Guilford County going P25

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NCFireman11

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Just got word the switch over to P25 will happen next week for Guilford County (March 26-29). It is my understanding the talkgroups will not change, just upgrading the talkgroups to P25 digital.

Starting March 26th, Forsyth County VFDs that respond with Guilford (except Kernersville) will be assigned a Forsyth County fireground channel for operations in Guilford. This is due to many VFDs not having P25 capable radios (most have the XTS2500 or XTS5000s). The responding Forsyth VFD will have to borrow a Guildford radio or operate on the Forsyth County assigned channel until all radios are upgraded .
 

KE4ZNR

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This is due to many VFDs not having P25 capable radios (most have the XTS2500 or XTS5000s).

Both the XTS 2500 and XTS 5000 are P25 capable radios as they are used everyday on the P25 system I help maintain....the radios in question might not have P25 enabled in the flashcode but they are indeed P25 capable.

Marshall KE4ZNR
 

NCFireman11

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Both the XTS 2500 and XTS 5000 are P25 capable radios as they are used everyday on the P25 system I help maintain....the radios in question might not have P25 enabled in the flashcode but they are indeed P25 capable.

Marshall KE4ZNR

Thanks for the information, it was my understanding through an email sent out Motorola no longer offers upgrades for these radios and Guilford's P25 couldn't be programmed in.
 

KE4ZNR

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Thanks for the information, it was my understanding through an email sent out Motorola no longer offers upgrades for these radios and Guilford's P25 couldn't be programmed in.

For additional clarity: You are correct in that Motorola no longer sells refresh/flash I-Buttons for the XTS/XTL line of radios. My point is that the XTS/XTL line of have the capability of P25 but it does require having that option enabled in the flashcode. Since Motorola won't sell flashes for that product line that does indeed mean that agencies are being forced to upgrade to APXs when they could still (in theory) use the radios they already have. On the system I help manage as we upgrade our PD users to APX 6000s we are reissuing our XTS 5000s to our public works agencies such as Street Maint, Sanitation, etc.

Marshall KE4ZNR
 

bobilly214

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We here in Alamance county who run with Burlington and Guilford are having our XTS/XTL radios re-programmed to be inter-operable with the Guilford System P25 Conversions. We are having a handful of portables "pre" programmed so when the switch is made we will have radios that will be able to connect to the upgraded system. Then on a predetermined schedule each agency will have all the remaining radios upgraded with the new code plugs. Not all agencies have replaced the XTS/XTL line with the APX radios as of yet.

Billy
 

bobilly214

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Yes, things are changing as I type this. So far most everything is transitioning well. They are 1 by 1 moving each agency over to P25. The talk group ID will be different after the switch. At the rate they are going everything should be completed by the end of the week.
 

JJones27320

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Cool, so I assume that there will be a new updated list on here of the new talk groups when they are near completion? Do you happen to know the new system ID yet?
 

zildjian

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I think they just made the switch. i heard the announcement go over the radio. Now I'm not picking up anything. Please advise so I can update my scanner and keep my feed relevant.

Thank you!
 

bobilly214

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The SID I am seeing from the Burlington tower site is 04E0h-0110. For now if you want to hear anything on a scanner you just have to change the "trunk system setup" to P25 Standard, and do "ID SEARCH" instead of "ID SCAN". You will hear everything from a city bus to police unit.
 

t7ri3g

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I heard announcements within the last hour or so that Guilford county fire and PTI Airport units were switching their radios to P25 mode. Still hearing lots of analog traffic on Fire EMS and PTI talkgroups.
 

calafdx

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Just finished re-programming my 396XT radio with the new P25 format, tried all the combinations of settings, i.e. P25 - 800/900 Standard, P25 - Custom / Standard 800/900, P25 - Custom / Rebanded, Motorola - P25 - Splinter, Motorola - 800/900 Standard, and finally Motorola - Custom / Splinter.

Have dumped all formats into the radio, set it to ID Search, and only Fire Dispatch is still coming up. Nothing else on any of the talkgroups. Wonder what they did to the new system where all the above combination of system programming still won't follow the new system.

Using Butel software for the programming of the radio. Hopefully, in a few days once the system is fully switched over... which I thought it was this afternoon, everything will work again.

Right now, only the Motorola - 800/900 Analog is coming through on my older 346XT radio for the fire dispatch.
 

t7ri3g

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The SID I am seeing from the Burlington tower site is 04E0h-0110. For now if you want to hear anything on a scanner you just have to change the "trunk system setup" to P25 Standard, and do "ID SEARCH" instead of "ID SCAN". You will hear everything from a city bus to police unit.

I tried entering system ID 4E0 in my Unication G4, along with the current Guilford 800 control channels... not working. Incidentally that's the same system ID as the High Point P25 system:
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=8758
 
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t7ri3g

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I updated my HP1 by creating a new P25 system and copying the talkgroups over to the new system. The new TGID's are same as the old ones, but divided by 16. For example Fire Dispatch was 10224, now 639.
 

surprisinguy

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New 436

I have my new 436 arriving next week. Is the zipcode setup still going to work for Greensboro like it's advertised or is it different now that they've changed to P25? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
 

KE4ZNR

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I have my new 436 arriving next week. Is the zipcode setup still going to work for Greensboro like it's advertised or is it different now that they've changed to P25? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

1) Once the RR.com database is updated you will be able to pull down the updated information via the weekly database update which you can then write to the 436 to make sure you have the latest info.

2) You can also make your own Favorites Lists in the scanner with the new GSO info only.

3) I would suggest reading up over at the "Easier to Read 436/536 owners guide" website so you are familiar with the scanner before you receive it. Also go ahead and download Sentinel and get used to using it with the new scanner.

Happy Monitoring!
Marshall KE4ZNR
 
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