Radio System Background
The genesis of the current City-County public safety radio system began in the mid-1980s. Prior to that time the Charlotte Police Department and the Mecklenburg County Police Department each utilized a conventional repeater system (450 UHF). County Police had 2 channels and 2 repeaters, and City Police had 6 channels and 6 repeaters. Charlotte Fire operated on its own system (460 UHF) with 5 channels; and the Sheriff's Department operated on low band (35) frequency.
In 1984 the County installed a new 5-channel trunking system on an 800 MHz frequency to initially test on non-public safety agencies. The Federal Communications Commission designated the 800 frequency for public safety use. A year later the system was moved to a taller Motorola-owned tower on Sugar Creek Road, and backup systems were added to place County Police on the trunking system. In 1986, the City field-tested the system.
In 1988, the two bodies jointly designed a countywide 800 MHz trunking radio plan to relocate communications systems for City Police, Fire, and Park Rangers. As a result of this plan:
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City installed 20-channel simulcast site at Tyvola Road
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City upgraded equipment at Sugar Creek site
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City installed 13 consoles and microwave/fiber optic path for Police and Fire Communication Centers
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City purchased 1,000 portable, mobile and station receiver radios for Police, Fire and Park Rangers
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County obtained FCC licenses for all sites
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County upgraded Sugar Creek site from 5 channels to 20 channels
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County purchased 260 portables, 400 mobiles and 5 consoles for County Departments
In June 1990 the Charlotte Police Department became fully operational on the trunking system. The Charlotte Fire Department joined the system in January 1991. In 1992 the City and County increased the trunking system capacity from 20 channels to the maximum 28 channels to reduce the probability of system overload during peak hours of communications. Other system upgrades since 1995 include:
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City installed two 28-channel simulcast sites at Bellhaven Boulevard and in Matthews
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County installed 4 SmartZone Sites
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A 10-channel site (now 15 channels) on the WDAV tower in Huntersville
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Two 5-channel SmartZone systems on leased towers in the Lake Wylie/Mountain Island Lake areas
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A 5-channel SmartZone site on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center
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County installed a SmartZone switch at the Sugar Creek site
Since then, over 50 agencies have become operational on the system including the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews and Pineville, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. While the radio system is primarily for public safety, other City, County, Town, and School departments operate on the system. Also various state and local public safety agencies in the region access the system through talk-groups.
