Plano, TX gripes to FCC after police radio signals disrupt sprinklers

We've seen the boys and girls in blue disturb the peace on occasion, but this is just downright bizarre. It's bruited that the city of Plano, Texas has complained to the FCC about a powerful new police communications system that's being testing in Cedar Hill, DeSoto and Duncanville. The signals have the ability to reach some 30 miles away, and they're driving the radio-controlled sprinklers that Plano uses at parks and road medians absolutely crazy. The whole ordeal has made for some pretty interesting conversation amongst those involved, with one Tim Smith, managing director of the Southwest Regional Communications Center, asserting: "Which comes first: watering plants or protecting police and fire?" If anyone catches grown men fighting about this, do us a favor and send in the video.

[Thanks, Travis]

[Bryan @ Aug 20th 2008 11:49PM]

I am so embarrassed for living in that town.

>_<

[Anand D @ Aug 20th 2008 11:58PM]

Me Too

[BigDaddyM @ Aug 21st 2008 12:15AM]

Dallas here and I think this sounds dumb as well.

But a new technology should not disrupt old.

The arguement is not about watering plants verses stopping crime, it is about making sure both people using tech in a proper manner. Now if the signal is the sole device for protecting against crime, then the plants will die. However, this is just another form of communication and it doesn't seem that crime was on the rise because thier walkie talkies were too old. Beside, I am sure there is a channel available to make everybody happy.
M

[BigDaddyM @ Aug 21st 2008 12:16AM]

Dallas here and I think this sounds dumb as well.

But a new technology should not disrupt old.

The arguement is not about watering plants verses stopping crime, it is about making sure both people using tech in a proper manner. Now if the signal is the sole device for protecting against crime, then the plants will die. However, this is just another form of communication and it doesn't seem that crime was on the rise because thier walkie talkies were too old. Beside, I am sure there is a channel available to make everybody happy.
M

[Uday @ Aug 21st 2008 12:19AM]

me too! hedgecox and independence here =)

[Chris @ Aug 21st 2008 12:41AM]

dude, i was born there...i feel your pain :/

[aaron @ Aug 21st 2008 1:55AM]

What's wrong with Plano (other than the story)? I am likely moving there in the Spring.

[Trae @ Aug 21st 2008 8:30AM]

The story is a little embarrassing. Plano should be trying to figure out how to get the system to work, not complain to the FCC about it.

Also, there's nothing wrong with Plano. I love it.

It's great to see so many fellow residents hanging out at Engadget too, though.

[gb @ Aug 21st 2008 10:11AM]

@aaron:
Plano has a huge stigma associated with it (this stigma may be shifting to the Frisco). Everyone will assume you are wealthy, republican, with high school kids on heroin. It is in the richest country in texas and 23rd richest in the US. I live near and work in plano. These rich assholes think they own the world.

[Pradster @ Aug 21st 2008 10:14AM]

I was in frisco till last week, this week i move to plano....
gulp!!

[Yankees368 @ Aug 20th 2008 11:50PM]

The rules are the rules. If the new radio system is disrupting the existing sprinkler system, shut the new system down!

[quag @ Aug 21st 2008 12:21AM]

Yankees368, what the hell are you babbling about when you say "the rules are the rules"?

[bob @ Aug 21st 2008 1:37AM]

The FCC Part 15 rules that state that a new radio-frequency device shall not cause harmful interference to any existing radio-frequency device.

[Nick @ Aug 21st 2008 9:48AM]

Part 15 doesn't apply here. The police are licensed as a primary operator. The sprinker system is, most likely, using unlicenced "empty" spectrum. Well, it's no longer empty. Seems they should find a better way to control their sprinklers. It's laughable that they think complaining to the FCC will do some good.

[nick @ Aug 20th 2008 11:54PM]

I guess it's not really a matter of "which is more important." it's more a matter of, the sprinklers were there first, the cops messed 'em up. If the parks don't get their water and everything gets run down, who knows, maybe more crime will move in and give 'em a chance to test the new police scanners. :-)

[collegekid13 @ Aug 21st 2008 12:01AM]

imagine what that might do to a certain t shirt on a woman.

moving there

[Chronosan @ Aug 21st 2008 12:08AM]

Whatever happened to "This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation." ?

[paul34 @ Aug 21st 2008 12:15AM]

Texas.

[Xenoterranos @ Aug 21st 2008 12:08AM]

I love this state.

[Nathan Jackson @ Aug 21st 2008 12:50AM]

I live in plano....and i can honestly say im not surprised...

[Ella @ Aug 21st 2008 1:08AM]

i love plano & all it's ridiculousness.

[Tim Rosencrans @ Aug 21st 2008 1:23AM]

remember $100,000 spent on new sprinklers means $100,000 less to spend on police protection. Just because it will show up on another depts budget doesn't mean it doesn't cost us all money.

[seak @ Aug 21st 2008 1:24AM]

whoever sold those cops their "powerful new police communications system" is about to get in trouble :)

.............. LOL

[AndrewAmazed @ Aug 21st 2008 1:41AM]

ahh used to live in Plano, i loved it there though but this just kinda stupid.

[Rune @ Aug 21st 2008 7:06AM]

I went through here once on a trip to Dallas and I bet it's that big shopping mall looking massive church/worship thing that is behind this one :)

[Rafael Blanco @ Aug 21st 2008 7:29AM]

I live in Frisco, and work in Plano, and this is ridiculous, but we have to remember that in 2006 we have to control the water consumption, if this happen during another heat wave, this could be a huge problem. Decisions, decisions... water for the plants or water for human consumption.

[Joe @ Aug 21st 2008 8:33AM]

I live in duncanville, we love our plants. and we kinda like being alive.
but like mr Blanco said.
we have to conserve our water and cant have it going off at all times of the day.
however, the police need all the help they can get.

[cjcox @ Aug 21st 2008 10:32AM]

We were a beta site for one of the earliest wireless ethernet deployments. It was from Motorola, 5Mbit on a 800Mhz frequency. We were also a beta site for a new proximity badge reading technology, we got this through ADT. Well... the two didn't like each other. So in order to unlock a door you had to get out your badge and rub it many times against the plate and hope it unlocks. ADT was VERY interested and built a filter to mitigate the problem.

With that said, high power transmission can be a difficult thing to content with regardless of frequency.

[TScalf @ Sep 10th 2008 9:53AM]

Do we have any idea what the frequency in dispute is? There are some new tools out that I bet they don't know about, that could fix this and other similar issues.

[starjax @ Aug 21st 2008 10:52AM]

This was on the local news last night. Plano has petitioned the FCC to delay the new frequency from going live to give them enough time to upgrade the system. Plano's system is 15 years old. No other info available on when the controllers were last updated. Plano wasn't the only city impacted. Just happens to be most impacted and the most expensive to fix.

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-planosprinklers_20met.ART0.State.Edition1.4dabf1e.html

Public safety will always win this kind of fight. Lessons to be learned by everyone. With todays embedded communication architecture in just about everything, legacy issues like this are going to be something that will occur more and more.

[Pauldy @ Aug 21st 2008 6:54PM]

I wonder if this wasn't the plan all along, the cities in question knew that other cities had secondary use licenses on this spectrum so they figured if they just cranked up their towers as high as they could and caused as much trouble as possible for anyone actually using the spectrum they could get it all for themselves by forcing them to use other frequencies.

[DP @ Aug 21st 2008 11:46AM]

What most people don't realize, is that Plano actually holds an FCC license for this frequency. (for nearly 15 years.....)

Once again the press is turning this thing into an event.... This has never been about saving lives vs. watering grass......

When the contractor installing the new radio system installed his towers, transmitters, etc. he should have never attempted to secure a lic. on the Plano freq. Someone didn't do there job, but then again that is what usually happens when someone takes the low bid.....

[tycobb9999 @ Aug 21st 2008 1:31PM]

gb said: Plano has a huge stigma associated with it (this stigma may be shifting to the Frisco). Everyone will assume you are wealthy, republican, with high school kids on heroin. It is in the richest country in texas and 23rd richest in the US. I live near and work in plano. These rich assholes think they own the world.

No, the only people who will assume those things are small minded resentful little people who are so unhappy with their own lives, that they must affirm their sense of self-worth by putting others down. And no, Plano people don't think they own the world; just the 'country' of Plano... Idiot

[tycobb9999 @ Aug 21st 2008 2:03PM]

gb said: Plano has a huge stigma associated with it (this stigma may
be shifting to the Frisco). Everyone will assume you are wealthy,
republican, with high school kids on heroin. It is in the richest
country in texas and 23rd richest in the US. I live near and work in
plano. These rich assholes think they own the world.

No, the only people who will assume those things are small minded
resentful little people who are so unhappy with their own lives, that
they must affirm their sense of self-worth by putting others down. And
no, Plano people don't think they own the world; just the 'country' of
Plano... Idiot

[hagrun @ Aug 21st 2008 3:30PM]

Well we all need to eat so farmers win. Fire fighters are good guys, so just give them cell phones. I can't say anything good about cops so I will keep my fingers from moving anymore.

[Ryan @ Aug 22nd 2008 10:41AM]

No, Plano is great. That's where we get our heroin from.

[adc9787 @ Aug 21st 2008 4:39PM]

This story makes me laugh. I live in Plano and this just seems like something that would happen. I mean... everyone knows that Plano must water its plants to make all the shopping look better. (More shops per square capita than anywhere else.)

Oh... we don't think that we own the world. Everyone else just thinks that we think that... so... I mean... yeah!

[Pauldy @ Aug 21st 2008 6:45PM]

I'm guessing you rent, because if you payed city taxes you would be just as pissed as other residence. Plano has a secondary license to the UHF spectrum in question so it wasn't an unlicensed spectrum issue where no one knew they were using it. Instead they overlooked anyone else who was using the spectrum and simply cranked the power up on their transmitters as high as they would go. There is no need for the signal to be high enough comming from south of Dallas to actually override signals originating in freaking Plano. They are abusing the powers given to them and I for one am glad that the city of Plano has the testicular fortitude to stand up and say something. The cities in question are very small and could get away with those 20 dollar walkie talkies you can buy at fry's being they are barley over ten square miles in size so I for one am very surprised to find they were able to spend 1.3 million on a new system and wonder whose pockets got lined with that move. For comparison the City of Dallas is almost 400sq miles and Plano is about 80.

[Edward @ Aug 21st 2008 6:12PM]

Grew up in Plano (PSHS alum), so like many others, this is not surprising. It's only a matter of time before they build a fence or Faraday cage-like thing around the city to keep the riff-raff people & RF signals out.

[David Ostrowski @ Aug 25th 2008 9:03PM]

When I lived in Plano in 1974, people were great. It was a nice country town. A few years later, Yankees began infiltrating our beloved Texas, and as a result, you have a bunch of snobby A-holes, and a town I won't even pass through because it disgusts me so. Flower Mound is another own the Yankees F'ed up.