I believe that analog systems with two-tone alerting covers the needs of almost all rural fire departments but I've heard from some departments that they purchased analog capable NEXEDGE or DMR base stations and are slowly replacing their analog radios with analog capable NEXEDGE/DMR radios. Currently they are still operating in analog mode but this way, they say, they can switch to digital as soon as all the equipment is exchanged plus they are ready for super narrowband (6.25Khz...if this is ever going to happen...)
Their reason for getting NEXEDGE and not P25 was the price. While P25 is partially funded by the government we have to realize that only 20% will come from the fed. Who is going to pay the rest? P25 is more complex and expensive plus you will need approximately 4 times more base stations because of it being operated in the 700Mhz band.
The downside: Well, again...not funded by the feds plus they wont be interoperable with the public safety departments that are implementing P25. But what if nobody around you uses P25? Why did such an expensive (and actually old) technology become the standard? The answer is: Motorola.
The marketing people at Motorola did a great job. They made everybody believe that P25 is for mission critical communication and that DMR (Mototrbo), NEXEDGE, dPME is for business critical communication. There is no logical technological reason for this. No sorry...there is one. This way Motorola can charge a super premium for so called mission critical equipment. The only reason why a P25 radio can cost multiple thousand dollars is because there is not enough competition. TETRA radios (P25 equivalent of Europe) in comparison cost as little as $350.
Funny enough: After their own dealers started to sell Mototrbo systems to fire departments their mission critical vs. business critical didnt seem to hold up anymore. Google "mototrbo public safety" and click on the 2nd link!
I like to say:"Never touch a running system!" and that's why I hope that most of you will stick with their analog systems (at least for alerting). But I'm also wondering how many of you are looking into P25 alternatives when going digital.
Their reason for getting NEXEDGE and not P25 was the price. While P25 is partially funded by the government we have to realize that only 20% will come from the fed. Who is going to pay the rest? P25 is more complex and expensive plus you will need approximately 4 times more base stations because of it being operated in the 700Mhz band.
The downside: Well, again...not funded by the feds plus they wont be interoperable with the public safety departments that are implementing P25. But what if nobody around you uses P25? Why did such an expensive (and actually old) technology become the standard? The answer is: Motorola.
The marketing people at Motorola did a great job. They made everybody believe that P25 is for mission critical communication and that DMR (Mototrbo), NEXEDGE, dPME is for business critical communication. There is no logical technological reason for this. No sorry...there is one. This way Motorola can charge a super premium for so called mission critical equipment. The only reason why a P25 radio can cost multiple thousand dollars is because there is not enough competition. TETRA radios (P25 equivalent of Europe) in comparison cost as little as $350.
Funny enough: After their own dealers started to sell Mototrbo systems to fire departments their mission critical vs. business critical didnt seem to hold up anymore. Google "mototrbo public safety" and click on the 2nd link!
I like to say:"Never touch a running system!" and that's why I hope that most of you will stick with their analog systems (at least for alerting). But I'm also wondering how many of you are looking into P25 alternatives when going digital.
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