FAQs • Cumberland County • CivicEngage

When should I engage a VTAC and force portable attachment?: This function should be considered at any fire scene in which interior operations are required to mitigate the incident and communications could be questionable. Those situations include heavy masonry constructed buildings, metal clad buildings, warehousing with heavy rack storage, and incidents occurring below grade. Police could also consider this scenario if they are dispatched to active incidents involving interior operations. VTAC operations are not necessary for events occurring outdoors in the valley floor of the County and on the south side of the South Mountain as there is ample mobile and portable coverage. In some situations for events occurring in the finger valleys of the South Mountain in which terrain may shade the network sites, a VTAC positioned in coverage could be used to extend coverage to portables affected by the terrain shading. The face of North Mountain is more sheer on the Cumberland County side and not subject as much to the terrain shading that is posed by the South Mountain.

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800 MHz Radio Project - Mobile & VTAC

1. My mobile radio is displaying NO MRU, what does this mean?: This could mean a number of things. The best action to take is to call in an RMA to the Harris help desk at 1.800.806.0949.

2. On my mobile display below the talk group name I am not seeing the radio alias pop up when others are talking. What is wrong?: Press the select button (the one in the center of the arrows) until you see NO CALLS. The alias will not show up unless you are sitting on the main menu. If you are on the main menu and the alias doesn’t display but another talk group displays, you are listening to scan radio messages. A radio alias will only be displayed on the selected talk group.

3. When should I engage a VTAC and force portable attachment?: This function should be considered at any fire scene in which interior operations are required to mitigate the incident and communications could be questionable. Those situations include heavy masonry constructed buildings, metal clad buildings, warehousing with heavy rack storage, and incidents occurring below grade. Police could also consider this scenario if they are dispatched to active incidents involving interior operations. VTAC operations are not necessary for events occurring outdoors in the valley floor of the County and on the south side of the South Mountain as there is ample mobile and portable coverage. In some situations for events occurring in the finger valleys of the South Mountain in which terrain may shade the network sites, a VTAC positioned in coverage could be used to extend coverage to portables affected by the terrain shading. The face of North Mountain is more sheer on the Cumberland County side and not subject as much to the terrain shading that is posed by the South Mountain.

4. Will a VTAC function automatically without any user intervention and allow a portable to connect when the portable is being used in faded coverage?: A VTAC must be placed in the “standby” mode to function as a vehicle repeater. All VTAC radios are equipped with an illuminated style rocker switch labeled “Vehicular Repeater” to engage the standby function. This switch must be turned on for the repeater to work. Audible confirmation tones sound when the switch is turned on or off. Once the switch is engaged and the VTAC assigns a repeater channel, a portable then can connect to the VTAC – either on its own if the radio network is really faded, or the portable radio is forced to VTAC operations by use of the keypad.

5. Can I leave the VTAC rocker switch turned on to keep the repeater in standby mode all of the time?: No. A distance and velocity parameter is incorporated to disable the repeater if the switch is left turned on. The velocity parameter is set to 35 MPH and the distance parameter is set to 1,320 feet (0.25 mile). If the switch is left on and either one of these parameters are met, the VTAC automatically disables and the audible confirmation tones will sound. You must manually return the switch to the off position prior to using the repeater again. This design is incorporated to prevent “drive by” repeaters from causing unintentional portable attachment.