QFES Transitioning back to Analogue for Fireground Comms

[seqcc]

Just had this post from the UFUQ (United Firefighters Union QLD) brought to my attention :

"I am pleased to finally be able to officially report that the protracted negotiations between your union, QFRS and the state government have finally resulted in an agreement between your union and QFRS that for those working in GWN coverage, QFRS fireground communications will commence transitioning back to wideband analogue.

All fireground and emergency incident communications will again be able to operate on wideband analogue once QFRS purchase the bandwidth for that to happen (the purchasing process has commenced), and your radios are reprogrammed. This means there will be a period of transition and your union will work with QFRS to ensure the transition is done with minimisation of the associated risks to you and your colleagues."

https://www.ufuq.com.au/app-pages/code- ... ogue-asap/

Anyone got any more information? QFRS moving back to analogue for fireground communications would be huge for those of us scanning in South East QLD.

[Vkfour]

QFES from Gympie north are still analogue.

[Radio_Australia]

Very interesting, wasn’t expecting that ,

Will it be 468 MHz , or 420mhz area ?
I believe they already have these allocations in Analog ,

Just read the web link , won’t be permanent

“Whilst we will be able to operate in an analogue environment on the fireground as the default in all regions, we will continue to collaborate, research and test alternatives until (if and when, and only when) a successful way of moving to digital can be found.”

[seqcc]

Yep definitely won't be permanent but if the issues using GWN fireground channels are bad enough to warrant QFES reverting back to analogue for on-scene communications it could still take another few years to find a good solution.

I've always disliked how closed off QFES are with their data (all GWN comms encrypted, no public data feed except a very basic map of bushfires) so this is a step back in the right direction imo.

[Radio_Australia]

The Audio Must be pretty bad ? , P25 is the clearest out of all the modes in my opinion ,

Would like to know more insight of the exact issue .

[Kazzaw]

I've always disliked how closed off QFES are with their data (all GWN comms encrypted, no public data feed except a very basic map of bushfires) so this is a step back in the right direction imo.

I agree, I'm not sure why the government decided to put all agencies in encryption. Fire and Ambulance service I believe should be in the clear, police should have a general TG non encrypted however move to secure comms for tactical purposes. Unfortunately I dont think we'll ever see any unencrypted GWN TGs

[JAFO]

Can say I'm not surprised . . . the clarity of FRNSW P25 Fireground Radio Channels have been a hit and miss since FRNSW switched over from the old analogue firegrounds

[Radio_Australia]

Any updates to this action ?

still on the radar ?

[seqcc]

Any updates to this action ?

still on the radar ?

No updates since that initial announcement, QFRS are still using the secure digital TAC channels at this point in time. Like any radio transition that has happened in the past I'd say it's likely that it'll take a while until anything happens unfortunately.