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RonnieUSA

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I follow this system very closely, and have it on my feed now.
My question is about a talk group, it's this one>> 339 02-103 A ASHL DDC Ashland DDC ,
I have a new BCT15X with radio ID's enabled, and when I hear this one I see an ID of i877 for Ashland DDC, so is it listed wrong, or could each person talk takes a call on that talk group have their ID show?
 
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RonnieUSA

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I think I may have sorted this out, it looks like Uniden take it a step higher, and shows the unit # of the dispatcher or radio they are talking on also. I have seen than 1 ID so far, different talk groups though.
 

mtindor

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I follow this system very closely, and have it on my feed now.
My question is about a talk group, it's this one>> 339 02-103 A ASHL DDC Ashland DDC ,
I have a new BCT15X with radio ID's enabled, and when I hear this one I see an ID of i877 for Ashland DDC, so is it listed wrong, or could each person talk takes a call on that talk group have their ID show?

Ronnie,

Yes, each radio on the system has it's own radio ID. And if you have a scanner that supports private wildcards / iCalls, and you enable them, then you will actually be able to hear radio-to-radio conversations between field units that don't happen on any particular talkgroup.

In my neck of the woods at least, it is extremely common for the various guys who are out and about doing line work to make private calls to each other. The traffic will not be heard on any talkgroup and will specifically between two radio IDs.

So, on the AEP system, if you have a scanner capable of I-Calls / Private Wildcards, be sure to enable them so that you can take advantage of listening to any unit-to-unit conversations.

Mike
 

RonnieUSA

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Ronnie,

Yes, each radio on the system has it's own radio ID. And if you have a scanner that supports private wildcards / iCalls, and you enable them, then you will actually be able to hear radio-to-radio conversations between field units that don't happen on any particular talkgroup.

In my neck of the woods at least, it is extremely common for the various guys who are out and about doing line work to make private calls to each other. The traffic will not be heard on any talkgroup and will specifically between two radio IDs.

So, on the AEP system, if you have a scanner capable of I-Calls / Private Wildcards, be sure to enable them so that you can take advantage of listening to any unit-to-unit conversations.

Mike

I'll do that, Thank You.
 

Thunderbolt

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It has been reported by a few people that the AEP sites in Southwest Lower Michigan have been upgraded to OpenSky technology. Can anyone confirm if this is the case in Indiana or Ohio?

73's

Ron
 
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mtindor

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It has been reported by a few people that the AEP sites in Southwest Lower Michigan have been upgraded to OpenSky technology. Can anyone confirm if this is the case in Indiana or Ohio?

73's

Ron

Nowhere that I can reach in East Ohio (JEFF/HARR/BELM/COLUMB/TUSC/STARK/CARROLL/WheelingWV). I do remember seeing quite a few MI licenses over the past year showing change in emissions to Opensky. But I haven't seen any changes here in East Ohio in FCC records, nor have the actual AEP sites that I monitor changed from EDACS.


mike
 

chidd_88

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Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (BlackBerry; Opera Mini/7.1.32543/28.3821; U; en) Presto/2.8.119 Version/11.10)

Yeah, in Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana AEP has switched to OpenSky. I had them out at my house and I asked a linemen and he said they changed but not sure how far spread its gonna be.
 

RonnieUSA

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How are site numbers assigned on this system?
I have been running UniTrunker again, and on the peers list it shows single, and double digit site numbers.
If I could understand this I might be able to come up with who the peers are.
It also shows the control channel in use by the peers. This might be useful.
Could site 2, be 702, and 4, be 704, and 7, be 707, and 19, be 719, and 26, be 726, and 30, be 730?
 
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mtindor

OH/WV DB Admin
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Carroll Co OH / EN90LN
How are site numbers assigned on this system?
I have been running UniTrunker again, and on the peers list it shows single, and double digit site numbers.
If I could understand this I might be able to come up with who the peers are.
It also shows the control channel in use by the peers. This might be useful.
Could site 2, be 702, and 4, be 704, and 7, be 707, and 19, be 719, and 26, be 726, and 30, be 730?

Ronnie,

The first digit is the "Network" -- and that is only something that is known because at one point somebody was privy to a network map [courtesy of AEP I'm guessing, likely without their knowledge] that showed the different networks.

You're on the border of networks. So it's tricky. Your site neighbors could all be from Network 7 -- but there is no way to know absolutely for sure unless you are positive of their actual location.

Look under "Misc Information" here:

American Electric Power (Eastern US) Trunking System, Multiple, Multi-State - Scanner Frequencies

You'll see what the different networks cover.

Knowing the control channel LCN is only useful if you know the frequency assigned to that LCN. In order to properly map out the AEP system, one has to simply monitor as many sites as possible, note control channel freuqncies on those sites, cross reference those frequencies with the various possibilities in the database, and do some intelligent guesswork.

Ohio isn't complete... but it's the closest. West Virginia isn't nearly as accurate. I don't know about the other networks.


Mike
 
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mtindor

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Here is a link to an updated Google map that shows all of the AEP-licensed 800 mhz trunked sites throughout their system. Not all of these sites are online, but it's handy to be able to just glance at the area you are in to see which sites might be around.

https://goo.gl/eAQxqu - All AEP 800 mhz trunked licenses as of 11-27-2017

The IN/MI portion has been converted / changed to an OpenSky system, so you cannot monitor the IN/MI portion.

Based upon reports over the years of site IDs being re-used inside of the networks, it is very difficult sometimes to know which network a particular site belongs to. For instance, recently two new sites in VA were discovered online with site IDs of 03 and 04. Every section of the network (1-7) already have a site 3 and 4 listed. There is no telling if those two new sites are part of one of the existing networks or part of a new network number that we don't know about. And since IN/MI (was network 1) is now OpenSky, perhaps that network number has been pressed into service across the AEP Eastern system.

The MI/OH part of the system is listed in the DB as an Opensky network completely separate from the rest. The AEP Eastern system in the DB currently lists the OH, WV, KY, VA, TN portion. And there are three or four individual "systems" in the DB for the various southern states (LA / AR / OK / TX).

The map link above covers all 800 mhz licenses currently listed as "active" (meaning not terminated) in FCC records. AEP is extremely good about keeping FCC records up to date, so I doubt there are any "missing" sites. If somebody believes that are missing sites on the map, feel free to let me know and I'll evaluate and decide if they need added.

Mike
 
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