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This year, the Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network (PSERN) Project has been busy finishing the construction of tower locations, installation of radio equipment, establishing the new digital system, and preparing customer agencies to start using their new radios next year. Additionally, the PSERN Operator was created to be ready to manage the system after the Project is complete. The following is an overview of important activities in 2021:
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Site Development – After many years of radio site lease negotiations on new and existing leases, and coordinating with many parties, execution of all 66 legal agreements for site acquisition finished this past summer. Also, construction at 60 of the 61 sites on new radio towers, shelters, off-grid generators, and other infrastructure has been completed. View some of the 2021 construction sites.
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Radio Inventory – 106 radio end-user agencies worked with PSERN Project staff to identify and confirm over 18,000 mobile, portable, and control station radios to be ordered, programmed, and deployed. View an overview of standard PSERN radios to learn more about the equipment.
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Template Programming – PSERN Project and Radio Shop technicians are developing almost 600 variations of radio channel or Talk Group templates to support the additional trunking capacity of the new system.
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Stakeholder Engagement – The PSERN Project Operations Board and Technical Committee provided agency representation and ongoing support. Also, the Project directly engaged stakeholders through keeping PSERN.org an up-to-date resource for information and sending this monthly newsletter, which doubled in subscribers, now sending to over 3600 stakeholders. Multiple Town Hall webinar forums were hosted to share information and solicit feedback from stakeholders.
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Training – 14 sector specific classes (fire, law enforcement, general government) were offered in November for agency Lead Trainers to learn about the functionality of the new PSERN equipment and gain resources to train their own internal staff. An additional 5 more classes will be offered in December.
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System Testing – Coverage testing of the channel performance and delivered audio quality was conducted, with final results pending. Operational and Functional Testing has also concluded. The Pilot Test will start soon. See the Testing Overview for more information.
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DAS Property Preparations – The PSERN Project, Fire Marshals of King County, DAS Vendors, and other stakeholders have been collaboratively developing the procedures for how Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) within properties will be shut down in waves prior to the transition to PSERN and then brought back online through a recommissioning process.
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Radio Deployment Scheduling – Agencies have been working with the PSERN Project to schedule mobile vehicle installation appointments and portable radio distribution approaches for deployment of radios next year. Estimated starting months per wave can be found on the Wave Chart.
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PSERN Operator – The PSERN Operator was formed in the spring, its Board of Directors were appointed, and they began meeting monthly. In November, the PSERN Operator Executive Director, Mike Webb, was hired and hiring for initial staff is beginning.
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Dates are accurate as of 10/28/21*:
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Site Construction: April 2016 - November 2021 (building radio towers and infrastructure)
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Programming Templates: October 2019 - November 2021 (developing/programming per radio)
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Operational and Functional Testing: November 2021 - December 2021 (testing system and end-user radio functions and features)
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Radio End-User Pilot Testing: December 2021 - January 2022 (proof of concept end-user testing)
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Radio Deployment & Transition: January 2022 - October 2022 (distribution of agency radios)
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Full System Acceptance: March 2023 (transition operations to PSERN Operator)
* An updated schedule will be available in the January newsletter.
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