Supervisors get more info on statewide radio system
The Board of Supervisors heard a second Radio Communication Project design estimate last week from Brian Flynn with Motorola.The company won a 2015 bid to design the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communication System from the ISICS Board. Construction of the ISICS began in 2016. Pending completion of one more site, Flynn expected the ISICS Board to formally accept full build-out of its network of more than 92 tower sites across the state in a couple of months.“The idea is, the spec that was given to Motorola in [the ISICS Board] request for proposals was for 95 percent mobile [radio] coverage throughout the state ... not per county ... as a whole" because of a higher wattage compared to portable on-hip radios. Ninety-five out of 100 times radio signals will get back to dispatch, he said. Interoperability means being able to radio to state responding agencies. ISICS has three "cores" throughout the state for redundancy or resiliency whereas having two is standard.Multiple counties have or plan to install local enhancements to the state system.“It’s just a matter of what level you’re wanting to come on and where your existing radio communication infrastructure and radios are right now,” Flynn said.The 700 and 800 MHz frequencies will intertwine, Flynn said, “on that band, if they have the right radio.”— For more on this story, see the Feb. 15 New Hampton Tribune.Or watch the two-hour meeting at http://www.nhtrib.com/news/chickasaw-county-board-supervisors-feb-4-2019.
