OpenSky frequencies

FreeOperator · Jan 22, 2011

Ok, I've read the Wiki, I've heard the problems with OpenSky.

And I understand that scanners can't pick them up. My question is, why can't they be picked up?

I see references to manufacturers have to design them to pick up OpenSky. What is the problem?

GTR8000 · Jan 22, 2011

The protocol OpenSky uses is proprietary and is not licensed to the manufacturers of scanners. It's that simple.

FreeOperator · Jan 22, 2011

Thank you for the quick response!

Spankymedic7 · Jan 22, 2011

I heard through the grapevine that there are folks trying to "crack the code" with regards to scanning OpenSky, and from what I've heard, progress is being made. One can only hope.

rdale · Jan 22, 2011

That grape has been on the vine for about 7 years now, and still not producing any juice.

vinzep491 · Jan 22, 2011

Spankymedic7 said:
One can only hope.

Indeed.

krokus · Jan 23, 2011

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.973 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Decoding the data will take time, since there are countless ways to process digital audio.

ToDaMax · Jan 23, 2011

It is because of the way Opensky is set up is why we cannot scan it.

Motorolla uses the Talkgroup and Contol Channel Method and what not. I'm not going into how the CC is run.

Opensky has no control Channel. Instead, they use AMBE vocoder on top of a TMDA system, which is nothing that motorolla uses. Instead of a control channel assigning a channel to a talkgroup, each channel on an opensky system is spit up into 4 sub channels on which the talkgroups work off of. The AMBE does encryption of this data as it passes.

So We cannot listen to opensky with the scanners we have now because it works nothing like P25, EDACS, or Motorolla. The only way we could listen to it is if we had a scanner that is capable of decoding AMBE and the TMDA. As Chauffeur6 said, because Opensky protocol is proprietary and not licenced to scanner manufacturers, there isn't going to be a scanner made for Opensky scanning

RoninJoliet · Jan 23, 2011

The above info on OpenSky is correct and since we had two towns near me Aurora and Naperville ILL go that route i been told the radio's are like mini computers and when you sign on every day a you have a IP Address type # that will not let you on unless its the true operator....I really miss hearing the action in these towns BUT!!!!...

rexgame · Jan 23, 2011

The radios are sort of like a cell phone, they have to be activated on the network?

Astrak · Jan 23, 2011

rexgame said:
The radios are sort of like a cell phone, they have to be activated on the network?

Sort of, but just about any trunked radio network requires that the radio's be activated on the network.

acepilot340 · Jan 23, 2011

Even if the scanner manufacturers were given* the configuration licenses, I don't think the manufacturers would produce the scanner because there aren't enough OpenSky systems out there to force a high demand to make a profit on the scanner.

*I wonder what the price for those licenses would be? Could the scanner manufacturers even make a profit after forking out the $$$>?

vinzep491 · Jan 23, 2011

I disagree ACEPILOT - I think the SECOND that/IF the scanner manufacturers were given access to create an OPENSKY scanner, they would! Just search the forums and you will see just how many people are bummed out about being left out of OPENSKY.

Myself? I believe the technology will be available one day, but not in your typical scanner, because all the OPENSKY promo literature brags that they are unmonitorable, so I just don't see them making the protocall avaliable. The only way that we will be able to make this happen is if independent RR "hackers" decode with a method similar to DSD or something ..... which i DO believe will happen, one day.

Remeber when noone could dream of monitoring PROVOICE, and now we have the pioneers that got it figured out? I believe, one day, OPENSKY will be the same. (One can only hope..)

ksphotoguy · Jan 23, 2011

Not to rain on anyones parade, but isn't opensky a form of encryption? and isn't decrypting encrypted radio siganls frowned upon?

N0BDW · Jan 24, 2011

ksphotoguy said:
Not to rain on anyones parade, but isn't opensky a form of encryption? and isn't decrypting encrypted radio siganls frowned upon?

Frowned upon and in some cases next to impossible. *Good* encryption (ie. AES) the only way to decrypt it is by having the key. The only way you are going to get around it is by somehow guessing or being given the key (and guessing is much more difficult than some here seem to think - it's not a simple 4 position combination lock).

rdale · Jan 24, 2011

ksphotoguy said:
Not to rain on anyones parade, but isn't opensky a form of encryption?

Nope. Encryption is encryption, OpenSky is just a protocol for a trunked radio system.

abbydabby · Jan 24, 2011

if the above mention pol on open sky has ip # sighn on an so forth are they some how tied to the int an if so if int crashed would there radios crash

GTO_04 · Jan 24, 2011

acepilot340 said:
Even if the scanner manufacturers were given* the configuration licenses, I don't think the manufacturers would produce the scanner because there aren't enough OpenSky systems out there to force a high demand to make a profit on the scanner.

*I wonder what the price for those licenses would be? Could the scanner manufacturers even make a profit after forking out the $$$>?

Plus the Open Sky system is so terrible that even the system users can't even understand each other a lot of the time!

GTO_04

FreeOperator · Jan 24, 2011

abbydabby said:
if the above mention pol on open sky has ip # sighn on an so forth are they some how tied to the int an if so if int crashed would there radios crash

That is GREAT question!

I've been reading this thread and everyone is basically referencing that this is a web-based system.

How would anyone keep this from crashing???? Because EVERY operating system crashes at some point.

N0BDW · Jan 24, 2011

FreeOperator said:
That is GREAT question!

I've been reading this thread and everyone is basically referencing that this is a web-based system.

How would anyone keep this from crashing???? Because EVERY operating system crashes at some point.

You build in redundancy.

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