2000-11-08 CC - Laserfiche WebLink

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In addition to the actual field measurements and the computer predictions, tests using a portable radio attached to the belt inside various facilities in the southern most part of the County, the northeast area of the County, and the northwest area of the County were also performed. The results of that test are shown in a matrix form entitled "Anoka County Talk Test - 08/17/00" included in the next page of this report. As shown on that table, the talk-out performance is generally poor except on Channell in the very southern part of the County. The talk-back performance from the portable radio back to the base system is generally much better and that is because of the large number of additional receivers that are scattered about the County. Addition of more receivers might improve some of the talk-back performance, however, the main reason for coverage problems is the talk-out performance from the single primary transmitter sites. Generally, the talk-back performance is very good except in the Saint Francis area on the fire channel. The fire receiver for the northwestern part of the County is located on the BI08 Tower at an elevation of325 feet above the ground. It is probable that poor talk-back coverage in St. Francis is that the antenna is a high gain antenna located too high up the tower resulting in the signal reception performance being up in the air above the ground. It is suggested that some tests be made with a lower gain antenna at a lower elevation on that tower to see if the talk-back performance on the fire channel improves. The field measurements, computer predictions and the actual radio tests all support the empirical data reported as part of the questionnaire process. If radio coverage is poor, than the system is hardly much better than having no radio system at all. It is not possible for public safety personnel to function efficiently and effectively with maximum safety unless they can communicate by two-way radio. It is clear that the two-way radio coverage is less than it must be in Anoka County. Of particular concern is the coverage for alerting firefighter personnel to respond to incidents over a radio pager system. This is particularly true during daytime hours when there may be relatively few volunteer firefighters available to respond to any given incident. If some, or a majority of, those people do not receive the page alerts because of poor radio coverage they are not available to respond and there may be no firefighters, or an insufficient number, that can respond by being alerted through their pager receivers. This is an intolerable situation and should not continue. 2.4 RADIO CHANNEL CONGESTION The law enforcement questionnaire responders answers to the two questions related to determining whether or not there was congestion on the two main dispatch channels in the County shows that there appears to be a substantial level of congestion. Data on numbers of new events arriving in the dispatch center for law enforcement response during July of 1999 were analyzed. The data on numbers of new events arriving during various hours of the day were entered into a computer which calculated mean and standard deviation. By definition, in a dispatch center, busier hour is defined as mean plus three standard deviations. Use of this Ronald Vegemast Engineering, Inc. -15- Report: Anoka County