CapeCodFD.com

Radio Guide

Cape Cod

Barnstable County, Massachusetts

• Barnstable (Includes 5 fire districts)
  - Barnstable Fire District
  - COMM Fire District
  - Cotuit Fire District
  - Hyannis Fire District
  - West Barnstable Fire District
• Bourne
• Brewster
• Chatham
• Dennis
• Eastham
• Falmouth
• Harwich
• Mashpee
• Orleans
• Otis ANGB
• Provincetown
• Sandwich
• Truro
• Wellfleet
• Yarmouth

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CAPE COD FIRE COMMUNICATIONS

FIRE COMMUNICATIONS

Cape Cod Fire Departments have traditionally operated on the low band in the 33 mhz range. At one time all departments were on a single channel....33.70 mhz. As departments got busier and communications more frequent, many departments switched to their own "fire alarm" frequency. The 33.70 mhz channel continued to be used as a common "county" frequency for inter-department and mutual aid communications. By the late 1970's all departments were off the "county" frequency and operating on their own channels. The county frequency continued to be used, and is still in service today, for mutual aid purposes.

"Skip" used to be a very common problem on the 33. mhz frequencies, particularly the summer. To overcome this extremely irritating condition, all departments added PL (private line) tones (CTCSS) to radios. The common tone in the county is 114.8. This helped greatly in reducing the foreign noise.

As departments continued to grow in recent years, some added additional VHF and UHF frequencies that could be used for administrative purposes. Primary operations however, continued on the 33. mhz channels.

Today all Fire Departments utilize an 800 Mhz Trunked Radio System....See below.

800 Mhz TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEM

A few years ago, the Massachusetts State Police radio system upgrade to 800 mhz trunking began. Cape Fire and Police Departments worked out arrangements to join with the State Police Trunking System. The result has been a considerable change in Cape Cod communications. While not yet 100% completed, the system has been utilized quite reliably now for over (2) years.

The "Trunked Radio System" is someone complex to understand and explain, but basically it is a Motorola Type II system. It presently utilizes a bank of (15) 800 mhz frequencies. Within these frequencies is a "data" channel which allows user radios to track communications by user groups known as "Talk Groups." The system utilizes several repeater sites on the Cape. All radios must reach the repeater site to transmit. A very sophisticated computer controls the whole system. These frequencies are shared by all Cape Cod Fire Departments, most Police Departments, the State Police, Environmental Police, and perhaps more.

Mobile and portable radios issued to fire departments have (3) banks of 16 channels each.

The "A" Bank, contains the home department's channel, a mutual aid dispatch channel, 5 neighboring departments, the local police channel, a Capewide Administrative channel, a CIEMSS talkgroup, and (5) common I-Call / T-Tac channels. Channel 1 in the "A" bank is a low power, Direct channel. Radios in the "A" Bank typically can scan the home channel, neighboring departments, and the mutual aid dispatch channel.

The "B" Bank in each radio contains the remaining fire department channels not included in the "A" bank.

The "C" Bank has the home channel, (3) OPS channels for major incidents, and other channels.

The "C" Bank in each radio was designed for use at multi-department incidents. Channel 1 is the Direct channel. The direct channel is a conventional 800 (not trunked). This is paired with the C2 channel which is the home department's primary channel. C1 and C2 scan each other. If for some reason, a portable in a building cannot transmit out (it is unable to hit one of the cape's repeater sites), the person in the building can switch to the direct C1 position to reach command or other units on the scene. The (3) OPS channels are similarly paired....C3 is direct/C4 is OPS 1..........C5 is direct/C6 is OPS 2......etc.... Each pair scans itself for this "backup" for emergency purposes. The direct channel frequency is the same in all positions.

The Cape does not utilize a "regional" or centralized dispatch center. Each of the Cape's Fire Departments have their own dispatch centers, each department uses its own channel (Talkgroup), and all of the departments using the "Trunked" system simulcast radio communications over their 33. mhz frequencies for tone activated pagers. Most dispatch centers have (1) A fire alarm channel for dispatch and day to day operations...simulcast over 33. mhz, (2) a countywide "Mutual Aid Dispatch" channel used for inter-department and mutual aid dispatch purposes. This is strictly used for station to station communications and is not used for mobile or portable communications. Dispatch centers then use mobile radios which can be selected as needed for access to OPS channels during major incident.

FIRE RADIO PROTOCOL
Protocol for an incident is basically as follows. Each department dispatches its incidents on their own "fire alarm" talkgroup (A2 and C2 positions on their radios.) These communications, including pager tones, are simulcast on their 33. mhz frequency. When a working fire or major incident is encountered, the fire alarm dispatcher contacts the mutual aid center via phone or the M/A Dispatch talkgroup, and is assigned an "OPS channel" for fireground / incident communications. All units responding to and operating at the incident are instructed to switch to an OPS channel (OPS 1, 2, or 3). Units on scene will stay on the OPS channel until the incident is concluded. Units given coverage / moveup assignments are dispatched by the mutual aid center on the M/A Dispatch talkgroup. As apparatus responds, it remains on its own fire alarm channel until reaching the community to be covered. Upon reaching that community, apparatus switches to the fire alarm talkgroup of the department being covered and remains on that channel for assignments. If additional moveups occur, units switch to the talkgroup of the next community being covered. It is complex and may be confusing to follow... but so far it works.

Monitoring fire communications on the Cape by scanner has actually improved greatly with the 800 trunked system. Obviously, having a newer scanner with "Trunk Tracking" capability helps to provide best control over what you hear. Listening with older, non-trunking radios has also improved, as the process of simulcasting communications has made it possible to hear portable radios as well as mobiles in most cases. Monitoring with a Trunk Tracker scanner involves programming the (15) 800 mhz frequencies and then the 5 digit talkgroups of the departments you wish to hear.

The trunked system is being improved on again at this time with additional repeater sites being installed soon to provide the desired 95% / 95% coverage for in building use.

Presently all Cape Fire Departments are capable of using the 800 mhz trunked system. Mobile and portable radios, as well as dispatch center radios are in place. Due to some concerns about "in building" coverage, Hyannis and Yarmouth Fire Departments have not yet made the switch to 100% use. The West Barnstable Department has shared a low band frequency with the Barnstable Fire Department. This creates a situation with simulcasting, so WBFD has not switched to 800 mhz yet pending a new 33. mhz channel to put pagers on. All other departments are on and working well.

The Mutual Aid Center for Barnstable County (Barnstable County Control) is located at the Barnstable Sheriff's Department in Barnstable. This is the center piece of Cape Fire Communications.

All fire and rescue apparatus within the county has an assigned "county" radio number. Numbers are grouped by department, but are not type specific as the Vineyard is.

CAPE COD FIRE DEPARTMENTS - Conventional Frequencies - By Community