators and Transfer Switches 10-15 Years

HVAC and Shelter Components 7-10 Years

UPS 7-10 Years

UPS Batteries 2-4 Years

Microwave Equipment Lifespan

Digital Microwave Equipment and Antennas 10-15 Years

Radio Equipment Lifespan

Base Stations and Antennas 10-15 Years

Network and Control Equipment 10-15 Years

System Software 2-3 Years

IP-Based Operation Equipment 5-7 Years

Subscriber Equipment Lifespan

Mobile Radios 6-8 Years

Portable Radios 5-7 Years

Vehicular Repeaters 6-8 Years

Consoles 10-12 Years


Much of the radio infrastructure equipment in use within Broward County is approximately 15 years old,

which is past the end of typical replacement periods. Consequently, this equipment already has begun

to suffer from higher failure rates and the risk of obsolescence from the equipment vendor. Subscriber

radios vary in age greatly depending on the replacement cycles of the various user agencies.

Subscriber unit obsolescence is primarily driven by vendor lifecycles and compatibility with modern

systems. While mobile and portable units in the XTS/XTL family may already be 7 to 10 years old

(towards end of life), these units still will operate on the new system if a Phase I solution is

implemented. In contrast, the County’s dispatch consoles have passed their recommended lifespan

and are approaching the end of vendor support.

The supporting facilities—including shelters, towers, backup power systems, and HVAC systems—are

in some instances 23 years old, dating back to the original system installation. The towers and shelters

have been maintained well and should support the new system with some minor upgrades. However,

backup power systems range in age and condition, and will require some replacements. Meanwhile,

HVAC systems have been serviced regularly, and were noted to be in good working order for the most

part. However, heat-dissipation calculations will need to be determined once equipment vendors are

selected to ensure that the systems are adequately sized. Some replacements will be required based

on older units that were noted to be operating poorly.

RADIO SITES

MCP evaluated radio sites to determine what upgrades are necessary to support the additional

equipment. Based on a 44-channel, P25 Phase I design, it is anticipated that the system would require

six racks of repeaters, a single rack of control equipment and multicouplers, two racks of combiners,

and two racks of microwave equipment, for a total of eleven racks. There is more than ample space at

each radio site to accommodate this equipment after the old system is decommissioned. The

challenge will be configuring the sites during the cutover to handle both systems simultaneously.

If a Phase II system is implemented, it is anticipated the repeaters could be confined to three racks, and

the combiners to one rack, for a total of seven equipment racks. The antenna count would be reduced

to two transmit and two receive.

The following sections detail findings required to each radio site.

Coconut Creek

MCP documented room for five to six additional equipment racks in the current configuration. If a

Phase I solution is implemented, additional space will be necessary to accommodate the old and new

equipment simultaneously. One option to address this challenge would be to replace the microwave

system first, and then proceed with the radio equipment installation. This would free up three to four

equipment racks to make room for the additional equipment. Alternatively, there is room onsite for a

temporary trailer or shelter, if necessary, to support swing equipment until the old equipment is


decommissioned. Once the old equipment is decommissioned, the new equipment can be positioned

in the ideal location within the shelter.

The primary antenna entry port is at capacity within the shelter. The secondary port has room to

accommodate the antennas for the new system. Some minor upgrades to the grounding system will be

required, including adding a tower ground bar for feed lines to be grounded at the base of the tower.

The internal ground system is a five-point system that should be considered for conversion to a single-

point system per the latest revision of Motorola R56, Standards and Guidelines for Communications

Sites. The generator recently was replaced and should accommodate the new equipment.

A tower-loading study will be required to ensure that the tower can handle the load of both the old and

new system antennas simultaneously. The study should be conducted at both the Class 2 and Class 3

levels, with and without the existing equipment, in order to determine if the tower will pass at a Class 2

rating during the transition period, and pass at Class 3 after the old equipment has been

decommissioned. This is largely dependent on how many antennas will be required for the system

selected.

Core

MCP documented room for six to seven additional equipment racks in the current configuration. If a

Phase I solution is implemented, additional space will be necessary to accommodate the old and new

equipment simultaneously. One option to address this challenge would be to replace the microwave

system first, and then proceed with the radio equipment installation. This would free up three to four

racks to make room for the additional equipment. Alternatively, there is room on-site for a temporary

trailer or shelter, if necessary, to support swing equipment until the old equipment is decommissioned.

Once the old equipment is decommissioned, the new equipment can be positioned in the ideal location

within the shelter.

The primary antenna entry port is at capacity within the shelter. If ports cannot be freed up by

identifying unused lines, a secondary entry port will be required. Some minor upgrades to the

grounding system also will be required, including adding a tower ground bar for feed lines to be

grounded at the base of the tower. The internal ground system is a multipoint system that should be

considered for conversion to a single-point system per the latest revision of Motorola R56. The

generator recently was replaced and should accommodate the new equipment.

The shelter’s HVAC system was noted to be performing poorly. Because the site utilizes larger and

higher-power Quantro stations instead of Quantar stations, heat generation is higher and air circulation

is poorer. Replacement of the HVAC system should be considered to provide additional cooling within

the shelter.




levels, with and without the existing equipment, to determine if the tower will pass at a Class 2 rating

during the transition period, and pass at Class 3 after the old equipment has been decommissioned.

Davie

MCP documented plenty of available floor space at this site, which should be sufficient to handle all of

the equipment for either a Phase I or Phase II design. Once the old equipment is decommissioned, the

new equipment can be positioned in the ideal location within the shelter.

The primary antenna entry port is at capacity within the shelter. If ports cannot be freed up by unused

lines, a secondary entry port will be required. Some minor upgrades to the grounding system also will

be required, including adding a tower ground bar for feed lines to be grounded at the base of the tower.

The internal ground system is a multipoint system that should be considered for conversion to a single-

point system per the latest revision of Motorola R56. Access was not available to the onsite Baldor

generator. The unit is estimated to be 10 years old and should be inspected to ensure that it is still

operating to design specifications.

The shelter’s HVAC system was noted to be performing poorly. An inspection of the HVAC system

should be conducted to ensure that it is properly cooling to rated levels and will accommodate the load

provided by the new equipment.





Markham Park

MCP documented room for three additional equipment racks in the current configuration. Additional

space will be necessary to accommodate the old and new equipment simultaneously. One option to

address this challenge would be to replace the microwave system first, and then proceed with the radio

equipment installation. This would free up three to four equipment racks to make room for the

additional equipment. Alternatively, a vacant shelter exists onsite that could be used to house

equipment for the new system temporarily. Once the old equipment is decommissioned the new

equipment can be positioned in the ideal location within the shelter.




grounded at the base of the tower. The internal ground system is a single-point system that is

compliant with the latest revision of Motorola R56. The generator recently was replaced and should

accommodate the new equipment.


The surrounding tree line was noted to be approximately 100 feet, near the height of the microwave

dishes. Raising the height of the dishes for the new microwave system should be considered, to

ensure clearance of the tree line and to accommodate future growth.





Playa Del Mar

MCP documented room for two additional equipment racks in the current configuration. Additional




additional equipment. Alternatively, an empty portion of the equipment room could be built out to

handle additional equipment during the transition period. However, an additional HVAC unit likely

would be necessary to provide adequate cooling in this portion of the room. Once the old equipment is

decommissioned, the new equipment can be positioned in the ideal location within the shelter.

The primary antenna entry port is at capacity within the equipment room. If ports cannot be freed up by

identifying unused lines, a secondary entry port will be required. The internal ground system is a

single-point system as recommended by R56. There is no onsite generator in the event of a prolonged

power outage. A generator is recommended, if the building owner will allow it. If a generator cannot be

placed on the rooftop, a larger UPS unit is recommended to provide continued operation over a greater

time period.

Antennas are mounted on the equipment room roof, and are therefore not a concern for loading. There

is room for additional antennas at the rear of the equipment room, facing the ocean. While this location

is not ideal for coverage, it will be acceptable for a temporary configuration until the old system can be

decommissioned. At that point, antennas should be relocated to the side of the equipment room that

faces land. To the extent possible, horizontal isolation should be added between the transmit and

receive antennas, as 700 MHz channels provide a smaller separation between transmit and receive

frequencies, and are therefore more susceptible to transmitter/receiver desense.

Points of America

MCP documented limited room for additional equipment racks in the current configuration. Additional




additional equipment. There is an adjacent equipment room that could be built out to handle additional


equipment during the transition period. Once the old equipment is decommissioned, the new


The primary antenna entry port is at capacity within the equipment room. If ports cannot be freed up by

identifying unused lines, a secondary entry port will be required. The internal ground system is a

single-point system. The main ground lead is wrapped around the building before it reaches building

ground, which is not ideal. A more-direct path to the ground should be investigated. The primary

ground lead is bonded to a water main with a painted ground lead. The ground lead should be stripped

of paint before being bonded. There is no onsite generator in the event of a prolonged power outage.

A generator is recommended, if the building owner will allow it. If a generator cannot be placed on the

rooftop, a larger UPS unit is recommended to provide continued operation over a greater time period.

Antennas are mounted on the roof of the equipment room, and are therefore not a concern for loading.

There is room for additional antennas in between the existing antennas. To the extent possible,

horizontal isolation should be added between the transmit and receive antennas, as 700 MHz channels

provide a smaller separation between transmit and receive frequencies, and are therefore more

susceptible to transmitter/receiver desense.

Channel 2

MCP documented plenty of room for additional equipment racks in the current configuration. The

current layout should accommodate the additional equipment for either a Phase I or Phase II design.

The primary antenna entry port is at capacity within the shelter. The secondary port has four available

slots for additional antennas. If a Phase II design is selected, additional ports will need to be freed up,

or another entry port will be required. Some upgrades to the grounding system will be required as well,

including adding a tower ground bar for feed lines to be grounded at the base of the tower. The primary

equipment room ground lead wraps around the building before reaching ground, which is not ideal.

Consequently, a direct path to the subterranean grounding system should be added. The master

ground bar does not connect directly to ground, but rather connects to the equipment room grounding

halo. A ground lead was found from the master ground bar that was never connected to outside

ground. The internal ground system is a four-point system that should be considered for conversion to

a single-point system per the latest revision of Motorola R56. The generator recently was replaced and

should accommodate the new equipment.

An abandoned shelter was inspected onsite for potential use. The shelter shows significant

environmental decay and is not suitable for renovation. MCP recommends that this shelter be

demolished. The onsite building includes space that is currently being used for equipment storage.

This facility is not cooled and is openly exposed to pest entry. This space could be utilized for an

additional storage room or office space. If the building will be inhabited, significant upgrades would be

required, including insulating and adding dry wall to much of the building, and adding a suitable HVAC

system.






Miramar

MCP documented room for four additional equipment racks in the current configuration. Additional




additional equipment. Alternatively, a vacant shelter exists onsite that could be utilized to house

equipment for the new system temporarily. Once the old equipment is decommissioned, the new





grounded at the base of the tower. The internal ground system is a single-point system that is

compliant with the latest revision of Motorola R56. The generator is 14 years old and likely will need

replacement in the near future.





EMS

The EMS site is used primarily as a backup site and for ancillary systems that require good coverage

from a single site location that would not otherwise fit in the heavily loaded Core site. The EMS site is

not used as a trunked location due to its close proximity to the Core site.

The site includes ample space to accommodate additional equipment. The occupied floor space

primarily is used by an inoperable backup system with MSF5000 stations that can be removed if

necessary.

The UPS and generator at this location recently were replaced and should have sufficient capacity to

handle the new equipment.

There were signs of pest entry at the time of the inspection. The shelter should be sealed and treated

for insects.


Deerfield

The Deerfield location is a receive-only site on a leased tower. There is no room in the existing shelter

to accommodate additional equipment, and no room onsite for temporary equipment during a transition.

Space may be available near the base of the tower if an additional shelter is required.

MCP recommends converting the site in the Deerfield area to a transmit/receive location at a taller

tower site. Therefore, the existing location ultimately would be abandoned.

Tamarac

The Tamarac location is a receive-only site. There is no room in the existing shelter to accommodate

additional equipment, although there is room for an additional shelter if authorized by the Tamarac

Police Department. The current shelter and tower are not suitable for mission-critical applications and

should be abandoned. A full transmit/receive location on a different tower should be pursued.

Public Safety Building

The Public Safety Building previously served as the hub for the existing system, housing the master

site, prime site, and County dispatch. The master site and County dispatch since have been removed

from the building, leaving only the prime site.

The building serves no critical need to house the system moving forward or to provide RF coverage.

Consequently, MCP recommends that this location not be utilized for future radio equipment other than

for control stations utilized in-building by the Sheriff’s Office. The existing equipment should be

decommissioned once cutover has been completed to the new system. Any existing conventional

resources will be relocated to the optimum site identified in the design phase.

Grounding

MCP inspected the above-ground grounding systems at each of the County’s existing radio sites. Most

sites appeared to have acceptable grounding systems, with in-shelter grounding completed to Motorola

R56 standards in most circumstances. However, some issues were noted across the system, including

a lack of a tower ground bus bar at the base of the tower at some sites. Some additional issues were

identified at the Channel 2 location.

Previous grounding issues were discussed at the Core location, which had suffered from numerous

lighting strikes that caused equipment damage. MCP could find no immediate grounding deficiencies

that would cause the level of damage experienced. There was evidence that the subterranean

grounding system recently had been excavated.


Several sites were identified with four- and five-point grounding systems, as opposed to the single-point

in-shelter grounding system recommended in the latest release of Motorola R56. MCP recommends

that the grounding systems be updated to single-point at the time the new system is installed.

Site Security

Site security is critical, especially with copper theft from radio sites being a fairly common occurrence.

Copper theft can result in deactivation of equipment at a particular site, or result in less-detectable

disruption of the site’s grounding system, which can jeopardize technician and equipment safety.

Barbed wire fencing and lighting at all radio tower sites is appropriate. If copper theft becomes a

recurring problem, a higher level of security is recommended. Examples of higher security levels

include onsite cameras, higher fencing, and/or motion-activating lighting.

Uninterruptable Power Supplies

A UPS system is typically used to power radio equipment for typically 30 minutes until the facility or

equipment generator is able to start and provide backup power. Radio equipment is at risk of system

crashes upon the loss of power, even if the generator starts immediately. A sudden loss of power could

result in permanent damage to radio equipment.

Every site included a properly used UPS to handle the equipment load. However, the run-time

estimators on many UPS display showed a run time of several minutes. MCP understands that the run-

time predictions are not always accurate. Ideally, UPS units will provide enough capacity to run

equipment for several hours in the event power fails to switch to the onsite generator.

Most sites were equipped with older-model Best Ferrups UPS units. Based on the age of these units,

replacement is recommended with a DC power supply.

DC Power Supplies

Direct current (DC) power supplies are an alternate form of backup power to UPS units. DC power

plants include a combination of rectifiers, inverters, and battery banks to provide a -48 V power source

for DC-compliant equipment. Modern radio infrastructure typically can be purchased with either the

alternating current (AC) or DC option. Compared to AC, DC power eliminates a single point of failure,

and is less expensive to maintain due to the ability to purchase off-the-shelf batteries. A DC power

plant is required for the microwave system, so the plant easily could be expanded to accommodate

additional radio equipment.

For Broward County to implement DC power as the primary power source, existing breakers would

need to be rewired to interface with the DC power source. The primary challenge is how to handle

existing equipment that is AC-based. DC sources can utilize inverters to power AC equipment;

however, the power conversion is not very efficient.


Some sites were identified as having new UPS units. It is preferred that a single solution with DC

power to be implemented at all sites due to ease of maintenance and portability of spare parts and field

replacement units. If DC power is implemented, some of these newer UPS units may be minimally

used. Each site will be independently reviewed to accommodate the approximate four racks. The sites

have space available for the final design. Temporary relocation of equipment and shelters have been

accounted for in the case they are needed.

DISPATCH CONSIDERATIONS

Interviews and site inspections were completed at each of the County’s three primary dispatch centers.

Each center operates Motorola CENTRACOM Gold Elite console systems that will need to be replaced.

Dispatch representatives identified multiple desirable features sets for the replacement console

systems.

These features include:

1. Unit private call

2. Interoperability with tribal units

3. Access to all talk groups

4. Call alert (radio page)

5. Touchscreen consoles

6. Instant recall recorder (IRR)

7. Console-originated text messaging/instant messaging

8. Intercom between positions and centers

9. Light pole for dispatcher status

10. Unit ID and alias

11. Ability to change, add, delete talkgroup patches at any console, rather than just the one that set

it up

12. Talkgroup menu search by talkgroup name

13. Buttons for alert tones

14. Storm plans

15. Standardized programming for backup portables and consolettes

16. Busy-channel marker tone

17. Clear-to-talk indication/tone for fire station alerting

18. Knox box tones

19. Activity reports

20. Untethered headsets

21. Indication of patch originator

Most of these features typically can be accommodated through current-market console systems. Some

additional features, including light bars at each position, are independent of the radio system. Other


capabilities, such as access to all talkgroups and radio programming configurations are settings

dependent, and do not rely on the console system.

The primary challenge with the replacement console system is how the system will interface with the

new Broward County P25 system, the Fort Lauderdale Motorola P25 system, and the legacy Hollywood

Motorola system. P25 systems have the ability via the CSSI to interface with third-party consoles that

are CSSI-compliant with minimal loss of functionality. While this will permit an interface to the Fort

Lauderdale system, the legacy Hollywood system cannot be interfaced to a third-party console via the

CSSI. Alternatives to direct IP connectivity include the use of consolettes, which require many units to

interface all possible talkgroups and would provide reduced functionality compared with a direct IP

solution.

In addition, the existing Replay Systems logging recorder will need to be updated to allow recording of

radio traffic with the new system. The application programming interface (API) also will need to be

licensed to allow a direct IP interface to the recorder from the selected radio system vendor. The new

system will support centralized logging compared with the PSAP-specific logging performed today.

CONNECTIVITY

Typically, connectivity for a public safety communications network is comprised of one or a combination

of the following:

Leased telephone lines

Fiber-optic cables

Wireless links (e.g., microwave or RF links)

In most situations, connectivity is a combination of analog and digital circuits that carry voice, data and

control tones between the radio consoles and network of radio communication sites.

Backhaul on the existing Broward County network is provided primarily by microwave links, with leased

fiber and copper circuits utilized for master site and dispatch center connectivity.

Leased Phone Lines

Leased telephone lines are the simplest form of backhaul connectivity. To interconnect two radio sites,

or a radio site and a PSAP, an agency may lease a copper pair or T1 line from the local telephone

company. A single T1 line is typically capable of supporting the bandwidth requirements of a small to

moderately sized trunked system, while a two-wire circuit only can support a single voice channel. By

leasing the T1 line for a monthly fee, the user has guaranteed bandwidth on the network. The specific

fee depends on the length of the connection. T1 lines are subject to the reliability of the public switched

telephone network (PSTN), which utilizes a combination of copper wires and other media, such as fiber.


Broward County currently depends on leased telephone circuits for connectivity between the HMS and

the three PSAPs. Additional leased circuits are utilized to provide connectivity between the HMS and

the two receive-only sites in Deerfield and Tamarac. These leased circuits to the dispatch centers have

been used since late 2014, when the County agencies migrated to the consolidated PSAPs. These

circuits have been configured to provide redundant paths between each PSAP and the HMS. While

these circuits have proven to be acceptable for the time being, a more reliable form of backhaul to the

dispatch centers is desired.

Fiber-optic Networks

Fiber-optic cables provide the highest bandwidth of any medium available today. Extensive fiber-optic

networks, however, are not heavily implemented for various reasons:

Single points of failure within a fiber network require the use of redundant network

paths to mitigate the loss-of-service risk

Running new fiber-optic cable is very expensive and not typically justified solely for a

radio project

Bandwidth on a fiber system can support many broadband data systems—far more

than is necessary for a radio system

Fiber-optic networks that have been implemented primarily are found in major

metropolitan areas

Fiber-optic infrastructure is very expensive, and is certainly in excess of what is required to run a

trunked radio system. Typically, radio systems may be piggybacked on existing municipal or leased

fiber networks. There are extensive fiber networks in Broward County that could be leased if

necessary. However, it is difficult to guarantee the reliability of a leased network, regardless of the

medium. A leased synchronous optical network (SONET) is the current backhaul medium between the

HMS and the prime site at the PSB. This link includes redundant paths that should be able to

accommodate a single-point-of-failure configuration. However, network control is not within Broward

County’s authority or oversight.

Microwave

Microwave networks provide a means to wirelessly connect radio sites and dispatch facilities.

Bandwidth on a microwave network is typically greater than or equal to a leased T1 line. Microwave

networks are an excellent alternative where no fixed-line infrastructure is present. In addition, a

microwave network can be owned entirely by the agency, will not require the monthly fees of leased T1

or fiber lines, and restoration to service is within the control of the County. Microwave networks,

however, do have disadvantages that can be mitigated.

Microwave networks are not subject to reliability concerns resulting from line breakage, but are subject

to wireless phenomenon such as rain fading. Good design will mitigate this hazard. In addition,


microwave dishes may be misaligned in high winds, potentially impacting link connectivity. Good

design that requires a higher wind-speed survival rating will mitigate this hazard.

Microwave network capacity is generally higher than the bandwidth requirements for radio systems.

The additional bandwidth provides options for other data applications on the network.

Microwave links are used on the existing system to provide connectivity between the prime sites and all

radio sites. Microwave has proven to be a reliable backhaul method for the County to date.

Replacement of the existing microwave system is required due to the age and supportability of the

equipment. When the replacement system is installed, backhaul connections should be considered to

include each of the regional PSAPs and any added tower sites, in order to eliminate dependence on

leased circuits altogether.

MCP recommends a complete replacement of the existing Tadiran CM6 microwave system with a new

IP-based microwave system providing a minimum of 99.999 percent reliability. The system should be

loop-protected to eliminate any single points of failure. Backhaul routing should be installed that

operates on the multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) platform, in order to allow dynamic routing to run

on microwave and alternate mediums, including fiber and copper connections to be utilized as backups.

Continued use of the 6 GHz band is recommended for its resistance to rain fade.

MCP recommends that the microwave cutover be completed in advance of the system cutover. In

order to accomplish this, the microwave system must provide backward compatibility to the circuit-

switched protocols used by the existing Tadiran CM6 microwave system. Replacing the microwave

system first will provide additional room in each equipment shelter and minimize risk during cutover of

the P25 system.

In addition, microwave connectivity should be provided to each of the tower locations and the three

County dispatch centers. Microwave paths will be evaluated for a loop configuration during the design

phase. Any locations that do not have two viable paths should be connected with hot-standby

locations. Paths to dispatch centers initially will be modeled with roof-mounted microwave dishes. If

the roof of each building does not provide sufficient clearance of obstructions, then tower sites will be

considered.

The network should provide a minimum of 150 Mbps of throughput on each link. This capacity will

provide room for the radio traffic and plenty of overhead to accommodate additional traffic, such as a

redundant path for PSAP-to-PSAP connectivity. Likewise, existing backhaul links connecting PSAPs

can be incorporated into the MPLS network to provide a backup path for radio traffic.

ALPHANUMERIC PAGING

The alphanumeric paging system is utilized by various law enforcement and fire agencies across

Broward County. The system is based on the POCSAG encoding format that utilizes a single analog

channel to pass data wirelessly from the dispatch centers to the remote users. The POCSAG format is


still the industry standard for alphanumeric paging; therefore, a modern replacement system can be

purchased that will allow the users to continue using existing pagers.

The system in its current configuration includes four simulcast radio sites. Of those radio sites, only two

are operational due to base station equipment failures. The paging equipment is ancient by technology

standards, and well beyond its support period. Replacement of the system is recommended

immediately to prevent the loss of service altogether.

The primary challenge with replacing the paging system is finding a solution that will allow field users to

continue to operate on their existing Apollo AL25 Gold pagers. The existing paging system operates on

a UHF T-Band channel that will need to be vacated prior to 2022. Reuse of this paging channel would

require a subsequent system modification at the point that the channel would need to be vacated.

MCP confirmed with the equipment manufacturer that the fielded pagers can be retuned to operate on

frequencies in the 450 to 470 MHz range, which includes general public safety pool channels. Several

channels were identified that are candidates for replacing the current T-Band channel. In addition to

ensuring that the system channel will not need to be vacated, a replacement channel would allow the

County to operate both systems concurrently, providing time for users to retune their pagers without

disrupting service.

Paging messages are generated directly from the County’s CAD system. This level of functionality

needs to be maintained. Once a vendor for the new paging system is selected, the API will need to be

licensed between the paging vendor and the CAD vendor to allow this capability to continue.

The current paging system includes a single controller, the failure of which would result in the entire

system being disabled. MCP recommends redundant controllers for the new system—such controllers

allow the system to continue to operate in the event of a failure to any one controller—for the new

system to eliminate a single point of failure.

The alphanumeric paging system is only partially operational, and in danger of a failure that will disable

the system entirely. MCP recommends that this system be replaced as soon as possible to ensure

continued service for first responders.

MCP evaluated coverage for the existing four-site design, and determined that the existing site

placement provides adequate in-building coverage throughout the populated areas of Broward County.

FIRE STATION ALERTING

Users indicated that they generally were happy with the capabilities offered by the existing fire station

alerting system. Specific features that were identified include the ability to implement buttons in the

bunk rooms to display the apparatus to which a user is assigned, and color light displays. In addition,

the Zetron Model 26/6 system still is supported by the manufacturer, and replacement parts continue to


be readily available. However, two primary system components will need to be addressed: the

transmitting repeater system and the frequency.

The fire station alerting transmitter is a Motorola Quantar station located at the PSB. The Quantar

repeater platform will reach end-of-life in 2020, and therefore needs to be replaced. In addition, the fire

station alerting signal utilizes a narrowband analog waveform, and therefore a multitude of transmitters

can be utilized to serve this purpose. With the PSB serving no critical radio functions moving forward, it

is recommended that the fire station alerting transmitter be relocated to the EMS tower site, with a

backup location at the Core tower site. These locations should provide coverage levels sufficient to

serve receivers at fire stations throughout the county, and provide geographic diversity in the event of a

failure to either station or location.

The frequency of the system will need to be updated as well, in order to comply with the

aforementioned federal government’s T-Band mandate prior to 2022. A candidate UHF frequency in

the general public safety pool has been identified that can serve this purpose. Reconfiguration will

require the reprogramming of control station radios at each fire station. To simplify the process, control

station radios should be programmed with the new channel in advance. When the new base stations

are activated, users at each fire station will change the control station to the new channel, providing a

cutover process with minimal risk.

5. ASSESSMENT SUMMARY AND OPTIONS

Based upon MCP’s findings concerning the existing system, user feedback regarding requirements for

a new system, and analysis of existing technologies and trends, MCP has provided options to address

the communications system issues faced by Broward County. This section outlines the specific system

design alternatives for the new system. Following the completion of the assessment phase of the

project, a design phase will take place where specifics are applied to the design alternatives.

Based on MCP’s assessment of the existing system and user feedback, the following criteria have been

defined as the top priorities of the new system:

Replace existing 800 MHz SmartZone trunked system with a new, modern, standards-based

P25 system

Improve coverage through the addition of radio sites

Improve capacity through the expansion of channels or the conversion to P25 Phase II TDMA

Improve reliability by eliminating single points of failure

Replace the aging microwave system with a new system that will connect all radio sites and

dispatch centers on the new system

Upgrade existing towers, shelters, and backup power systems to support new equipment

Repurpose frequencies prone to interference


Implement a dispatch solution that will provide increased capabilities and ease of use to

dispatchers, as well as seamlessly integrate with the various City and County radio systems that

are dispatched from the regional PSAPs

Establish a maintenance plan that includes preventive maintenance for both the system and

subscriber units

Replace the paging system infrastructure with a new system that offers improved reliability,

uses a non-T-Band channel, and allows for the reuse of existing pagers

Replace the fire station alerting system with a new system that offers improved reliability, uses a

non-T-Band channel, and provides agencies with additional interface and zone-expansion

options

Migration of supporting conventional resources (NPSPAC, MAFLA, etc.) to supported platforms.

SYSTEM FEATURES

System Technology

It is MCP’s assessment that the system end of life, capacity and coverage are far and above the main

critical aspects of the Broward County communications system that must be addressed. MCP has

identified design options that satisfy the majority of requirements identified by system users.

MCP has identified a P25 trunking system as the only viable system option for Broward County. The

design alternatives are based primarily on whether the system will operate in the P25 Phase I, P25

Phase II, or hybrid modes. All design options will include equivalent coverage requirements.

The sections that follow identify the different technology options that MCP believes would satisfy the

needs of B County system users.

Option 1 – 700/800 MHz P25 Phase I Trunked Simulcast System

A P25 Phase I trunked simulcast system will satisfy the majority of requirements defined by system

users. Most notably, the system will replace aging components that have reached end-of-life, providing

a more modern and reliable platform for first responders in Broward County. The platform will be

flexible to accommodate additional radio sites for increased coverage, and provide the ability to add

channels for increased system capacity.

The maximum number of RF channels available in a single simulcast cell is 30, allowing for a 29 talk

paths once the control channel is considered for P25 Phase I FDMA. This option allows the County to

expand capacity on the primary simulcast cell to this number of talk paths to resolve some capacity

issues that exist with the existing 28-channel system but does not provide room for future growth or

provide room for users that may join the system from either Fort Lauderdale or Hollywood. To

accommodate the peak times when Broward County Schools are active, additional simulcast cells or

geographic zones will have to be reviewed to reach the 36 talk paths required for reported active users.


In the design phase, the exact configuration would be analyzed for optimum performance. When the

second simulcast cell or zone is incorporated in the new system, this requires additional RF channels to

accommodate roaming above the 29 talk paths. MCP estimates approximately 20 percent roaming

depending on the final configuration. This places the total number of RF channels at 44 across the two

cells or zones.

Compared with alternate design options, a Phase I system would require more frequencies and base

stations. Both the County’s existing 800 MHz channels and CAPRAD-allotted 700 MHz channels would

need to be licensed to support the system. It is estimated that four equipment racks would be required

to accommodate this number of repeaters, the same number of racks occupied by the existing system

repeaters. The primary benefits of a Phase I system are the flexibility for end users to upgrade their

current XTS/XTL subscriber radios to operate on the new system, which would avoid radio

replacements. However, the most notable limitation is that flash upgrades to P25 are only available

until the end of 2015 and are already at their end of life replacement cycle. The system will offer

seamless compatibility with Phase I interoperability subscribers from Fort Lauderdale, as well as

neighboring agencies in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. In addition, a Phase I system would

offer additional fallback capacity if the system were to revert to the failsoft mode, and only result in the

loss of one channel if only a repeater failure were to occur.

Table 10 below summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of this option.

Table 10 – 700/800 MHz P25 Phase I Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths Weaknesses

Reuse of existing XTS/XTL subscriber units Increased infrastructure cost for base stations

Flexibility to accommodate Phase I subscribers from

interoperability agencies without risk to capacity

Required licensing or acquisition of 49 frequencies

with 9 frequencies not yet identified.

Improved coverage through radio site addition Increased space requirements for base stations

Improved capacity with two cells/zones through

channel expansion up to 60 channels or 58 talk paths

Cutover would require channels from the existing

system

Flexibility to use overhead capacity for data

applications such as GPS, OTAP and OTAR

Roaming introduced to the system that requires

additional base stations and tightly managed fleet

mapping

Improved interoperability with other agencies

migrating to P25 (Miami-Dade, Collier)

Cost of flash upgrading subscribers that have a short

lifecycle, then new P25 Phase II subscribers will be

required

Slightly improved coverage compared to Phase II

design

Increase in loading of towers

Access to all channels during failsoft scenarios


Option 2 – 700 MHz P25 Phase II Trunked Simulcast System

A P25 Phase II trunked simulcast system would offer the same levels of coverage and feature sets

offered by a Phase I system. The primary difference between this option and a Phase I system is the

use of TDMA, which would provide two talk paths for every one frequency.

Consequently, a Phase II design could offer a different level of capacity with 36 talkpaths, which would

require only 19 channels and provide a single simulcast cell design. This approach would result in

savings from reduced infrastructure and lower physical space requirements. The reduced number of

base stations would result in fewer antennas, thus reducing tower loading. Based on the available 700

MHz channels, the County would have the ability to vacate the 800 MHz band altogether, providing

access to primarily unused spectrum free of interference. Moving to the 700 MHz band also would

allow the existing and new systems to operate entirely in parallel, thus providing a more seamless

cutover approach.

Conversely, a Phase II system would not inherently provide backward compatibility to Phase I

subscribers. Existing XTS/XTL series subscribers would need to be replaced with Phase II-compliant

radios. While there is a large number of fielded XTS/XTL radios, MCP notes that these radios no

longer will be supported by the manufacturer after 2019, with some models reaching end-of-life in 2018.

Many of these units were noted to be more than ten years old, thus being more susceptible to failures.

Even if all user agencies on the Broward County system purchase Phase II subscribers, Phase I

interoperability still be required from Fort Lauderdale users and users from neighboring counties.

Based on equipment lifecycles, it could be five to seven years before most Phase I subscribers are

phased out completely.

In order to support backward compatibility with Phase I subscribers during the transition, certain

channels would need to be configured to handle Phase I talkgroups. Because each Phase I talkgroup

now occupies the station that normally would support two Phase II talkgroups, a high number of Phase

I talkgroups active on the system will quickly drive down system capacity. Restrictions would need to

be placed on the number of Phase I talkgroups and the number of repeaters in the simulcast cell that

can support Phase I backward interoperability.

With the number of talk paths restricted to 36, construction of a Phase II system with more than 19

repeaters at each site would result in stations that could not be accessed much of the time. At some

point in the future, when all subscribers are Phase II-capable, the stations would lay dormant.

One example of an approach that balances the need for Phase I interoperability on a Phase II system

would be to allow five channels to operate in the Phase I mode, ensuring that the remaining 13

channels available for voice communications remain in the Phase II mode, providing 26 talk paths. The

five Phase I-capable repeaters could dynamically carry Phase II traffic if a Phase I talkgroup call was

not active. The system would carry between 31 and 36 maximum talk paths depending on the number

of active Phase I talkgroup calls, still providing a significant capacity improvement compared with the


existing system. The primary limit would be that the system could not support a surge of Phase I

talkgroup calls.


Table 11 – 700 MHz P25 Phase II Strengths and Weaknesses


Reduced infrastructure cost for base stations XTS/XTL series radios would need replacement

Approximately half the number of required frequencies More limited backward compatibility with Phase I

talkgroups

Ability to have backward compatibility with Phase I

subscribers through use of dynamic base stations

Phase I talkgroups would occupy two resources

instead of one

Improved coverage through radio site addition Failsoft only would provide 19 channels, as compared

with 37 in a Phase I design

Improved capacity through channel expansion from 27

to 36 talk paths

The number of Phase I capable talkgroups and users

would need to be tightly controlled through

administrative and operational policies to ensure

capacity is maintained at designed levels





Reduced space requirements in equipment shelters

Option 3 – 700/800 MHz P25 Phase II Hybrid Trunked Simulcast System

A P25 Phase II hybrid trunked simulcast system would operate similarly to the Phase II option, but with

additional channels to support the prolonged use of Phase I subscribers by some agencies. This would

allow a phased migration to Phase II as the remaining agencies with Phase I subscriber units replace

their radios over time.

The hybrid design assumes that at least two-thirds (67% percent) of the subscriber units on the system

could be converted to Phase II, accounting for 6,933 units. This equates to 3,232 report active

subscribers during the busy hour. Using 3,232 active users as a reference point, a 1 percent GoS can

be achieved for this number of users with 26 Phase II talk paths and using 1,616 active users (33

percent), a 1 percent GoS can be achieved with 16 Phase I talk paths. To achieve this capacity, the

system would need 30 total channels.

Alternatively, the number of Phase I-capable channels can be reduced if the number of fielded Phase I

subscribers from primary agencies can be further reduced. For these purposes, MCP has considered

an alternative design utilizing 25 total channels. This approach would require most primary agencies to


operate in the P25 Phase I mode, but allow additional capacity to support Phase I traffic from

interoperability users and dual-system dispatch from the City of Fort Lauderdale.

As additional XTS/XTL subscribers are replaced, additional channels can be configured for Phase II

operation. Ultimately, at the point that all Phase I subscribers are phased out, 19 channels can be

converted for exclusive Phase II operation, providing the maximum allowable capacity of 36 talk paths.

At this point, there will be between six (6) and 11 additional channels that cannot operate on the

primary simulcast cell due to the maximum number of talk paths being reached. In order to benefit from

these channels, a separate simulcast zone will be required. These channels then could be configured

in a separate cell specifically allocated for interoperability purposes, for data applications, or for non-

public safety traffic such as that generated the School Board.


Table 12 – 700 MHz P25 Phase II Hybrid Strengths and Weaknesses


Allows extended use of Phase I subscribers by some

user agencies and interoperability partners

Cost of flash upgrading subscribers that have a short

lifecycle, then new P25 Phase II subscribers will be

required

Balance between Phase I and Phase II options Phase I talkgroups would occupy two resources

instead of one

Infrastructure in place for second overlay system once

Phase II conversion complete

Potential for minimally used channels after Phase II

conversion is completed

Ability to have backward compatibility with Phase I

subscribers through use of dynamic base stations

Increased infrastructure cost for base stations

Improved coverage through radio site addition Cutover would require channels from the existing

system

Improved capacity through channel expansion Increase in loading of towers



Increased space requirements for base stations



Some XTS/XTL series radios would need replacement

The 6 to 11 additional channels available after

complete Phase II transition can be repurposed for

additional sites


REDUNDANCY AND SURVIVABILITY

Reliability of the existing 800 MHz system is a major performance gap, with extended outages reported

by many system users. Indeed, there are several performance gaps with the existing system that the

new design will correct, which will greatly enhance network reliability.

Most notably, MCP recommends a design with no single point of failure across the entire network. This

includes geographically separated master sites and prime sites, as well as co-located redundant

components for all network equipment, site controllers and ancillary equipment. MCP further

recommends that the master sites be housed at dispatch centers, and that the prime sites be housed at

radio sites, in order to provide optimum capabilities in the event of a backhaul failure. Locations for this

equipment will be explored during the design phase.

A major worry with the existing system concerns the system failure events, reported by Motorola, that

occurred because the Model 6809 controllers could not keep up with the level of system traffic. The

issue is exacerbated by frequent affiliation attempts from subscriber radios that are not maintained

properly. The new system will be designed properly to handle the capacity load; however, it is critical

that subscriber radios are maintained properly to ensure that they do not cause a negative impact on

system operation.

In addition to the resiliency built into the primary communications system, backup capabilities are

recommended in the event of a partial or complete failure to the primary communications system.

MCP’s recommendation regarding backup communications is based on a comprehensive approach

that provides the appropriate capabilities based on various levels of possible system failures.

Aside from individual component failures that may impact individual channels and not the overall

operation of the system, the most likely service-impacting failure to occur is the loss of communication

to an individual tower site. These failures may result from copper theft, lightning strikes, wind events,

and various other circumstances. Not knowing exactly when and where these types of failures may

occur, or the number of radio sites that may be impacted, requires a combination of fixed backup and

deployable communications capabilities in order to provide the most flexible way to address these types

of outages.

A fixed solution provides the best operational solution for backup scenarios because no setup time is

required before users can access those systems. However, in order for a fixed backup solution to be

effective, it must not rely on the same shared infrastructure or connectivity that is utilized by the primary

system. Otherwise, a failure that affects the primary system also could affect the backup system. In an

ideal scenario, user agencies on the Broward County system could work out agreements with the Fort

Lauderdale, Plantation, and Coral Springs systems to allow access to those systems in the event of a

failure to the Broward County system. These systems rely on separate radio sites and backhaul

networks, and therefore would not necessarily be affected by events that could compromise the County

system. Because of the limited capacity offered by the systems, however, the backup scenarios would

require consolidation of Broward talkgroups so as not to overwhelm those systems.


In addition to these systems, a standalone backup trunked system is recommended to provide wide-

area portable in-street coverage. The RDSTF 700 MHz system is an already-identified, grant-funded

project that provides an alternative that would both enhance interoperability and provide backup

capabilities to the County. This system would provide a 3-channel trunked system primarily intended to

service the Interstate 95 (I-95) corridor, complementing similar systems in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach

counties. Implementing this system utilizing P25 Phase II technology and expanding it to 7 channels,

the system would provide 12 talkpaths for backup operations by agencies on the County system. The

grant project provides funding to support a single radio site, which would provide primarily mobile

coverage and some portable in-street coverage through the populated areas of Broward County. MCP

recommends that this primary site be located at the EMS tower site, which is not planned for use in the

primary system and thus would have a better chance of being functional in the event of a failure to the

primary system. To build upon this grant-funded project to expand coverage, MCP recommends

adding additional simulcast sites located at the EMS, Coconut Creek, and Davie locations. These sites

will provide portable in-street coverage and some in-building coverage. To complement the primary

microwave backhaul network at these locations, a redundant Ethernet connection is recommended to

provide alternate pathing in the event there is failure of the microwave network.

In addition to the fixed trunked backhaul network, conventional stations provide fixed capabilities that

continue to operate independent of any connectivity requirements. The NPSPAC interoperability

channels dispersed throughout the county meet this need, although these stations primarily are

intended for backup purposes and provide a limited amount of capacity. Adding additional stations will

provide another level of fixed backup capabilities without requiring a substantial investment. It is

recommended that two additional conventional stations be placed at the EMS, Coconut Creek, Channel

2, and Davie locations.

Deployable communications capabilities, including portable gateways, sites on wheels, transportable

repeaters, and cache radios are essential for establishing communications in ad-hoc environments in

the event of widespread infrastructure failures. While there are regional assets with these capabilities,

none are owned and operated by Broward County. This is significant because priority for usage is

received by the owner agency. Consequently, Broward County should consider acquiring mobile

communications assets to better serve its user agencies. It is further recommended that a

comprehensive continuity-of-operations plan (COOP) be developed across the County to identify

standard operating procedures (SOPs) and priorities for all interoperability resources. The COOP

should include regular training and exercises for both system users and dispatchers. The following list

indicates the recommended technology for the communications trailer:

Graphical user interface (GUI)-based gateway system

Rack-mounted radios in VHF (1), UHF (1), and 700/800 MHz (8) bands

Two (2) 700 MHz conventional repeaters

Two (2) spare 700 MHz repeaters to be installed at radio sites as needed


Cache of 700/800 MHz radios (retired XTS/XTL series) totaling 50 units, in addition to bank

chargers and spare batteries

Vehicular repeater system

4G commercial air card for local Wi-FI and backup backhaul

For each of these systems, access must be provided back to the three regional dispatch centers to

allow dispatchers to access these respective systems. For the backup trunked system, IP backhaul

should be established between the prime EMS site and the three dispatch centers using a combination

of microwave and Ethernet. For the fixed and mobile conventional stations, control stations will be

required to provide connectivity to each of the dispatch centers.

The following table summarizes cost estimates for the recommended backup capabilities.

Table 13 – P25 Phase I Preliminary Cost Estimate

Backup Capabilities Cost Estimate

Expansion of RDSTF Trunking System $1,484,000

Conventional Interoperability Stations $296,800

Mobile Communications Trailer $637,000

Backup Capabilities Total $2,417,800

Equally important as the backup capabilities are the accompanying governance, SOPs, training,

exercises, and usage plans to ensure that these resources are utilized effectively during a system-

failure situation. These plans must include dispatch procedures and personnel, because contingency

plans in the event of system failures are initiated first and foremost at the dispatch level. MCP

recommends that these details be developed as part of a comprehensive COOP.

MAINTENANCE

Proper maintenance of a communications system is critical to ensure that the equipment continues to

operate as it was designed, and to ensure the full life of the equipment is realized. System

maintenance can be broken down into several levels, i.e., infrastructure, subscriber and software

maintenance.

Based on the limited number of County personnel available to maintain the system, MCP recommends

that the County pursue a comprehensive maintenance package. The maintenance and software costs

are estimated at approximately three to five percent of the infrastructure total cost. Software should be

refreshed every two or three years to maintain reliability and security. The package should include the

following elements:


1. Onsite infrastructure response for critical failures within two hours

2. Infrastructure repair for failed components, County will need to have a sparing level that will

allow for immediate replacement while the defective component is repaired.

3. Remote system monitoring and technician dispatch

4. Technical support

5. System software and security updates

6. Yearly preventive maintenance for all system infrastructure

There is currently no comprehensive maintenance plan for subscriber units. Many instances have been

reported where fielded subscribers are significantly out of tune. Out-of-tune subscribers perform poorly,

and often experience issues that are perceived as poor system coverage. These units also place

unnecessary strain on the system infrastructure. Consequently, MCP recommends implementation of a

mandatory preventive maintenance program for all primary subscriber radios on the Broward County

system. This program should include a retune of subscribers at least once every other year. Above

and beyond preventive maintenance, agencies may choose to implement extended warranties or

subscriber repair plans.

Software subscriptions ensure that equipment is maintained with the latest available software releases.

The updates fix bugs within the network software, and expand feature sets that were not available with

previously releases. Typically, vendor support is tied to system release levels. The current standard

for supportability of a release level is about five years. Updates are therefore required once every five

years to ensure that systems have the proper technical support and resources available to resolve

issues should they occur. Regular software update plans are offered that include any required

hardware upgrades to accommodate the software update. This approach is recommended to ensure

that the county does not experience any unanticipated upgrade costs.

MCP recommends that the County include within its specifications package a requirement for vendors

to provide a complete 15-year, cost-of-ownership quote for system maintenance. This approach

ensures that maintenance costs are competitively bid, and not negotiated at a later point once a vendor

already has been awarded the contract. In addition, maintenance costs can vary greatly from vendor to

vendor. Consequently, vendor selection should be based on the total system cost over the life of the

system, not just the initial purchase price.

MCP anticipates the County will require an increase in staff to accommodate the new technology,

increased radio sites, and the need for IP backhaul technical expertise. In addition, there are multiple

operational changes in the system that will require additional training and standard operating

procedures. Over the implementation of the new system, these operational changes may also require

additional staff.


COST ESTIMATES

MCP has developed preliminary cost estimates based on the system options identified. These

estimates will be further refined during the design phase once specific design considerations are more

finalized. Estimates have been provided for both all three-system options.

Option 1 700 MHz P25 Phase I Trunked Simulcast System includes the following considerations:

1. 14 total simulcast transmit/receive locations

a. One 5-channel multicast site along I-75 in the western portion of the county

b. Construction of two new 300-foot tower sites in Tamarac and Deerfield

c. Lease of four additional locations

2. Total of 44 available talk paths across two simulcast cells or zones

3. Construction of 100-foot towers at each dispatch center

4. Geographically diverse, redundant system controllers and prime sites

5. New console systems to replace each existing dispatch position

6. ISSI for connectivity to HMS, Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County

7. CSSI connectivity to HMS/Fort Lauderdale, Miami-Dade Police, Miami-Dade Fire, Palm Beach

8. Replacement microwave system

9. Replacement alphanumeric paging system

10. Replacement fire station alerting system

11. An additional $16,880,400 for subscribers is expected over the next 5-7 years when replacing

XTL/XTS models

Tables 14 below summarize the estimated cost for each of the Option 1:

Table 14 – P25 Phase I Preliminary Cost Estimate

Budgetary Cost Estimate

Site/RF Equipment $29,709,000

Backhaul Network $3,200,000

Physical Infrastructure $4,900,000

Project Management, Engineering and

Implementation $12,287,925

Contingency $1,890,450

Backup Systems $1,780,800

Communications Trailer $637,000

Infrastructure Total $54,405,175


Site/RF Equipment

55%

Backhaul Network

6%

Physical Infrastructure

9%

PM, Engineering, & Implementation

23%

Contingency3%

Backup Systems

3%

Communications Trailer

1%


Option 2 700 MHz P25 Phase II Trunked Simulcast System includes the following considerations:


2. One 5-channel multicast site along I-75 in the western portion of the county

3. Construction of two new 300-foot tower sites in Tamarac and Deerfield

4. Lease of four additional locations

5. Total of 36 available talk paths (19 base stations)









14. All subscribers are replaced


Table 15 – P25 Phase II Preliminary Cost Estimate





Project Management, Engineering and Implementation

$9,032,400






Option 3 700 MHz P25 Hybrid Trunked Simulcast System includes the following considerations:


2. One 5-channel multicast site along I-75 in the western portion of the county

3. Construction of two new 300-foot tower sites in Tamarac and Deerfield

4. Lease of four additional locations

5. Total of 42 available talk paths (30 base stations)









14. An additional $8,511,600 for subscribers is expected over the next 5-7 years when replacing

XTL/XTS models

15. Alternate pricing included for 25-channel system, providing approximately 42 available talk

paths

Site/RF Equipment

49%

Backhaul Network

8%


12%


22%

Contingency (5% of system

cost)3%

Backup Systems

4%


2%



Table 16 – P25 Phase II Hybrid Preliminary Cost Estimate (30 Channels)






$10,541,050





Site/RF Equipment

52%

Backhaul Network

7%


10%


22%


cost)4%

Backup Systems

4%


1%


Table 17 – P25 Phase II Hybrid Preliminary Cost Estimate (25 Channels)






$9,858,550





It should be noted that it is common to expect actual competitive prices to be discounted below the

budgetary cost estimates provided above. However, these levels are recommended for budgeting

purposes to ensure that sufficient contingency funds are available.

Site/RF Equipment

50%

Backhaul Network

7%


11%


22%


cost)4%

Backup Systems

4%


2%


6. NEXT STEPS

MCP has identified the available feature sets and provided options to the County regarding possible

system solutions. Working with its stakeholders, the County and MCP should focus on the specific

desired feature sets and decide on a system option to pursue.

Based on these decisions, MCP will develop a comprehensive system design document. The

functional design should accomplish the following goals:

Define specific coverage requirements and geographical bounded areas

Identify candidate locations for new tower sites and validate that the coverage requirements are

satisfied by those locations

Identify locations for critical infrastructure, including master site and prime site locations

Identify specific feature sets that will be implemented

Identify preliminary cutover plans

Identify specific site-by-site requirements to be incorporated into the specifications

Complete preliminary FCC license filings

Complete preliminary tower-loading studies

Once the design phase has been completed, MCP will confirm the design with the County and project

stakeholders. Once confirmed, MCP will incorporate the aspects of the design into a functional

specification that will be utilized for the procurement of the systems.

7. CONCLUSION

MCP completed a comprehensive analysis of the 800 MHz trunked, paging, fire station alerting, and

microwave systems operated by Broward County. MCP confirmed that these systems are based on

platforms and equipment that have all reached end-of-life or will do so in the near future. Based on

these criteria, as well as other deficiencies identified by system users, MCP recommends replacement

of these systems.

MCP gathered feedback from system users—which is contained in the appendices that follow this

section—regarding improvements and feature sets that the replacement systems could offer that would

improve the level of service provided to system users. Improved coverage, capacity and reliability were

the most requested areas of improvement. Based on those requirements and additional needs stated

by users, MCP surveyed available technologies and identified three options for the County: a P25

Phase I system, a P25 Phase II system, and a Phase II Hybrid system that allows a phased migration

of subscribers.

These options offer substantial improvements to coverage and capacity, and offer the majority of the

feature sets desired by system users. The primary difference between the options is that the Phase I


solution allows agencies to upgrade their existing subscriber equipment, but requires more base

stations, and therefore more room within equipment shelters and more antennas on each tower. While

the Phase I option has increased costs for fixed infrastructure, the Phase II option has significantly

higher costs for replacement subscriber units. A third hybrid option requires the replacement of some

Phase I subscribers, but allows the majority of Phase I subscribers to be phased out and converted to

Phase II operation over time.


Appendix A – Radio Site Evaluations

Radio sites are a vital extension of the radio system in that they provide a secure space to house the

equipment that provides communications to first responders. They also provide protection from natural

and manmade threats in order to allow communications equipment to run at optimum performance.

Radio sites are also an important factor when designing a new communications system, as it relates to

site reliability, availability and function.

Using Motorola R56, Standards and Guidelines for Communications Sites as a resource, our team

evaluated the equipment installation and site maintenance practices to determine the level of reliability

based on site configuration. Broward County utilizes ten tower sites for the primary trunked system.

Additional locations with radio equipment include the Public Safety building and the EMS tower site.

The County owns all of its tower sites, with the exception of the Points, Playa, and Deerfield locations.

The leased sites require monthly payments, but do not require regular site maintenance.

The County uses its own shelters at all radio tower locations. The Point of America and Playa Del Mar

locations are leased building tops, with radio equipment located in equipment rooms on the building

roofs. All ten sites have most of the same equipment at each site. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS)

and generator equipment are maintained through a maintenance service contract.

The sections that follow describe with more detail MCP’s findings at each radio site.


COCONUT CREEK


Table 1 below outlines key radio site information regarding the Coconut Creek site.

Table 1 – Coconut Creek Radio Site Information

Tower Specification Details

Coordinates 26°18'10"N, 80°11'45"W

Address 5150 Regency Lakes Drive, Coconut

Creek, FL 33073

Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) # 1041869

Tower height 400 feet

Structure type Self-Supporting Lattice

Tower manufacturer Pirod

Tower condition Good – constructed in 2004

UPS model Best Ferrups X 2

Generator model and capacity Generac 60 KW Diesel with 300 Gallon

Tank

Shelter type Prefabricated

Shelter condition Good

Shelter dimensions 20 feet x 30 feet (approximate)

Site alarming Badger

Tower owner Broward County

Lease None

Table 2 below outlines radio equipment located at the Coconut Creek site.

Table 2 – Coconut Creek Radio Equipment

Equipment Type Make Model Frequency Usage

Site Controller Motorola 6809 N/A

Assign voice calls to

appropriate repeater.

Communicate with prime

controller.

Repeater Motorola Quantar 854/809.4625 Trunking Channel 1























Repeater Motorola Quantar 851/806.1875 Trunking Channel 22 (License

held by school board)













10-Port Combiner TXRX 57445-K 851-860 MHz Transmit Antenna 1




24-Port

Multicoupler TXRX 52351-63 806-815 MHz Receive Antenna 1

24-Port

Multicoupler TXRX 52351-63 806-815 MHz Receive Antenna 2

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6665 MHz Coconut Creek to Playa Del

Mar

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6685 MHz Coconut Creek to Core

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from site

controller to microwave



GPS Reference TRAK 9100 N/A GPS reference for simulcast

timing



Paging Transmitter Motorola PURC5000 UHF Alphanumeric simulcast paging

transmitter

8TAC92 Motorola MSF5000 852/807.0125 8TAC92 interoperability

repeater

Repeater Motorola Quantar 852.7125 Datatac Channel 1 (Not in use)




Key points regarding the Coconut Creek site are as follows:

The shelter is shared with the City of Coral Springs P25 Phase I system

The County’s MOTOTRBO UHF system is co-located in the shelter

There is room for 5-6 additional equipment racks in the current configuration

There will be room for at least five additional equipment racks once the legacy system is

decommissioned

The primary antenna entry port is at capacity. There is additional capacity on the second

antenna entry port installed for the Coral Springs system

There is no tower ground bus bar. Antenna lines are grounded directly to the tower using

ground kits

60-foot to 80-foot trees are located on all sides of the tower

Shelter five-point ground with halo in good condition

There is physical room on the tower to accommodate additional antennas

The generator recently was replaced. Manufacture date is January 22, 2015


CORE


Table 3 – Core Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°08'56.8"N, 80°11'44.2"W

Address 1725 NW 31st Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL




Tower manufacturer Rohn

Tower condition Good – Evidence of significant

structural enhancements

UPS model Powerware/Eaton 9170 x 2

Generator model and capacity Generac 2000 80 kW






Lease None

Table 4 below outlines radio equipment located at the Core site.

Table 4 – Core Radio Equipment






controller.

Repeater Motorola Quantro 854/809.4625 Trunking Channel 1























Repeater Motorola Quantro 851/806.1875 Trunking Channel 22 (License


















24-Port

Multicoupler

TXRX 52351-63 806-815 MHz Receive Antenna 1

24-Port

Multicoupler

TXRX 52351-63 806-815 MHz Receive Antenna 2

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6605 MHz Core to PSB (North Loop)

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6665 MHz Core to PSB (South Loop)

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6625 MHz Core to Markham Park

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6685 MHz Core to Coconut Creek

Channel Bank Motorola

TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from site





GPS Reference TRAK

9100 N/A GPS reference for simulcast

timing

Paging Transmitter Motorola

PURC5000 UHF Alphanumeric simulcast paging

transmitter



8TAC94 Motorola

MSF5000 853/808.0125 8TAC94 interoperability

repeater





Key points regarding the Core site are as follows:

The site is referred to as “core” because it is centrally located within the County’s population

center and provides the best overall single-site coverage in the event connectivity is lost and the

system reverts to failsoft

The site serves as a hub for the northern and southern microwave loops

The repeaters at this site are Motorola Quantro stations with dual amplifiers. Quantro stations

are used because they have an output power of 150 watts, allowing better single-site coverage

in the event the system reverts to single-site operation. Each Quantro station occupies a

cabinet that occupies one half of an equipment rack

There is limited space in the shelter due to extensive floor space occupied by the Quantro

stations

There is room for approximately six to seven additional equipment racks in the current

configuration. Additional equipment racks can be added if existing equipment is consolidated

and the Datatac repeaters are decommissioned

The site is co-located with the Broward County Transit system based on the MTR3000 platform

The FBI has conventional equipment located in the shelter

The shelter HVAC system was noted to be performing poorly. Numerous fans are placed

throughout the shelter

The current shelter entry port is at capacity. An additional port will need to be added or existing

feed lines will need to be removed to support additional feed lines

There is no tower ground bar on the tower. Feed lines are grounded directly to the tower

There are insufficient spare power outlets on the equipment racks. There is additional room on

the breakers to accommodate additional outlets

The generator was manufactured in 2015 and is in good condition


DAVIE


Table 5 – Davie Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°03'55.5"N, 80°20'19"W

Address 4501 SW 142nd Avenue, Davie, FL





Tower condition

Good – Structural studies demonstrate

passed structural at TIA222 Rev G

Class III

UPS model Powerware 18 kVA x 2

Generator model and capacity Baldor 100 kW




Site alarming Larse


Lease None

Table 6 below outlines radio equipment located at the Davie site.

Table 6 – Davie Radio Equipment






controller.
























Repeater Motorola Quantar 851/806.1875

Trunking Channel 22

(License held by school

board)


Trunking Channel 23


board)


Trunking Channel 24


board)


Trunking Channel 25


board)


Trunking Channel 26


board)


Trunking Channel 27


board)


Trunking Channel 28


board)





24-Port

Multicoupler

TXRX 42-86-91082-24 806-815 MHz Receive Antenna 1

24-Port

Multicoupler


Microwave Tadiran CM6 6835 MHz Davie to Markham Park

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6615 MHz Davie to Miramar









GPS Reference TRAK

9100 N/A GPS reference for simulcast

timing

Paging

Transmitter

Motorola PURC5000 UHF

Alphanumeric simulcast

paging transmitter

Repeater Motorola

Quantar 852.7125 Datatac Channel 1 (Not in

use)

Repeater Motorola


use)

Repeater Motorola


use)

Repeater Motorola


use)

Key points regarding the Davie site are as follows:

There is plenty of floor space in the shelter to support additional equipment

The shelter is shared with the PURC5000 paging system and the four-channel Datatac system

There is no ground bar on the tower. Feed lines are grounded directly to the tower

The shelter entry panel is at capacity. A new entry panel will be necessary to support additional

feed lines

It was noticeably hot inside the shelter. The HVAC system should be serviced and considered

for replacement

There was evidence of pest entry inside the shelter. The shelter should be sealed and treated

for insects

Access was not available to the Baldor generator


MARKHAM PARK


Table 7 – Markham Park Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°08'43"N, 80°20'44"W

Address 16001 W. State Road 84, Sunrise, FL,

33326



Structure type Guyed


Tower condition Good – Structural studies demonstrate


UPS model Powerware PW9170 18 kVA x 2

Generator model and capacity Generac 80 kW Diesel




Site alarming Larse


Lease None

Table 8 below outlines radio equipment located at the Markham Park site.

Table 8 – Markham Park Radio Equipment






controller.










































16-Port

Multicoupler


16-Port

Multicoupler


Microwave Tadiran CM6 6675 MHz Markham Park to Davie

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6785 MHz Markham Park to Core








timing


Key points regarding the Markham Park site are as follows:

The site is the most western site within the system, providing primary coverage of the western

half of the county

There is an immediately adjacent tower owned by the State of Florida

An abandoned shelter is located on the compound. It may be possible for the County to take

possession of the shelter

Room was identified to potentially support 3 additional equipment racks

The tree line is close to 100 feet in each direction and is close to obscuring the microwave path.

Heights should be verified on the surrounding trees. Trees should be cut if an obstruction is

likely in the near future

The shelter is shared with numerous supporting systems, including a five-channel MOTOTRBO

system operated by the City of Sunrise, MED5 and MED 10 repeaters, a four-channel Kenwood

NXDN system, a VHF control station tied to the Seminole Nation FD, and a West Palm Beach

Civil Air Patrol station

There are plenty of additional outlets to support additional equipment

There is physical space on the tower to support additional antennas

Structural studies conducted in 2014 show the tower passing at TIA222 Rev G


DEERFIELD


Table 9 – Deerfield Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°19'11.6"N, 080°05'55.5"W

Address 300 NE 2nd Street, Deerfield, FL

Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) # N/A




Tower condition

Could not inspect. Good according to

2013 report from Kirms

Communications.

UPS model Emerson 15 KVA

Generator model and capacity None present


Shelter condition Fair


Site alarming

Tower owner AT&T

Lease Leased from AT&T.

Table 10 below outlines radio equipment located at the Deerfield site.

Table 10 – Deerfield Radio Equipment






controller.

Receiver Motorola Quantar 854/809.4625 Trunking Channel 1























Receiver Motorola Quantar 851/806.1875 Trunking Channel 22 (License




Receiver Motorola AstroTac 852/807.0375 Trunking Channel 24 (License


Receiver Motorola AstroTac

852/807.7125 Trunking Channel 25 (License











16-Port

Multicoupler


16-Port

Multicoupler



Key points regarding the Deerfield site are as follows:

The site is a receive-only location on the 800 MHz system

Site shelter is located in a small enclosure on the side of the Deerfield Police Department.

There is a long distance between the County shelter and the tower

There is no microwave connectivity to the site. Backhaul is provided by a leased T1 circuit

There is no on-site generator

The shelter is at capacity. The existing equipment will need to be removed if the existing shelter

is used for the new system

There is no room within the current compound for a new shelter. Access to the base of the

tower was not provided, and therefore MCP could not assess if there is room for an additional

shelter at that location

There is little room on the tower for additional antennas. Because this site is currently used in

the receive-only mode, there are only two antennas on the tower. It is unknown whether the

tower could accommodate the additional antennas to make this location a full transmit/receive

site

Water damage was identified inside the shelter that impacted a number of the Quantar

receivers. The County indicated that the leak had been repaired

One of the HVAC units looks to have been replaced. The second HVAC unit looks like the

original shelter unit

There is room on the shelter entry panel to accommodate additional feed lines

23 of the receiver stations are Motorola Quantars, while the other five are AstroTac receivers.


PLAYA DEL MAR


Table 11 – Playa Del Mar Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°10'34.3"N, 80°05'54.7"W

Address 3600 Galt Ocean Drive, Ft. Lauderdale,

FL



Structure type Building

Tower manufacturer N/A

Tower condition

Good – Antennas mounted on

equipment room located on roof of high-

rise condominium

UPS model BEST Ferrups 18 kVA x 2

Generator model and capacity None

Shelter type Equipment Room


Shelter dimensions Approximately 30’ x 20’ (odd-shaped

equipment room)


Tower owner Playa Del Mar

Lease Room leased from Playa Del Mar

Table 12 below outlines radio equipment located at the Playa Del Mar site.

Table 12 – Playa Del Mar Radio Equipment






controller.






































10-Port Combiner TXRX 57445G 851-860 MHz Transmit Antenna 1




24-Port

Multicoupler


24-Port

Multicoupler


Microwave Tadiran

CM6 6645 MHz Playa Del Mar to Public Safety

Building

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6665 MHz Playa Del Mar to Coconut Creek






timing


Key points regarding the Playa Del Mar site are as follows:

The site is located on the rooftop of the Playa Del Mar condominium

There are two spare entry ports for additional feed lines. An additional entry panel will be

needed if more than two addition feed lines are needed

There are 12 free ports on the existing combiner system and 20 free ports on the multicoupler

The equipment room is an odd shape with numerous obstructions on the floor that prevent

effective use of floor space. There is a section of the equipment room that is currently vacated

and may be built out to accommodate additional equipment. Air flow in that section of the room

was noted to be poor. Upgrades to the HVAC system may be necessary if that section of the

room is to be used

Transmit and receive antenna are located at the same height with limited horizontal separation.

This configuration is not ideal due to the risk of transmitters overloading nearby receivers.

Testing should be conducted to ensure there is proper isolation between the antenna systems

There is room for additional antennas on the roof of the equipment room. However, there is not

space on the side of the shelter facing the County. Coverage from the site may be reduced

during cutover if the existing system antennas are moved to the far side of the equipment to

allow room for the new antennas

There is no generator on-site. The UPS units only provide a limited runtime

The ground lead from the equipment room Master Ground Bar to the building ground has a

bend. Ideally this should be a straight connection with no bends


POINTS OF AMERICA


Table 13 – Points of America Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°05'46"N, 80°06'26"W

Address 21100 S Ocean Lane, Ft. Lauderdale,

FL



Structure type Building

Tower manufacturer N/A

Tower condition

Good – Antennas mounted on

equipment room located on roof of high-

rise condominium


Generator model and capacity None



Shelter dimensions Approximately 10’ x 20’ (odd-shaped

equipment room)

Site alarming Larse

Tower owner Points of America

Lease Crown Castle

Table 14 below outlines radio equipment located at the Points of America site.

Table 14 – Points of America Radio Equipment






controller.










































24-Port

Multicoupler


24-Port

Multicoupler


Microwave Tadiran CM6 6775 MHz Points of America to Channel 2

Microwave Tadiran

CM6 6695 MHz Points of America to Public

Safety Building






timing


Key points regarding the Points of America site are as follows:

The site is located on the rooftop of the Points of America condominium

There are two spare entry ports for additional feed lines. An additional entry panel will be

needed if more than two addition feed lines are needed

There are 12 free ports on the existing combiner system and 20 free ports on the multicoupler

The primary equipment room is at capacity. A second equipment room has space available for

additional equipment

There are numerous antennas located on the roof of the equipment room. There should be

room for additional antennas, however isolation between transmit and receive antennas must be

maintained

The equipment room ground lead from the Master Ground Bar undergoes numerous bends

before reaching the building ground. The connection to building ground is made with both the

water valve and the ground lead painted, potentially reducing the effectiveness of the

connection

There is no generator onsite. The UPS units only provide a limited runtime


CHANNEL 2


Table 15 – Channel 2 Radio Site Information


Coordinates 25°58'50.2"N, 80°11'45.6"W

Address 3300 SW 52nd Ave, Pembroke Pines,

FL




Tower manufacturer Unknown

Tower condition

Good – Structural study completed in

2015 indicates site passed at TIA222

Rev G


Generator model and capacity Tradewinds Marathon 97 kW



Shelter dimensions Approximately 40’ x 40’ (estimated)

Site alarming Larse


Lease N/A

Table 16 below outlines radio equipment located at the Channel 2 site.

Table 16 – Channel 2 Radio Equipment






controller






































10-Port Combiner TXRX 52351-A1 851-860 MHz Transmit Antenna 1




24-Port

Multicoupler


24-Port

Multicoupler


Microwave Tadiran CM6 6585 MHz Channel 2 to Miramar

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6615 MHz Channel 2 to Points of America






timing

Paging

Transmitter

Motorola PURC5000

471.0875

MHz

Alphanumeric simulcast paging

transmitter



8TAC93 Motorola

MSF5000 852/807.5125 8TAC93 interoperability

repeater





Repeater Motorola GTR8000 MED5 MED5 repeater

Repeater Motorola GTR8000 MED10 MED10 repeater

Key points regarding the Points of Channel 2 site are as follows:

The site is located on an old television transmitter tower. The equipment room is built on to a

larger building previously occupied by the television company

The portion of the building not utilized for the equipment room is largely vacant and used for the

storage of old radio equipment. This portion of the building is not cooled and would require

significant renovations if it were to be used for operating equipment, office space, or another

purpose

Based on the age and condition of the building, an inspection is recommended to ensure the

equipment room is properly sealed and the roof is in good condition

There is no ground bar on the tower. Feed lines are grounded directly to the tower

The external ground bar on the outside of the shelter has a ground lead that does not go

straight down to ground. The ground lead is routed around the building before termination

An adjacent shelter is located on the property that is unoccupied. After inspection, it was

determined that the shelter is not salvageable and should be demolished

The ground lead from the master ground bar inside the shelter does not direct straight down, but

rather bends and exits the equipment room at another location

There is plenty of floor space within the equipment room to accommodate additional equipment

The site is co-located with the MOTOTRBO public works system

The tower is an older style guyed tower with 3 anchored bases rather than a single base. This

configuration limits the ability of the tower to switch to absorb forces

Structural studies completed in 2015 show that the tower passed at the TIA222 Rev G for the

antennas associated with the UHF public works system


TAMARAC


Table 17 – Tamarac Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°12'43.4"N, 080°16'20.5"W

Address 7515 NW 88th Ave, Tamarac, FL


Tower height 100’

Structure type Monopole


Tower condition

Fair – Extremely lightweight monopole

that cannot likely support additional

loading

UPS model Best FERRUPS 18 kVA x2

Generator model and capacity None present

Shelter type Custom building



Site alarming None


Lease Property owned by Tamarac PD.

Table 18 below outlines radio equipment located at the Tamarac site.

Table 18 –Tamarac Radio Equipment






controller.




























Receiver Motorola AstroTac 852/807.0375 Trunking Channel 24 (License














16-Port

Multicoupler


16-Port

Multicoupler



Key points regarding the Tamarac site are as follows:

The site is a receive-only location on the 800 MHz system

The shelter and tower are located on a small hill on the back of the Tamarac Police Department.

There is no fence surrounding the tower and shelter. Limited access is provided at the entrance

to the Tamarac Police Department parking lot

The tower is a lightweight monopole that is unsuitable for a mission critical radio system

The building is a custom building that lies on uneven grade. The building shows signs of pest

entry, and is unsuitable for critical infrastructure

There is no microwave connectivity to the site. Backhaul is provided by a leased T1 circuit

There is no on-site generator

The shelter is at capacity and is unsuitable for a mission critical radio system

There is an adjacent heavy-duty monopole immediately behind the equipment shelter

The HVAC units are residential grade window units not designed for critical infrastructure

Twenty-three (23) of the receiver stations are Motorola Quantars, while the other five are

AstroTac receivers

Due to the odd nature of the equipment shelter, tower, and uneven ground, it is unclear whether

the subterranean grounding system is in good order. Testing of the grounding system is

recommended if the site is to continue to be used

A new tower and shelter is recommended if the location is to continue to be utilized


MIRAMAR


Table 19 – Miramar Radio Site Information


Coordinates 25°57'31.6"N, 80°20'18.2"W

Address 14401 SW 55th Street, Miramar, FL







UPS model Powerware PW9170 18 kVA x 2







Lease None

Table 20 below outlines radio equipment located at the Miramar site.

Table 20 – Miramar Radio Equipment






controller.










































24-Port

Multicoupler


24-Port

Multicoupler


Microwave Tadiran CM6 6775 MHz Miramar to Davie

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6745 MHz Miramar to Channel 2








timing


Key points regarding the Miramar site are as follows:

The site is located on the back of a County community center. Access is provided by a small

road/sidewalk running between the baseball fields

There is room for three to four additional equipment racks in the current configuration. There

will be more room once the current equipment is decommissioned

There are 20 free multicoupler ports and 12 free combiner ports

The tower is in good condition, having passed structural studies conducted at TIA222 Rev G

within the last two years

There is room on the tower to support additional antennas

Site grounding was in overall good condition. The subterranean grounding system was not

inspected and resistance measurements were not conducted

Microwave waveguide pressure readings were at 0 psi at the time of inspection. The microwave

dehydrator and waveguides should be inspected for proper operation and air leaks.


EMS


Table 21 – EMS Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°9'14.2"N, 80°10'37.9"W

Address 3150 NW 26th Ave, Ft. Lauderdale, FL







UPS model Mitsubishi M2033CP 50 kVA x 2





Site alarming MOSCAD panel, unsure of usage


Lease None

Table 22 below outlines radio equipment located at the EMS site.

Table 22 –EMS Radio Equipment






controller.

Repeater Motorola MSF5000 854/809.4625 Trunking Channel 1























Repeater Motorola MSF5000 851/806.1875 Trunking Channel 22 (License














10-Port Combiner TXRX 59492-C2 851-860 MHz Transmit Antenna 1




24-Port

Multicoupler


24-Port

Multicoupler


Repeater Motorola GTR8000 UHF MED5




Key points regarding the EMS site are as follows:

The site is not utilized as a simulcast site on the 800 MHz system

The site originally was designed to function as a backup trunked system in the event of a failure

to the primary system 800 MHz system using the same frequencies and MSF5000 repeaters.

The system never functioned as anticipated. The antennas tied to the backup system have

subsequently been removed

The site has newer UPS and Generator units with very high capacity

There is plenty of floor space to support additional equipment. Much more space will be

available if the backup system is decommissioned

There were signs of pest entry inside the shelter. The shelter should be sealed and treated for

insects

The generator was in the alarm mode when we arrived on site

The site is co-located with the County public works system

The site is in close proximity to the core site, and is centrally located within the County

populated area

Two Motorola PTP300 microwave units are located inside the shelter. It was reported that

these units were used for a Motorola demonstration at some point in the past, but were never

removed

Power still was connected to the MSF5000 units, despite antennas being disconnected. Power

should be removed from these units to save on utility costs


PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING


Table 23 – Public Safety Building Radio Site Information


Coordinates 26°07'20.7"N, 80°10'38.7"W

Address 2601 W Broward Blvd, Fort Lauderdale,

FL



Structure type Monopole

Tower manufacturer Unknown

Tower condition Good based on visual inspection.

UPS model Building UPS

Generator model and capacity Building Generator

Shelter type

Multiple equipment rooms (prime site,

paging controller, microwave,

monopole)

Shelter condition

Equipment rooms range from good to

fair. Access not heavily constricted to

critical infrastructure rooms. Monopole

equipment room is very small.

Shelter dimensions Equipment rooms range in size.

Site alarming Location for central BADGER alarm

panel

Tower owner Broward County SO

Lease None

Table 24 below outlines radio equipment located at the Public Safety Building site.

Table 24 – Public Safety Building Radio Equipment


Prime Controller Motorola 6809 N/A

Control simulcast traffic

countywide. Interfaced with

hosted Master site.

Backup Prime

Controller Motorola 6809 N/A

Control simulcast traffic

countywide. Interfaced with

hosted Master site.

Voter Motorola SECURENET

Digitac 854/809.4625 Trunking Channel 1, sites 1-8








Digitac Trunking Channel 2, sites 9-10























































































Voter Motorola Astrotac

3000 852/807.0375 Trunking Channel 24, sites 1-10











Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Coconut

Creek

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Coconut

Creek

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Miramar

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Miramar

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Davie

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Davie

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Channel 2

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Channel 2

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Core

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Core

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Points

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Points

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Playa

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Playa

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Markham

Park

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Markham

Park

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Tamarac

Channel Bank Motorola TeNSr/800 N/A Multiplex traffic from Deerfield

System status

monitor Motorola Systemwatch N/A Monitor system activity

System Reporting Genesis Genwatch N/A Generate system usage reports

and statistics

Alarm Panel Badger Badger N/A Receive system environmental

alarms

Dispatch

Controller Motorola

Central

Electronics

Bank (CEB)

N/A

Supports 1 remaining console

position at the PSB and spare

parts

Paging Controller Motorola Unipage N/A Unipage controller for County

alphanumeric paging system

Paging Controller Zetron 640A N/A Not in use

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6805 MHz PSB to Playa Del Mar



Microwave Tadiran CM6 6765 MHz PSB to Core

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6825 MHz PSB to Core

Microwave Tadiran CM6 6855 MHz PSB to Points of America

Repeater Motorola MSF5000 854.6375

MHz MAFLA Repeater

Repeater Motorola Quantar MRC Medical Resource Channel

Repeater

Repeater Motorola Quantar 471.0825

MHz Fire Station Alerting Transmitter

Key points regarding the Public Safety Building site are as follows:

The location originally hosted the master site for the system. The site now connects to the

hosted master site at the Motorola facility in Plantation via a SmartX gateway

The site hosts the prime site for the countywide simulcast cell. The prime controllers and voters

reside at this location

The system management, system watch, Genwatch, and BADGER panels all reside in a room

immediately adjacent to the prime controllers and voters

The BADGER alarm panel runs on a Windows 98 PC

The Sheriff’s Office dispatch center was located adjacent to the prime controller equipment

room prior to the PSAP consolidation

The Unipage controller is located in an adjacent equipment room to the prime controllers. The

controller is extremely old by inspection

A Zetron 640A paging controller is rack mounted next to the Unipage controller. The Zetron

controller is not in operation

A single Gold Elite console position is in operation in the equipment room. There are several

racks of CEB equipment that are available for spare parts

A separate equipment room on the roof of the building houses the microwave radios

A separate equipment room on the ground floor houses radio equipment for the MAFLA and

MRC stations. The equipment room is cluttered and extremely space limited

At the time of inspection, the backup controller was in operation. Status was not available on

the primary controller, although it appeared to be in working condition

The County has no intention of having any radio equipment at the PSB following cutover to the

new system


Appendix B – Focus Group Session

Police, Fire and EMS Meeting – July 15, 2015

Attendees: In alphabetical order by organization/city.

Name Organization Name Organization

Eric Caudwell Broward County Sheriff Jorge Hernandez Pembroke Pines Fire

Michael Kane Broward County Fire Andrew Texiera Pembroke Pines Fire

Tim Keefe Broward County Fire Jose Vargas Pembroke Pines Police

Ryan Marken Coconut Creek Police Barry Stearns Plantation Fire

Gary Gray City of Fort Lauderdale Chester Bolton Pompano Fire

Karl Maracotter City of Fort Lauderdale Enrique Torres Sea Ranch Lakes

Mark Ellis Hallandale Beach Fire Mario Leiva Seminole Tribe

Gregg Paglianuto Hallandale Beach Fire Brian Swartout Seminole Tribe

Sonia Quinones Hallandale Beach Police Tim Lanham Seminole Tribe Fire

Christoph St. Luce City of Hollywood Mary Negrey Seminole Tribe Police

Jeff Levy Lauderhill Fire John McNamara Sunrise Fire

Rick Donahue Margate Fire John Brooks Sunrise Police

John Savaiko Miramar Police David McCann Sunrise Police

Key points noted during the focus group session with fire and EMS personnel follow.

System Coverage

Coverage problems exist in high rises and parking garages throughout Broward County but specifically

along the coast where they expect 30 or more new high-rise towers in the next five years.

Implementing fire code based on National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards for the interim,

would like to see building penetration improved without secondary systems.

Hospitals and schools are two leading causes of communications failures in this County. Most

hospitals experience poor radio communications and once the crews get 20 feet inside the building,

they lose communications. There were users that expressed a desire to use simplex channels for fire

ground operations because the simplex is considered a more secure way for users to assure

communication. However, other users would like to see a system that would not require use of a

simplex channel on a regular basis. Beyond the capabilities of technology, this involves operational

policy.

In a dynamic event – active shooter – users found out they had no coverage inside the

schools. Even if using simplex channels, mutual aid units do not know what those

channels are. Schools are primary shelters as well and field personnel have no

communications with their staff.


The school board is responsible for providing adequate radio coverage for public safety

users rather than the County and if not, to have Bi-Directional Amplifiers (BDAs)

purchased and installed.

Active incidents involving bordering agencies is challenging when responders do not

have communications with bordering agencies. There are console connections with

Aventura, Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue, however, users specifically mentioned,

Miramar and Miami Gardens. This is amplified when staff cannot get the Florida

Interoperability Network (FIN) console to work properly due to inadequate education for

end users.

In addition to system design, initial and on-going user training is critical to maximize

system capabilities for effective incident management in these scenarios.

Because of all the high-rises, even on the beach in an open area, users stated they are not getting

coverage on the sand or out into the ocean for the marine units (1-2 miles, state boundary 3 miles).

Some users indicated more issues around the North East area of the County where the tower site is

receive only. Fort Lauderdale gave the Coast Guard one of their radios, which is in the Coast Guard’s

communications center. Broward County has also provided the Coast Guard with the mutual aid

resources (zones 14 and 12).

Fort Lauderdale expressed they have a very serious concern about in-building coverage, including

lower floors such as parking garages. Fort Lauderdale has numerous BDAs installed and stated they

are nothing but a pain.

For signal penetration, considering how a building is constructed (i.e., low-e glass used in windows

(which is a metallic film) or a home constructed with stucco mesh on the walls) is more important than

the type of building (i.e., high-rise). The key to maximizing signal penetration is to build systems with

enough street level coverage first, and then build capacity. Increased street coverage means more

sites.

MCP is conducting an independent coverage study, looking at the whole county and the delivered

signal to the street. The number of transmit/receive sites needed will be considered in the new system

design.

Big Cypress Reservation experiences coverage issues when utilizing 800 MHz Med Com system.

Coverage issues do not happen often and there is a Very High Frequency (VHF) backup system in

place. However, spare vehicles do not have these radios. There are Broward County radios in the

vehicles in Big Cypress but it would be good to have access to Broward County’s primary system.

Seminole Tribe primarily uses Broward County system, but there is a 5-10 minutes wait after entering

the Broward County area to be in range to get access to system.

JDeZayas

Highlight


There are coverage concerns out West along alligator alley. Weston law enforcement units around

mile marker (MM) 37 experience coverage loss - MM 40 on a good day - but the Broward County

boarder goes all the way to MM52.

Users expressed the need for coverage into Dade County.

Building enough infrastructure for penetration comes down to cost – possibly $1 Million per site. With

the building codes in south Florida, even cellular service does not work in all buildings, and needs

amplification.

BDAs are great options until a building is compromised or service is needed outside of buildings where

BDAs do not help. It could be more challenging to get Government buildings to put boosters and

transmitters than private owned high rises.

Because there are needs for both new and existing buildings, users may want to consider portable

repeaters for fire ground operations. Vehicle repeaters programmed to automatically turn on and

switch from a trunked system to a conventional system are another option. An in-vehicle dual band

repeater achieves two goals―dispatch and on-scene communications (ability to do PAR and

recording).

In theory, there can be trunked systems for main operations and then conventional systems for tactical

purposes; however, in order for conventional systems to repeat, two infrastructures are needed. For

tactical purposes, users would like to evaluate the cost of two systems. Putting the simplex channel in

the radio is less expensive; however, you need to have frequencies available.

When designing systems, engineers try to look at redundancy in engineering the system. Another

consideration is building the towers to meet the wind load and keeping everything tightened down –

microwave dishes – to achieve 99.999% reliability and resiliency.

In addition to Cells on Wheels (COWs) considered for redundancy, additional frequencies and having

assigned frequencies per region in the event of a radio system failure are also being considered.

System Capacity

The users expressed that they experience a high number of system busies.

Because the school board is still on the primary system, and therefore during the school

year the number of system busies is worse in the morning and afternoons when school

buses are on the road

Multiple major incidents such as a pursuit and SWAT incident and then a structure fire

resulted in multiple busies. Field users get frustrated and keep trying to access the

system which further exacerbates that problem.


Users expressed that there are too many non-public safety users on the system. They asked if a new

system would reduce the number of voice channels if governmental users, i.e. the school board, are

taken off the system.

There are currently 27 talk paths and users want to maintain or maximize the number of talk paths in a

new system. Broward County’s intent is not to minimize talk paths.

System usage is quite reliant on user devices. Issues occur when user devices are

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) only and not Time Division Multiple Access

(TDMA), which will throttle the system down

A combined system can be designed for both. It will be a joint effort―infrastructure and

subscribers

To maximize system coverage and capabilities, purchasing and maintaining end users

radios―mobile and portable subscriber units―with the appropriate accessories is

essential

Currently subscribers exceed system capabilities, but in the future, the system will

exceed subscriber unit capabilities. Users expressed a desire for the County to allocate

funding to help agencies with subscriber needs

Users noted that it is difficult to determine if denial of access to the system is the results of a coverage,

capacity, or interference situation because the “bonking” sound is the same for all situations.

Suggest speaking to manufacturer and ask them to assign different tone to each of

those events

Operations

Users asked if the Regional Domestic Security Task Force (RDSTF) 700 MHz regional system could be

used as a backup once it is functional. Broward County responded that this is one of the options being

evaluated for that purpose.

Numerous systems have a mix of 700/800 channels but for multiple bands to work, the infrastructure

needs to be in place to support the subscribers.

Need to provide a product that is seamless to the end user and not one that has been pieced together.

Users expressed they think we can do better than patching and bridging dynamic events.

Collectively on the user end, they have done many work-arounds, patches, coming off

trunked systems. Users stated they need simple ease of use overall but also need to

improve response to low frequency events that occur 364 days after annual training.

Public Safety should have priority over nonpublic safety at all times, however, users still want

communication with non-critical personnel even if they move off the main system – public works, school

buses, etc.


Users wanted to know if the system included tactical channels that are conventional, could you add a

fifth channel that was just for local government that was not repeated so it would not interfere?

If frequencies are available, could look at it, but it will likely be expensive

Need for GPS – mandatory item in the infrastructure. End user will need to ensure subscriber units can

accommodate it.

Over the Air Programming (OTAP) – is a need to help update the subscriber units. Users understand it

takes up system resources but users think the system needs to be built that way.

Currently have kiosks for portables but that does not help for mobiles

It needs to be fire fighter and officer proof – Wi-Fi capable during roll call so it is

seamless to the user

Currently two databases need to be touched when making updates to radio aliases. Users want to

make it easier to change the alias for the radio and to make database updates.

When discussing incident management/accountability an example of new technology was given where

using simulation of a Personnel Accountability Report (PAR). The incident commander pressed a

button in the command vehicle, and the only response needed from field personnel was to “key” the

radio. This turned the unit green on the board while anyone not keying stayed red. This is a capability

that the user expressed could be good to have.

The County would provide the infrastructure and capacity while implementing these

types of features would be up to the individual agency

Biometrics capability over the life span of a 30-year radio system would be desirable.

Can the system be designed to be digital on a main channel and revert to analog on a tactical? Yes,

this is a radio programming issue with a lot of that being mandated by the Federal Communications

Commission (FCC). For example, for 700 MHz systems the FCC is mandating that those systems be

TDMA and digital to maximize the use of the band.

Fire users expressed they are not supporters of a digital system for fire ground operations. A user

mentioned there is a recent report from a respected fire association supporting digital fire ground

operations that should be reviewed.

Interoperability

Capability for mutual aid with state and Federal agencies is required.

Stated desire for permanent patching to accommodate interop with Federal agencies

(e.g. United States Coast Guard (USCG), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), etc.

Aviation


Forestry (they are all VHF, red, white, blue), Coast Guard, customers, border patrol. Many federal

agencies are running APX 7000s and have programmed some talk groups in them.

Simplex is not always efficient and really only good for point to point, peer to peer for fire ground, so still

need another talk path.

Could make a single zone with all the mutual aid talk groups in it that an agency knows it needs.

The emergency operations center (EOC) will have access to zones 14 and 12 and

NPSPAC 800 MHz

All agencies should have Palm Beach County mutual aid channels in their radios. To do this, all

agencies need to have a signed memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Palm Beach County.

In Miami-Dade for interoperability and coverage, they are all on handheld radios. There needs to be an

ability to communicate with the local agencies. Agencies stated they have tried to foster relationships

with those agencies but they want to be reciprocal.

For Miami-Dade, agencies wanting to interoperate need a Harris or P25 radio. Miami-

Dade Fire side is Motorola UHF

Broward County does have relationships with all of local agencies

Need reciprocity for ID sharing with Miami-Dade. Broward County does have cross

system activation of IDs.

The 700 MHz overlay project may help but users were skeptical

Paging Coverage

Users acknowledged that paging companies are going out of business and it is the County’s preference

to control its own paging system.

The paging system would have its own coverage area, which would be at least the County.

Users advised there are many coverage gaps, maybe 50% of the units are receiving pages on a regular

basis, and that is because they are at an incident near the Core site.

Currently one out of four County paging system sites are operational

Bands are so congested may need to go to other bands VHF, 900 MHz, etc.

For staff that live in Palm Beach County, the radios work but not the pagers. Users would like pager

coverage outside Broward County to accommodate those employees.

Check and see if there are statewide frequencies

Pager works with current Ultra High Frequency (UHF) system but also has a cellular

number attached to it so if staff go outside the coverage area it goes with the employee.


It also works with the current Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, which can also

send a text to a smart phone

Currently pagers receive address and a couple of lines from CAD but they do not get updates. Users

would like to have the ability to get updates and text messaging from dispatch into the radio.

Users asked about possibility of using radios to accept pages for another level of back

up. They acknowledged there is value to receiving text messages but were not keen on

being able to send messages

Some agencies are opposed to paging through the P25 system.

Fire Station Alerting (FSA)

Goal for fire station alerting is to be radio frequency (RF) based with internet protocol (IP) back up.

Recommend two level signaling – one RF and one IP.

When central dispatch puts fire stations that do automatic aid (e.g. Hallandale) on a call, they only hear

south dispatch voice, but they are not being dispatched by south, they are being dispatched by central.

Users advised there are times when you have good or no audio so lighted display capabilities are

desired. For example, distinct colors, lighted displays, and screens can give them the call information

that would improve situational preparation.

Users discussed how color light displays and other features have been available for

years, and want to look at new features that track time factors such as count down

timers and displays in the apparatus bays. Times can be captured in other ways, but

users just want the display.

Users discussed bunkroom alerting capabilities including a switch or button in the bunkroom so they

can indicate what apparatus they are on that day

Some fire stations/departments have their staff rotate so they are not in the same station

or assignment every day

This functionality can be built into the system but all the station functionality will be the

agencies responsibility

Broward County advised that the current inter-local demark is to the station and everything from the

door into the building is the agency responsibility.

The Inter-local Agreement (ILA) includes FSA. Broward County has the core and

infrastructure to alert, and then everything else is the responsibility of the end agency

Users stated in their opinion the ILAs need modification and changes in the demark

Currently use T1 lines for multi company dispatch, but those are going away to IP. If agencies want

Ethernet as a primary then that can be looked at.


Users noted the need for lead-time from County to agencies so that they can prepare their budgets.

Users want the system to be backward compatible for agencies to be able to budget and

migrate. Some agencies have 80-90 plus stations

Agencies see some push back from the cities to replace their alerting system, when they

have an existing Zetron that is functioning

The County noted that implementation will not be easy but they want to make sure the core meets user

requirements with the options.

Additional Comments

Users wanted to confirm if the system recommendations would include recommendations for subscriber

units. Assistance is needed in this area to assist in leveraging limited funds.

MPC provides vendor neutral specification requirements for subscriber units and then it

is the users responsibility to procure that quality level of units

Users requested the County publish a buyer’s guide of acceptable radios

Users indicated that there needs to be greater discussion on project governance, however, they

expressed appreciation for the effort to maintain transparency and keep partners engaged in

developing what the new system will be. Some thought more agencies might have attended if they

knew it was going to be as in-depth and open as it was.


Appendix C – Interviews with Dispatchers

Held June 9-11, 2015

Key points noted during the focus group session with dispatch staff follow.

Coconut Creek (North) Dispatch noted several issues:

Frequent system outages

Intermittent “no audio but ID”

Unit ID and alias not appearing

Radios not programmed with all talkgroups

Consoles configured for certain talkgroups only

There is too much clutter at each dispatch position from the various mice, keyboards, and

microphones required for each of the console screens. Touchscreens would help alleviate this

clutter

Coverage problems were noted in the following areas

o Western areas (Weston/Davie)

o Northern Pompano

o Lauderdale by the Sea

Dispatch can’t communicate with the Coral Springs or Plantation centers

o MARS is required

Dispatchers at this center indicated that it would be beneficial if the new system provided these

features:

Console-originated text messaging/IM

Intercom between positions and centers

Light pole for dispatcher status

Instant recall recorder in console

Unit ID and alias

Ability to change, add and delete talkgroup patches at any console, rather than just the one that

set it up

Event talkgroups in addition to tactical talk groups

Talkgroup menu search by talkgroup name

Buttons for alert tone

Storm plans

Talkgroup alias and number

Touchscreen

Standardize programming for backup portables and consolettes

Busy Channel Marker tone

Clear-to-talk indication/tone for FSA. Now alert status only on CAD screen

Knox tones


Sunrise (Central) Dispatch noted several issues:

Coverage – Deerfield Beach ICW to ocean

Coverage – Heavy structures

Coverage – Pompano, Ft. Lauderdale, Parkland, Everglades

Need access to all talkgroups, including those that are primarily utilized at different centers

Standardize subscriber templates – users get lost and dispatchers do not have a guide to tell

them where to go

Log-off/log-on an issue

Too many mice

Missing talkgroups in an incident

There are many subscriber IDs that appear with no associated alias

Dispatchers at this center indicated it would be beneficial if the new system provided these features:

Access to all talkgroups

Call alert

Private call to units

Interoperability with tribal units

Use for more than three alert tones and a wider selection of tones

Light stack at each position to report status

Instant recall recorder

Search function for talkgroups

Touchscreens to eliminate clutter on desks

Pembroke Pines Dispatch noted several issues:

Inbound call ID display but no audio

System going into site trunking reverts to consolettes

Several instances noted where the radio system was down for substantial periods of time

Tethered headsets

Noisy inbound calls

Not enough training on the radio system – mostly on the job

There is no way to identify a unit when only the subscriber ID appears, but no alias

Dispatchers can’t access tactical channels used primarily by other dispatch centers

Patches only can be modified by the position that created the patch

Static appears on headsets – this appears to be locally generated interference rather than poor

radio coverage

Microphone jacks stick out too far and are often loose

Dispatchers at this center indicated it would be beneficial if the new system provided these features:

Activity report

Touchscreen


Fewer mice

Light stack

Access to all system talkgroups

Intercom between centers

Ability to add/modify a patch – at the supervisor level

Indication of who initiated the patch

Untethered headsets

Buttons for alert tones


Appendix D – Interoperability Partner Interviews

MCP conducted interviews with numerous interoperability partners to solicit feedback regarding

interoperability and the communications system. Interviews were conducted either onsite or by

telephone.


Responses from City of Coral Springs representatives are summarized below.

Coral Springs has its own three-site system tied to a Motorola HMS and currently plans to

remain there

The City indicated the following regarding interoperability:

o Console access to Broward County talkgroups through the HMS. This will need to be

addressed if the County goes to its own core

Has Zones 12 & 14 programmed in subscribers

Has neighboring jurisdiction talkgroups programmed in user radios

North Lauderdale

Tamarac

Coconut Creek

Margate

Control stations with NPSPAC 8Call and 8TAC channels in console with patch capability

Control stations with Palm Beach Commons in console with patch capability

Has Command Bus with mobiles installed


Responses from City of Fort Lauderdale representatives are summarized below.

Fort Lauderdale is moving forward with a stopgap solution in anticipation of Broward County

putting in a good full-coverage network

o P25 – 3 sites that should provide the in-city coverage needed

o Fort Lauderdale is licensed for 26 channels, with only 12 moving to the new system

o Eventually will migrate more channels over

o Systems will run in parallel and plan to stay tied to the HMS

The City indicated no desire to pursue P25 Phase II for multiple reasons

o Subscribers would need to be replaced

o No additional failsoft channels in Phase II

o Signal quality issues on Phase II – additional receive antennas needed

City seriously would consider joining the County master site if the County implements a

Motorola solution

o If County will have their own master site – County will need network management

access to it

JDeZayas

Highlight


APX radio that could do MOTOTRBO, VHF/UHF/700 MHz

Ability to manage users – dispatch from anywhere; may be changes to that

Representatives indicated the following information regarding system coverage:

Needs in-building

City completed study to compare coverage deficiencies on both systems

New system strongly encouraged to have in-building coverage everywhere; not sure if

City will have a radio system at some point

Process started with County board of rules and appeals to develop countywide

bidirectional amplifier (BDA) ordinance

Concerns with going Phase II – limited talk paths, failsoft, etc.

Limited value to Phase II:

o Trouble to marry to other resources

o Failsoft – City/County went into failsoft many times

o Lightning storms – base station failures result in loss of 2 talk paths

Problems on wide-area talk groups

SmartX possible concern – causing reliability issue

o Problems started happening after SmartX migration

o SmartX only can handle 64 talkgroups at one time


Not sure if they have access to Broward Sheriff’s Office talkgroups

o Everything secret with Broward Sheriff’s Office talkgroups

Interoperability agreements are an informal understanding rather than formally

developed

Zone 14 – available to police or fire

Zone 12 – available to fire but they said they need more

County did not want to run a patch to teletype

Frequencies for MERS trailer – using channels out of their system; MSF5000s and

Model 6809 controllers

Two trunked systems – analog MTC3600, GTR8000s on P25; could go on 700 MHz

Mutual-aid as needed – agreements in place; everybody does what is needed to get the

job done

o Deployables

Fort Lauderdale has the regional deployable cell on wheels (COW)

The City stated that some entities are not happy with how dispatch is done today

o Maybe some pullback from regional dispatch plan

o Ability to make those changes and incorporate into the system design

o Need to be able to accommodate end-user requirements

o County wanted to pull out of inter-local agreements (ILAs) without input from end-users

City of Hialeah

Responses from City of Hialeah representatives are summarized below.


The current City of Hialeah system is:

o SMARTNET 3.1

o 10-channel 800 MHz

o Three sites, adding 4th

o Upgrade to P25 on hold for budget; Motorola bid winner

o Approximately 1,200 subscriber radios

o All subscribers are P25 ready


o Hialeah currently has 16 interoperability talkgroups available for Broward County to

program

Suggests all 3 systems exchange ID activations; current ID system is a mess

EMS needs hospital talkgroup for Cleveland and 2 hospitals on Broward County system

Does not use Broward County system for mutual-aid

Investigations in Broward County – swap radios

No ILA/memorandum of understanding (MOU) in place

Needs Broward IDs and system key

o Deployables:

Vehicle with all bands, 40-foot mast, ACU1000 installed

Suitcase repeaters for police, fire, and public works

o Broward County has not provided mutual-aid to Hialeah within the last 13 years

o Cross-programming of subscribers between Hialeah and Broward County is desired

o The regional 700 MHz P25 overlay system may be beneficial for wide-area

interoperability

City of Hollywood

Responses from City of Hollywood representatives are summarized below.

Hollywood manages its own radios, towers, and antennas; however, the County owns the

repeaters

o Nine frequencies per site – not managed at all

o Three sites – only time the City communicates with the County to address infrastructure

o ASTRO Digital – only agency

o County code plug needs to be followed – creates a problem for fire

o Three sites – 9 channel simulcast at all sites – 1 site is receive only

o Looking for City to purchase repeaters – Quantars

o No discussions to date concerning a P25 migration

o Fire 139 radios, police 400+; not all work

o Fire – 97 in use, police 250-275 in use

o Local government – Almost 400 radios in use

o Wanted local government to go to MOTOTRBO system – City turned it down

o Parking enforcement – not on county system – moved them under the police department

for City of Fort Lauderdale – same thing with Park rangers – no ID changes


o APX7000XE and APX4000 – all radios in use over a year now

o Serious lack of backup capability – if City systems go away, where does the backup

system go?

o City manager will not allow City to buy new radios

o Several hundred potentially available spare radios from Hollywood

o No budget for radio upgrades

o Would like to have separate backup system in event of failure to primary system

The City indicated the following regarding coverage:

o Coverage worked fine – issue with Scott mask speak easy – working with special

microphones – problem with digital, mainly

o Coverage testing on County system – repeater on the beach – was a problem on the

City channel

o Working on making East site transmit and receive

o BSO/MERS

o Hollywood – City hall 50 foot, up to 100 feet to get coverage

o Station 74 – 40-foot – 50-foot pushup pull on top of station

o Mobile repeaters for fire


o Do not call the County for talkgroup – wanted County to go down to analog – not going

back to analog

o Agencies cannot talk directly to City because of ASTRO Digital

o Two channels where local government can talk to police/fire

o Police – virtually no City of Hollywood need to switch to County channels; Zone 14

available, but rarely use it

o Fire – 14 tactical channels in switch C, got when switched to County; fire department

utilizes those channels on a regular basis

o Fire dispatch on County system – digital

o County has 5 ASTRO channels on infrastructure

o Hollywood PD East, Hollywood West, Fort Lauderdale SID – limited capacity for digital

talk groups; busies a frequent issue.

o Almost no switching from the County system to the City of Hollywood system

o Just go to tactical channels – very rare that patches occur

o Interoperability needs to be maintained with Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade

County

o Fort Lauderdale not currently programmed on Harris system – Harris not allowing other

vendors’ radios until system accepted

o 3600 Baud system interoperability still an issue

o Talks of ISSI in Plantation HMS – wanted to connect to Palm Beach and Miami-Dade

o ACU 5000 and a bunch of control stations – Region 7 resource, one in each region now

City of Hollywood no longer dispatches:

o Dispatch will not put local government talkgroups on consoles

o Patching not available from consoles

o Access database with names and IDs; lookup table in case they get an emergency


o Hollywood was previously dispatching – bad for users the first month with analog; used

to do a lot of patching

o Patching still occurred if other agencies came to Hollywood; had to patch analog

talkgroups to digital talkgroups

o Patches were better with own dispatch center talkgroups

City of Miami

Responses from City of Miami representatives are summarized below.

Miami’s current system has 2 Tx/Rx sites and 3 Rx-only sites, with 20 channels to support

approximately 4,000 users

o System is currently a Motorola SmartNet system

o Currently developing specifications for upgrade to P25 Phase I

o Will be adding sites

o Additional users include Coconut Grove and Key Biscayne


o All Miami radios have the Broward County Zone 14 installed and Broward has access to

Miami talkgroups

Broward County digital IDs provided for Miami SIS talkgroups

The City is considering ISSI for interoperability needs with P25 systems

Has FIN in place and operational

Has Broward Sheriff’s Office access from dispatch via control station

o Backup dispatch in Coconut Grove

o The system is self-maintained with technicians that perform all aspects of system

maintenance, including bench-level component repairs

o Deployables:

10-channel trunked system in PEPRO trailer

2 system IDs – selectable

ACU1000 – pelican case

ACU 1000 mobile gateway in police and fire departments

City of Miami Beach

Responses from City of Miami Beach representatives are summarized below.

Current Miami Beach System is SmartNet with 4 sites and 10 channels supporting

appxoimatlely1,500 users


o Interoperability used to occur between Miami Beach and Broward County users on a

daily basis

o Miami Beach gave Broward County 300 system IDs; the IDs never were allocated and

have since been removed from the Miami Beach system

Interoperability with Broward County users today typically occurs using cache radios


The 8TAC93 mutual-aid repeater is used when cache radios are not available

The Miami Beach, City of Miami, and City of Hialeah systems are all Motorola systems

with the full cross-programming of subscribers

No MOU is in place for interoperability

Removed Broward IDs from North Miami Beach radios

When in Broward County – swap radios

Uses 8Call and 8TAC for incidents

Does not have control stations on Broward County system in consoles

Interoperability with Broward County occurs on a daily/weekly basis

There is a 700 MHz P25 overlay system deployed on top of the Miami-Dade County

administration building

The City is exploring options for migration to P25, including migrating to the County

system; however, the County system does not adequately cover Miami Beach with its

current radio sites

City of Plantation

Responses from City of Plantation representatives are summarized below.

Plantation expects completion of its own 4-channel, P25 Phase II system in first quarter of 2016

o New system on HMS

o New system built for in-building coverage

o All new APX radios

Plantation has its own primary PSAP


o Plantation has neighboring jurisdictions’ talkgroups

Has ILA for 8 talkgroups – 4 fire, 4 law enforcement

Zone 12 in mobiles and portables

K9 mutual-aid goes to others’ talkgroups

Collier County

Responses from Collier County representatives are summarized below.

Current Collier County System serves 8 fire departments, 2 municipal departments, several

independent

o Each agency has responsibility for subscribers

o Sheriff’s units have portable and mobile – new portables and mobile

o Trying to get all portables switched to P25-capable units

o New radios Phase II capable – going straight to Phase II

o XG-75 radios being deployed – pretty much a Harris shop; need Harris radios for the

migration

o ISSI not planned for system; Symphony consoles

o Everglades deputies now have Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS)


o Programming shared with Miami-Dade, Miccosukee; shared programming

o State working on national LID regardless of system

Domestic security taskforce – committee on interoperability communications

Each region has representatives

Representatives indicated the following information regarding system coverage:

Broward County’s footprint does not make it to the county line

Broward system does not make it to mile marker 50

Collier can get coverage well into Broward on its system

Coverage is an issue – 700 MHz mutual-aid – coordinated build out of some of those

channels across south Florida – work on LID structure

Aviation units – Collier air unit will go into other counties deep into the county – if

chopper is out of commission, need wide-area solution – SLERS in 700 MHz for

chopper; done for law enforcement, not mutual-aid.

Collier County indicated the following regarding interoperability:

o Incidents rough for fire rescue being on two systems; fire has one of their radios

No cross-programming – Collier is on Harris system, Broward is on Motorola system

During a major evacuation – would have to be a large amount of coordination

Cross-programming would help

A few pursuits into Broward County – generally tried to use the FIN – did not want them

switching to mutual-aid

Fire recently had station built – Broward would handle it, but big mutual-aid incidents

have not occurred yet

Automatic-aid agreements – never seen anything formal; some between fire agencies,

but nothing known in Broward County – would like to see some mutual-aid systems

o Once a week on average – EMS probably the most often for crashes on I-75

o Collier/Broward – some investigative activity – every now and then, they need

coordination on radio, but usually use cell phones

o Seminole Nation – they have Collier talkgroups (on SLERS)

o FIN – gateway connection – repeater control through FIN network, with exception of

TAC93 – tied to console – console patches into the FIN

o Mutual-aid – NPSPAC repeater; activate it

o County has Tac 3, 8TAC92 East, 8TAC94 East

o Do they have a bank of interoperability channels? – law enforcement talkgroups –each

agency has the other agency’s talkgroups – 3 law – fire has fire/EMS

o Deployables:

Mutual-aid trailer – PEPRO Trailer with 65-foot mast

Repeaters for all public safety bands

Mutual-aid dispatch – truck with 9 dispatch positions and Zetron consoles;

consoles all connected to a rack of 19 radios (low band, high band, all NIFOG

channels); Collier talkgroups, interop talkgroups; can deploy anywhere for use

as a dispatch talk group; have not used with Broward – used primarily in Region

6


700 MHz interoperability channels – programmed into subscribers and trailer (5

of them in radios, all in trailer) – all deployable; would be nice to do something

statewide

SLERS 700 MHz sites are trunked – 7 or 8 sites statewide

Air units – 2 helicopters and a fixed wing through Sheriff’s Office; EMS has one

helicopter

Choppers available for mutual-aid as needed

Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue

Responses from Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue representatives are summarized below.

The current Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue system used for day-to-day operations is a

conventional simulcast system with 11 simulcast channels:

o Hospital communications – transitioning to fully P25 800 MHz; already using 800 MHz

system in Broward County when transmitting to Broward hospitals.

o All trucks have Motorola APX, which have UHF and 700/800

o UHF system in 450 MHz range

o All personnel have UHF and multiband, and trucks by end of year with multiband radio

o Allocated 2 or 3 talkgroups just to Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue

o Connected via P25 ISSI to Miami-Dade County’s P25 system

o Do not use the 800 MHz system for any situation where firefighters may be in a

hazardous environment (fire, day-to-day operations); 800 MHz used for hospital

communications and special events

o UHF system preserved has 47 sites; better than half have transmit capability

o Designed for -21 dB of attenuation; includes strip malls – County fire system much

better.

o Designed and built for firefighting, period

o When law enforcement responds to fire scene, they have unified command presence to

provide greatest utilizing of resources

o Analog UHF K Core – Motorola master site – mix of repeaters – Quantars and GTR800s

o Some GTR, some Quantar – Quantar at end-of-life in 2020, so transitioning to GTRs.

o Fire dispatch independent and geographically independent – state-of-the-art fire

dispatch center designed specifically for your needs – MCC7500s – ISSI version 1 on

console – dispatchers can use a conventional resource or Harris resource

The County indicated the following regarding interoperability:

Personnel have Broward County talkgroups just for them; in addition to them, ISSI

would be beneficial

Broward channels – 3 allocated to Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue

One resource available where you can switch between different talkgroups

All of Broward 800 MHZ Medcom channels – 14 call, 14 op 1, 14 op

Users would switch to Broward talkgroups

Could stay on Miami-Dade system for the most part


South Broward – probably stay on Miami-Dade system, if working autonomously – in

reverse they would stay autonomous or patch if necessary

ISSI – access at dispatch to Broward talkgroups

Minimal need for interoperability channels, but thinks they are necessary – dedicated

Input/Output on 800 MHz system – stopped putting in UHF interoperability – radios will

have 800 MHZ and stay on that – plenty of allocated IO talkgroups – have not used them

in mission-critical environment

From an end-user perspective, place different bands on a single zone

o Dispatchers have all P25 talkgroups on their consoles – communicate with their units via

800 or UHF

o Deployables:

Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue has regional assets – gateways, portable and

fixed – Fire has UHF, 800 MHz P25 caches; largest cache is UHF, about 300-

400 radios

HT1250s, XTS 5000s, XTS 2500s

Radios out in the field – 500 deployed 800 MHz (moving from mobiles to

multiband)

135 front line units – 500 (total units)

Covers all of Miami-Dade County – has the ability to respond anywhere

Miami-Dade County Law Enforcement

Responses from Miami-Dade County Law Enforcement representatives are summarized below.

The current Miami-Dade County Law Enforcement system is completely P25, Phase I, with the

technology to go to Phase II.

o When switched to P25, did not look at coverage in the County and growth of the County

now currently adding more sites

o Did not see a coverage reduction and users used to hearing static before

o Two separate simulcast cells overlapping

o A little different footprint depending on the antenna placement

o Multiple multi-sites that are not on the trunked system

o 120 talk paths between the different sites

o Two simulcast, both 20-channel systems

o Believe they have the capacity to handle roaming if possible

Each of the systems are countywide systems with some overlap into the other systems


Outside end of the County, radio programmed with the Broward County system.

Channel brought through console to patch to Miami-Dade talkgroup

Broward County has same capability, talkgroup through console

Used heavily on a weekly basis

FIN – patches (CPATCH) – CPATCH talkgroup only on the FIN, patch only on

talkgroups


Would just add radios to add functionality – best to move to one of your talkgroups –

when they roam in, they could switch talkgroups – would be best

Both have proprietary system – best to go through shared talkgroups

One thing Miami-Dade did – Broward Sheriff’s Office 5-channel trunked COW – on

Miami-Dade County resources

Aventura has their own system, so they switch back and forth

Opa Locka – Miami Gardens – both on County system

Miami-Dade has ISSI – does not solve all their problems

Testing would have to verify

8CALL/8TACS – used frequently – MATAC2 and MATAC4 and simulcast countywide –

turned on or off if needed; does get needed

700 MHz interoperability – nothing built out yet

Fixed wing and choppers provide mutual-aid – still hit the Miami-Dade system when

roaming

Mutual-aid throughout Florida – 8CALL/8TAC – able to go to different spectrum

Air units do not have SLERS; no connection to SLERS – SLERS in Miami-Dade is much

reduced – they can roam to Miami-Dade if need be

Miami-Dade, none that are regional or grant-funded – County maintains and owns,

deployed to multiple counties as needed

10-channel P25 800 MHz

5-channel P25 800 MHz

700 MHz, 10-channel

700 MHz, 5-channel

95 agencies on the County’s radio system, and 30,000 radios

Really depends on what the need is – everything is self-maintained; generate their own

fuel; do not reside on outside venue – able to respond fairly quickly and rotate staff

across

Mutual-aid agreements for police and fire – very limited radio discussion

Could share dispatch centers – redundant if possible

o Two dispatch centers; not both live – capability of going both if need be – that is the

backup now

o Not aware of any two-radio solutions – everything is done through dispatch.

Palm Beach County

Responses from Palm Beach County representatives are summarized below.

Palm Beach County has an ISSI server in place and available


Interoperability is done by cross-programming all mobiles on Broward County Zones 12

& 14, and Broward on the Palm Beach “commons” zones

Boca Raton PD may not have Commons programmed in their radios


With the move to P25, Palm Beach will need to know the Broward IDs to turn on in their

switch

A subset of the Commons talkgroups will be encrypted – will need to coordinate

encryption keys

No deployable assets

Does have a state EDACS deployable garaged in Palm Beach County

8Call and 8TAC repeaters deployed in Palm Beach County – Delray, Boynton, Boca and

Belle Glade

MAFLA at Westlake and West Palm sites

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue

Responses from Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue representatives are summarized below.

The Seminole Tribe conducts all dispatch and tactical operations on SLERS

o May be room on the Hollywood Casino roof for a Broward County site, if location is

needed

o Seminoles are not a PSAP, with dispatch managed by Seminole Tribe Police

Department

The Tribe indicated the following regarding coverage:

Tribal coverage requirements include Big Cypress reservation, Hollywood reservation,

Coconut Creek reservation, and smaller communities in Hendry, Okeechobee, and

Martin County

Coverage in the western end along Interstate-75 (I-75) and in the Everglades to the

Broward County line is inadequate – lose system coverage around Mile 41 on I-75, and

the 14-mile marker on Snake Road

Broward 4.1 system coverage in the Hollywood casino is poor in building – overcame on

the state system with a dedicated SLERS site on the casino roof

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue indicated the following regarding interoperability:

Primary interoperability requirement is for access to Broward County system MED

talkgroups for communication with hospitals, and interoperability with Hollywood and

County fire and police for incidents in Hollywood and Coconut Creek

Currently Harris SLERS radios will not accommodate the Broward 4.1 system. A second

radio is needed to access the Broward 4.1 system.

Broward has a VHF control station at the Markham Park tower site connected to Central

Dispatch to access the VHF repeater on the Big Cypress reservation; would like a

permanent patch with a 800 MHz talkgroup for law and fire interoperability

Station 106 currently has VHF radios in the engine for interoperability

Fire Station Alerting

o Requested addition of Seminole Fire Rescue Station 108 to FSA system

o Very happy with Westnet for FSA provider


Appendix E – Web Survey User Summary Input

MCP conducted a Web survey to solicit additional input from primary users on the Broward County

communications system. This section summarizes key issues collected from the surveys. A complete

listing of the survey responses is provided in Appendix F.

Web surveys were completed by the following agencies:


Agency Dept. Full Name Phone Email

Broward County Schools Other Ed Kessler 754-321-0349 [email protected]

Broward County Sheriff's Office Other Eric Caldwell 954.831.8348 [email protected]

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue Fire Michael B. Kane 954-300-7740 [email protected]

City of Fort Lauderdale Other Gary Gray 954-828-5762 [email protected]

City of Hallandale Beach Law Dwayne S. Flournoy 954-457-1411 [email protected]

City of Hollywood Other Christophe St. Luce 954-921-3038 [email protected]

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Fire Donald P. Widing 954-630-4547 [email protected]

City of Sunrise Police Department EMS Roger Krege 954-746-3345 [email protected]

Coconut Creek Police Department Law Ryan Marken 954-956-1593 [email protected]

Lauderhill Fire Rescue Fire Jeff Levy 954-730-2950 [email protected]

Lighthouse Point Police Department Law Ross Licata 954-942-8080 [email protected]

lkajkda Fire llll llllll 555-555-5555 [email protected]

Miramar Fire Rescue Fire Carlos Vazquez 954-602-4835 [email protected]

Miramar Police Department Law John Savaiko 954 602 4400 [email protected]

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue Fire Rodney Turpel 954-720-4315 [email protected]

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Other Andrew Teixeira 954-435-6700 [email protected]

Pembroke Pines Police Department Law Captain Jose Vargas 954-436-3220 [email protected]

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Fire Chester Bolton 954-786-4343 [email protected]

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department Law Enrique Torres 561-317-3052 [email protected]

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Fire Tim Lanham 954-658-6260 [email protected]

Seminole Tribe Police Department Law John Auer 954-967-8900 [email protected]


Surveys were not received from the following agencies:

Agency Dept.

DAVIE

TAMARAC

TOWN OF HILLSBORO BEACH

WILTON MANORS POLICE DEPARTMENT

LAUDERDALE BY THE SEA

CITY OF POMPANO BEACH User Mtg

MARGATE User Mtg

The following list summarizes information collected critical to the requirements of the new radio system:

Approximately 39,947 full-time, 421 part-time, and 420 volunteer personnel were identified from

user agencies on the system. Of those employees, 10,810 were identified as radio users, with

up to 4,848 users on shift at any one point in time.

During a typical day, it is estimated that 2,079 radio calls are responded to, with an average of 2

units responding per call.

Budgets vary dramatically from agency to agency for equipment purchases and radio

maintenance. Equipment purchase budgets range from $0 to $100,000, and maintenance

budgets range from $0 to $400,000.

Approximately half of responding agencies indicated use of a preventive maintenance program

for subscribers

Most agencies indicated they agreed with the coverage estimated on the propagation studies

provided. Those that did not agree indicated in-building and beach coverage was worse than

estimated.

Numerous areas were identified where coverage is inadequate. The following list recurring

areas identified with poor coverage:

o Western part of the County

o Deerfield Beach

o I-75 to mile marker 52

o In-building coverage in dense buildings (hospitals, schools, high rise buildings, fire

stations)

o Issues were identified with high-rise buildings that require greater penetration than the

“medium” rating of 12-15 dB attenuation typically applied to design criteria

o Areas along the beach

o Big Cypress reservation

Interoperability gaps were identified with the following agencies:

o FHP


o FMP

o PBSO

o Miami-Dade County

o Seminole Tribe Police

o Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue

o US Coast Guard

o Border Patrol

o Dispatch connectivity to all Fort Lauderdale talkgroups

o Coral Springs

o Plantation

o Hollywood

o Miami Gardens

o Miccosukee and Big Cypress Reservations

Most agencies they felt they had enough talkgroups to adequately perform their duties. Most

issues noted relate to interoperability talkgroups or talkgroup access on dispatch consoles.

The following list summarizes the level of importance respondents identified for current and

potentially new subscriber features

o Emergency Alert and Emergency Call – Most agencies agreed this is an absolute

Necessity

o Encryption – Most agencies indicated this feature was either critical or would be useful

for day-to-day operations. A greater need was identified by law enforcement agencies.

o Lapel Microphones – Most agencies indicated this was either an absolute necessity or

useful for day to day operations

o Mobile Radio GPS – Most agencies indicated this would be beneficial, being either an

absolute necessity or useful for day to day operations

o Portable Radio GPS – Similar needs reported for Mobile Radio GPS

o Cordless headset for speaker/microphone for portable radio – Most agencies indicated

this would be nice to have but not critical

o Cordless Bluetooth microphone for mobile radios – Most agencies agreed this would

have limit benefit

o Hands-free operation – Most agencies agreed this would be nice to have but not critical.

Some agencies indicated this was an absolute necessity.

o Over the air programming – Most agencies indicated this was either an absolute

necessity or would be nice to have.

o Scanning – Most agencies indicating scanning would either be nice to have or would be

useful for day-to-day operations.

o Over the air Rekeying – Most agencies indicated this was either a necessity or would be


o Bright Colored radios - Most law enforcement agencies indicated this was not important,

while fire agencies indicated it would be either useful for day to day operations or nice to

have.

o Larger Displays – Most agencies indicated this was either a necessity or would be nice

to have but not critical.


o Larger Knobs – Most agencies indicated this was either nice to have but not critical, or

useful for day-to-day operations.

o Operation wearing gloves – Identified as critical for responding fire agencies and not

important for most law enforcement agencies.

o Private call – Most respondents indicated this feature was either useful for day to day

operations or would be nice to have but not critical

o Private radio alert – Most users indicated this was either useful in limited circumstances

or nice to have but not critical

o Text Message – Most respondents indicated this would be nice to have but not critical

o Waterproof/submersible radio – Strongly supported by responding fire agencies

o Stealth mode – Identified as an absolute necessity or useful for day to day operations by

most responding law enforcement agencies

o Radio-to-radio direct communications – Identified as either an absolute necessity or


o In-car repeaters – Responses ranged across available options, from not important to

absolute necessity

o Biometrics – Most respondents indicated this was not important or would be nice to have

but not critical

o Private talk groups not on dispatch consoles – Responses ranged across all available

options

o Ability to make and receive telephone calls – Most respondents indicated this was not

important or would be useful in limited circumstances

o Ability to use a smartphone to make radio calls – Responses ranged across available

options

Scanning was identified as a need by approximately one quarter of responding agencies

Those agencies that use the paging system indicated issues with coverage that has degraded

and maintenance of the existing system

Most agencies on the system do not feel that the system provides a high level of reliability.

Most cited numerous instances of prolonged failures.

Approximately half of users indicated an issue with system busies, which typically occur during

peak times. It may be difficult to distinguish between a “deny” tone when the radio is not given

system access, and a “busy” tone that will grant talkgroup access when the channel is available,

usually after several seconds.

Multiple responses indicated that non-public safety agencies should not be on the system to

preserve capacity.

Approximately half of responding agencies indicated instances of congestion on their primary

talkgroups


Appendix F – Web Survey User Detailed Input

Agency Dept Full Name Phone Email

Broward County Schools Other Ed Kessler 754-321-0349 [email protected]

Broward County Sheriff's Office Other Eric Caldwell 954.831.8348 [email protected]

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue Fire Michael B. Kane 954-300-7740 [email protected]

City of Fort Lauderdale Other Gary Gray 954-828-5762 [email protected]

City of Hallandale Beach Law Dwayne S. Flournoy 954-457-1411 [email protected]

City of Hollywood Other Christophe St. Luce 954-921-3038 [email protected]

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Fire Donald P. Widing 954-630-4547 [email protected]

City of Sunrise Police Department EMS Roger Krege 954-746-3345 [email protected]

Coconut Creek Police Department Law Ryan Marken 954-956-1593 [email protected]

Lauderhill Fire Rescue Fire Jeff Levy 954-730-2950 [email protected]

Lighthouse Point Police Department Law Ross Licata 954-942-8080 [email protected]

lkajkda Fire llll llllll 555-555-5555 [email protected]

Miramar Fire Rescue Fire Carlos Vazquez 954-602-4835 [email protected]

Miramar Police Department Law John Savaiko 954 602 4400 [email protected]

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue Fire rodney turpel 954-720-4315 [email protected]

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Other Andrew Teixeira 954-435-6700 [email protected]

Pembroke Pines Police Department Law Captain Jose Vargas 954-436-3220 [email protected]

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Fire Chester Bolton 954-786-4343 [email protected]

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department Law Enrique Torres 561-317-3052 [email protected]

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Fire Tim Lanham 954-658-6260 [email protected]

Seminole Tribe Police Department Law John Auer 954-967-8900 [email protected]

User and Agency Information (Q1-Q3)

Agency Dept

DAVIE

TAMARAC

TOWN OF HILLSBORO BEACH

WILTON MANORS POLICE DEPARTMENT

LAUDERDALE BY THE SEA

CORAL SPRINGS Interview

CITY OF PLANTATION Interview

CITY OF POMPANO BEACH User Mtg

MARGATE User Mtg

No submitted Responses

AgencyHow many full-time

members does your

agency employ?

How many part-time

members does your

agency employ

How many volunteer

members does your

agency employ

How many individuals are

assigned a radio to

perform his/her duties-

total

How many individuals are

assigned a radio to

perform his/her duties-

per shift

Are radios assigned to an

individual user

Are radios assigned per

shift from a pool of

radios

If assigned to an

individual, does the user

have a charger assigned

with the radio

Does the user have a

spare battery assigned

with the radio

What type of battery does

your radio use: Lithium-

Ion


your radio use: NiCd -

Nickel cadmium


your radio use: NiMH -

Nickel–metal hydride


your radio use: Other

Does the user have a

battery conditioner

How often are the

battery's inspected

What is the battery life

cycle plan your

organization uses- How

often are the batteries

replaced or refreshed

Does the user have an in-

vehicle charger

If yes, please specify

type (inverter, 12v

adapter) - comment

Does the agency have a

radio user training

program


radio user training

program - comment

Broward County Schools 30,000 - - 2,600 3 Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Quarterly As needed No Yes

Broward County Sheriff's Office 5,400 100 100 4,400 26 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Every use or annually 15-18 months No Yes

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue 700 - 50 400 15 Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes

Chargers have built in

maintainer

Chargers have maintainers

that recondition batteries

and if battery is end of life it

is replaced Yes 12v adapter No

City of Fort Lauderdale 1,100 150 100 1,000 12 Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes Daily Per manufacturer No Yes

City of Hallandale Beach 143 15 60 123 7 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes When warranted

When they begin to show

signs of not holding an

adequate charge No Yes

City of Hollywood 600 - - 400 30 Yes No Yes No Yes No No Yes Weekly As needed Yes

Partial charger issue to

staff

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue 71 - - 62 83 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Weekly on Mondays Every two years Yes No

City of Sunrise Police Department 240 38 20 265 300 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes As needed As needed No Yes

Coconut Creek Police Department 100 4 - 104 100 Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No As needed No Inverter No

Lauderhill Fire Rescue 94 - - 54 50 Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yearly Yearly replaced Yes Travel No

Lighthouse Point Police Department 41 2 25 35 15 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Annually As needed No No

lkajkda 125 25 50 100 63 Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Daily

Batteries are replaced

when needed per damage

or per the Motorola

Charger's instructions No Yes During Probation Class

Miramar Fire Rescue 155 - - 70 40 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Every 6 month

Typically every 8 to 12

months Yes 12v adapter Yes

Miramar Police Department - 1 - 245 30 Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No Unknown No No

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue 41 4 - 44 - Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Annually Approx. 3 years Yes

Law Enforcement and

Maintenance have in

vehicle chargers No

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue 219 3 - 202 100 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes On an as needed basis Yes 12v adapter Yes

Users are given a walk

through of their radio at

distribution

Pembroke Pines Police Department 309 30 13 268 1,250 Yes No Yes Yes No No No Li-ion and NiCd Yes As needed Approx 1/yr Yes 12v adapter No

Formally-No. Training is

completed on FTO for

sworn units.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue 200 31 - 142 30 Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes No As needed, no set times Every two years No Yes

It is covered during in

house training for new

recruits

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department 14 15 - 14 300 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

As needed. we recommend

yearly replacement

Yearly replacement is

recommended, however

we do see officers retaining

their older batteries that still

provide adequate service.

If the battery does not meet

the usage requirements, it

gets turned in. Yes

Advancetec 12 volt

powered. No

This was attempted but

end users were not

receptive.

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue 150 1 - 70 19 No Yes N/A N/A No Yes No N/A

No specific time aside from

daily use As needed No No

Seminole Tribe Police Department 245 2 2 212 25 Yes N/A Yes Yes Yes N/A Yes Yes Daily As needed Yes 12V Motorola OEM Yes Yes

Totals: 39,947 421 420 10,810 2,498

Agency Personnel (Q4-Q13, Q18)

Agency

During a typical day,

what is the maximum

number of radio users in

your agency that are on

shift at any one point in

time?

During a typical day,

what is the average

number of radio calls

you receive and/or

respond to?

How many units respond

to a typical call?

Broward County Schools 2,300 - -

Broward County Sheriff's Office 1,250 45 2

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue 200 100 3

City of Fort Lauderdale 300 250 2

City of Hallandale Beach 25 20 2

City of Hollywood 150 30 3

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue 20 50 3

City of Sunrise Police Department 60 40 2

Coconut Creek Police Department 40 100 2

Lauderhill Fire Rescue 34 100 2

Lighthouse Point Police Department 16 7 1

lkajkda 100 50 3

Miramar Fire Rescue 40 1,000 2

Miramar Police Department 80 50 3

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue 12 10 2

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue 55 10 3

Pembroke Pines Police Department 65 6 2

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue 83 6 1

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department 3 5 1

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue 15 200 2

Seminole Tribe Police Department

Totals: 4,848 2,079 41

Agency's Call Volume (Q14)

Agency

What is your agency's

annual budget for radio

equipment purchases?

What is your agency's

annual budget for radio

equipment maintenance?


preventative

maintenance program


preventative

maintenance program -

comment

Broward County Schools varies varies Yes

Broward County Sheriff's Office $100,000 $20,000 Yes Annual MOS contract

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue 0 $15,000 No

Radios are currently in

warranty but looking into

getting a maintenance

program at this time.

City of Fort Lauderdale $50,000 $400,000 Yes

City of Hallandale Beach 0 $14,000 No

City of Hollywood 0 $40,000

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue $12,000 $3,000 No

City of Sunrise Police Department $1,800 $55,000 Yes

Coconut Creek Police Department

Buy radios as needed. No

set budget. $5,000 No

The City is currently

gathering information for a

preventative maintenance

program, however, we

have no program in

existence as of yet.

Lauderhill Fire Rescue

$6000-$7000 for batteries

and accessories

Included in recent new

purchase 2 yr Motorola

Service Contract No

Lighthouse Point Police Department

$1,000 or more when

needed

$1,000 or more when

needed No

lkajkda $50,000 $10,000 No

We found it less expensive

to maintain in-house and

use Motorola's Depot for

things beyond our

capabilities.

Miramar Fire Rescue $7,500 $67,000 Yes

Miramar Police Department 0 $33,000 No

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue 10,0000 $10,000 Yes

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue It varies. Probably less than $20,000 No

Pembroke Pines Police Department 0 $24,100 No Fix and repair as needed

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue $56,000 $47,000 No

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department Not a line item - as needed Not a line item -as needed Yes

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue $50,000 $20,000 No

Seminole Tribe Police Department Yes

Send to control

communications for

preventative

Agency's Budget (Q15-Q17)

Agency Response 20 Response 21

Broward County Schools No Portable coverage better than the map

Broward County Sheriff's Office Yes

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue No

Many fire stations, hospitals, schools and commercial

buildings are hardened/reinforced buildings. In many

cases, radio coverage is too weak to penetrate these

types of structures. In addition, we experience drop-

off of the complete inability to communicate during

inclement weather (i.e. NO COMMS).

City of Fort Lauderdale Yes

City of Hallandale Beach No transmission and reception on the beach is poor

City of Hollywood Yes

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Yes

City of Sunrise Police Department Yes

Coconut Creek Police Department Yes

Lauderhill Fire Rescue Yes

Lighthouse Point Police Department Yes

lkajkda Yes

Miramar Fire Rescue Yes

Miramar Police Department No in building coverage is lacking

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue Yes

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Yes N/A

Pembroke Pines Police Department Yes

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Yes

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department Yes

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Yes

Seminole Tribe Police Department N/A

Question 20-21: Does your experience with system coverage agree with the above maps? If not please explain in detail and provide locations: Refer

to Q19 map

Radio System User Feedback

Agency Response

Broward County Schools

Broward County Sheriff's Office

Western part of the County (MM37>County Line). All hardened facilities (schools, EOCs,

shelters). Deerfield Beach along the beach.

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue

West of US HWY 27 to the County line is questionable at times. BSOFR runs to mm52 on

I75 and sometimes runs mutual aid well beyond that (I have been to mm70 before). We

have a station at mm35 on I75 and service there is questionable at times, especially in the

Everglades where our airboat responds to. This is very frustrating because many of our

most emergent cases involve rescues in the everglades.

Current radios are NOT effective in the following environments:

Hospitals (most)

Schools (nearly all)

High Rise Buildings (many, especially the lower floors)

Fire Stations (more than half)


Too many to list here. In-building is an issue. S.Fla buildings are much more dense than

"medium". With the low-E glass requirements that are coming, in-building coverage will get

worse, not better. More sites are needed in the built up areas of the County. I've heard

there are issues on the western side of the County.

City of Hallandale Beach

City of Hollywood

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue N/A Map difficult to review. Sorry

City of Sunrise Police Department

8000 NW 44th St, Sunrise, FL 33351


9100 NW 21st Manor, Sunrise, FL 33322

8800 NW 54th Ct, Sunrise, FL 33351


3700 Hiatus Rd, Sunrise, FL 33351

3230 N Nob Hill Rd, Sunrise, FL 33351

2101 N Pine Island Rd, Sunrise, FL 33322

2100 NW 70th Ave, Sunrise, FL 33313


2100 NW 104th Ave, Sunrise, FL 33322



Lauderhill City Hall 5581 W. OPB (intermittent)

Target University and Commercial (intermittent)

Publix 5855 W. OPB (intermittent)

Broward General Hospital

(Motorola APX)

Lighthouse Point Police Department N/A

lkajkda North and East

Miramar Fire Rescue All schools in the city, inside some office buildings with portables

Miramar Police Department Public schools and hospitals

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue

Pembroke Pines Police Department N/A

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue On the beach around high-rise buildings and inside of some high-rises.

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Big Cypress reservation and Alligator alley.



Question 22: Please list areas (address or general description) where you do not have coverage on the existing system.

Agency Response

Broward County Schools Yes, various locations

Broward County Sheriff's Office All schools and public buildings require full time, reliable coverage


Publix: 777 SW 12th Ave, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Broward General Medical Center: 1600 S. Andrews Ave, Ft. Lauderdale

Boyd Anderson High School: Lauderdale Lakes

City of Fort Lauderdale All schools, the Federal and County Courthouses, high rise buildings within the City

City of Hallandale Beach All Hallandale school and condos on the beach

City of Hollywood Beach front properties along Hollywood Beach; especially stairwells of those buildings

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Too numerous to list but generally high rise buildings


The BB&T Center - 1 Panther Parkway, Sunrise

Sawgrass Mills Mall - 12801 W. Sunrise Blvd, Sunrise

Every Broward County School in the city. (The school address are listed above)

Coconut Creek Police Department Our schools have BDAs in them and our police station also has one

Lauderhill Fire Rescue Need coverage in all schools, and commercial occupancies

Lighthouse Point Police Department No

lkajkda No

Miramar Fire Rescue Mainly we need better coverage in school like installing a repeater to increase the coverage

Miramar Police Department All public schools

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue No

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Schools, Hospitals, Etc.

Pembroke Pines Police Department Hospitals and Schools

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Two lengthy to list on such short notice.

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department No

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Hollywood Hard Rock casino and hotel. Coconut casino.



Question 23: Does your agency have any special circumstances that would require enhanced in-building radio coverage such as schools and malls.

Please list those areas and any specific buildings that require additional enhanced coverage.

Agency Response


Broward County Sheriff's Office FHP, FMP, PBSO, Miami-Dade County


Inability to cohesively communicate with the following agencies:

Florida Hwy Patrol

Seminole Tribe Police


US Coast Guard

DOHS Border Patrol


ATF and Marshals have programmed our system into their radios. USCG uses VHF and

there's no interoperability short of using a VHF radio. State Agencies that assist during high

profile events cannot use their State radios, we provide loaner cache radios for them. With

the recent changes to the dispatch centers and console programming, the dispatchers do

not have access to all of the Fort Lauderdale Police or Fire talkgroups. This inhibits

coordination within our departments for both the daily and special event activities.


City of Hollywood

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue None


Need to be able to communicate with Miami-Dade County, W Palm Beach, and Federal

agencies.


Lauderhill Fire Rescue None


lkajkda Coral Springs, Plantation, Hollywood, Palm Beach, Miami Dade, State

Miramar Fire Rescue N/A

Miramar Police Department Miami Dade, Miami Gardens



We have (8) 400 mhz channels that we own and are currently bringing up to be active. It

would be a good idea for your system to be able to patch into our frequencies.


Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Coast Guard and marine patrol

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department None

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Western Broward County. Alligator Alley, Miccosukee and Big Cypress Reservations



Question 24: Please list any interoperability needs that you have on the existing radio system (agencies you need to communicate with that you do

not currently have this capability or cannot communicate with effectively):

Agency Response 25 Response 25a


From time to time it would be advantageous to have

local channel for use by the Sea Ranch Lakes Police

Only

Lauderhill Fire Rescue No

Need a FD BCINFO Channel at all 3 Regional

Centers

Coconut Creek Police Department Yes





Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue Yes


lkajkda Yes


Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Yes

We are currently operating on the old code plug.

There are very few times when we need additional

talkgroups.


City of Hallandale Beach Yes

Broward County Schools Yes



Except in emergency situations that cover several

jurisdictions.


City of Fort Lauderdale No

With the recent changes to the dispatch centers and

console programming, the dispatchers do not have

access to all of the Fort Lauderdale Police or Fire

talkgroups. This inhibits coordination within our

departments for both the daily and special event

activities. No Local Government talkgroups in the

consoles prevents patching when our LG units are

working with either Police or Fire, i.e. after the

hurricane when public services do road clearing

before the police and fire units can roll into an area.


Miramar Police Department No Talk group for Dade County LE agencies

Question 25: Do you feel there are enough radio talkgroups to adequately perform radio communications? If not, why?


Agency Emergency Alert and

Emergency CallEncryption

Lapel

Speaker/microphonesMobile Radio GPS Portable Radio GPS

Cordless Bluetooth

headset or

speaker/microphone

for portable radio

Cordless Bluetooth

microphone for mobile

radios

Hands-free operationOver-the-air

Programming (OTAP)

Scanning - Also see

#28

Over-the-air Rekeying

(OTAR) of encryption

keys

Bright-colored radio Larger displays Larger KnobsOperation wearing

gloves

Private unit-to-unit or

unit-to-dispatch calling

Private radio alert/horn

honk to individual

radios

Text messagingWaterproof/submersib

le radio unit

Stealth mode (turns

off lights and beeps)

Clear-to-talk tones or

indication

Radio-to-radio direct

communications

In-Car repeaters for

extended portable

range

Ability to monitor user

biometrics (skin

temperature, heart

rate, etc)

Private talk groups not

appearing on other

radios or dispatch

Ability to make and

receive telephone

calls

Ability to use a

smartphone to make

radio calls instead of a

portable/mobile radio

Please identify any other radio

features not listed above that

would be beneficial to your agency

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department Absolute Necessity

Nice to Have but Not

Critical Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity

Useful for Day to Day

Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Operations


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical

Lauderhill Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity

Useful in Limited

Circumstances Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations Absolute Necessity


Critical


Critical Absolute Necessity


Critical


Operations


Operations Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations




Critical


Operations




Operations


Operations

Useful in Limited


Coconut Creek Police Department Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Operations


Critical


Operations


Critical Not Important


Critical Not Important Not Important


Operations




Critical


Operations




Critical Not Important Not Important Not Important


Critical

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity


Operations Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity




Operations


Critical


Critical


Operations


Critical


Operations


Operations




Operations


Operations




Operations


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Lighthouse Point Police Department Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations


Critical


Operations


Critical


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances Not Important


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical


Critical


Critical N/A


Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations




Operations Absolute Necessity Not Important

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical


Operations None

Brow ard Sheriff 's Office Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity

Useful in Limited



Operations


Operations Not Important Not Important Not Important Absolute Necessity

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Ability to communicate w ith State and

Federal agencies as listed previously

City of Sunrise Police Department Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Critical


Critical


Operations


Operations





Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited



Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical


Operations


Operations


Critical




Critical


Critical


Critical N/A

lkajkda Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Critical Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity



Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Operations


Critical


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Critical




Operations

Useful in Limited



Operations


Operations


Operations Absolute Necessity Not Important Not Important




Critical


Operations Not Important Not Important Not Important Not Important Not Important bluetooth capability

Miramar Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations




Critical


Operations Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations




Operations Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity





Operations



Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical


Critical




Critical




Operations


Operations Not Important


Operations


Operations


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations


Operations


Operations Absolute Necessity Not Important Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations

Brow ard County Schools


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances Not Important Not Important Absolute Necessity


Critical Absolute Necessity Not Important


Critical




Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical Absolute Necessity Not Important Not Important

Useful in Limited



Critical

City of Hollyw ood Absolute Necessity


Critical


Operations


Operations


Operations



Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations


Critical


Critical


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations


Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical

Brow ard County Sheriff 's Office


Critical Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited





Critical


Critical


Operations


Operations


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances




Operations


Operations






Operations

Pembroke Pines Police Department Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations


Critical




Critical


Critical


Operations


Operations




Critical


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical


Operations


Operations


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical




Critical N/A

City of Fort Lauderdale Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Operations


Operations


Operations



Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations


Critical

Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Operations


Operations



Useful in Limited

Circumstances


Critical


Operations

Useful in Limited

Circumstances Absolute Necessity Absolute Necessity


Critical




Critical

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Absolute Necessity






Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations




Operations


Operations




Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations


Operations

Miramar Police Department


Question 26-27: Please use the follow ing table to rate how important the identif ied features are to your agency. Please identify any other radio features not listed above that w ould be beneficial to your agency.

Agency Response


Broward County Sheriff's Office All County law enforcement agencies.


All main dispatch TG's in Broward County (for regional services units; HAZ MAT, TRT, Air

Rescue)


Fire desires to scan all BroCo fire dispatch TGs. Police desire to scan their dispatch and

street crimes tactical TGs. Priority Monitor Scan is strongly desired.


City of Hollywood

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue City of Fort Lauderdale, Tamarac, Lauderdale Lakes, Pompano Beach, Lauderhill

City of Sunrise Police Department Sunrise PD




lkajkda

Miramar Fire Rescue



Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue We just need the ability to scan our frequencies


Pompano Beach Fire Rescue NA



Departments that provide us service or mutual aid response. BSO, Coconut

Creek/Margate, Hollywood, and Davie



Question 28: If scanning is needed, please list the departments and agencies you need to scan?

Agency Response 29 Response 30

Broward County Schools No

Broward County Sheriff's Office No


Over the past several years there has been a

pronounced degradation in the paging signal that was

once very robust and effective-reaching deep into

Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties. Now

coverage suffers insomuch that local reception is

often difficult. There have been countless outages

and failures of the paging system within the last 18

months. Prior to this, the paging system was one of

the most rock-solid performing systems in place. Our

agency is extremely dependent on paging for alerting

and sending sensitive information which may not want

to be verbally broadcast.

City of Fort Lauderdale Yes In building coverage, slow for pages to come out.

City of Hallandale Beach No

City of Hollywood No

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Yes None

City of Sunrise Police Department No

Coconut Creek Police Department No


Works great when it is operational! Needs to remain

a privately owned system, owned by the County.

ORCAT needs to maintain existing system until a new

system can be built.


lkajkda Yes Old and slow not reliable means of communication


We only have them as backup and we haven't had the

need to use them

Miramar Police Department N/A N/A

North Lauderdale Fire Rescue Yes No

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue No N/A

Pembroke Pines Police Department No

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue No


Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue No

Seminole Tribe Police Department N/A

Question 29-30: Do you use the Broward County pagers? If so, please list any issues that you have with the Broward County paging

system.

Pager System Feedback


Broward County Schools No

Multiple PTT's required to talk sometimes, static

common. System outages cause issues.

Broward County Sheriff's Office No

There seems to be a 10-15% failure rate inclusive of

peak times.

Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue No

There have been well-document critical failures of the

current radio system; some lasting more than 30

minutes in duration. This has necessitated developing

standard operating procedures (SOPs) to give

guidance in such situations. There have been times

that severe interference or complete radio failure has

occurred several times in one day.


I don't have enough time to list all of the issues. The

system is old and is becoming more difficult to obtain

parts. The spectrum is becoming more congested

causing a rise in noise floor and the spurious

appearances of interfering signals from unknown

sources that can include cellular sites, computers,

microprocessor controlled devices such as the traffic

lights, new high efficiency lighting products, the

multiplicity of BDA systems (correctly working or not...)

and God only knows what else we're competing with

to get our radios to work.



City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue No Issues develop during severe weather conditions


Spontaneous and sporadic communication failures.

At times officers will attempt to communicate but there

is not any response from the dispatch center.

Conversely, there are times when dispatch attempts to

contact the officers, and when the officers attempt to

respond dispatch does not hear the officers. These

issues along with sporadic widespread failures have

shaken the confidence in the reliability in the

communication system as it is currently configured.

Additionally, we have experienced intermittent

transmission within officer's transmissions, where

some of their transmissions come across choppy.


Radio system for the most part is reliable but it does

have issues at times. Cannot pinpoint dates and

times.

Lauderhill Fire Rescue No

Age of the system, and limited talk channels, with an

abundant amount of users.


For the most part, the current radio system has

provided us with acceptable reliability. On occasion,

we have experienced outages, but they are infrequent.

lkajkda Yes

Miramar Fire Rescue No

Current system goes down and sometimes is not

reliable


North Lauderdale Fire Rescue No Too many breakdowns

Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Yes Yes but I feel we need a backup radio system.


There is still a need for stronger signals within certain

buildings such as hospitals.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue No Fails too frequently. Inadequate redundancy.





Question 31: Do you feel that the current radio system provides a high level of reliability? If not, please explain why.


Broward County Schools Yes Early AM and early afternoon


In mission critical applications, busy signals are an

officer-safety issue and a detriment to effective

operations. These most often occur during the peak

times (6A-9A and 2P-4P, M-F).


Public safety communications should have the highest

priority to communicate. Public Safety should have

their own radio system. Public Safety should not

compete for air time with public works, animal control,

traffic engineering, etc.

City of Fort Lauderdale Yes

Only briefly at this time. Usual complaints are from

our encrypted users where there are only 5 channels

available for all to share.



City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue No Occurs occasionally, no specific days or times


The system busy signal is a good and bad option

depending on the scenario. Of course, it is positive to

inform the officers that can't communicate because

they system is busy thereby preventing

communication that isn't heard and forcing the officers

to repeat their transmissions. However, in the event

of an emergency and/or tactical situation the delay

and the audible tone can present problems like

alerting the officer's position, and/or delaying an

urgent message due to the length of the tone and

time to reset before the officer can talk.

Coconut Creek Police Department Yes Intermittent issues but no set dates and times


Busy signals poses an officer safety issue, when

unable tx.

Lighthouse Point Police Department No On occasion, but it's not a regular problem.

lkajkda No

Miramar Fire Rescue No



Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Yes This happens sometimes, but it’s not often.


Officers constantly receive "busy" signals throughout

the course of their shifts.


When six plus units are on calls the traffic will cause a

delay. No specific time of the day has been noted.


Sometimes, we are within a very heavy radio traffic

district and it is sometimes impossible to use radio on

both Alpha and Bravo channels

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue Yes Yes, if it is an emergecy situation.



Question 32: Do system-busy signals create an issue for your agency? If yes, please explain the circumstances and typical days and

times.


Broward County Schools Yes

We've consolidated bus dispatch and have reduced to

fewer dispatchers increasing the radio traffic on used

talk groups.


On some of the channels, there are too many users

assigned to an individual channel.


Rarely and only during peak times of day (school

buses) or when a local emergency event is ongoing

(weather event affecting the entire county). Otherwise,

traffic is busy at times but still reasonable.


Only if the Broward system is having issues, and

when it is, we can switch to TGs that are only on the

FTL radio system.




Too many agencies on same channel causes arrival

time and other data related delays and important

information


There are times when communication volume causes

congestion, however, on the majority of days this is

not an issue.



At peak times, users have a difficult time getting talk

time, due to being on a bust channel.


There are times that radio traffic is very busy, but the

benefit to share the radio channel with Pompano

Beach overshadows other concerns.

lkajkda No


We share our current main channel with Hallandale

and we haven't had any issue where channels are

been congested.



Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Yes This happens sometimes, but it’s not often.


Pompano Beach Fire Rescue No With the use of TAC channels this has been averted.

Sea Ranch Lakes Police Department Yes See my response above

Seminole Tribe Fire Rescue No



Question 33: Does your agency often experience congestion on your primary channels to the point that your ability to communicate

effectively is negatively impacted? If so, please provide details.

Agency Response




The largest would be system stability as mentioned

above. Also, the issue with interference must be

controlled. It has caused safety issues in the past.


Digital channel access when all of the digital users are

active.


City of Hollywood

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Power outages or severe weather interruption





lkajkda

Miramar Fire Rescue




Our issues are more with the Dispatchers than with the

radio system.


Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Just the frequency of radio system failures.





Question 34: Please list any other issues that you have with the Broward County radio system. Please be sure

to indicate the specific talkgroup that pertains to each issue.

Agency Response


Better in building coverage, Over the Air Programming is very important. The ability of

users to monitor their radio traffic better and not rely on others to generate reports for

them.


The new infrastructure should be robust enough to include ALL users within the

County, without limitation. The system should be designed around worst-case

scenarios, not average use.


More tower sites to improve footprint and quality of communications.

The ability to communicate in both digital and analog mode. Analog mode when digital

drop-off is prevalent such as during high rise vents or confined space operations.


REDUNDANCY ! ! Prepare for the failure of major components and segments of the

system during a hurricane and have enough redundant sites to continue to provide

coverage.

System/subscriber management must take into consideration the needs of the County's

client users.


City of Hollywood Failover ability to other nodes or individual cities functioning as a regional backup.

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue Ability to communicate in high rise buildings

City of Sunrise Police Department Include input from end-users in the field, dispatchers, officers, and fire fighters.




I would like to ensure that our agency maintain the CAD connection we have in our

Dispatch center. We are a very service oriented agency and find great value in having

the CAD connection in our building. Aside from that, I'm very satisfied with the direction

Broward County is heading in developing an upgraded and advanced radio system for

public safety. I don't have any other technological issues outside what is already being

considered.

lkajkda

Miramar Fire Rescue Better security and good back up system for when radio system goes down.


North Lauderdale Fire Rescue Continuity for all users, training and good warrenties.


How much this is going to costs the end used when they have to purchase equipment

to be able to use the system.

Pembroke Pines Police Department

Consider that the network be upgradable in order to accommodate future standards

and equipment

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue

Sufficient backup systems and a solution for the buildings that do not have coverage

inside even with the new system in place.




Additional User Feedback

Question 35: What operational and technological issues do you think should be considered in the planning and implementation of a County wide

radio network for public safety and emergency preparedness?

Agency Response



The standards for radio and radio maintenance should be established by the partners

of the regional communications system. These standards should then be tightly held to.


Continue with utilization of Alpha pagers. Some 70% of the radio users currently use

Alpha Pagers. They are a nice back-up and bode a sense of security when fully

operational. Also, ISO credits agencies which use them as a back-up notification device

which helps to keep insurance rates lower for commercial occupancies.


The redundancy and back-up capabilities that are currently provided by the

independent 800 MHz FTL infrastructure will be going away. The County MUST

address the ability for ALL law and fire agencies to perform their duties when the "big

one" hits. And I don't mean use the NPSPAC Mutual Aid conventional channels as

they will be overwhelmed.

The lack of direct interoperability between the proposed local government UHF radio

system and the proposed 700/800 MHz public safety system will come back to bite us

all. These two systems will not provide any level of back-up redundancy for each other.


City of Hollywood

City of Oakland Park Fire Rescue


Ensure interoperability among all agencies that work in South Florida, and ensure

portability coverage when traversing through other jurisdictions regardless of distance

from home jurisdiction. Lastly, improve on level of service and ORCAT should be the

main radio program group to provide a level of consistency throughout County.



The majority of Broward County police and fire agencies have already completed, or

are in the process of purchasing new Motorola APX radios, and Motorola should be the

system vendor, to maximize the features and functions of the radios.


There are many law enforcement agencies that have recently invested a great deal of

money in the replacement of their aging portable radios. Two years ago, the Lighthouse

Point Police Department replaced all portable radios with the Motorola APX 6000

portable (at a cost of $130,000).

If Broward County were to select a different radio vendor (i.e. Harris Communications

or other company) I would like to see if you could negotiate a return/replacement plan

so that our agencies could obtain the manufacturer specific portable radios to maximize

the use of portable radio options/features.

Thank you for your efforts in working to bring about a state-of-the-art radio system for

all Broward County system users!

lkajkda

Miramar Fire Rescue




Pembroke Pines Police Department Proper training for dispatchers

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue None at this point.




Additional User Feedback

Question 36: Please provide any other information that you feel we should consider during the assessment of the radio communications system.


Appendix G – Existing Coverage Maps

EDX SignalPro®® : BrowardCo_FL

Prop. model 1: Anderson-2D v1.00Time: 50.0% Loc.: 50.0%Prediction Confidence Margin: 10.2dBClimate: Continental TemperateLand use (clutter): noneAtmospheric Abs.: noneK Factor: 1.333

Sites

Received Power at remote

>= -88.8 dBmW DAQ 3.4 or better-105.8 to -88.8 dBmW DAQ 2.0 to 3.4

< -105.8 dBmW Unsatisfactory Performance Display threshold level: -250.0 dBmWRX Antenna - Type: ISOTROPICHeight: 3.0 ft AGL Gain: 0.00 dBd

MILES

-1 0 4

Broward County, FLExisting Coverage - SmartNet Analog

Portable Talk Out Outdoors



Sites

Received power at best base from remote

>= -94.5 dBmW DAQ 3.4 or Better-111.5 to -94.5 dBmW DAQ 2.0 to 3.4


MILES

-1 0 4


Portable Talk In Outdoors



Sites

Received Power at remote



MILES

-1 0 4


Portable Talk Out w/15dB Building Loss



Sites

Received power at best base from remote



MILES

-1 0 4


Portable Talk In w/15dB Building Loss

COMPREHENSIVE RADIO ANALYSIS REPORT Radio … · surveyed radio sites, inventoried equipment,...

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Transcript of COMPREHENSIVE RADIO ANALYSIS REPORT Radio … · surveyed radio sites, inventoried equipment,...