800 MHz Issues
Please Note:  
This Web site and nsfd.net are "owned" and operated by Frank Benn, not the Nottawa-Sherman Fire Department.  The viewpoints and opinions below are not necessarily supported by all  members of the Nottawa-Sherman Fire Department or the governing boards of Nottawa and Sherman Townships.
Currently the some of the main issues with the move to 800 MHz for communications are:
1. Excessive "bonking" (dropped communication link with the towers);
2.  Poor or completely failed communications through metal sided buildings;
3. Inability to scan both UHF and VHF frequencies with pagers and portable transceivers;
4. Confusion regarding which frequency mode (UHF or VHF) should be  used;
5. Some neighboring (mutual aid) departments do not use 800 MHz;
6. Inability to be paged over VHF when the 800 MHz system fails.

NSFD
800 MHz History
(Read about the main communications problem created by Isabella County here)
August, 2016
At a considerable expense to our townships, Nottawa-Sherman Fire Department went to 800 MHz paging and 800 MHz command radios.*

All Isabella County fire service 800 MHz communications took place on the frequency desgnated as 37COM, including the paging for NSFD personnel.

All NSFD pagers were programmed to receive the 800 MHz 37COM frequency. With their pagers, NSFD personnel could hear all 800 MHz radio traffic between dispatch, ambulance crews fire officers and other fire department vehicles.
Update:  The problem described below was resolved by Chief Livermore early in November, 2017
with the purchase of software capable of programming our pagers.
August, 2017
 Central Dispatch-911 Director Marc Griffis mandated a change in frequency for all 800 MHz traffic between Central Dispatch and Isabella County fire department units and personnel.  This action, once again, endangered Nottawa-Sherman Fire Department personnel. 

The new frequency, designated 37FE911, could not be received by Nottawa-Sherman 800 MHz pagers without reprogramming all 24 units at a substantial cost to our townships.  

All non-officer NSFD personnel had only their pagers for listening to 800 MHz traffic.

WE NO LONGER COULD HEAR:
800 MHz radio traffic between
  • dispatch,
  • ambulance crews,
  • fire officers
  • and fire department vehicles.
We could not hear which of our trucks had checked en route.
We could not hear if an ambulance had checked en route.
We could not hear the ambulance announce their location.
We could not hear if additional resources had been dispatched or were needed.
 
Most critical,
we could not hear safety related information transmitted by Central Dispatch (e.g., dangerous scene condtions, road closures).
November, 2017
The problem described above was resolved by Chief Livermore early in November, 2017 with the purchase of software capable of programming our pagers.

* In an effort to mitigate the degradation of communications caused by Isabella County, Chief Livermore and the NSFD fire board members elected to invest in 800 MHz equipment that utilizes the State of Michigan's 800 MHz system.





LINKS TO OTHER SECTIONS:
Updates
Background    
"An Interesting Sequence of Events"
800 MHz Potentially Deadly Problems
The"Paper" Trail           The FOIA Documents  
Firefighters Killed        LEOs Killed



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