Nashville/Davidson County TRS

Status
Not open for further replies.

FLPage

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
22
Location
Nashville TN
Heard someone who *might* actually know what be's talking about say today that Metro is making plans and talking to reps about moving to a non-monitorable system in 2012. Anybody else heard something about such a plan?
 

jimg

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
957
Location
So. Middle TN
Heard someone who *might* actually know what be's talking about say today that Metro is making plans and talking to reps about moving to a non-monitorable system in 2012. Anybody else heard something about such a plan?

Are they talking encryption?
 

ScanTN

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
83
Location
Nashville, TN
More Information

@FLPage: Could you elaborate on where you heard this? Just wondering how reputable the source is.

What are the odds of the city/county doing this anyway? Seems like it would be be a large expense to convert their current system. In addition how do the news and media teams gather stories if this goes into effect?
 
Last edited:

FLPage

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
22
Location
Nashville TN
I had all the same thoughts about expense, public knowledge, etc. that you list. The person who told me is a longtime Ham and was quoting a friend of his who works for Metro. The guy I heard it from made it out to be more than a rumor but it was the first I had heard of any such plan -- that's why I asked the question here since y'all are the experts!
 

ScanTN

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
83
Location
Nashville, TN
Well so far there hasn't been any other information or talk that we have heard, so with that being the case it is likely a rumor. I will talk to a few metro officers that I know and see if they have any input on it.
 

ScanTN

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
83
Location
Nashville, TN
Latest Info

Okay -

I talked with one metro officer this morning regarding this and they didn't know specifics. However, what I was told is that the officers are in fact receiving new handheld radio's this month. That shouldn't have an effect though on being able to listen to them since that would require an infrastructure change. We will keep everyone posted and let you know if we hear any more details.
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
3
it's true

i talked with someone today that said metro is changing part of their system to p25, and they plan to encrypt anything that is not shared with outside users, but not the dispatch channels.
 

ScanTN

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
83
Location
Nashville, TN
A Little Misleading

i talked with someone today that said metro is changing part of their system to p25, and they plan to encrypt anything that is not shared with outside users, but not the dispatch channels.

Someone correct me if I am wrong - but your post is a little misleading. Here's why. From my knowledge, the Nashville/Davidson County System is already a P25 system. It's an analog/APCO P25 digital mixed system or solution. As previously stated it would be a large cost issue to restructure much of their internal communication framework.

Also what you have said about the plan to encrypt anything that is not shared with outside users they already do on some channels. For instance on the Metro Nashville PD channels the SWAT and other tactical channels are encrypted. However there are some others that remain open such as the precinct admin channels and training channels. Now whether they will eventually encrypt those that can't really be determined at this time.

I'm not trying to discount what you have said but I just want to bring clarity to it. Here's the good news... as of now nothing has changed. Everything seems to be remaining the same and will probably continue to.
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
3
the Nashville/Davidson County System is already a P25 system. It's an analog/APCO P25 digital mixed system or solution.

Actually, Metro's system is a Motorola Smartnet Astro mixed-mode system using a proprietary digital protocol, but is not P25, yet. The biggest difference is the control channel will go from Astro 3600 baud to P25's 9600 baud. The 9600 baud system is in test right now, you can see the control channel on 857.4875MHz. P25 is an interoperable standard that the current system does not support. A P25 capable scanner will decode the 3600 baud info though, that is why we can hear it now.

Large cost to upgrade to P25, right on, try $22 million for the current project. That contract with Motorola was signed in 2010 to upgrade the public-safety side to P25 Phase 1. They're talking Phase 2 in another 4-5 years.

As for encryption, yes they use encryption (sometimes) on the Vice channels, but they intend to also use it on those admin channels in the new setup.

Hope this helps.

You are correct that nothing has changed yet, but the new system will go live early next year and these changes will start when Metro begins swapping out radios en mass.
 

ScanTN

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
83
Location
Nashville, TN
Thanks for the information and correcting our previous statements. That makes much more sense now, and within reason I can see them wishing to change to a P25 system, especially with some of the new technology coming out. Of course on the flip side much of that cost is going to probably be offset by tax payer dollars.
 

ScanTN

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
83
Location
Nashville, TN
When they go to the P25's 9600 baud, will our scanners go quiet, and need any re-programming?

It really depends on how they go about setting the system up and what type of encryption gets implemented. As far as needing to reprogram the units I would think that more than likely that will be required. Again though it depends on if they're just changing the control channels baud rate or if they end up changing trunking channels, talkgroups, frequences, etc.

As far as whether it'll be integrated into the statewide TRS? I can't specifically state anything regarding that. Maybe some of the other guys here on the forum know something. However, it would, in my opinion, be ideal and with congress/legislation wanting for radio communication to be more accessible in terms of origination to organization and county to county, we might actually see something like that down the road. Let's keep in mind that a lot of this though requires time. So I definitely wouldn't expect anything too soon
 

jimg

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
957
Location
So. Middle TN
Actually, Metro's system is a Motorola Smartnet Astro mixed-mode system using a proprietary digital protocol, but is not P25, yet. The biggest difference is the control channel will go from Astro 3600 baud to P25's 9600 baud. The 9600 baud system is in test right now, you can see the control channel on 857.4875MHz. P25 is an interoperable standard that the current system does not support. A P25 capable scanner will decode the 3600 baud info though, that is why we can hear it now.

Large cost to upgrade to P25, right on, try $22 million for the current project. That contract with Motorola was signed in 2010 to upgrade the public-safety side to P25 Phase 1. They're talking Phase 2 in another 4-5 years.

As for encryption, yes they use encryption (sometimes) on the Vice channels, but they intend to also use it on those admin channels in the new setup.

Hope this helps.

You are correct that nothing has changed yet, but the new system will go live early next year and these changes will start when Metro begins swapping out radios en mass.

I noticed in the RR database that 857.48750 has been added as a control channel. Does that frequency need to be programmed into our scanner?
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
3
I believe any scanner that can hear Metro now will only need to reprogram control channels. I don't think they are changing frequencies, but Metro swapped some frequencies with Nextel a few years ago so there may be some updates. My friend said they are planning to link into the state system eventually, which makes good sense.
 

CORN

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Sep 9, 2003
Messages
1,171
Location
Norfolk, VA
I noticed in the RR database that 857.48750 has been added as a control channel. Does that frequency need to be programmed into our scanner?

Not really at this time. Not much happening here. There has been some radio checks and testing this morning on TGID 33580. Not much other than testing right now. Since then the system has been quiet for last hour or so.
 

franktrew

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
2
I am seeking a suggestion of a entry level scanner that I can use for Metro Nashville Police / Fire, I specifically want to be able to only listen to one precinct at a time(the RR feed scans all at once). Any suggestions, ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top