Public Safety DAS Design and Installation in Dallas, TX

The physics of the problem are simple. Low-E glass, concrete, steel decking, metal cladding, and high-performance insulation all attenuate the VHF and UHF frequencies public safety radios run on. The better a building performs thermally, the worse it tends to perform for radio.

The architecture

A donor antenna on the roof, aimed at the responding agency's tower, captures the LMR signal. That feeds a public safety Bi-Directional Amplifier, which boosts it and distributes it through antennas placed throughout the building. The path runs in reverse as well, so a firefighter transmitting from a basement stairwell reaches dispatch at usable strength.

Equipment is UL 2524 listed, which is a code requirement rather than a preference, and the system includes the supervised power supply, battery backup, and annunciation the standard calls for.

Design before installation

We model propagation with RF software and size the system against the coverage gaps your grid test actually found, targeting the 95 percent coverage level codes generally require. Antenna count and placement come out of that model, not a template.

Aesthetics get considered at design stage too. Antennas and cable pathways in a lobby, a patient corridor, or a finished office suite have to work for the people who use the space, and that is a conversation worth having before anything is mounted.

Cellular alongside it

A DAS is the same distribution network whether it carries public safety or commercial cellular; the difference is the frequency bands and the BDA feeding it. In some buildings one distribution system can carry both, subject to AHJ approval. Worth asking about while walls are open.

New construction, existing buildings, and occupied facilities. Call (214) 460-0364 or book a call with Jim.