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Staunton reports progress and delay on regional P25 radio system; mobile installations under way
Summary
Staunton CTO Kurt Plowman told council the Sol Regional P25 radio project (a shared system with Augusta County and Waynesboro) has antennas, microwave links and equipment in place, and nearly 3,000 radios will be deployed; turn-on testing began in August but full go-live has shifted from November to January to allow coverage improvements.
Kurt Plowman, chief technology officer for the City of Staunton, provided an update on the Sol Regional P25 radio system on Oct. 9, describing completed infrastructure work, mobile radio installations and a modest delay to the final go-live to allow additional coverage improvements.
Plowman said microwave dishes and antennas had been installed at tower sites, new FCC licensing obtained, and the city had received most equipment staged for the project. A shared, full-time radio technician has been hired and is working with contractors to install radios across jurisdictions. “We have completed the radio antenna installations,” Plowman said, and described staged delivery and testing.
The system was powered up in August and underwent extensive coverage testing. Plowman said field teams tested roughly 3,000 geographic tiles to validate inbound and outbound radio performance; the system exceeded contractual coverage thresholds but uncovered areas where coverage could be improved. “We had close to 3,000 tiles that were tested,” he said, adding that the project team concluded additional adjustments would improve overall coverage.
As a result, Plowman told council the expected implementation timeline has shifted from a November go-live to January to allow the contractor and staff time to make the improvements. Mobile radios have been installed in more than 200 units so far, primarily in Augusta County and Waynesboro, and the overall system will include roughly 3,000 radios once installs are complete. Dispatch integrations, base-station installations and extensive training for dispatchers and end users are still forthcoming.
Councilors asked about the system’s benefits. Plowman and council members highlighted interoperability among police, fire, EMS and public works across jurisdictions, encrypted communications for officer safety, GPS/vehicle tracking and more modern, maintainable equipment and software that will lengthen the useful life of the radio system. Plowman said the project carries an expected 15-year lifecycle and will include scheduled upgrades and maintenance.
Plowman also described a decommissioning sequence (removing old dishes and antennas when the new system is reliable) and said project contractors have spent substantial time locally during the installation work. He asked for patience with the schedule change to ensure a more robust final implementation.
