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800 MHz Coverage Acceptance Test Plan

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The main purpose of our new radio system is to improve our radio communications ability. The radio is a firefighter’s most important line of communication during an incident. It that line goes down, then disastrous problems may occur. The City has committed a significant amount of money to this radio project to ensure that we have enough sites and equipment to meet the stringent coverage requirement of Police and Fire.

In addition to developing a conservative design, we have included a thorough and comprehensive acceptance test procedure to verify system coverage. Engineers from the city and the system’s maker, Motorola will conduct tests for several months before the radio system is ever put into service. Initially Motorola will conduct a preliminary acceptance test to verify that all sites are fully operational and operating within specifications. After the preliminary acceptance test is complete the coverage acceptance test will follow. Motorola will conduct drive tests of the entire 2000 square mile coverage area that is divided into quarter mile grids. These drive tests will allow for automated testing of signal levels. This testing will ensure that the radio signal is present and strong enough at the street level to penetrate targeted buildings.

On July 18th 2003, a meeting was held in the Training Academy's auditorium to kick off the new radio system coverage acceptance test. Each morning at 7:30am, 5 teams met at the Fire Department Special Operations building to begin the test. Each team consisted of one sworn member from the Phoenix Fire Department, one sworn member from the Phoenix Police Department, one member from the Phoenix Information Technology Department, and one member from Motorola. The outside cities that Phoenix dispatches for also participated in the drive test.

The role of the firefighters was to drive the vans and document the performance of the DAQ (delivered audio quality). The Talkback test began with a round robin of questions from a Trivial Pursuit game involving the five teams and one dispatcher. The dispatcher was located at the Police Public Safety Building, 620 W. Adams. Any of the teams as well as the dispatcher could respond to the questions. If any team member or the dispatcher noticed a problem with the audio quality it was noted on their error logs. Fire department members in the vans kept a daily test log of the audio quality. The DAQ evaluations for each test grid were recorded on the test logs. The error logs will be compiled for further testing and evaluation. The test was completed in three weeks. Motorola will submit a written report to Phoenix detailing the coverage test results.

The 800 MHz digital radio system transition will be a long and on-going process, and the team welcomes your questions, comments and concerns. Just contact the members through e-mail by clicking HERE or by calling PFD Technical Services at (602) 495-5239.