STRATFORD, CT ? When it comes to emergency response, clear and concise communication is critical. Misunderstandings can have drastic consequences.
?It is really frustrating when a call comes in and you have to ask dispatch to keep repeating themselves,? said Brian Lampart Deputy Chief and Fire Marshal for the Town of Stratford.
To help resolve the issue of fuzzy communication and radio dead spots around Stratford, a 130 foot monopole is being erected at the Fire Department Headquarters across from Town Hall. The pole will host an antenna array that should help resolve issues for all of Stratford?s emergency response services.
?Right now we work with a series of repeaters in the Fire Department,? said Lampart. ?There are a few dead spots such as parts of Huntington Road and notably the office building at 99 Holly Lane. This new tower should help address those areas.?
The police department will also benefit from the new tower. The existing police communications system uses an antenna in Oronoque that receives signals via phone lines. While they have a backup system in the event of a storm related outage, it isn?t as powerful or clear as the Oronoque tower.
Eric Fine, project manager for Northeastern Communications, Inc., is in charge of installing the new antenna and transitioning the transmitting equipment to it. He said they are working in two phases.
Phase one will involve getting the fire department system hooked into the new antenna. He hopes to have that completed by the middle of next week. The second phase will involve connecting the police to the antenna.
Complicating coverage matters for the town is a Federal decree for all radio systems transition to narrowbanding. This means reducing their broadcast bandwidth from 25 kHz per channel down to no more than 12.5 kHz. Intended as a measure to increase efficiency and open up more channels in the same spectrum, the measure has created issues with signal strength and new equipment requirements.
According to the FCC, it is possible some systems would see a 3 dB loss in signal strength.
The deadline for the transition is Jan. 1, 2013 though Lampart said Stratford is already in compliance.
The cost of the antenna was covered under a Federal grant. Lampart didn?t have the exact figure available but said it was in the ballpark of $200,000. The town did have to fund the actual installation. The Fire Department secured all of the necessary permits through the Zoning Commission.
Lampart noted that any rumors concerning the possibility of contracting use of the tower to cell phone companies are false. He said the tower across the street at Town Hall already services cell providers and even if the department was interested in renting usage, it wouldn?t be practical to move the equipment across the street.
?Besides, those things are a major eye sore,? said Lampart.
The new antenna is expected to be fully operational for all emergency response departments within a month.
Read the story here.
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Source: http://9-1-1.com/wordpress/2012/08/17/emergency-communications-get-a-boost/
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