Cannot Hear Ada County Dispatch Anymore

[CopyThat]

I have been able to hear Ada County, Meridian police for months on my scanner. Now for the past week, I have heard nothing. This happened before.. It was silent for a week, then came back on again. Maybe they were testing their Digital system the first time. Has Ada County gone Digital now? I cannot hear any police. Just fire. I am in public safety and need to know what is going on.. namely with police. Will I have to buy a $600.00 scanner now? Thanks in advance for any information.

[thewenk]

Originally Posted by CopyThat

I have been able to hear Ada County, Meridian police for months on my scanner. Now for the past week, I have heard nothing. This happened before.. It was silent for a week, then came back on again. Maybe they were testing their Digital system the first time. Has Ada County gone Digital now? I cannot hear any police. Just fire. I am in public safety and need to know what is going on.. namely with police. Will I have to buy a $600.00 scanner now? Thanks in advance for any information.

I'm not in Boise so you might want to ask this question at the IdaScan Yahoo group for a more complete answer. The following info was recently posted on that group.

BPD is not encrypted on Channel 16 & 15 (formerly A & C) and likely to stay
that way. ACSO is mostly on 700 but still repeated on UHF, but only the main dispatch channel. ACSO channels 2 & 3 are gone from UHF and 3's encrypted, along with Meridian PD's Ch 3.

I believe the RR data for Ada County IIMARS talkgroups is out of date, but I don't know what is correct. From what I understand much of Ada county law is both on 700 MHz and encrypted.

Dave

[CopyThat]

BPD is not encrypted on Channel 16 & 15 (formerly A & C) and likely to stay
that way. ACSO is mostly on 700 but still repeated on UHF, but only the main dispatch channel. ACSO channels 2 & 3 are gone from UHF and 3's encrypted, along with Meridian PD's Ch 3.

Dave,

Do you know the Frequencies I could try for BPD. I have tried 453.3000 but I am not sure if that is correct? Do you know what Channel 15 and 16 frequencies are? At least I could listen to BPD.

Thanks,

CopyThat

[thewenk]

Originally Posted by CopyThat

BPD is not encrypted on Channel 16 & 15 (formerly A & C) and likely to stay
that way. ACSO is mostly on 700 but still repeated on UHF, but only the main dispatch channel. ACSO channels 2 & 3 are gone from UHF and 3's encrypted, along with Meridian PD's Ch 3.

Dave,

Do you know the Frequencies I could try for BPD. I have tried 453.3000 but I am not sure if that is correct? Do you know what Channel 15 and 16 frequencies are? At least I could listen to BPD.

Thanks,

CopyThat

I think BPD is all on 700 MHz so that would include Ch 15 & 16. Most of the 700 Mhz is encrypted so it can't be monitored, even with the new digital scanners. Try the UHF freqs on this page Ada County, Idaho (ID) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for ACSO, if they are still on UHF. They may have gone to 700 too. I get the impression all Ada County law will be on 700 before long.

Dave

[CopyThat]

So, if most if not all 700 to 800 MHz frequencies used by EMS, and the Police are encrypted then it is kind of pointless for me to spend $600.00 on a new state of the art Digital Scanner. That is extremely upsetting as I am the Area Coordinator for my Neighborhood Watch. I need to know what is going on around my area and namely in my own neighborhood. This is very upsetting!!

Thanks for you info. I will try the UHF links and see ACSO is on there. I think they are completely on 700 MHz.

Thanks.

[cowboymike1971]

Unfortunately this is the new trend with PD's FD's around the country. Its a real pisser. They have all given in to the "big sales tactics" of these large Communications companies and have been sold on the fact that "no one needs to hear thier communications" I'm actually going to be moving to Boise area soon and i'm real bummed about most of the comms around Ada county being encrypted or un-listenable. Maybe a large lobbying of the local PD/SO/FD's by "concerned citizens" would get noticed but don't count on it.. I miss the old days of UHF/VHF fire and pd listening before all the "paranoia" kicked in.

[thewenk]

Originally Posted by CopyThat

So, if most if not all 700 to 800 MHz frequencies used by EMS, and the Police are encrypted then it is kind of pointless for me to spend $600.00 on a new state of the art Digital Scanner. That is extremely upsetting as I am the Area Coordinator for my Neighborhood Watch. I need to know what is going on around my area and namely in my own neighborhood. This is very upsetting!!

Thanks for you info. I will try the UHF links and see ACSO is on there. I think they are completely on 700 MHz.

Thanks.

As I understand it, the fire/EMS on 700 MHz is not encrypted. The Radio Shack Pro 106 is on sale for $399, so you can get a digital scanner for less than $600, but it is still a big chunk of change.

Dave

[CopyThat]

I do not care if I can hear car to car etc... But being able to hear Dispatch would suffice most of the time. I wonder if ACSO Dispatch is encrypted?

Is there any way you could please program their frequency in your Digital Scanner and let me know if you can hear Ada County Dispatch? That would be much appreciated!!

Thanks!

[CopyThat]

Yes. It is really upsetting!! I really feel I do not know what is going on around me anymore. For example, I knew a couple that were driving home one dark night. They drove through some fog on their way home. They were killed instantly. It was not fog... I train had de-railed and it was Poison Inhalation Hazard cloud that looked like fog. The point I am trying to make is, had they had a scanner (be it Digital or Analog) and could hear things like EMS, and Dispatch maybe they could have avoided driving through it and dying. Why can't they just encrypt channels like Narcotics etc.. and leave traffic, and normal police activity etc alone..

[thewenk]

Originally Posted by CopyThat

I do not care if I can hear car to car etc... But being able to hear Dispatch would suffice most of the time. I wonder if ACSO Dispatch is encrypted?

Is there any way you could please program their frequency in your Digital Scanner and let me know if you can hear Ada County Dispatch? That would be much appreciated!!

Thanks!

Unfortunately I am on the other side of the state from Boise and so I'm too far away to monitor anything from the Boise area. Most of my info about the Boise area comes from the discussions on the IdaScan Yahoo group. I would suggest that you join that group as there are several people from the Boise area who regularly post there.

Dave

[CopyThat]

Yes. Good idea. I have submitted my request to two user groups. Just waiting for approval. -) I am really hoping at least Dispatch is not encrypted.

Thanks.

[cowboymike1971]

Yes thats all good that dispatch is open and un-encrypted but won't it drive ya bonkers hearing incidents and dispatches and then say the officers switch over to a "tac" type channel that IS encrypted and you will have no clue whats going on or how the call turned out. And i'm guessing this is the norm for most calls. Use dipatch for all main calls and then switch to "follow-thru" the call..Just sounds like a bunch of worthless listening in my opinion. Just plain sucks!

[CopyThat]

Yes it does suck!!! Namely if I go out and buy the 396XT with all the extras.. we are talking around $600.00. Is it worth it? What am I going to be able to hear?

[Tiggerpaws]

As a handicapped person, I do not feel safe
if I cannot know where to stay away from,
I guess Idaho does not want their citiazens
to feel very safe.

[CopyThat]

I just spent $600.00 (including accessories) for a digital scanner. I really hope I can hear things again. Problem is.. I am a complete novice and it may be frustrating for a while trying to figure the thing out.