Engineering for Public Safety with Greg Farrer, MPSCS Engineering Services Manager

Did you know that Engineers play a critical role in public safety? At MPSCS, we rely on our Engineers to ensure MPSCS public safety users have the best possible coverage and connectivity. They are integral to the planning and design of the MPSCS's 800 MHz radio system and the MPLS Backbone Network. Today we talk with Greg Farrer, the Engineering Manager at MPSCS, to discuss the valuable work they do. Everything from IP networking, MPLS, to RF propagation and FCC licensing. We also assist public safety agencies to integrate their dispatch centers and RF sites to fortify emergency interoperable communications. Transcript: https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/2F74F3059CAB4C9DB583511782C58AC3.ashx

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Hi everybody and welcome to our podcast. Tune in with MPSCS. Today we are going to feature our engineering services section at Michigan's Public Safety Communications System, or MPSCS. Engineering performs a wide range of support functions in areas requiring engineering expertise to ensure MPSCS public safety users have the best possible coverage and connectivity. They are integral to the planning and design of MPSCS's 800 megahertz radio system and the MPLS Backbone Network. Our special guest today is Greg Farr, Engineering Manager. Welcome to the show, Greg.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where do you live? Your family?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

I live in uh Charlotte, Michigan. I'm married with one daughter.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Any hobbies? What do you do for fun?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Um, I'm into model railroading, uh, video games, and lately uh playing games and doing puzzles with my little one.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

How old is she?

SPEAKER_01 1:15

She is three years old.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Oh, she's play size.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

What gauge railroad do you have?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Uh both N and HL.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Okay. Um, could you tell us a little bit of what you do at MPSCS and how long have you worked here?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

I currently, as engineering manager, oversee a team of engineers that supports the operation and growth of the MPSCS. I've worked here for over 10 years.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Now you were part of the engineering team before you became the supervisor?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Um, when and why did you enter this type of work at MPSCS?

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Well, I uh while I was in uh college, I was uh I ended up uh getting my amateur radio license, which got me interested in radios.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Do you mean ham radios?

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yes, ham radios.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

So from there, when I was looking for jobs, when I saw that this was uh the posting for an engineer in uh the radio industry, I uh figured why not? I'll give it a shot.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

So we got you right out of college.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Pretty much.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Oh, okay. Uh what does the engineering section do?

SPEAKER_01 2:19

The engineering section provides uh quite a diverse range of expertise, which includes anything from IP networking MPLS to RF propagation, FCC licensing. We even help our uh field staff troubleshoot uh more complicated projects.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Uh what are some of the specific engineering functions in your section?

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Uh the more specific ones are we assist with integrating local agencies and their dispatch centers and RF sites. We implement design changes that optimize both the backhaul and RF sites, such as uh changing antennas for better coverage, adding new microwave paths to increase uh redundancy and resiliency. We perform uh GOS analysis of uh usage on the radio system, which makes sure we have enough capacity for our current users and any new users that are looking to come on to the system.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

So before somebody can come onto the system, they have to figure out what's needed, what kind of space we've got for them.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yeah, we we have to make sure we have enough channel capacity. We take a look at how many users they're bringing on, add that to the existing traffic at the site, and determine if additional infrastructure is needed to support their usage.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Greg, you mentioned grade of service a second ago. What can you tell me about that? What does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Uh grade of service is a measure of how busy the system is. It it measures whether a user will be able to talk right away or will have to wait until the system has capacity to take their call.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

So you're kind of getting a busy signal when there's too much traffic on that channel. Yes. Okay. What all goes into obtaining FCC frequencies and why do we need those? Is there a process or legal requirements?

SPEAKER_01 4:17

FCC licenses are required to be obtained in order to transmit on most frequencies, regardless of radio service, whether it's public safety or the TV you watch or the radio you listen to. For us, the frequency searching is the first step of obtaining the license. First, we have to find an available frequency using specialized software that makes it a lot easier to see what's out there. Then we go to the Regional Planning Committee to obtain their permission, and the committee is made up of representatives from public safety across the state of Michigan. Once we have a letter from the committee saying that they can consent to our use of the frequencies, then the frequency needs to be coordinated by APCO. And once that coordination is done, then the application gets submitted to the FCC for review and their approval. And once that's been approved, we have the license to transmit on that frequency. And then we can move forward. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Okay. We're going to take a little break right now, and we will be right back.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

If a natural disaster comes knocking, how prepared is your family? You can't just close the door on earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes, and help they go away. It's important to make a plan.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

He's our engineering manager. Greg, could you tell us about some of the MPSCS engineering projects you've worked on?

SPEAKER_01 6:23

I've worked on a couple of antenna changes, quite a few integration projects, and uh several system upgrades.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Okay, a couple questions. When you talk about changing out an antenna, that means engineering does its background research first of all, and then that goes to our site maintenance guys, our steeplejacks, and they physically do the work. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yes. So before site maintenance goes out and does the work, engineering will uh pick out an antenna and run coverage simulations using both the existing antenna and the selected antenna to see whether there's a benefit to changing out the antennas first. If we determine yes, there is a benefit to changing out the antennas, engineering will first perform a coverage test before then site maintenance will go out and change the antenna, and then engineering will perform another coverage test to see what the changes, the actual changes consisted of.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Now, what is involved in a coverage test? Is that done on the tower or is that done on a computer?

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So a coverage test involves sending a test signal out of our tower sites, and the there's specialized software on a computer hooked up to a radio that takes that signal and eventually after uh driving across the affected area will show a map of what the coverage looks like, whether there's any coverage holes or any increase in coverage. And we can adjust the output of the software so we can view what on-street coverage or in-building coverage looks like, or portable coverage on the street versus in the car.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

So it's not like you just sit at your computer and you can tell where the coverage problem was would be. You would have to get in the car and actually travel the area physically.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Yes, there is a difference between theory and reality.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Noted. Um Greg, you mentioned system upgrades. Why do we need upgrades?

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Oh, we need to keep our system up to date to mitigate any known security concerns. But we also uh tend to get new features as a result of some of these upgrades that many local agencies or even the MPSES itself can take advantage of. System upgrades will often refresh equipment that has become obsolete due to expiring warranties or features that no longer exist.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

So it's like upgrading your cell phone for a better cell phone when the need arises.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Okay. Um uh some have equated MPSCS upgrades as changing out parts of an airplane mid-flight. Could you tell us about remediation and how we recently upgraded the system while keeping it operational with minimal impact to our users?

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Uh this five-year project started in 2014 and ended around 2019. It involved replacing our outdated network and RF infrastructure with modern technology. For example, we replaced T1-based infrastructure with modern networking technology. And this was all done while minimizing downtime to our users.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

So, Greg, during the remediation, what pieces of equipment were replaced or what what was touched? What was upgraded?

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Well, during remediation, we upgraded our power systems to modern power systems. We also upgraded our 700, 800 RF systems with newer uh newer technology. Uh console sites were touched, uh, microwave uh radios were upgraded. Uh we also touched some infrastructure including LED tower lighting, HVAC units, uh generators, antennas and dehydrators.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

And all of this could have been a big disaster, but we kept most of the sites on the air almost all the time during all of this?

SPEAKER_01 10:35

We did have to schedule some outages, but we did our best to keep as many sites on the air during this project as possible.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

And that means keeping the dispatch centers up and running and keeping emergency services running.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Excellent. Uh Greg, do you have any favorite memories at MPSCS? I know you've been here a little while, so what'd you get into?

SPEAKER_01 10:57

One of the memories that stands out is uh performing the first coverage test years ago with uh one of my coworkers at that time. Uh we were driving the back roads of Lenaway County with with that with the coverage test uh computer.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

A road tripping day.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Oh, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

He you had good company though, he was alright?

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Oh yes. We we had great conversations that spanned work and uh family life, especially as kids at the time.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

We get to know somebody when you're locked in the car with them. Yes, I do. Okay. What advice would you give a student looking to get into engineering as a career?

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Uh study hard is the typical trope, but my uh recommendation is stay curious and keep that desire to learn because the world is always changing and is always in need of unique viewpoints.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

And we could use a few good engineers.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Yes. We're always looking. Yes, we are always looking for new engineers. Good. For those engineers interested in supporting public safety, there are many opportunities in both the public and private sectors to look at.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

That's all we've got for today, and we would like to thank Greg for being here to tell us all about himself and engineering services.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

We hope you've all enjoyed the show, and we will be back soon. You've been listening to Tune In with MPSCS. Be sure to look us up at www.migigan.gov slash mpsc, YouTube, SoundCloud, and on Twitter at MPSDS. You can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and Google Podcasts so you never miss an episode. We'll see you the next time. Thank you.