Houston Fire Department
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CITY OF HOUSTON, TX TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEM REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, 8/31/07 Section 1—Current Radio Communications Environment... 1 1.1 Houston Airport System.........................................................................................1 1.1.1 Current Operations...................................................................................1 1.1.2 Radio System Coverage............................................................................1 1.1.3 Dispatch Operations .................................................................................2 1.1.4 Needs & Requirements.............................................................................5 1.1.5 Interoperability Needs ..............................................................................6 1.2 Houston Fire Department ......................................................................................6 1.2.1 Current Operations...................................................................................6 1.2.2 User Equipment .......................................................................................7 1.2.3 Dispatch Operations .................................................................................8 1.2.4 Radio System Problems ..........................................................................16 1.2.5 Needs & Requirements...........................................................................17 1.2.6 Functional Requirements ........................................................................19 1.3 Houston Police Department .................................................................................22 1.3.1 Dispatch Operations ...............................................................................24 1.3.2 Needs & Requirements...........................................................................31 1.4 Public Works and Engineering Department ...........................................................34 1.4.1 Radio System/Talk Group Structure.........................................................35 1.4.2 Dispatch Operations ...............................................................................36 1.4.3 Current System Problems .......................................................................42 1.4.4 Needs & Requirements...........................................................................42 1.5 Office of Emergency Management........................................................................44 1.5.1 Future Needs .........................................................................................51 RCC CONSULTANTS, INC. CITY OF HOUSTON, TX TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEM REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, 8/31/07 Section Current Radio 1 Communications Environment Section 1—Current Radio Communications Environment 1.1 Houston Airport System 1.1A The Houston Airport System has three facilities; George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport, and Ellington Field. The 3-airport system served over 51 million passengers in 2006, including over 7 million international travelers. 1.1.1 Current Operations 1.1.1A The Houston Airport System has gone through a radio system transition over the last several years. The single-site 800 MHz EDACS (Enhanced Digital Access System) radio system that was purchased by the City of Houston for the Airport System in 1999 has been decommissioned. Radio coverage problems at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hobby Airport and Ellington Field and other factors prompted HAS to join the Regional Radio System operated by the Harris County IT Department. HAS will utilize its 800 MHz radio channels to support the addition of new ASTRO 25 v7.1 trunked repeater sites at the George Bush and Hobby airport facilities. 1.1.1B Today Harris County actually has two separate voice radio trunked system platforms, an older SmartZone v4.1 system and a newer ASTRO 25 v7.1 system. The ASTRO 25 v7.1 system is currently much smaller than the SmartZone 4.1 system, but it is the platform that Harris County will be developing from this point forward. 1.1.1C The Houston Airport System in now in the process of developing 2 new Motorola Astro 25 800 MHz radio repeater sites to support airport radio communications needs. The two new sites will be networked into the Harris County Astro 25 System when completed and become part of the Regional Radio System. The new 5-channel Astro 25 (V7.X) repeater site for Intercontinental Airport will be located on airport property at the FIS building, parking garage, level 8, in the southeast corner of the building. 1.1.1D The new 5-channel repeater site for Hobby Airport will be installed at 8700 Paul B. Koonce Street in the old FAA building next to the fire station on the south side of Hobby Airport. A third site is also planned in order to provide wide-area mobile coverage between all three Houston airports. This site will be installed on the Allied Tower Building in downtown Houston, which was the first repeater site on the older Smartzone 4.1 system. 1.1.2 Radio System Coverage 1.1.2A As previously mentioned, the Regional Radio System has an older SmartZone 4.1 platform. This system will be used by the Houston Airport System until the new Astro 25 repeater sites are completed. The SmartZone 4.1 coverage is provided by several sites at each of the airports and it is also supplemented at Intercontinental Airport by a DAS (Distributed Antennas System). HAS recently finished implementing a new DAS that extends radio coverage to the underground tunnel system and all airport terminals except Terminal E. The DAS is a channelized, optically distributed antenna system that allows for multi-band RCC CONSULTANTS, INC. PAGE 1-1 CITY OF HOUSTON, TX TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEM REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, 8/31/07 radio frequency operation. This system was installed by the Sprint consortium, a group made up several of the commercial cellular providers. 1.1.2B Once the new IAH Astro 25 repeater site is completed and on the air, the DAS system will be configured to tap directly into the repeater site via an optical or coaxial connection, thus eliminating the over-the-air link which is currently used to provide the source signal to the DAS. 1.1.2C With the DAS now in operation, the Regional Radio System coverage within the terminals at IAH is reportedly between 90-95%. This coverage is provided by multiple sites, some of which are a significant distance from the airport. The repeater sites used at Intercontinental Airport are as follows: ♦ Tomball repeater site provides coverage to the Northwest corner of IAH ♦ Tamina Road repeater site provides coverage to the North side of IAH ♦ Humble repeater site provides coverage to the Northeast corner of IAH ♦ Houston repeater site (Allied Bank) provides coverage to the Southside of IAH 1.1.2D Radio coverage in the Hobby Airport terminal is reported as being excellent without the use of any bi-directional amplifiers. The Houston repeater site ( Allied Bank) provides coverage to the north side of Hobby Airport, while the Pearland repeater site provides coverage to the south side. 1.1.3 Dispatch Operations 1.1.3A The Houston Airport System is divided into three separate geographic zones of operation: ♦ Zone (A) - Houston Intercontinental Airport ( IAH) ♦ Zone (B) - Hobby Airport ♦ Zone (C) - Ellington Field 1.1.3B Airport communications operations are handled by two groups: C3 and RACOM. C3 (Communications Command Control) provides all dispatching services for airport security. It is part of the airport Public Safety Group, which handles security Issues, inspects the airport for safety, and initiates the appropriate action. 1.1.3C The RACOM Communications Center operates FIDS the Flight Information Display System (FIDS), the main switchboard, and provides radio dispatch services for all other airport operations other than security. This includes Airfield & Grounds, PPM, Operations. RACOM initiates alerts to operations personnel, provides dispatch services for maintenance and provides backup for airport paging operations. 1.1.3D The Houston Airport System has a Motorola Gold Elite console system with a CEB (Central Electronic Bank) at both Intercontinental Airport and at Hobby Airport. The 21-dispatch console position system was installed by the Harris County IT Department. 1.1.3E IAH Airport has a total of fifteen (15) Gold Elite console positions. There are 10 consoles in the RACOM area, one of which is designated as a supervisory position. There are also 5 consoles located in C3, including the designated supervisory position. RCC CONSULTANTS, INC. PAGE 1-2 CITY OF HOUSTON, TX TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEM REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, 8/31/07 1.1.3F A general console layout for the RACOM and C3 dispatch positions is provided in Figure 1.1.3A & Figure 1.1.3B. Figure 1.1.3A RACOM RACOM Console Console Console Console Position 4 Position 3 Position 2 Position 1 FIDS FIDS Raised Floor Console Position 2 Translators Position 2 FIDS Position 1 Position 3 Supervisor Console *No Console *No Console Position 1 Console Raised Floor Maintenance Dispatch Console Console Console Position 1 Position 2 Position 3 Figure 1.1.3B C3 C3 Console Position Raised Floor C3 Console Supervisor Position Console Position C3 Console Position Raised Floor C3 Console Position RCC CONSULTANTS, INC. PAGE 1-3 CITY OF HOUSTON, TX TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEM REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, 8/31/07 1.1.3G The dispatch positions within RACOM are designated as follows: ♦ Maintenance Dispatch has three console positions. There are usually two dispatchers on duty at any given time.