Aurora back to Motorola for P25 Phase II System?

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Spitfire8520

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That's fairly interesting document. I'm sure that most of the people were expecting Aurora to follow the other EDACS users with Harris, but I guess they'll be one of the exceptions.
 

greenthumb

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With the losses of Westminster to Cassidian for infrastructure and Motorola for radios and now Aurora to Motorola for everything, Harris has lost 33% of their big customers in the Denver metropolitan area.

And based on what that document says, Aurora should have pallets of radios from Motorola sitting somewhere in town at this very moment.
 

Spitfire8520

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Well, given the previous history of their radio system, I would say that it could be up in the air. The line "Motorola proposed the lowest price, and their proposal includes features not proposed by Harris" is a little concerning as something Motorola is known for is offering inexpensive Motorola ADP encryption. Then again, maybe they're talking about some legitimate features.

I did a little historical searching after I posted my reply. The original deployment of Aurora's current system was 100% ProVoice for units in the field with only dispatch operating in analog. This would've been back before DSD, so it wasn't meant to be listenable by the common person. The only reason they switched out of ProVoice is because of the massive issues they had with the system. I wonder if anyone who had influence on this decision remembered those days and if that played into why they didn't choose Harris (outside of the price).
 

abqscan

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The only reason they switched out of ProVoice is because of the massive issues they had with the system. I wonder if anyone who had influence on this decision remembered those days and if that played into why they didn't choose Harris (outside of the price).

I bet the officers have the same gripes when they go to the new digital system. Their ears are used to static when they get a poor signal, not a digital noise. Also, provoice works just fine because many of their channels are strictly provoice and have been working since they turned on the system.
 

county

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Anyone know what sort of timeline we're looking at for commissioning of the new system?
 

k0pwo

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A neighbor of mine who is with APD has told me that they have been informed that the new system will be online late 3rd qtr to 4th qtr of 2015 and will be phase II and to quote him... "scanners will not be capable of monitoring" the new system.

So we will see.
 

county

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Thanks for your reply Dean. It will be interestng to see how this develops. I will probably wait on swapping out my scanner fleet to p2-capable gear until the system is on-air! I am nervous about what might be encrypted but am hoping at least dispatch channels will be in the clear.
 

county

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I wondered if anyone had knowledge of developments regarding this system? I was thinking the system might be on air for testing by now (how is it Q4 already!) . . but didn't find anything new on a control channel sweep.
 

Steve2003

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I wondered if anyone had knowledge of developments regarding this system? I was thinking the system might be on air for testing by now (how is it Q4 already!) . . but didn't find anything new on a control channel sweep.

I have yet to find anything sweeping the 700/800 bands either. Either you will hear something on one of their existing frequencies or they will request new ones from the FCC.

I usually keep an eye on the recent FCC license grants for 7-county metro area. Here is where you can find recent FCC license grants for Arapahoe County:

Arapahoe County, Colorado (CO) Last 50 FCC License Grants

It's not a guarantee, but typically I have seen licenses in this report 3-6 mos before significant changes to a radio system are made. Typically license changes will be made to accommodate new frequencies, transmitter locations, or emission designators for digital voice.
 

k0pwo

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At the Smoky Hill site they have been busy pouring the new concrete slab for the new building that will house the new Phase II system. Also, tower crews have been busy on the tower installing new antenna arrays for the new system. At least for the testing phase.

The building has not yet arrived at the site as the concrete was poured yesterday.
 

kjk681

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Carlos29532

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Project 25

I'm just getting into this site here in SC. Why would you need so many scanners for this system? Have no clue about this? Really frustrating!!!
 

Carlos29532

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To; K0pwo....if these are simulcast, would they not be transmitting on the old base frequencies? Some of our old ones are on the vhf high and seem to be keeping those. Just a thought!
 

N0GTG

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I have been watching the Aurora system, and found that 5 of the trunk freqs are currently unused; specifically 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19. I'm wondering if these might have been cleared for use to begin testing the new system?? I'm keeping an ear on them.
 

county

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Thanks everyone, for your replies. I will start monitoring the radio-techs talkgroups on the EDACS system. . they will probably be active as the new system is coming up.

Oh how I hope the system won't be fully encrypted!
 

scanlist

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Getting some kind of data signal on 856.9625 up here. Unfortunately due to multi-path distortion and my distance from the Aurora area I cannot determine if this is a P25 control channel.
 

abqscan

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I can confirm that there is some type of data coming across 856.9625 $841. It doesn't sound like a normal P25 CC and Pro96Com won't decode the signal.
 

N0GTG

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I get an LNK indication monitoring the frequency in P25 trunk mode, but have heard no traffic. This started two days ago. At that same time, I heard an interop channel when monitoring the freq in conventional mode (once only), couldn't check the radio quickly enough to get more info. I have both modes in my Aurora scanlist.
 
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