KSICS Anchor Thread

[rankin39]

Hmmm, I take it that no one is receiving signals from the Mission KSICS tower. I'm still not after two more trips to or around KC. It seems as though the WY county KHP units are exclusively using the KCK analog trunk. The only KSICS towers on the Kansas side in use in the KC metro area are Olathe and Leavenworth. (The latter including the old Bonner Springs tower.)

Bob, WoNXN

[hkrharry]

Originally Posted by rankin39

Hmmm, I take it that no one is receiving signals from the Mission KSICS tower. I'm still not after two more trips to or around KC. It seems as though the WY county KHP units are exclusively using the KCK analog trunk. The only KSICS towers on the Kansas side in use in the KC metro area are Olathe and Leavenworth. (The latter including the old Bonner Springs tower.)

Bob, WoNXN

Wild Bill says it is on.....

"Yes it is on the air. Works fine here in Shawnee.

Bill
Sent from my Motorola Smartphone!"




HHarry

[KCoax]

KHP on WYCO now only their Dispatcher is broadcasted (from what I've heard the past couple weeks). The Mission tower is too short for the area. FCC has the antenna height at 54.9 ft. at around 900ft above sea level. The problem is that area rises to like 1000 plus. It is like a bowl to the West and South. The elevation of the Olathe tower and the topography makes that tower about 100ft taller than the Mission one. I was at 78th and State Ave. today and was listening to both. Both came in fine. The Olathe tower got like 5 bars on the 996T. The Mission was like 2 to 4.

[rankin39]

Thanks for the help, guys. Actually, I was at the Shawnee Police Dept. yesterday afternoon and was able to hear the tower. Your explanation about the tower and location makes sense. I can hear the Olathe tower in Lawrence when I'm mobile, and vice versa. Not so the Mission tower; it's coverage is strictly local to the west and NW. Anyhow, mystery solved.

bob

[CWR]

I was looking at the Weekly FCC License grants for October 28-November 03 , and I noticed that they've added another frequency to the Bonner Tower :

853.1375 MHz

That's a new-one for me........

[KCoax]

I don't see the that Bonner Springs tower in KSICS DB. Here is a new list with 6 new towers (I suppose are KSICS) in that part of the state. ULS License - PubSafty/SpecEmer/PubSaftyNtlPlan,806-817/851-862MHz,Trunked License - WQQD333 - KANSAS, STATE OF - Locations Summary

[CWR]

I GUESS , that the reason that the Bonner Tower isn't listed is because the frequencies are the same as the Leavenworth Tower.
But the Bonner Tower is still there & active , I don't know WHY it isn't listed..........

[CWR]

OK , to clear-up any confusion , the Tower by the Fort in Leavenworth , the one in Easton KS , Bonner , Tonganoxie , & Desoto Kansas , ALL use the same frequencies , AND , 853.1375 MHz is a NEW Frequency just added............

[rankin39]

Yes, the Bonner Springs tower is still active without a doubt, but it is part of the Leavenworth County simulcast system now; it's not a stand-alone KSICS tower any more. It's function was taken over by the Mission tower.

Bob, WoNXN

[mrkevin02]

This being the opening weekend of pheasent season I heard lots of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Officers out. I was listening to traffic from the Kansas Nebraska border to south of Dodge City. All traffic was loud and clear. There was only one radio that was encrypted and I got the feeling that was someone high in the chain of command.

The great thing about listening to their radio traffic is it seems like they don't realize people can hear them on a scanner. Heard a couple of great stories and instead of call signs they use first names. If you are thinking about hunting in Western Kansas take note. One officer stopped a group of 14 hunters. They had been hunting over 4 hours and only had a total of 3 birds. Not sure if it will get any better due to heat and drought from the last 2 summers.

[KAA951]

Double post! - See below

[KAA951]

Is anyone on here who monitors in southern Cowley County?

I have heard rumor over the years that KDOT added a two repeater conventional tower to southern Cowley County to cover a pretty big hole in KSICS coverage near the Oklahoma border. This is supposedly the only place they have added a conventional site to the system and it was built out of newer equipment that had been replaced from the analog sites they decommissioned.

I found this new rebanding license that seems to back this up:

GE WQQD587
KANSAS, STATE OF
[EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ESSENTIAL TO PUBLIC SAFETY ACTIVITIES OF THE APPLICANT]
Control Point 1 - 700 SW HARRISON, TOPEKA KS 785-296-3661
(link)
11/08/2012 License Issued
1 - OFF HWY 77, ARKANSAS CITY (COWLEY) KS
851.3125 FB2C 150p 345e 20K0F1D 20K0F1E 20K0F3E
853.55 FB2C 150p 345e 20K0F1D 20K0F1E 20K0F3E
2 - (COWLEY) KS 48.0 km radius around fixed location 1
851.3125 MO 35p 70e 20K0F1D 20K0F1E 20K0F3E
853.55 MO 35p 70e 20K0F1D 20K0F1E 20K0F3E
806.3125 MO 35p 70e 20K0F1D 20K0F1E 20K0F3E
808.55 MO 35p 70e 20K0F1D 20K0F1E 20K0F3E

You can see the site along the highway on Google Earth at 37.0143888888889,-97.0482777777778

I have been told (but have not personnally confirmed) that one of the repeaters is supposed to be slaved to the KDOT talkgroup in that area and the other is supposed to be slaved to the KHP Troop F talkgroup for that area.

Is there anyone that can confirm and indicate which freq is tied to which talkgroup?

[KAA951]

Is this site on the tower at the Coffey County Sheriff's Office in Burlington (WQLJ449 (KANSAS, STATE OF) FCC Callsign Details) a stand alone KSICS site or is it a multi-cast site with the Waverly tower? I wasn't sure how Coffey County had set up their sub-system.

I noticed that the site is not listed in the KSICS database. Anyone near enough to get a site number on it so we can post it to the database?

I was also told that they had placed a single "intelligent" repeater site tied into KSICS in the Gridley area due to coverage in the river valley. The only license close to a single 800 site is this one- http://www.radioreference.com/apps/d...llsign=WQLJ450 Strange license in that it is a single State of Kansas repeater license seperate from the trunked site at the same location.

[firefive76]

Originally Posted by KAA951

Is this site on the tower at the Coffey County Sheriff's Office in Burlington (WQLJ449 (KANSAS, STATE OF) FCC Callsign Details) a stand alone KSICS site or is it a multi-cast site with the Waverly tower? I wasn't sure how Coffey County had set up their sub-system.

I noticed that the site is not listed in the KSICS database. Anyone near enough to get a site number on it so we can post it to the database?

I was also told that they had placed a single "intelligent" repeater site tied into KSICS in the Gridley area due to coverage in the river valley. The only license close to a single 800 site is this one- WQLJ450 (KANSAS, STATE OF) FCC Callsign Details Strange license in that it is a single State of Kansas repeater license seperate from the trunked site at the same location.

Burlington site is in the DB: 1 (1) 039 (27) Burlington Coffey 851.08750 852.35000c 852.56250 852.78750 853.27500 853.53750

The Burlington site is showing an address of 1510 South 6th Street, Burlington, so I don't think it is the tower right at the courthouse. Burlington Site Details (Kansas Statewide Interoperable Communication System (KSICS))

I also heard the same thing about a repeater down south tied to the state system. Try callsign WQMI841. That might be it.

[KAA951]

Originally Posted by firefive76

Burlington site is in the DB: 1 (1) 039 (27) Burlington Coffey 851.08750 852.35000c 852.56250 852.78750 853.27500 853.53750

I also heard the same thing about a repeater down south tied to the state system. Try callsign WQMI841. That might be it.

I don't know how I missed that site in the database... I swear I looked twice before posting!

That does seem like it is probably the voter- though if I am reading it correctly it is only a 2 watt transmitter.

[dgruver911]

Whoever submitted TG 682 to the database as LifeWatch Medical Helicopters might want to check your source...LifeWatch ended helicopter and plane service in 2001 (began service in 1979). They have only ground units for neonatal transports.

[PVPD730]

Originally Posted by dgruver911

Whoever submitted TG 682 to the database as LifeWatch Medical Helicopters might want to check your source...LifeWatch ended helicopter and plane service in 2001 (began service in 1979). They have only ground units for neonatal transports.

Wasn't Lifewatch Wesley Med Center's old service? If so, I think Midwest Lifeteam took over the helicopter portion of their service.

[dgruver911]

Originally Posted by PVPD730

Wasn't Lifewatch Wesley Med Center's old service? If so, I think Midwest Lifeteam took over the helicopter portion of their service.

Yes, LifeWATCH (Wesley Air Transport to Community Hopsitals) did belong to Wesley. From what I recall (and did a little research to support my memory), after LifeWatch shut down EagleMed (who had been flying planes for several years and had just started flying a chopper a couple of years before) added a 2nd helo to their fleet. LifeTeam came in later as a base for a large multi-state company but split off on their own a few years ago and started adding helos and planes all over Kansas. Both EM and LT now have several bases all over the state as well as OK and MO.

To get back on topic...
Been listening to 682 all day and haven't heard a peep.

[mrkevin02]

Is anyone else noticing encryption loosing it's integrity. I listen to Lane County, their main dispatch channel for the Sheriff's Depart. is encrypted, but I'm starting to from time to time understands words, and at times entire sentences. I also listen to Scott County. Their Dispatcher is encrypted but the car radio's are in the clear. At times I am understanding some words and some times entire sentences of the dispatcher too. They both switched over to the KSICS at about the same time. Scott was the first to do it, about a month ahead of Lane County. So the encryption might be about 16 to 18 months inservice.

[n0lqt]

Then it isn't encrypted or the unit you are hearing is transmitting in the clear and the other unit is encrypted. Encryption on a digital system like KSICS actually changes the encoding algorithm completely. There is no way for your radio to actually change the encrypted digital signal into anything meaningful. What you might be hearing is what the users call, "going digital." Your scanner isn't decoding the digital signal initially due to either multi-path, low signal level, or some such.

Frequently you can also hear a conversation where one of the parties is using encryption and the other side is transmitting in the clear. All of the radios (with encryption built in) will automatically decrypt a transmission that is encrypted, if it has the proper key to do so, even if it is set to transmit in the clear. Only those talkgroups that have encryption set at the talkgroup level are fully encrypted all the time regardless of the setting on the radio. I think most of, if not all, of the regional PSAP groups were set that way initially.

Shortly after the KBI moved over to KSICS I heard several agents talking on their state-wide channel one afternoon. All of them were encrypted except one person. She kept talking about going "up to the CI's (confidential informant) house first" before going for the buy. Apparently one of the other agents couldn't find it, so she gives out directions to the street and cross street and the color of the house.... Hopefully, the drug dealers didn't have digital scanners yet!