Saratoga County System Design Review

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Saratoga County System Design Review

Mark Hoppe Andrew Maxymillian
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Overall Objectives

• 1 - Provide Reliable Effective Public Safety
  Communications for Saratoga County
• Develop a System that would provide the
  foundation for Public Safety Communications for
  the next 20 plus years
• Provide Reliable Coverage throughout Saratoga
  County
• Enhanced Operations via Voice and Data
• Enhance Interoperability with neighboring cities
  and counties, and state agencies
• 2 Achieve the Public Safety Communications
  Goals with the least impact on the community
• Environmental impact of sites
• Share resources as with other groups to reduce
  overall costs

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Current System

• Departments Overview

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Current System

• Issues
• Reliability and Repairability
• Basic System Design dates back to the 1960s
• Components
• Fire late 1950s
• EMS - 1970s
• Sherriff/Police system 1960s
• Systems have many older components and components
  no longer available
• Issue will remain with unpredictable outcome and
  consequences
• Operations
• Voice
• Coverage Issues
• Data
• No data in most operations, limited coverage and
  use
• Paging
• Voice only
• No data
• Reliability of receiving

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Current System

• Issues
• Interference
• VHF Low-Band
• Interference due to propagation characteristics
  of the band generally ducting from distant
  areas
• Unpredictable
• Unavoidable Most parties are operating within
  FCC guidelines
• Low-band equipment lifecycle is near end
• Coverage
• VHF Low-Band and High-Band
• Southern part of the county - Clifton Park,
  Halfmoon, Waterford
• Eastern areas along Hudson
• APA Areas - South shore and Military Road
• Corridor Between Saratoga Springs and South Glens
  falls

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Current System

• Issues
• FCC Issues
• Narrow banding
• Narrowing channels from 25 kHz to 12.5 kHz for
  spectrum efficiency - double the number of
  channels, but narrowing the FCC allowable
  channel, currently Saratoga County is
  non-complaint with future requirements.
• Manufacture and importation of any equipment on
  25 KHz channel will be not be permitted after
  December 31, 2010
• Systems operating on 25 KHz channels will not be
  allowed after December 31, 2012, all system after
  this date must operate on 12.5 KHz channels

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Current System

• Issues
• Inhibiting Enhancements
• Voice Features
• Enhanced console abilities
• Direct Interoperability between agencies
• Data
• Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) functions for
  dispatching does not have the RF pipe and
  end-user radios to use functions
• Paging
• CAD functions for paging has the RF pipe, but not
  the end-user equipment pagers - to use enhanced
  features
• Overall
• Many advanced functions that are becoming
  commonplace for public safety operations are not
  available until one has the RF delivery mechanism
  and end-user equipment

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Evaluation Process

• Requirements Review
• Review and validate existing County licenses
• Review frequencies to determine availability
  (VHF, 700, 800)
• Review traffic and loading to determine channel
  requirements
• Review Functional Requirements with County
  (multiple radios, connectivity, coverage, etc.)
• Site Analysis
• Develop understanding of APA requirements,
  tendencies
• Review NYS - SWN design to determine if shared
  site placement achieved
• Review existing sites and potential sites
• Develop Candidate Site List
• APA View Shed by Chazen
• Propagation Analysis
• Preliminary Propagation Review
• Review NYS - SWN design to determine if shared
  site placement achieved
• Send out propagation request to Motorola and
  MA/Com to confirm coverage
• Propagation drive test to confirm coverage
• Finalize Candidate Site List
• Report Development
• Draft Final Report that contains findings and
  recommendations

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Review Requirements

• Frequency Resources
• VHF
• Find at a minimum 3 pairs for VHF simulcast or 9
  pairs for preferred VHF multisite solution
• Review frequency reuse, splinter frequencies or
  use of other non-County controlled VHF assets
• 700 MHz
• (16) 700 MHz 25 KHz Frequencies Available for Use
  in Saratoga County
• Involvement in process will ensure maximum amount
  of frequency allocation
• 800 MHz
• (22) 800 MHz NPSPAC County Frequencies
• Licensed currently to existing sites
• Frequencies are available for licensing including
  Spruce Mountain
• Rebanding
• Frequencies will have to be rebanded in the
  future
• Rebanding will not have significant impact on the
  use of the frequencies

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Requirements Review

• Traffic and Loading
• Channel Requirements
• Based on traffic characteristics, radio users,
  channel loading requirements, and earlier traffic
  analysis
• Channel requirements
• (3) Voice/Data channels in the APA region per
  Site
• (8) to (12) Voice/Data channels in the non-APA
  region per Site
• Number of Radios
• APA Region -
• (2) Two Radios - VHF High-band and 700/800 MHz
• Hadley is dispatched from Warren County on VHF
  High-band
• Edinburg/Day have significant weekly operations
  with Fulton on VHF High-band
• NYS DEC operates on VHF High-band for lost person
  and fire operations
• non-APA Region
• (1) Radio - 700/800 MHz
• Currently, there is cross band operations
  occurring, most or all could be eliminated via
  cross-banding thru console and migration of users
  to one common system

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Review Requirements

• Functional Requirements
• Coverage
• Most important element in communications systems
  is coverage
• Use defacto standard and commonly applied measure
  of 95 coverage, 95 of the time
• Non - APA
• 700/800 Mobile Coverage - 95/95 of the Non-APA
  Area
• APA Area
• 700/800 Mobile Coverage - 95/95 of the most
  populated areas of the APA
• VHF Mobile Coverage - 95/95 of the land area
  of the APA
• Connectivity
• Simulcast technology mandated the use of
  microwave
• If Simulcast not a requirement, Microwave
  preferred because of reliability

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Site Analysis

• Develop understanding of APA requirements,
  tendencies
• Met with APA at Ray Brook and in the field
• Defined conditions
• Refined and gave feedback on findings
• Reviewed View Shed and loading criteria
• Refined "Substantially Invisible"
• Minimal access, road and power requirements
• Minimize ridge line sites that are back light
• Reduce height to minimum required
• Minimize size of antennas - especially MW
• Blend/camouflage if improves substantially
  invisible
• Other Criteria
• Land ownership
• Review focused on county or city owned property
• Focused on willing land owner
• Developed or minimum access requirements
• Review existing sites and potential sites
• Reviewed SSI work and site identified
• Existing tower sites

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Findings

• Sites
• APA New Builds
• Fraker (Original Design - New Build)
• Lakeview (Original Design - New Build)
• Conklingville Dam (Replaces Mt. Anthony - Willing
  Landowner)
• Lake Luzerne (Replaces Mt. Anthony - Town
  Property)
• APA Existing Sites
• Spruce Mountain (Existing Site - Potential
  Upgrades)
• Corinth High School (Existing Site - Antenna on
  building for MW)
• Non-APA Sites
• McGregor (Original Design - New Build)
• Providence (Original Design - Existing Site -
  Upgrades)
• Halfmoon (Original Design- Existing) or Bald
  Mountain (Alternative - Existing)
• Saratoga Springs Area (Existing)
• Stillwater (Existing ) or Willard (Alternative -
  Existing)

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Findings

• Coverage
• New Design - Key Elements
• Meets coverage Replace Mt. Anthony with two low
  lying sites Conklingville Dam and Lake Luzerne
• Brings Spruce Mt. into design for coverage and
  redundancy
• Allows a vendor neutral solution for any vendor
  - Motorola or MA/Com
• Provides Microwave connectivity to sites
• Places sites to provide better coverage in
  critical portable patrol areas

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Next Steps

• Coverage and Connectivity Field Tests
• VHF and 800 MHz Coverage Tests to finalize Height
  of Antennas above trees
• 960 Links Tests to Verify Path Loss
• Frequency Issues
• Refine 700 MHz availability
• Complete research on additional VHF frequencies
• Site Agreements
• Finalize Site Agreements with land owners at Lake
  Luzerne, Conklingville Dam and Corinth High
  School
• Site Approvals
• Complete site documentation for new APA sites for
  various government applications
• FCC
• Complete NEPA and other required Federal approval
  for new towers
• Local Approval