[FedCom] upgrading of federal trunked systems to P-25 from Moto or EDACS?

[Chris Parris]

On May 19, 2009, at 9:00 PM, Jeff Kenyon wrote:

> I'm wondering if there is any plans to upgrade
> existing  federal trunked  system that are Moto or EDACS at federal
> prisons anlabs to P-25 from the older formats?

I have seen no evidence of any move to wholesale replacement of  
existing trunked systems to P-25. As systems age and require  
replacement or upgrade we might see some, but most likely this will  
not happen any time soon.

Actually I have seen relatively few P-25 federal systems. Most are  
P-16, that is, Motorola Type II trunked systems using P-25 voice.  
Many, if not all BoP systems are such. Other agencies, particularly  
the Veterans Health Administration seem to pick and choose radio  
systems completely at random. NASA has both EDACS and Motorola systems  
and military bases also have a patchwork of systems, but there is a  
move towards unifying the DoD facilities with the 380 MHz P-25 systems.

> If so will they be part of
> the new JWIN system that is going on nation wide?  Also, what is th
> progress of that system and the  build out, and what agencies are  
> using
> it?

Again, I've never seen any evidence that the UHF Bureau of Prisons  
trunked systems would become part of the IWN trunked system. There  
seems to be little need for a prison in Florida to be networked with a  
prison in New York state. The prison systems are designed for very  
localized use at a fixed facility.

Still waiting for the next move on the IWN system. There appear to me  
a few new sites showing up in the Pacific Northwest but nothing new  
around the Southwest US or anywhere else. Published information  
indicates the IWN project is undergoing a review over budget and we  
may see some revisions of the systems designs and time line for  
deployment.

As for users, here is a list of federal users on the system as it sits  
now:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Drug Enforcement Administration

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

U.S. Marshals Service

U.S. Secret Service

On May 20, 2009, at 1:02 AM, Mutual Aid Supplies, Inc. wrote:

> The Federal prison in
> Coleman, Fl is P25 and is NOT part of the nationwide network. AT  
> least not yet.


Just to clarify, the Coleman system is a Motorola Type II with P25  
voice, as are most of the BoP systems. It is not a true P-25 trunked  
system.

- Chris

  --
Chris Parris
Fed Files Columnist
Monitoring Times Magazine
chrisparris at monitoringtimes.com
http://www.monitoringtimes.com
http://mt-fedfiles.blogspot.com/