Public Safety rebanding

[9C1Driver]

Our city has been running an APCO-25 digital system since 2000 or 2001. In 2014 the whole thing is being up-graded with this re-banding that's going on. They will be running 700mhz and the whole thing is encrypted. If this is a nation wide thing then the price of scanners should drop like a lead balloon.

 

[Mudfoot]

Yep, it's heading that way.

 

[North Texas Mudduck]

just like a radar gun ,, someone will build a radar detector

 

[n0zna]

the old scanners will only be good for a door stop of fishing weight or just to listen to the hams on 2mtrs or 440mhz.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

That's the way things are headed. The RCMP went 800MHz with encryption for most of their comms here several years ago. Scanner usage dropped like a stone. Local fire is still on VHF but even EMS has gone to 800 mhz TMR systems now.

 

[9C1Driver]

There is some talk that the city/County will start a web site with delayed Police & Fire feed. This way I guess they can control what is sent out and how many minutes ago it happened. This means even the scanner apps will not work. I also saw where if the single digital encryption was not secure enough they can double and even triple the level of security for certain channels.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Don't know what you mean by double and triple encryption. Whatever the system that the RCMP are using up here is good. They run APCO25 standard digital which a lot of scanners can decode but they use digital encryption and it has not been cracked in the dozen or so years they have been using it. Very little is in the clear nowadays as even most dispatch info is submitted via the ROADS system. (Remote Office And Dispatch System).

 

[9C1Driver]

Don't know what you mean by double and triple encryption. Whatever the system that the RCMP are using up here is good. They run APCO25 standard digital which a lot of scanners can decode but they use digital encryption and it has not been cracked in the dozen or so years they have been using it. Very little is in the clear nowadays as even most dispatch info is submitted via the ROADS system. (Remote Office And Dispatch System).

The standard encryption is plenty I guess and has not ever been cracked. As an option per some government guideline, they offer two additional levels of encryption for sensitive channels.

 

[Eastside]

Our little town has apco 25.............they encrypt everything....stray dogs and traffic stops.....hospital closed yrs ago...downtown buildings are falling down....but the cops get a new building and a new apco-25 communication system

 

[Crosley]

Our city has been running an APCO-25 digital system since 2000 or 2001. In 2014 the whole thing is being up-graded with this re-banding that's going on. They will be running 700mhz and the whole thing is encrypted. If this is a nation wide thing then the price of scanners should drop like a lead balloon.

Public Safety radios are designed to have a useful life of about 10 years.

Since the government doesn't spend it's own money to replace and upgrade these systems, it is all a part of doing business.

What you need to concern yourself with is a new type of radio system called FirstNet - which is a Nationwide broadband 700 MHz system that the whole country is going to be required to subscribe to by 2024.....

When this happens, all police cars, public safety etc will all have this equipment in their cars and when a patrol officer does a traffic stop - all the public service - everywhere will have access to this information.

If there is any wants or warrants - the person will be detained at that point.

Its all a way to do more with less people.

This is the reason why the FCC took these frequencies away from the television broadcasters and gave them to the public service in the first place.

Once the migration is complete the frequencies the public service previously occupied will be sold to the highest bidder - cell phone people.

Then those frequencies will also be decrypted...

You won't ever have 100% digital on the fire bands - since most fire companies here are volunteer and if you took away the ability for these people to monitor the frequencies with their home scanners - most people would not be able to afford the newer digital equipment and would just give up being a volunteer fireman.

 

[W5LZ]

Just for grins...
The local police department switched over to the Moto Turbo system about a year and a half ago. Had an unbelievable amount of problems in doing so, couldn't hear the dispatcher from two blocks away (three repeaters too). After about two months the system was usable, still didn't match the analog system they changed from, but it was usable. After getting used to the new system they then did that encryption thingy. You have no idea how 'dirty' that system was! Interfered with several other radio systems in town. After something like four months, constantly being serviced, the Missouri State Police filed a complaint wiht the FCC about the interference. (Howz that for some 'range'?) The encryption was turned off which left only the 'usual' interference from the system that it had from the word go. It's still causing interference. If you do some checking there have been several large departments who trashed their P25/MotoTurbo systems.
The city was warned by Homeland Security not to go to this system. It would isolate them from all other departments in this part of the state, no one else used that P25/MotoTurbo. They finally learned... and we got stuck with over a 2 million dollar bunch of garbage.
- 'Doc

 

[AL567]

City and County in Knoxville where i live is still analog trunking and have been for 25 years now. The state police were still in low band 42 MHz car and 72 MHz repeater until a few months ago. They just stopped one day so I'm guessing they have switched to digital. I don't know what frequencies they are on now. Any info appreciated. The teenagers that work at radio shack has no clue what a scanner is much less what frequency they are on. About 3 years ago the county added 4 more channels to their system one of them being a control channel. at first my scanner didn't pick up the control channel because I didn't know they added it. The local radio shack salesman told me Knoxville went all digital and I needed a digital scanner. well with his wisdom he was was wrong. they only added 4 channels to their analog system. I found this out on my own just searching out channels. Walk in a radio shack in my area of the world and they scratch their head if you ask a scanner question.

 

[9C1Driver]

Radio Shack..........you have questions, we have blank stares.

 

[Mudfoot]

What is Radio Reference showing?

 

[2RT307]

Our little town has apco 25.............they encrypt everything....stray dogs and traffic stops.....hospital closed yrs ago...downtown buildings are falling down....but the cops get a new building and a new apco-25 communication system

Sounds like Wichita Falls!

73,
RT307