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Letter from W. M. MontgomeryChief Earl Johnson Police Department 1010 First Street South Hopkins, Minnesota 55343 Dear Chief Johnson: W. M. Montgomery Associates 3618 Rainbow Drive Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343. Telephone (612) 473 -6985 October 21, 1983 I have reviewed the October 11 letter from former Chief LaBerge to Mr Craig concerning a trade of police radio frequencies between the Hennepin County Sheriff Department which now uses 154,800 kHz and the Hopkins PD which uses 155,850 kHz. It appears you could accommodate Hennepin County's request to make this exchange of operating frequencies with no degredation of police radio service in Hopkins. I see no advantage to Hopkins in accommodating the county's request. Incentives to Hopkins to make the frequency exchange cited in Chief Deputy LaBerge's letter appear to either be entitlements which are yours with or without the exchange, or accommodations you should expect from the other party for your inconvenience during the transition period. Both the frequency now used by Hennepin County which they propose to exchange with you and your frequency used for police dispatch are listed under Part 90.19 of the Rules of the Federal Communica- tions for the Police Radio Service. FCC records show frequency 154,800 kHz is licensed to Hennepin County under call sign KK3940 which expires October 23, 1985 and call sign KZB291 which expires June 17, 1985. Closest co- channel licensees are Carlton County, Minnesota and Winona County, Minnesota; neither of these users, which, after the exchange would be your co- channel users, are close enough to be of concern to you. FCC Rules prohibit the issue of new licenses for stations within 10 miles of existing stations operating on frequencies within +1 -15 kHz of the proposed new station. Nearest station licensed on 154,785 kHz (15 kHz below 154,800 kHz) belongs to the City of Eagan whose transmitter is 13.35 miles distant. Nearest station licensed on 154,815 kHz (15 kHz above 154,800 kHz) belongs to Anoka County whose transmitter 15.81 miles distant. Therefore, the FCC 10 mile rule would not affect you application for a new license on 154,800 kHz. You should insist on the following assistance from the county at their sole cost and expense in view of your agreement to accommo- date them in this matter: Communications Systems Planning Engineering Chief Johnson -2- October 21, 1983 1. Hennepin County will prepare all Requests for Frequency Coord- ination and FCC license applications required by Hopkins to effect the frequency exchange. 2. Hennepin County will surrender all licenses to the FCC for cancellation for operation on 154,800 kHz or promptly modify licenses which include other frequencies to delete 154,800 kHz. You should not be expected to wait for these licenses to expire in 1985. Who knows what will transpire between now and then. (The county now holds license KAA517 which includes Hopkins frequency 155,850 kHz. KAA517 includes a 35 watt repeater plus 350 watt base station on 155,850 kHz according to FCC records.) 3. The county will furnish and install such temporary base sta- tion and antenna equipment as may be required to permit you to simulcast on 154,800 and 155,850 kHz during the time your po- lice radio system is in transition. Simultaneously, the coun- ty shall cease all use of 154,800 kHz. This will permit each Hopkins police officer to always be in contact with the Hop- kins dispatcher whether their own radio has been converted or not. This is clearly a better position than trying to use Hennepin County Channel #3 for dispatch in competition with general use of Channel #3 by two dozen other police agencies during the transition period, as proposed by the county. How- ever, even with this accommodation, old radios won't be able to talk to new radios on the Hopkins channel. You may wish to ask for expanded discretion to use Hennepin County Channel #3 during this time period. 4. Once system modification has begun, work should be diligently prosecuted without off -again on -again scheduling. This means all parts and equipment must be on hand, including new licen- ses, before any conversion work is started. 5. Hennepin County will reimburse you for your cost for outside technical services to modify radios owned by you, including cost of outside professional engineering service. (Make cer- tain your service agency has all the items they need and are ready to begin conversion work before the county begins their conversion work. It is possible the duplexer on the repeater at the Hopkins House will have to be returned to the manufac- turer for retuning. This will necessarily shut down the sta- tion during this interval if the conversion can't be made in the field.) 6. Hopkins Fire Department will be authorized to use the county fire truck -to -truck frequency, 154,355 kHz, in all Hopins Fire Department radios. Naming this frequency is important. It is not enough to say Hopkins can use the county truck -to -truck frequency because a new truck -to -truck frequency, 154,010 kHz, Chief Johnson -3- October 21, 1983 will come into service next year for which you will be eligi- ble anyway without special dispensation from the county. At this writing there is no way to know how fast the county or other fire departments will implement 154,010 kHz. Your in- terest now is talking to Minnetonka fire units on the frequen- cy Minnetonka now uses not a frequency Minnetonka might use someday in the future. 7. Hopkins will receive the first new mobile radios installed on a schedule determined solely by Hopkins (presuming delivery of new radios has begun) with removal of old radios and installa- tion of new radios solely at county expense. 8. New portable radios, when received, will first be made avail- able to Hopkins. As an aside, it should be mentioned your existing base station equipment, except the Hopkins House repeater, is about 15 years old. These radios cannot be expected to do a very good job of rejecting unwanted signals -15 kHz off your frequency which are received from Eagan and Anoka County. You won't hear these un- wanted signals because of protection afforded by tone sqqelch in each of the receivers, but the unwanted signal will be there and may cause some nuisance receiver desensitization. I suggest you plan to replace these 15 year old radios and the first opportun- ity. One of the radio cabinets has station equipment now 30 years old. This equipment is not worth converting even at someone else's cost. The other item I noticed when looking at your equip- ment is that the Hopkins House radio cabinet is pressed against a baseboard heater in the storeroom where it is located. The cabi- net has been hot enough to melt the plastic louvers in the cabinet door. Now that another heating season is beginning, I suggest you give some attention to how the cabinet can be iaolated from the baseboard heater in this storeroom. cc: William Craig, City Manager truly yours, W. M: Montgomery* P.E.