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On January 1, 2013 the FCC has ordered that the data rate on
all two way radio frequencies below 512 MHz be doubled or the voice bandwidth
be narrowed to 12.5 KHz from the current 25 KHz. The technology to do
this has been around for years and like digital TV it was just waiting for a 20
year old deadline to approach. Those SAR units using public safety radio (Part 90 of the
FCC Rules) are faced with several options—reprogramming existing analog
or digital voice equipment, replacing analog voice with digital voice, or buying an entire new
system. What do you expect to do next year? What are your partner
agencies expecting to do? This FCC order includes a provision that any license not
reissued as a narrow band license or converted to digital format will be
cancelled and continued wideband operation will be considered a violation.
Of the VHF-Hi channels we use only one voice channel, which
is licensed primarily as a one way paging channel, is exempt and the county may
abandon it anyway. This also affects the PA DCNR channels in VHF-Hi, and
USCG channels in the VHF Marine band. We can reprogram our analog voice
radios to 12.5 but if other agencies totally change out their systems we lose
interoperability. Irv Lichtenstein SE PA SAR |
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