The UHF frequency from the rural towers will be 40 watts, while the VHF frequency is 100 watts. Presently, police and fire personnel transmit on a 5-watt portable system. Bryant said the stronger signal sends the radio transmission further. The new system, he said, will be especially useful to the county's firefighters. They use portable radios much of the time, he said.
Portable radios have very little range.
Police officers use their portable radios about 50 percent of the time, paramedics 25 percent. Fulton County Emergency Medical Service isn't included on the repeater system yet, but probably will be later, Bryant said. Bryant said a change in the console at the central dispatch center in the jail will increase the ability for dispatchers to talk with paramedics. We could have a fire department or a police officer calling in from the northwest part of the county. A policeman unable to hear the very weak signal would drown it out, possibly creating unsafe conditions for the officers who couldn't hear each other.