As American society moves further into the digital age, the days of virtually every form of analog technology are numbered.
The Texas County Sheriff’s Department last week took a big digital step as all patrol vehicles and the dispatch station inside the Justice Center in Houston are now outfitted with Motorola digital communications radios connected to the Missouri Statewide Wireless Interoperable Network (MOSWIN). Sheriff James Sigman said the change went into effect Friday and will greatly increase coverage in the county.
“This system should give us about 90-percent coverage throughout the county, and before we were operating at about 60,” Sigman said. “We’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but we had some snags. We finally got it hooked up last week, and we’re off and running.”
Sigman said his department’s 11 MOSWIN in-car devices were obtained at a cost of about $9,000 – with $8,200 covered by a Missouri Department of Public Safety grant – and the dispatch base unit was purchased for about $2,500.
The MOSWIN system began in 2009, and antennae exist all around the state, including the Bendavis area in western Texas County, Dent County and Shannon County.
“We can talk back to our office from about anywhere in the state,” Sigman said.
Sigman said the grant was received in July 2013, and the in-car units (that can also work on older analog systems) were installed then. The sheriff’s department also obtained a base unit from the state a couple of years ago for use in specific circumstances.
“We liked it and it worked great,” Sigman said. “But it was a state-owned radio, so we were limited as to how often we could use it. But they want to be able to communicate around the state in an emergency, so we’ve had it here and have been keeping it on a primary channel.
“Now that we have our own unit, we’ve been able to go full time on the system.”
In addition to the TCSD, several other public organizations and agencies in Texas County use MOSWIN radios, including the Houston, Licking and Cabool police departments, the City of Houston and Clear Springs fire departments, Texas County Memorial Hospital, the Texas County Health Department. The Missouri State Highway Patrol has been exclusively on the MOSWIN system since March 2013.
Fans of in-home scanners who own analog devices will already have noticed far less transmission from the sheriff’s department. Sigman said in-home digital units are available, but costly.
“They start at $300 and above and go all the way to $1,000,” he said. “That’s why there aren’t many out there, but this started in 2009 and it’s really started to pick up lately, and like with every other technology, the prices should drop pretty quickly as it becomes more popular.”
Sigman said the department did conduct a full-time trial run with the MOSWIN system for a couple of months last year.
“I remember we got people asking what happened to us and making sure we hadn’t fallen off the face of the earth,” he said. “I want to let the public know they’re not going to hear us very often now unless they have the right equipment. But we’re doing this to improve the department. It’s all about the coverage.”
I want to let the public know they’re not going to hear us very often now unless they have the right equipment. But we’re doing this to improve the department. It’s all about the coverage.”