DISPATCH: New system expected to go online in the next month
larger than the previous sheriff’s office at the Yuba County Superior Courthouse, but Johnson said a radio tower at the new property is something the entire department is looking forward to utilizing.
The tower just outside of the new facility will allow the sheriff’s office to use what is called a simulcast system.
“The system will create a greater area of radio coverage for our department,” Johnson said. “Right now, it isn’t uncommon for a patrol deputy, depending on where they are standing, to not be able to get through to dispatch, or they experience a weak signal. Obviously, this is an officer safety issue and has been a concern of the sheriff’s department for many years, but it’s not an easy fix.”
Under the current system being used to dispatch and communicate with deputies out in the field, Johnson said the sheriff’s department is utilizing a receive-only antenna on the top of the courthouse.
When the sheriff’s depart- ment goes to communicate with an officer, they send out a message that is transmitted to two repeater sites in the county – antennas in Oregon Peak and Wolf Mountain, roughly 30 miles away, Johnson said.
Once the message reaches the repeater sites, the antennas then transmit a signal out to a deputy on patrol, or vice versa.
“As a result of all that, there were a lot of dead spots and weak areas where we didn’t have good, effective and reliable radio traffic. It has been that way the entire time we’ve been located at the courthouse,” Johnson said.
Now, with the radio tower at the new facility, as well as a change in location for the Wolf Mountain repeater site to a spot in the Sutter Buttes, Johnson said there will be a much more reliable way of communicating between dispatch and patrol deputies.
“(Motorola) has told us that the new antenna’s line of sight should help us out greatly in areas where we’ve experienced problems before, like Linda, Olivehurst, Plumas Lake and the foothills. All three of the transmitting locations are linked together, so no matter where you are transmitting, the radio signal will go out and essentially go to all three locations simultaneously,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the added benefit of having the new tower will benefit the entire department, as well as the county, once it is active.
“We are very thankful for the county, the county administrator’s office, county supervisors and the sheriff who all pushed to make this happen. We felt it was imperative that we do it, and the move to a new facility gave us an opportunity to absorb some of the costs into the entire project. We are very much looking forward to being able to utilize the new system,” Johnson said.
While Johnson wasn’t sure the exact cost to get the radio tower operational, he said it’s in the ballpark of something more than $1 million.
The new tower and the simulcast system has yet to go online, meaning the department is still using the old system. However, Johnson said Motorola is expected to get the new system online within the next month or so.
“This new facility is much nicer and it’s going to increase moral from literally every angle you can think of. We are very proud of it and equally proud of the new simulcast system. It’s been a labor of love for all of us,” Johnson said.
CONTACT