Attn BELL COUNTY. Pro-Voice coming VERY SOON...

[cws]

Has anyone heard any traffic on that new P25 in Bell County? I listened for a couple hours the other day, and didn't hear a peep.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by cws

Has anyone heard any traffic on that new P25 in Bell County? I listened for a couple hours the other day, and didn't hear a peep.

I was in Killeen around three weeks ago and heard nothing on P25. However, I don't know if the RR DB is accurate. I don't know when the installation will be taking place, particularly the testing. Hopefully, someone will be monitoring & analyzing the emerging digital system, whatever it may be.

[StatuSChecKa]

Originally Posted by cws

Has anyone heard any traffic on that new P25 in Bell County? I listened for a couple hours the other day, and didn't hear a peep.

Are you being facetious? I listened last night all is fine.
What were you trying to tune in? In the past I've seen Temple PD go up to 2 hours with no radio traffic. But that was at like 4 AM.

[Russell]

I believe he's talking about the P25 system; Bell County Public Safety (Project 25) System, Belton, Texas
Rather than the old EDACS system; Bell County Public Safety Trunking System, Bell County, Texas

The 700 MHz P25 system is licensed for three channels and doesn't appear to have any users, yet. The license notes state "Critical Public Safety and Interoperable Communications". Perhaps this is an InterOp only site.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by Russell

I believe he's talking about the P25 system; Bell County Public Safety (Project 25) System, Belton, Texas
Rather than the old EDACS system; Bell County Public Safety Trunking System, Bell County, Texas

The 700 MHz P25 system is licensed for three channels and doesn't appear to have any users, yet. The license notes state "Critical Public Safety and Interoperable Communications". Perhaps this is an InterOp only site.

Sorry, I should have been more specific regarding the emerging P25 system in Bell County. Yes, you are correct, that was the one I was referring to in my post.

I downloaded this system several weeks ago; however, I am now seeing an additional frequency. I will add this frequency & report my observations next week. I am keeping my fingers crossed hoping Temple & Bell county will not be using encryption. If they do, I hope it is limited to Tactical operations, etc.

What I did not notice were the frequencies. I hope these work in my PSR 500. These are pretty narrow. Are these frequencies indicative of Phase II? The P25 listed for Bell county still shows Phase I.

[StatuSChecKa]

Originally Posted by Russell

I believe he's talking about the P25 system; Bell County Public Safety (Project 25) System, Belton, Texas

Oh, I never seen that page.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by StatuSChecKa

Oh, I never seen that page.

Yes, some observant radio enthusiast nailed this one some time ago. Here is a link to that posting. Hopefully, this is what Temple PD is talking about. I thought you were aware of this. I think these are the frequencies listed in the RR DB as evidenced by the December 11th posting; however, I cannot see all of the frequencies shown in the analysis screen.

New 700 Mhz APCO P25 TRS CC in Killeen, TX

[cws]

Originally Posted by Russell

I believe he's talking about the P25 system; Bell County Public Safety (Project 25) System, Belton, Texas...

Yes, exactly.
Ensnared referred to an old thread that I had not seen. Within it, Motorola Otaku said:

"Based on the 924D5 WACN I can almost guarantee you that it's a Harris/MA-COM P25IP system. No need to worry about ProVoice; Harris P25 systems are functionally identical to Motorola P25 systems as far as the scanner listener is concerned."

I don't know what that (924D5...) means, but I hope he is correct in his assumption.

[Unitrunker]

Originally Posted by Ensnared

What I did not notice were the frequencies. I hope these work in my PSR 500. These are pretty narrow. Are these frequencies indicative of Phase II? The P25 listed for Bell county still shows Phase I.

Control channel activity makes no hint of TDMA.

[StatuSChecKa]

I know the only digital channel in use right now is "Digital SWAT 1". I have a buddy in the PD and seen it in action while my Pro-164 didn't hear what was going on. They been using D Swat 1 since 2009 for "low risk" narcotics warrants.
But thats the only Digital channel they been using.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by StatuSChecKa

I know the only digital channel in use right now is "Digital SWAT 1". I have a buddy in the PD and seen it in action while my Pro-164 didn't hear what was going on. They been using D Swat 1 since 2009 for "low risk" narcotics warrants.
But thats the only Digital channel they been using.

That is pretty interesting concerning "Digital SWAT 1." I don't see this listed in the Bell County EDACS, From what I can gather, there are no digital talk groups listed.

Today, I programmed the Bell County Public Safety P25 frequencies listed in the RR DB, (769.10625c, 769.83125a & 770.55625) into my GRE PSR 500. I set the Wild Cards on priority with a ring tone. Nothing was heard.

Temple, Harker Heights, Belton, & Killeen TG's were quite active on Bell County EDACS.

Temple PD was coming in loud on clear.

After reviewing the FCC license for the system in question, I added 799.10625, 799.83125, & 800.55625 to the operating frequencies.

Here is a hyperlink:

ULS License - Trunked Public Safety 700 MHz License - WQON926 - BELL, COUNTY OF - Frequencies Summary

When I return to Bell County, I will see if these added frequencies help activate trunking.

[Russell]

799.10625, 799.83125, & 800.55625 are the mobile/control side. The 700 Mhz mobiles/controls are 30 MHz higher in this block. This keeps the mobile side for 700 and 800 Mhz all together making it easier to tune the transmitter and thus easier to build a 700/800 MHz mobile/portable. Looking closer at the license, you'll see that station classes are MO and FX for those frequencies.

[motorola_otaku]

Originally Posted by cws

I don't know what that (924D5...) means, but I hope he is correct in his assumption.

From the Wiki:

WACN stands for Wide Area Communications Network. In Project 25, the System ID identifies the system (for a given network). One or more systems may be joined into a network of systems. The WACN identifies the network. The WACN combined with the System ID will uniquely identify a system.

and:

Some P25 trunked systems, including many military 380 MHz systems, have WACNs that decode into a hint as to the system's name. The encoding of WACNs in these cases follows the "Guidelines to Assign Wide Area Communication Network and System Identities" document approved by the APCO Project 25 Steering Committee on April 6, 2001. For example, WACN 580A0 decodes to "NCR" (National Capital Region). A conversion application is available to decode WACNs and System IDs. The real intent of this encoding scheme is to generate unique WACNs and System IDs from a trunked system's license callsign.

Motorola has been using BEExx as the de-facto standard WACN for almost all of their 9600 P25 systems. Anything else, especially a 9xxxx WACN, is almost always indicative of a Harris system (MPSCS being the notable exception.)

[Ensnared]

I reviewed the "Common Emissions Designators" for this FCC license.

Emission Designator - The RadioReference Wiki

I found: 8K0051E & 8K00F1D. Both of these were not listed on the table I reviewed.

Thanks for the information about the "mobile/control." I don't know whether these frequencies would be listed under "system frequencies." My only experience in analysis involves an atypical VHF trunking system.

[StatuSChecKa]

What the F are you guys talking about? lol. Anyway, I have an update.
This is from the male P.R. officer:

[QUOTE]
Here’s what I’ve learned in checking on this.

The digital radio system will be P25 capable. Some channels will be encrypted, while others will not. The use of the encrypted channels will depend on the mission at hand. The general goal in switching from an analog to a digital system is to improve officer and public safety, by protecting the integrity of our communications system.
[\QUOTE]

Now what do you make of this?

[Ensnared]

[QUOTE=StatuSChecKa;1748595]What the F are you guys talking about? lol. Anyway, I have an update.
This is from the male P.R. officer:

Here’s what I’ve learned in checking on this.

The digital radio system will be P25 capable. Some channels will be encrypted, while others will not. The use of the encrypted channels will depend on the mission at hand. The general goal in switching from an analog to a digital system is to improve officer and public safety, by protecting the integrity of our communications system.
[\QUOTE]

Now what do you make of this?

Well, although I would prefer having no encryption, this may indicate they are being conservative with such. I fully expect some agencies to encrypt sensitive operations from time to time. What you've reported gives some hope, I suppose.

Some LE agencies across the U.S. have opted for full encryption. In my opinion, that drives a wedge between citizen & cop.

I am laughing at your response. Sometimes, the information needed to analyze a radio system requires a new data language. Some of these statewide systems are massive. The TxWarn P25 system extends into 27 different counties.

Well, please keep us posted. Thanks for your response.

[StatuSChecKa]

Eek, a reporter just told me they heard radio traffic and it said "Switch to Main 1 Digital". She hasnt heard radio traffic since. I have not checked for my self yet. This was a 1500 hrs today.

[StatuSChecKa]

Originally Posted by cws

Has anyone heard any traffic on that new P25 in Bell County? I listened for a couple hours the other day, and didn't hear a peep.

They been using it today. Can you check again? What radio are you using?
Are you using WIN500 to program it?

[Unitrunker]

I see lots of mobile data and analog voice. Group 1185 is digital. That's it. One user still has their radio programmed for analog so their calls on 1185 come through.

Edit: just saw a digital call on 1186.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by Unitrunker

I see lots of mobile data and analog voice. Group 1185 is digital. That's it. One user still has their radio programmed for analog so their calls on 1185 come through.

Edit: just saw a digital call on 1186.

What system are you monitoring to hear these Talk Groups? Please, elaborate. I don't know why the digital signals are not coming through if you are using a digital radio.