Richmond County Sheriffs Office

[gtwreck75]

Looks like RSCO went silent early this morning. I heard the dispatcher asking units to switch to a new radio system. I'm guessing they finally turned on encryption.

 

[shajoe44]

I was looking at that this morning. I was still getting fire alerts on Palmetto yesterday. I am running DSD and some agencies are still showing up as well as the RCSO agencies. The radios are still affiliating to the old talkgroups. But yes the new system has been up for a few months and the talkgroups that have been using it are all encrypted.

 

[shajoe44]

Yes they have switched over. Just talked to a fireman friend and he said they hate it already.

 

[gtwreck75]

Wow...hate that it happened but totally understand if I were in their (police/fire) shoes. It was entertaining to listen to over the years but also informative. I wished they had taken a restrained approach and just encrypt non dispatch but what's done is done. Hopefully it'll work out for them.

 

[gman4661]

The following is from one of my posts in 2015:

"Now that the voters in Richmond Co. have approved the SPLOST, I predict:
1. Motorola, of course. Not sure about other departments, but I believe the fire and sheriff's departments have been 100% Motorola since the 1980s. The sheriff did have some General Electric mobiles in the 1970s.
2. Encrypted.
3. No sharing of the new (and adjacent) Columbia Co. system which I believe has 5 sites. I would love to see a coverage map of that system as I suspect it encompasses a significant chunk of Richmond Co.
4. Zero interoperability with other jurisdictions.
Seems like I read that the new radio system would cost a mere $16 million dollars."

So far, I was right on the Motorola and encryption. Anybody know if it shares towers with Columbia County? Any interoperability with other agencies? What about AUPD, RCBOE, Blythe and Hephzibah?

And, wow, it took only six years to get it up and running!!!

 

[shajoe44]

I am running DSD and Augusta Tech Public Safety is still using Palmetto 800. Fire Alerts are still going out on Palmetto 800. Who would want to join forces with a county that is slowly going down hill ever day.

 

[gman4661]

I forgot about Augusta Tech. When I was last involved with PAL800, the monthly charge was about $20 per radio per month. That includes all radios on hand, even those not issued or used. I'm guessing that Augusta-Richmond Co. does not collect monthly fees from the non-county agencies. Free is almost always a good thing.

 

[gtwreck75]

I'm just getting my info from the posts here and the proposal that was posted (from 2018) but they do mention possibly recouping costs by charging others to use the system. Obviously it'll probably be lower than Palmetto 800 is my guess. The proposal references six sites and the FCC license page shows six sites with a couple towards Blythe and Hepzhibah... My guess is they all switch eventually since it's probably just re-programming their radios. I doubt that interop will be an issue once they work things out, it's still P25.

Like gman said, this was expected for a few years. Georgia counties seems to really like having different, encrypted systems. I'm not sure this was a great use of $13-16 million for essentially no added functionality except to say "we own the whole thing now". But as I said, it is what it is...

 

[shajoe44]

Think it is about 50 per month now. Friend of mine uses his 2 times a day. To sign on and off. Lol.......

 

[gtwreck75]

shajoe44, do you know if Fire dispatch will remain unencrypted?

 

[shajoe44]

As of right now Fire is being dispatched on Palmetto 800 under original talkgroup. In fact a call just went out.

 

[gtwreck75]

Right, I've been hearing Fire dispatch all day but wondered if they were going to leave that unencrypted.

 

[shajoe44]

Not sure on that part................

 

[gman4661]

I'm guessing the $50 per month is for state-wide coverage in SC. On a different note, at a PAL800 meeting a number of years ago, it was said that the NC VIPER system could interface with PAL800, but no other outside systems would have access.

Maybe the new Augusta-Richmond Co. system is, in fact, compatible with Columbia Co. And maybe the governments will play well together. GSP/DNR, the Feds, Jefferson and McDuffie are VHF. Burke is UHF. Ft. Gordon is some weird military band. Not seeing much opportunity for interoperability.

 

[gtwreck75]

Oh I wasn't implying this would improve interop--it really doesn't change anything. In years of listening, I've never heard an RCSO officer say they were tuning to another system. They usually communicated to neighboring counties or other systems via dispatch--rarely on their own. I have heard GSP and North Augusta tune to the old Palmetto 800 system to communicate with RCSO of something though. So from their perspective, not much is changing once their radios are reprogrammed.

 

[shajoe44]

Looking at the Columbia County coverage map, it doesn't come too far into Richmond County. It seems to me that the Richmond County Sheriff wants to separate his agency from everyone else. He gets himself a BIG raise and runs things like he wants to. Anyone in the news media that talks bad about him gets taken off the "call list" in the event of a major event. The county is fixing to have to rework their EMS contract because the FD is getting out of the ambulance business. A poor county getting poorer.

 

[gman4661]

Just a random thought, but what happens if Augusta loses a tower or two or three in a weather disaster? If I am not mistaken, PAL800 has temporary towers that can be sent to affected areas as needed. As taught in Boy Scouts, two is one, one is none...

I think the taxpayers in Augusta have been taken to the cleaners (again). Reminds me of the AFD ambulances. What a fiasco that was.

 

[shajoe44]

If I recall correctly, one of the "main" reasons they used to "sell" this new system was a lack of coverage for their personal. It seems to me they have reduced their coverage by losing the North Augusta site. I also will be curious to see if agencies like Augusta University and Augusta Technical College will continue to stay on Palmetto or move over. As of right now both are still on Palmetto.

 

[gtwreck75]

I think outdoor coverage might be better--this new system shows three of six sites in south south-Augusta. I can't find my Palmetto 800 tower map but I don't think they had a Palmetto 800 tower that far down. Anecdotally the vast majority of calls were coming in from the zones 5-7 which serve the south Augusta area.

I am by no means defending this decision--I hate it for selfish reasons... However, if I were in their (RCSO) shoes, these decisions start to make some sense.

 

[ColdWarVeteran]

Been noticing a decline in radio traffic on Pal 800. I heard a brief mention, from a dispatcher, telling an S.O. unit to switch over a few days back. Everything has been silent for past couple of days so I assumed they were in a transition phase. If they're 100% encrypted then I might as well start selling some stuff. Richmond County was the last hold out on encryption and that was all I had left to listen to. I live in McDuffie County and they went silent about 10 years ago, Columbia County went silent in 2012 and now this. I have an SDS100 and a TRX-1 that are totally useless to me now. I distrust any form of government when they start hiding information from their citizens. I've enjoyed this hobby since 1987, going to be tough giving it up. It doesn't make sense to maintain an account here on RR as I'll be giving up the hobby. AMF