Kenwood NX-3720 & NX-5900 audio to Recorder

[Okeedook]

Our local police department dispatchers are using new Kenwood NX-3720 & NX-5900 radios.
We are looking at being able to tap into both those radios, to get both the Transmit (microphone) and Receive (speaker) audio output going to the analog Recorder.
Does anyone know what is the best configuration/connections to make this happen.
Ideally, both audio would end up in a single pair for recording.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Vern]

I've been out of that business way too long, but back in the day in south FL, we recorded both of those tracks separately on a multi-track recorder. Then we had a receiver with an outdoor antenna to capture everything coming out of the repeater "over the air" onto a separate track as a check & balance for the other two. A playback of the repeater output track was the combination of the other two. We often had to produce radio audio in court cases and the only one that the attorneys wanted was the "over the air" version. Others may have experienced different requirements. Good luck.

 

[mmckenna]

Are these radios connected to a dispatch console? There's where you usually pull the audio from.

Getting hand mic audio out of the radio is going to be difficult and isn't as easy as tapping into an existing port on the back of the radio. Messing around inside the radio would not be advised.

Getting received audio out is pretty easy:
NX-3000 series mobiles: Pin 4 on the DB15 is AFO. Pin 15 is ground.
NX-5000 series mobiles: Pin 17 on the DB25 is AFO. Pin 18 is ground.

 

[Okeedook]

Hi Vern, I also feel the pain.
It's been many, many years since I have been last commissioned tackle this kind of request. lol.
There's very many MacGyver type troubleshooters left out there.

Based on the information and documentation I have thus far gathered.
I think the best option would perhaps suggest the police department to assign a second radio for both Fire and Police dispatching.
And have those radios tuned to the corresponding their channels, so that it would capture both the transmitter audio (dispatcher) and receiver audio (Fire or police). We would then, simply tap to the radio DB connectors - As suggested by mmckenna's posting.

I had just registered to this forum and I'm amazed of the vast information and to the quick replies by other members to my first posting.
Feels short of having a conversation with old friends at a coffee shop.

Thank you so much for your suggestions and recommendations.

 

[buddrousa]

What would be better IN COURT is a true Dispatch Console with a DATE TIME RECORDER PER CHANNEL other wise it will not be true documentation.

 

[AM909]

I like the receiver with a recorder as a better proof of what went out over the air. I don't know if there's case law out there on the subject, but an expert could be hired to testify as to all the ways that a console recording is not necessarily what was transmitted or what was heard by subscriber units. It happens every day, as even dispatchers are in a hurry and start talking before being trunked to voice channels, tone or data stream decoding delays, subscriber unit gathering, etc.. Any lawyers out there feel like hunting down some cases?

 

[mmckenna]

I don't think it's so much about the accuracy question. It's usually about having accurate time stamping of both sides of the conversation and easy to understand audio.

We only record from our console, with the exception of our PD channel which was set up with an "air check" receiver because of some audio complaints. Those issues were resolved, but the receiver is still running on the PD channel.

Gets kind of expensive when you have trunked systems with a bunch of talkgroups on the console. Having to have a dedicated radio to receive each one gets expensive, especially for smaller PSAP's.

 

[buddrousa]

Mayberry Police Department will not cut it in court done been there and seen it.
1.What Time did the call come in?
2.What Time did the Dispatcher Dispatch the call?
3.What Time did the unit arrive on the sceen?
4.What Time did the unit on the sceene call for backup or EMS?
5.What Time did the Dispatcher call for EMS?
Done been part of a Court Case and that was the questions ask by Lawyers want Documentation.

 

[mmckenna]

Mayberry Police Department will not cut it in court done been there and seen it.
1.What Time did the call come in?
2.What Time did the Dispatcher Dispatch the call?
3.What Time did the unit arrive on the sceen?
4.What Time did the unit on the sceene call for backup or EMS?
5.What Time did the Dispatcher call for EMS?
Done been part of a Court Case and that was the questions ask by Lawyers want Documentation.

Right, a combination of logging recorders and CAD handle this. All very carefully controlled and timestamped so it's admissible in court.

I think the OP might want to check with their state to see what their own requirements are. Some of these systems may be funded as part of the 911 system. Our logging recorder grabs all the phone lines/911 trunks as well as radio traffic.

 

[Okeedook]

I don't think it's so much about the accuracy question. It's usually about having accurate time stamping of both sides of the conversation and easy to understand audio.

We only record from our console, with the exception of our PD channel which was set up with an "air check" receiver because of some audio complaints. Those issues were resolved, but the receiver is still running on the PD channel.

Gets kind of expensive when you have trunked systems with a bunch of talkgroups on the console. Having to have a dedicated radio to receive each one gets expensive, especially for smaller PSAP's.

I also agree. It does indeed gets kind of expensive with trunked systems, having to have a dedicated radio to receive each one TX & RX audio especially for smaller PSAP's. The alternative option: (taping into the Dispatcher's radios to get both audio feed to the recorder) is also not a cheap service job by someone, who often requires to be certified by the radio manufacture/suppliers.