Clackamas County is modernizing its outdated analog radio system. The old system relied on technology from the 90s and used parts that were no longer supported by the manufacturer. First responders transitioned to the new digital system last month. John Hartsock is the manager of the task force behind the update. He joins us with details on the new system and why the change was urgently needed.
This transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.
Dave Miller: Clackamas County is modernizing its outdated radio system for first responders. The old system relied on technology from the 1990s and meant that users had to scrounge for parts that were no longer supported by the manufacturer. John Hartsock is the manager of the task force behind this big switch. He joins us now with more details. John Hartsock, welcome to Think Out Loud.
John Hartsock: Thank you. My pleasure to be here, Dave.
Miller: Can you give us a sense for the groups or institutions that actually all collectively use these radios?
Hartsock: Well, it’s a Clackamas 800 radio group, which is a joint venture or a council of governments of all of the public safety partners, law, fire and emergency medical services within Clackamas County. And we actually partner with a like group in Washington County to serve the public safety communication needs across the two counties.
Miller: What was the old system like?
Hartsock: The old system, which was installed in the late 1990 was a 800 MHz analog system. And in Clackamas County, we had 12 sites to serve the county and people often don’t remember how big Clackamas County is because of the amount of forest land on the southern and eastern portion of the county.
Miller: Going all the way up the western slope of Mount Hood. So did the radios work everywhere?
Hartsock: No, there were areas that had poor or non-existent coverage, particularly southern Clackamas County in the Forest Service area. As I say, we had 12 sites. The reason we initially built it back in the late 1990s, with 12, was to convert from VHF as Portland and Washington County had done to 800, so that we would be on the same system, but it was, we took a measure to the voters, which they didn’t approve and it was paid for out of operating funds from the agencies within the county. So we were limited with funding and did the best job we could.
Miller: What were the operational issues that firefighters or police officers or Forest Service folks that they would run into in the last 15 years?
Hartsock: They would get into areas where the primary radio system, the 800 system, wasn’t providing them coverage and in some cases, particularly in the forest area, there was VHF, a different frequency band, the 150 frequency band. Some of those sites, we kept those operating and still existed so that the agencies could use those when they were out in those non-coverage areas.
Miller: Meaning they had to keep in mind that to be heard or to hear other people, they had maybe switched back and forth, depending on where they were with two different radio systems?
Hartsock: That’s correct and amazingly, the responders get used to where the system works and know that in this area, they need to use the VHF system and in that area they need to use the 800 system and often the dispatcher will remind them that, again, they’re going into an area where they won’t have the 800 coverage.
Miller: One more thing to put on your belt though?
Hartsock: That’s correct.
Miller: How has coverage changed with this digital changeover?
Hartsock: Well, we’ve added 12 additional sites. Four of them are strategically located in the southeast portion of the county along Highway 224, which–once it’s open again–has a lot of traffic and a lot of recreation in that area. Another site is up on the top of the Ski Bowl to help that area along Highway 26 so that we now provide good coverage on Highway 26 from Warm Spring all the way to the Sawtell Road area on the western side of the county. And again, just trying to fill in those areas where we had minimal coverage. We’ve also added some sites in the urban area, in the Damascus area, in Barto, too, to cover the Clackamas River better and to provide, again, better coverage in the urban area as well to increase in-building coverage.
Miller: So is it fair to say that if someone goes off a snowy patch of road on 26 or is in a rafting accident at some point in the coming years, that this radio system, this digital system could actually make the difference between a life and death difference in terms of getting help?
Hartsock: That’s true. Again, the units are very resourceful but now they have a single radio system which makes the task easier to be able to provide the service they provide.
Miller: The funding for this digital system was approved in May of 2016 by voters. Why has it taken 5 1/5 years to get it basically operational?
Hartsock: Well, the single biggest challenge we have in siting radio communication sites. They look much like a cellular tower but maybe even more have more items on them in the way of antennas and microwave systems and so on and so forth to tie all the sites together. They are very tough issues for land use planning and permitting. Everyone wants a good response when they call 911, but they don’t necessarily want the tower in their neighborhood or their backyard. These are 150 and 180 ft structures. Those of us in the industry think they’re beautiful (laughter) but most people don’t fully agree with that. And it’s the land use process. The other side is, as I said, we did four sites within the Forest Service. The Forest Service process was almost three years. Not that they were arguing against, they in fact helped us choose the locations. It’s just their process and then we had some with BLM. So land use was the single biggest issue to getting us there.
Miller: Do you have a sense for how long it’ll be before this brand-spanking new system is itself obsolete?
Hartsock: Of course, technology changes by the hour and we’re projecting somewhere in the 12-15 years that will need to replace it. And who knows what that system will be at that time where the technology has gone, but we’re probably looking at 12-15 years to do a replacement of the system.
Miller: John Hartsock, thanks very much for joining us.
Hartsock: Thank you.
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