How well does 700 mhz work

[efc]

Hello,Just wondering,how well does 700 mhz,Astro 25,work in a urban /city area?I have no experience with this band and am wondering about this.Now i realize with enough sites in Astro,it could work well,but i a fairly flat large geographic atea witj a mixture of farm,city,it may prove interesting.

Thanks

[efc]

The above area is about 630 square miles,semi flat terrain with some rolling hills.

Thanks

[Bill_G]

It works as well as 800M. Got any of that to compare to?

[efc]

No,not really,there is a state system,that we do not take care of,and it works so so from hat i hear,but the state pd is primarily on highways,and i am concetned about the building penetration,primarilt those with alot of metal,concrete.An kotorola ho is installing he system withus has identified 39 buildings that are lossy.I am not sure how they will address that unles they use BDAs,or change config of the site antennas.I also realize how well digital works,and am actually going ti Motorola next week for the M core overview class.I guess we will.see.

Thanks

[Squad5]

No,not really,there is a state system,that we do not take care of,and it works so so from hat i hear,but the state pd is primarily on highways,and i am concetned about the building penetration,primarilt those with alot of metal,concrete.An kotorola ho is installing he system withus has identified 39 buildings that are lossy.I am not sure how they will address that unles they use BDAs,or change config of the site antennas.I also realize how well digital works,and am actually going ti Motorola next week for the M core overview class.I guess we will.see.

Thanks

Y u do dis?

[jpa]

No,not really,there is a state system,that we do not take care of,and it works so so from hat i hear,but the state pd is primarily on highways,and i am concetned about the building penetration,primarilt those with alot of metal,concrete.An kotorola ho is installing he system withus has identified 39 buildings that are lossy.I am not sure how they will address that unles they use BDAs,or change config of the site antennas.I also realize how well digital works,and am actually going ti Motorola next week for the M core overview class.I guess we will.see.

Thanks

Can't... sentance... properly...

[efc]

Yes i did type this,and no i did not worry about proper grammar,thought this was a radio site not English 101.

[Bill_G]

No,not really,there is a state system,that we do not take care of,and it works so so from hat i hear,but the state pd is primarily on highways,and i am concetned about the building penetration,primarilt those with alot of metal,concrete.An kotorola ho is installing he system withus has identified 39 buildings that are lossy.I am not sure how they will address that unles they use BDAs,or change config of the site antennas.I also realize how well digital works,and am actually going ti Motorola next week for the M core overview class.I guess we will.see.

Thanks

We don't have kotorola hos here. (big grin)

Building penetration issues are a problem in any band. The single site brute force burn your way to the basement way of doing things never really worked all that well. Everybody has had to deal with it especially in urban core areas. As budgets get tight, they try to shift responsibility to property owners with minimum first responder signal strength requirements. That has led to growth in the DAS/BDA markets that offer products to improve both public safety and cellular services that benefit their tenants.

But, for agencies that do have the budget, they typically add more sites, and adopt a high-low strategy. They build high sites to give the system long legs that cover the majority of their service area. They add low sites with limited coverage to address specific areas where additional coverage is needed. And as a last resort, they require property owners to put in BDA's to address areas deep in the bowels of their building.

This kind of planning doesn't happen over night. Generally, you build a system, and over time address the coverage issues as you find them. It takes years. Comm managers can spend their entire career, and not see a system fully built out before they retire. In fact, they spend a lot of time treading water as budget cycles ebb and flow. So, whatever happens with the system you are building, the problems you face won't be because it's 700Mhz. I haven't built one yet that didn't have a problem, or wasn't lacking in some way.

[efc]

Thanks Bill,thats great input,yea.....no kotolas here (also big grin).That is a really good way to look at ,adding as you go because you find problems,never thought of it that way.My understanding is that the building owners may be approached about BDA's.A fire chief told me that that may be a new code requirement now to allow coverage for public safety.Mother M told the customer,97 percent coverage,I guess we will see.They ,Motorola ,are supposed to do a per square mile coverage test to insure this,time will tell.

Thanks alot for your input

[escomm]

700mhz works great you have more mhz than 450mhz or 150mhz

[Bill_G]

Thanks Bill,thats great input,yea.....no kotolas here (also big grin).That is a really good way to look at ,adding as you go because you find problems,never thought of it that way.My understanding is that the building owners may be approached about BDA's.A fire chief told me that that may be a new code requirement now to allow coverage for public safety.Mother M told the customer,97 percent coverage,I guess we will see.They ,Motorola ,are supposed to do a per square mile coverage test to insure this,time will tell.

Thanks alot for your input

Got an STI, or some other method of drive testing the system? If we were betting men, I'd say 97% coverage means outdoor mobile coverage, not indoors, and not portable coverage. On the bright side, you'll become very familiar with DAQ (delivered audio quality) testing. It all depends on how the contract is written, and whom is holding who's feet to the fire during the system acceptance tests.

[efc]

Yes 700 mhz has more Mhz,(big grins).Yes Bill,I agree with you,I am thinking that they mean mobile,not portable,and me thinks that the customer is in for rude awakening.

[Astro Spectra]

More MHz, love hertz? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfaQa8gDNVw