Posted: 7/28/2016 11:31:01 AM EDT
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My very small rural FD (my as in, I am an appointed commissioner living in the district) needs a localized repeater for 'talk-around' use. They have been told that all VHF 'emergency' repeater pairs are taken...
Wouldn't this be an opportunity to apply for a 'business' licenses for avail pairs? Just curious on opinions and ideas thx fellas! |
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My very small rural FD needs a localized repeater for 'talk-around' use. Wanna know what exactly you're "Talking around" when you use "talk around"? The Repeater. It's simplex, usually on the output frequency, sometimes with a different tone, but sometimes just the output tone if so equipped. So, my first question would be.... do you really want some simplex frequencies? If yes, damn if that won't be easier. Also, if you're that small and that rural, maybe you need a second opinion on the availability of coordinated frequencies. If you're already using a coordinator, try firing them and ask another. Also, perhaps they need this repeater to talk to other agencies? To prepare and train for interoperability with other emergency services, governments, and surrounding jurisdictions? Have they looked into the issues with VTAC17? Perhaps one of the other choices out of the NIFOG? Another idea: no matter what you end up doing, consider reviewing this and this and coming up with something similar. If possible, install a simple antenna at the proposed site of the new repeater, and gather a week or two's worth of data. |
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Wanna know what exactly you're "Talking around" when you use "talk around"? The Repeater. It's simplex, usually on the output frequency, sometimes with a different tone, but sometimes just the output tone if so equipped. So, my first question would be.... do you really want some simplex frequencies? If yes, damn if that won't be easier. Also, if you're that small and that rural, maybe you need a second opinion on the availability of coordinated frequencies. If you're already using a coordinator, try firing them and ask another. Also, perhaps they need this repeater to talk to other agencies? To prepare and train for interoperability with other emergency services, governments, and surrounding jurisdictions? Have they looked into the issues with VTAC17? Perhaps one of the other choices out of the NIFOG? Another idea: no matter what you end up doing, consider reviewing this and this and coming up with something similar. If possible, install a simple antenna at the proposed site of the new repeater, and gather a week or two's worth of data. Quoted:
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My very small rural FD needs a localized repeater for 'talk-around' use. Wanna know what exactly you're "Talking around" when you use "talk around"? The Repeater. It's simplex, usually on the output frequency, sometimes with a different tone, but sometimes just the output tone if so equipped. So, my first question would be.... do you really want some simplex frequencies? If yes, damn if that won't be easier. Also, if you're that small and that rural, maybe you need a second opinion on the availability of coordinated frequencies. If you're already using a coordinator, try firing them and ask another. Also, perhaps they need this repeater to talk to other agencies? To prepare and train for interoperability with other emergency services, governments, and surrounding jurisdictions? Have they looked into the issues with VTAC17? Perhaps one of the other choices out of the NIFOG? Another idea: no matter what you end up doing, consider reviewing this and this and coming up with something similar. If possible, install a simple antenna at the proposed site of the new repeater, and gather a week or two's worth of data. Excellent advice. I always cringe when someone is placed into a position and doesn't understand the terminology or what it really entails. THIS is how radio shops with bad reputations take advantage of public safety. We had a local PD whose UHF Extenders (in-car repeaters) walkie channels were carrier squelch on local business channels used for drive up windows. Find a coordinator that is trusted, also find a radio shop that is even more trusted. |
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What I got from the Chief last night was this:
'The county says we can't have a repeater-all the Public Safety Freqs are taken, so we're screwed' 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... I'm not sure on a Coordinator, will broach that with him this afternoon when I call him. Thanks guys! |
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What I got from the Chief last night was this: 'The county says we can't have a repeater-all the Public Safety Freqs are taken, so we're screwed' 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... I'm not sure on a Coordinator, will broach that with him this afternoon when I call him. Thanks guys! What about a 220 repeater 
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What I got from the Chief last night was this: 'The county says we can't have a repeater-all the Public Safety Freqs are taken, so we're screwed' 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... I'm not sure on a Coordinator, will broach that with him this afternoon when I call him. Thanks guys! Going off a freq that is not monitored by dispatch is asking for trouble. Shit goes sideways your on your private channel screaming for help.....noone hears it. Not good. I find it hard to believe that all the PS bands are used, you might want to talk to the county. <--17 yrs Public Safety Exerience as a career |
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Public Safety VHF frequencies are pretty difficult to come by now. I know we spent almost a year trying get approval for a pair to be used for an international hailing freq with Canada, but that was a unique case. Honestly your best bet is to contact your surrounding municipalities and see what frequencies they have, and if there is any possibility of "sharing" with another town. If you each have one you could combine them. As far as utilizing channels not monitored by county/dispatch, that is pretty common in our area. Interior attacks are handled on scene and not the regionalized dispatch. ( 22 years Dispatcher/9-1-1/Public Safety Answering Point/Operations Supervisor) |
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Yeah, Most of the Departments in the County save maybe 4 (us included) all have 'private channels' . I've chatted with the Chief, asked him to determine who the Freq Coordinator is for this area and we can move from there. Thanks guys!
SCW 10 yrs ENG/EMT (back in the day-before kids) |
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Wanna know what exactly you're "Talking around" when you use "talk around"? The Repeater. It's simplex, usually on the output frequency, sometimes with a different tone, but sometimes just the output tone if so equipped. Quoted:
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My very small rural FD needs a localized repeater for 'talk-around' use. Wanna know what exactly you're "Talking around" when you use "talk around"? The Repeater. It's simplex, usually on the output frequency, sometimes with a different tone, but sometimes just the output tone if so equipped. this is exactly how every dept here is setup. talk around is for fire ground comes local to the scene. if they need non critical coms other than that, use the cell phones. |
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Yeah, Most of the Departments in the County save maybe 4 (us included) all have 'private channels' . I've chatted with the Chief, asked him to determine who the Freq Coordinator is for this area and we can move from there. Thanks guys! SCW 10 yrs ENG/EMT (back in the day-before kids) There should be a Public Safety Frequency Coordinator for your state. Probably works for the state police. I HIGHLY doubt all available repeater pairs for public safety are used up. If you need some help tracking down who to talk to give me a shout. I've got a few contacts that might know who it is or at least someone who might know. |
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I don't understand how, if your agency is a FIRE DEPARTMENT, they won't let you use an existing repeater. It's not like they're used for rag-chews.
How is the FD dispatched now? Why does the FD want to talk apart from whatever repeater is used by the dispatcher? |
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You don't need a repeater for most talk around comms. Simplex would do what you need. Check with the state as they may have some mutual aid frequency's set aside that you might be able to use as it would only be for fire ground comms and not through a repeater.
Our radios were capable of switching pairs between duplex and simplex but for simplicity we just programmed in separate frequencies for each use. Channel 1 Main Dispatch - Duplex through the primary repeater, recorded etc. Channel 2 Talk Around - Simplex using the output frequency of the repeater. That way people could monitor dispatch comms but anything they transmit would only be heard on the Scene. Channel 3 Secondary repeater - Duplex using a second repeater site, not recorded. Channel 4 2nd Talk Around - Simplex using the output frequency of the secondary repeater. This second set was handy if you had multiple calls going at one time. Any vital comms to dispatch would be sent through the Channel 1 but all other comms stayed off the primary repeater. Channel 5 EMS Dispatch - Channel 6 EMS Talk Around - Channel 7 Statewide Mutual Aid Talk Around - Simplex. There are no repeaters nearby so it does not interfere with anyone anyway. If another department comes into the area for mutual aid we have comms. It also serves as a backup Talk Around. I would avoid using PL tones or DCS to squelch 2 different sets of comms on the same frequency. It will cause issues when 2 people transmit at the same time. If you are on different ones you cannot hear the other person talking but others will hear the interference. For fire ground comms it is just not worth the risk. |
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Going off a freq that is not monitored by dispatch is asking for trouble. Shit goes sideways your on your private channel screaming for help.....noone hears it. Not good. I find it hard to believe that all the PS bands are used, you might want to talk to the county. <--17 yrs Public Safety Exerience as a career Quoted:
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What I got from the Chief last night was this: 'The county says we can't have a repeater-all the Public Safety Freqs are taken, so we're screwed' 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... I'm not sure on a Coordinator, will broach that with him this afternoon when I call him. Thanks guys! Going off a freq that is not monitored by dispatch is asking for trouble. Shit goes sideways your on your private channel screaming for help.....noone hears it. Not good. I find it hard to believe that all the PS bands are used, you might want to talk to the county. <--17 yrs Public Safety Exerience as a career Our Dispatch doesn't monitor any of our private frequencies. Or the dispatch frequencies they're supposed to monitor. |
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I don't understand how, if your agency is a FIRE DEPARTMENT, they won't let you use an existing repeater. It's not like they're used for rag-chews. How is the FD dispatched now? Why does the FD want to talk apart from whatever repeater is used by the dispatcher? Hell, we're not allowed to use Dispatch channel for anything other than acknowledging calls. They don't want us doing that. They want us to reply on AWIN. Except most of us don't have AWIN. |
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Terrain could be an issue for you.
If you are wanting radio-radio communications, in the mountains, you'll be distance limited. This should be ok for fireground operations (out of my lane there). You *may* be wanting another repeater channel for not-as-important-get-off-dispatch traffic. Much of it would be dependent on the frequency band you are using. Best bet is to find a local ham type in your department. Go to the fire hall, and look for the 900 dollar pickup truck with a thousand dollars worth of antennas on it. He will know, just vet his responses before you take action. 
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Terrain could be an issue for you. If you are wanting radio-radio communications, in the mountains, you'll be distance limited. This should be ok for fireground operations (out of my lane there). You *may* be wanting another repeater channel for not-as-important-get-off-dispatch traffic. Much of it would be dependent on the frequency band you are using. Best bet is to find a local ham type in your department. Go to the fire hall, and look for the 900 dollar pickup truck with a thousand dollars worth of antennas on it. He will know, just vet his responses before you take action. I'll agree with you there BUT they need to know commercial comms not just typical ham stuff. I've come across too many hams who have installed a repeater for a VFD and the install was absolute shit. |
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You don't need a repeater for most talk around comms. Simplex would do what you need. Check with the state as they may have some mutual aid frequency's set aside that you might be able to use as it would only be for fire ground comms and not through a repeater. This. You do not need a repeater, nor a repeater pair. "Talk around repeater frequencies" is incorrect terminology as previously mentioned and leads to misinterpretations and misinformation. "Talkaround" is just using the output of a repeater pair. They do not need "talkaround", they just need a single (simplex) frequency for "fireground" use. This is common practice here, fire is dispatched on a common county wide frequency, and then individual departments have their own fireground frequencies. It's entirely possible that there are statewide frequencies that could be available for such usage as well. It seems hard to believe that there are no available frequencies, but I know a lot of places went crazy getting additional new frequencies after narrowbanding. No one in your county is responsible for frequency coordination, those are national organizations that are assigned that responsibility by the FCC. A vehicular repeater, to allow handhelds on a scene to use a mobile to communicate back to dispatch, is an entirely different proposition. |
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This. You do not need a repeater, nor a repeater pair. "Talk around repeater frequencies" is incorrect terminology as previously mentioned and leads to misinterpretations and misinformation. "Talkaround" is just using the output of a repeater pair. They do not need "talkaround", they just need a single (simplex) frequency for "fireground" use. This is common practice here, fire is dispatched on a common county wide frequency, and then individual departments have their own fireground frequencies. It's entirely possible that there are statewide frequencies that could be available for such usage as well. It seems hard to believe that there are no available frequencies, but I know a lot of places went crazy getting additional new frequencies after narrowbanding. No one in your county is responsible for frequency coordination, those are national organizations that are assigned that responsibility by the FCC. A vehicular repeater, to allow handhelds on a scene to use a mobile to communicate back to dispatch, is an entirely different proposition. Quoted:
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You don't need a repeater for most talk around comms. Simplex would do what you need. Check with the state as they may have some mutual aid frequency's set aside that you might be able to use as it would only be for fire ground comms and not through a repeater. This. You do not need a repeater, nor a repeater pair. "Talk around repeater frequencies" is incorrect terminology as previously mentioned and leads to misinterpretations and misinformation. "Talkaround" is just using the output of a repeater pair. They do not need "talkaround", they just need a single (simplex) frequency for "fireground" use. This is common practice here, fire is dispatched on a common county wide frequency, and then individual departments have their own fireground frequencies. It's entirely possible that there are statewide frequencies that could be available for such usage as well. It seems hard to believe that there are no available frequencies, but I know a lot of places went crazy getting additional new frequencies after narrowbanding. No one in your county is responsible for frequency coordination, those are national organizations that are assigned that responsibility by the FCC. A vehicular repeater, to allow handhelds on a scene to use a mobile to communicate back to dispatch, is an entirely different proposition. They want a repeater. It's not just for fireground. 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... |
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Honestly, I'd see if a interoperability repeater is practical on VHF (that way it acts as more of a spare, county backup) in the area.
As some have stated VHF pairs are hard to come by…actually completely depends on your location. Where TLF and I live, there is a regional (P25) trunk system that provides portable coverage for 6 counties on 7/800 MHz as well as an additional 3 others tied in with a VHF trunk system. In all of those counties, conventional VHF is used for fireground and/or paging and that is it. Oh, this system had something like 12,000 subscribers at the beginning of the year. Anyway, what's available should be known first. Whatever the outcome, make sure the radio shop tells/documents for the next guys down the line how the radios are programmed so the boots on the ground can actually be properly trained to handle/work around 10-1 and 10-5 situations (especially with a repeater involved). That may seem trivial but there is actually a lawsuit going on against Motorola Solutions, a MSS and a subcontractor filed by family members of several fighter who died in a structure fire down in Houston. When transmissions didn't reach dispatch the trapped fighters didn't know what to do (and so far there has been no evidence of a foreground being utilized). |
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They want a repeater. It's not just for fireground. Quoted:
They want a repeater. It's not just for fireground. 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... Those things do not necessarily require a repeater, and may quite possibly be impeded by having a repeater. |
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... interoperability ... 10-1 and 10-5 situations ... Whats a 10-1 and 10-5? 
Please understand I am just picking with you as this has been a pet peeve of mine. Years ago we got our department off of 10 codes but our SD refused to make the switch. We are moving to an integrated dispatch in the county. For some strange reason the FD has gone back to 10 codes and the SD along with all of the other PD in the county have switched to plain language. Guess which one is running so much smoother now. |
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Those things do not necessarily require a repeater, and may quite possibly be impeded by having a repeater. Quoted:
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They want a repeater. It's not just for fireground. 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... Those things do not necessarily require a repeater, and may quite possibly be impeded by having a repeater. Given what part of the world they are in and I'm guessing they service a fairly large area, simplex on VHF from 5 watts on a portable that is mounted on a belt or bunker gear is not going to travel the distance reliably back to their station(s). Best practice here would to put up a repeater that is just for the departments use and also have a talk around button assigned or better a channel programmed as talk around using the output frequency of said repeater. This provides them with capable fire ground comms and the ability to communicate reliably across their service area. |
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Going off a freq that is not monitored by dispatch is asking for trouble. Shit goes sideways your on your private channel screaming for help.....noone hears it. Not good. I find it hard to believe that all the PS bands are used, you might want to talk to the county. <--17 yrs Public Safety Exerience as a career Quoted:
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What I got from the Chief last night was this: 'The county says we can't have a repeater-all the Public Safety Freqs are taken, so we're screwed' 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... I'm not sure on a Coordinator, will broach that with him this afternoon when I call him. Thanks guys! Going off a freq that is not monitored by dispatch is asking for trouble. Shit goes sideways your on your private channel screaming for help.....noone hears it. Not good. I find it hard to believe that all the PS bands are used, you might want to talk to the county. <--17 yrs Public Safety Exerience as a career Meh, I disagree. We use fireground channels all the time that aren't monitored by dispatch because the dispatch channel needs to be used to dispatch calls. this is where having proper implementation of ICS comes in with all fireground comms going through section leaders to a central IC that is the only one communicating with dispatch. As far as the county deciding what frequencies are taken or open, I've never seen a situation where they had any say in it, barring trying to use a system they own like 7/800 such as the TxWARN system that is used around here and is managed by Harris Co. with collaboration with surrounding counties. In that case you would only be asking for a talkgroup on the system, not a repeater pair. If I understand right they want a repeater with a separate talkaround, or just their own private repeater system? Neither one of those shouldn't be overly difficult. The half dozen or so systems I was involved in setting up over the years were all UHF, and the frequencies were coordinated with the FCC through the radio shop. I would dig a little deeper before taking the county word at face value <-- 18yrs fire service, 5 as a rural chief and county comms committee. |
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Whats a 10-1 and 10-5?
Please understand I am just picking with you as this has been a pet peeve of mine. Years ago we got our department off of 10 codes but our SD refused to make the switch. We are moving to an integrated dispatch in the county. For some strange reason the FD has gone back to 10 codes and the SD along with all of the other PD in the county have switched to plain language. Guess which one is running so much smoother now. Quoted:
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... interoperability ... 10-1 and 10-5 situations ... Whats a 10-1 and 10-5?
Please understand I am just picking with you as this has been a pet peeve of mine. Years ago we got our department off of 10 codes but our SD refused to make the switch. We are moving to an integrated dispatch in the county. For some strange reason the FD has gone back to 10 codes and the SD along with all of the other PD in the county have switched to plain language. Guess which one is running so much smoother now. If only they trained dispatchers that way in Texas... |
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Those things do not necessarily require a repeater, and may quite possibly be impeded by having a repeater. Quoted:
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They want a repeater. It's not just for fireground. 'We'd like our own "private channel" *(off of the County Dispatch/OP's/Tach System) to use on local fire ground or talk-around ex: Chief to station, or FF to Unit, etc... Those things do not necessarily require a repeater, and may quite possibly be impeded by having a repeater. We have one of each. They each have a place. |
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After further discussion with the Chief, here's what he's after...
When asked again if he needed HT to HT across the 46 mile Service Area versus HT to HT on the Fireground.... He responded "Probably just around the Fireground" NOW We're Getting Somewhere! so a solid/quiet Simplex Freq is all we need... |
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After further discussion with the Chief, here's what he's after... When asked again if he needed HT to HT across the 46 mile Service Area versus HT to HT on the Fireground.... He responded "Probably just around the Fireground" NOW We're Getting Somewhere! so a solid/quiet Simplex Freq is all we need... Fireground freqs should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be simplex. When you sue a repeater for fireground you run a far greater risk of a person on the scene no making the repeater, say from in a basement, or someone far away covering them up. Simplex within a few hundred yards it isn't an issue. There is a pool of simplex only public service freqs that are allowable and any frequency coordinator can get you licensed for a few hundred dollars. As an interim solution you could program the MURS freqs with a DCS code to avoid interference. Not a perfect solution, but if your in a rural area the odds of getting any interference from other users on a scene is low. |
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He responded "Probably just around the Fireground" Quoted:
He responded "Probably just around the Fireground" There you go. I did want to comment on the overall quality of the other responses: you have a ton of super knowledgeable folks, with years/decades of Part 90 experience, chiming in. I want to highlight one: Quoted:
We use fireground channels all the time that aren't monitored by dispatch because the dispatch channel needs to be used to dispatch calls. this is where having proper implementation of ICS comes in with all fireground comms going through section leaders to a central IC that is the only one communicating with dispatch. I'm guessing your current arrangement doesn't look quite like this just yet, but after you get licensing sorted out, would be my very next recommendation. Some folks may need additional installs and/or changes in operating procedures to adopt, but the payoff could be huge. Edit: Quoted:
*cough-cough* they may be on *murs* cough now Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ. Somebody cowboy'ed up and made themselves a hero, a shame that heroes turn into martyrs when shit goes pearshaped and somebody dies. |
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*cough-cough* they may be on *murs* cough now.......... thx now I've finally nailed him down on what he wants and actually expects it's off to find the freq coordinator Always nice to have all of the information. Makes recommendations much easier!
From a little looking I did, I don't think you will have any issues getting a VHF freq. |
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There you go. I did want to comment on the overall quality of the other responses: you have a ton of super knowledgeable folks, with years/decades of Part 90 experience, chiming in. I want to highlight one: I'm guessing your current arrangement doesn't look quite like this just yet, but after you get licensing sorted out, would be my very next recommendation. Some folks may need additional installs and/or changes in operating procedures to adopt, but the payoff could be huge. That's how it works now, Dispatch for Dispatch, OPs for OPs, Tach Ch for Multi-Agency Fireground Ops...this would be bottom tier FF to Engineer stuff And you're right-lotsa good info here, shame I didn't know what they were 'actually' wanting when they asked me to ask
Edit: Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ. Somebody cowboy'ed up and made themselves a hero, a shame that heroes turn into martyrs when shit goes pearshaped and somebody dies. done before I arrived
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He responded "Probably just around the Fireground" There you go. I did want to comment on the overall quality of the other responses: you have a ton of super knowledgeable folks, with years/decades of Part 90 experience, chiming in. I want to highlight one: Quoted:
We use fireground channels all the time that aren't monitored by dispatch because the dispatch channel needs to be used to dispatch calls. this is where having proper implementation of ICS comes in with all fireground comms going through section leaders to a central IC that is the only one communicating with dispatch. I'm guessing your current arrangement doesn't look quite like this just yet, but after you get licensing sorted out, would be my very next recommendation. Some folks may need additional installs and/or changes in operating procedures to adopt, but the payoff could be huge. That's how it works now, Dispatch for Dispatch, OPs for OPs, Tach Ch for Multi-Agency Fireground Ops...this would be bottom tier FF to Engineer stuff And you're right-lotsa good info here, shame I didn't know what they were 'actually' wanting when they asked me to ask
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*cough-cough* they may be on *murs* cough now Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ. Somebody cowboy'ed up and made themselves a hero, a shame that heroes turn into martyrs when shit goes pearshaped and somebody dies. done before I arrived
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Best bet is to find a local ham type in your department. Go to the fire hall, and look for the 900 dollar pickup truck with a thousand dollars worth of antennas on it. He will know, just vet his responses before you take action. I bet that hillbilly even has a ham radio podcast |
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I bet that hillbilly even has a ham radio podcast Quoted:
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Best bet is to find a local ham type in your department. Go to the fire hall, and look for the 900 dollar pickup truck with a thousand dollars worth of antennas on it. He will know, just vet his responses before you take action. I bet that hillbilly even has a ham radio podcast I resemble that remark, but my ol' 7.3 is worth far more than $900
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I resemble that remark, but my ol' 7.3 is worth far more than $900 Quoted:
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Best bet is to find a local ham type in your department. Go to the fire hall, and look for the 900 dollar pickup truck with a thousand dollars worth of antennas on it. He will know, just vet his responses before you take action. I bet that hillbilly even has a ham radio podcast I resemble that remark, but my ol' 7.3 is worth far more than $900 A 7.3's value depends completely on whether or not the person doing the assessing sees the following: A blue oval being worth the scrap price of the material it is made of. The high pressure oil injectors not being the most outdated injection system out there (even the B series's P700 injection system is still common in industrial application). 7.3's being RF nightmares to anything that doesn't share an electrical ground to them. The fact you generally end up rebuilding the automatic every 100k miles. As a plus it was the most fuel efficient diesel Ford ever had…at a whopping 17 mpg. That and the motor will generally last about 500,000 miles.
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These come from the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide which you should have
154.28000 VFIRE21 - Fire 154.26500 VFIRE22 - Fire 154.29500 VFIRE23 - Fire 154.27250 VFIRE24 - Fire 154.28750 VFIRE25 - Fire 154.30250 VFIRE26 - Fire 155.34000 VMED28 - EMS 155.34750 VMED29 - EMS 155.47500 VLAW31 - Law Enforcement 155.48250 VLAW32 - Law Enforcement there is also other VHF interop freqs like VTAC and VSAR chances are you have some of these already still programmed as "State Fire" of "F1" While we do have our own "Private" city channel we use VFIRE on the fireground VMED is sometimes use for ambulance call in to hospitals and VLAW is a favorite ground contact for one of the Air Ambulances and I'm sure you have a Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan too ETA I forgot how much communications reference stuff is in the NIFOG |
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Everytime I read about someone using a repeater channel for fireground comms I laugh/cry a little inside 
I actually had to recommend using our actual county fireground (simplex) channel for fireground use instead of the repeater channel. on small events we use the repeater freq. on larger or multiple events we switch to the TA freq. but we have 4 repeater freqs along with 6 TA ones so its no big deal. |