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reds Assessment Report <br />Jrange County Emergency Management <br />.tune l'_'~', 20(12 <br />Obtaining sufficient additional VHF and UHF radio frequencies plus constructing <br />additional radio sites to enhance radio coverage will not resolve interoperability problems <br />of users operating on multiple frequency bands. While some improvement of the <br />communications within the current radio bands is feasible, CTA believes that the major <br />problems experienced cannot be alleviated with short-term solutions. CTA's long-term <br />recommendation involves combining all communications on a single frequency band and <br />to a new kind of system. <br />The type of computer-controlled communications system recommended in the common <br />frequency band is the "trunked" radio system, where all users on an "as needed" basis can <br />access multiple frequencies or channels. The frequencies become a shared resource. <br />CTA Communications recommends that the level of coverage established by a new <br />system include as a minimum hand-held portables inside heavy buildings in Carrboro, <br />Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, on the UNC-CH campus, and mobiles throughout Orange <br />County. We note that hand-held portables should have sufficient on-the-street coverage <br />throughout the vast majority of the County. Resolution of coverage problems involving <br />many independent systems operating on multiple frequency bands is best served by a <br />long-term solution. <br />Consultant's Opinion of Probable Cost <br />Budgetary estimates have been developed for the short-term recommendations. Cost <br />information was obtained from historical CTA cost and vendor pricing files of <br />comparable projects, and then applied to the quantities of equipment indicated in the <br />short-term recommendations for Orange County and its communities. <br />It is important to reiterate the fact that these figures are the "Consultant's opinion of <br />probable cost", and as such are only an estimate based on our professional experience <br />from similar projects. Therefore, these costs should not be viewed in the same light as a <br />vendor "proposal". Only the vendors themselves will be able to give definitive cost <br />figures to the County and its communities following receipt of a Request for Proposal. <br />Negotiations with the vendors would further refine the content of the project and the final <br />cost of the system. <br />~~ L~ccutive ,Summary <br />~~ ~~~\ y <br />COMMUPJICATIONS <br />