Philly 800mhz System Status

[radioman2001]

Phase 2 is no longer mandated or required, the FCC removed that requirement last year. As far as going completely 700, doesn't make sense. Most if not all 700 radios do 800 and there are not enough channels available for an all 700 nationwide system.

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

Phase 2 is no longer mandated or required, the FCC removed that requirement last year. As far as going completely 700, doesn't make sense. Most if not all 700 radios do 800 and there are not enough channels available for an all 700 nationwide system.

Bear in mind that the 700 spectrum is divided up between national frequencies (interops and simplex), state level frequencies (for use on statewide P-25 systems), and county/local frequencies (for use on county and local P-25 systems). Each county can ask for so many of these frequencies and they'll be assigned whatever is available from the spectrum they would be using. Each state gets a shot at the state level frequencies - hence why Delaware and Pennsylvania have 700 systems even though they aren't heavily used at the moment. So while it may not seem like enough 700 channels are available for a nationwide system - in actuality there are if things are broken up the way the feds want them to be.

Also despite the Phase 2 mandate being taken away the radio companies (Harris, /\/\, EFJ, etc) are going to push agencies to Phase 2 by selling it as "double the capacity versus Phase 1" and also telling agencies that "they won't need to license as many frequencies." So while it may seem like Phase 1 would be cheaper, the number of agencies likely to go for Phase 1 over Phase 2 is relatively few and far between seeing how the companies sell Phase 2 and also the push by the Feds for Phase 2.

As far as going away from trunking or to a different band other 700/800 for Philly, don't bet on it.

 

[NUGEN]

Phase 2 switchover time line

It be interesting to see if and when they are switching over to phase 2. There will be a mass exodus of people dumping their old Pro 96, 2096, 197, 106 and all the Uniden 396t/xt, 996t/xt, bc796d on eBay; then running and grabbing new phase 2 capable stuff. I'm sure the prices would jump up not too long after

 

[Skypilot007]

It be interesting to see if and when they are switching over to phase 2. There will be a mass exodus of people dumping their old Pro 96, 2096, 197, 106 and all the Uniden 396t/xt, 996t/xt, bc796d on eBay; then running and grabbing new phase 2 capable stuff. I'm sure the prices would jump up not too long after

Seems to be a 50-50 toss up if these new scanners will work on these new phase II systems. Some say they work and some say they don't. Every phase II system is a little different it seems. It has already been determined that Uniden took major short cuts in their design of the 436 and 536 scanners by not using the recommended hardware to decode phase II systems properly. So an new scanner may or may not be the solution for listening in the future.

 

[NUGEN]

Advertising it will decode phase II systems and it actually doesn't? Ya I smell a class action lawsuit if that happens. The only reason you shouldn't be able to listen to a phase II system on a 436/536 should be that the talk groups are encrypted or you're too far away... Nothing else. Being able to do phase II systems was their whole selling point on that scanner.

 

[phillydjdan]

Well, that's a discussion for another thread lol. But yeah, its a toss-up. I personally have run a PSR-800 and a 536HP and was not impressed with either. I've seen another person running a 436HP that was better, but still not perfect inside the city while stationary. On the other hand, dropping $3 grand for an APX gives you perfect reception of Philly from the Blue Route to Levittown with clear, loud audio.

 

[mlmummert]

Advertising it will decode phase II systems and it actually doesn't? Ya I smell a class action lawsuit if that happens. The only reason you shouldn't be able to listen to a phase II system on a 436/536 should be that the talk groups are encrypted or you're too far away... Nothing else. Being able to do phase II systems was their whole selling point on that scanner.

The scanners that say they decide phase II DO decode phase II. However whether they do it very well or not is a matter of opinion and subject to debate.

 

[mlmummert]

Well, that's a discussion for another thread lol. But yeah, its a toss-up. I personally have run a PSR-800 and a 536HP and was not impressed with either. I've seen another person running a 436HP that was better, but still not perfect inside the city while stationary. On the other hand, dropping $3 grand for an APX gives you perfect reception of Philly from the Blue Route to Levittown with clear, loud audio.

Hum.

 

[phillydjdan]

Anyone else noticed Philly Fire dispatchers are running off portables this morning? No tone-out ability. They are also having responders use the analog channels for fireground ops instead of the trunked "Tac" channels. Curious what they're doing, as it's more likely than not that the techs are changing something.

 

[captaincab]

Radio issues from what i was told. Not related to the Phase 2 switch.

Anyone else noticed Philly Fire dispatchers are running off portables this morning? No tone-out ability. They are also having responders use the analog channels for fireground ops instead of the trunked "Tac" channels. Curious what they're doing, as it's more likely than not that the techs are changing something.

 

[phillydjdan]

They may have fixed whatever it was. I just heard them tone out a shoe run.

 

[phillydjdan]

They definitely did something to the system. My one radio went deaf around 1pm today

 

[phillydjdan]

An interesting observation I've made is that it appears the fire consoles now have pre-programmed alert tones on the fire bands. It used to be the tone was on a momentary button, meaning as long as the dispatcher pressed the button was as long as the tone was. Now it appears they have a short tone, a long tone and the 5 recall tones setup with specific timing.

I've also noted some signal weakness outside the city that wasn't present before. In one spot inside my workplace that normally comes in great now comes and goes, so I've had to move the radio to a new spot.