- StarCom21
StarCom21 is a statewide public safety
trunked radio system inIllinois . Owned and operated byMotorola , theState of Illinois is a major partner in the system. It is used by allIllinois State Police posts as well as theIllinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) Maintenance and Police divisions.StarCom21 uses about 186radio towers thruout the state ofIllinois , many owned by state agencies. It uses radio channels in the 700 and 800 MHz. bands, all licensed to theState of Illinois . It usesAPCO-25 9600 baud control data signals andAPCO-25 digital modulation.Any public safety agency in theState of Illinois may apply to use the system. Most agencies would pay $53.00 per radio per month to operate on the system in addition to the cost of the radios. Those agencies with resources to share for the system, such as licensed radio channels or desirable tower space, may negotiate different costs withMotorola .Various grants and funding sources have allowed StarCom21 radios to be installed at many locations and provided to many agencies for mutual aid purposes. These include radios offered to everypolice ,fire ,rescue and EMA agency in the State,hospitals , central dispatch centers, State and othercolleges anduniversities and others.Using thetrunked radio technology that shares and reuses radio channels, the system is capable of handling thousands of individualTalkgroups and radio ID's. Since most radios are only transmitting a small percentage of the time, the channels are shared among many users. The sameradio frequency may be used at many sites throughout the state.Of the many individual tower sites there are simulcast groups covering theChicago ,Peoria andRockford metro areas. These simulcast sites allow for better coverage over a large area by transmitting the same conversation on the same frequencies at each tower in the simulcast site.StarCom21 "Customer Users" (those who pay a fee to useMotorola owned infrastructure) include theIllinois State Police (21 posts), theMcLean County (and several local agencies dispatched by McLean's 9-1-1 system) and theIllinois State Toll Highway Authority . Several other agencies and localities have expressed interest in or tried the system.StarCom21 "Partner Users" (Those who own their own compatible infrastructure and have roaming agreements for StarCom21) includeSt. Clair County and McHenry. Several other agencies are considering building similar compatible systems to allow roaming on the various systems. St. Clair County's system is built out and operational, while McHenry County's system is still in the design and procurement stage.External links
* [http://www.carmachicago.com/profiles/StarCom21.pdf StarCom21 PDF]
* [http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=2324 Radio Reference]
* [https://www.motorola.com/governmentandenterprise/northamerica/en-us/Public/Functions/microsite/microsite.aspx?site=en_US/microsites/starcom_statewide Motorola]
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