Fayette analog radio days numbered

As of Dec. 31 all emergency dispatching in Fayette County will be done on a digital system, making analog police and fire radios obsolete for service.
“The used analog radios that we spent thousands for are selling for $25 on eBay,” said Uniontown Fire Chief Dane “Buck” Griffith.
Uniontown City Council has ordered new digital radios for the fire and police departments, as have most departments in the county. There are only two departments that, as of the end of September, hadn’t made arrangement for the switch, according Fayette County 911 Coordinator Guy Napolillo.
“Everyone’s going to be moved over by the end of the year. Between October and November we plan to get all the entities switched over,” Napolillo said. “All of the fire departments have been provided with two mobile radios to get them started.”
Napolillo said Fayette County police departments were provided with radios capable of being switched between digital and analog, starting in 2010.
“We will be switching those over. Some departments have supplemented what we’ve given them,” Napolillo said.
Napolillo said the switch at the end of the year shouldn’t come as a surprise to any police or fire department. It is a process that has been in the works for the past three years. Staff members from the 911 Center are going to each department to program the emergency radios with the new digital frequencies that will be used starting next year.
“There are over 3,000 radios in the system. Some are capable of supporting analog or digital. We’re doing those last,” Napolillo said.
Napolillo said the county has invested $7 million into the new digital system, putting up five new tower sites to improve coverage and eliminate radio dead spots in the county. It also connects Fayette County with Indiana, Armstrong and Westmoreland counties, with Somerset County planning to join the system in the near future.
“We’ve had interoperability with Westmoreland for a number of years. This is the first time it will be this extensive,” Napolillo said.
Napolillo said the new system doesn’t lock users into a specific brand of radio and the software is guaranteed to be supported through 2028.
“The P25 system works with radios from a variety of manufacturers,” Napolillo said.
Some fire departments, including Uniontown, had been waiting until October for anticipated price drops. Uniontown is purchasing Kenwood radios for the fire department at $1,275 each, while the police department purchased Motorola radios for $1,410 each.
“We’re encouraging everybody to make sure they have the resources that are needed,” Napolillo said. “There are a lot of departments that have funding problems, but this has been on the horizon for a long time.
“It’s a competitive market. Once other vendors start selling their products, the price will be coming down. I think people are just waiting now to get the best price,” Napolillo said.