Stafford / Fredericksburg New TG Discovery

[N4VKF]

Listening to what I could of the protests tonight, in the City of Fredericksburg, I came across the following:

Stafford Fire/Rescue
4649- Special OPS B (Encrypted)

Stafford Sheriff
4517- Unknown (Encrypted)

Unknown
5801 - encrypted
5393 - comms in the clear

 

[fredva]

What was the nature of the comms on 5393? Did it seem like inteop communications between agencies, Fredericksburg police, emergency management, or could you tell?

 

[dtscho]

No way of knowing, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me if 5801 is Emergency Management. It's the one city public safety agency that we haven't accounted for on the system. The talkgroup number also makes sense, since EM is under the Fire Department in Fredericksburg.

Radio IDs seen on 5801: 4423002, 4423009, 4423017.

Dave

 

[N4VKF]

What was the nature of the comms on 5393? Did it seem like inteop communications between agencies, Fredericksburg police, emergency management, or could you tell?

I only heard a voice once or twice on this could not make it out what they were saying. The number appears to be in police department group.

 

[N4VKF]

No way of knowing, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me if 5801 is Emergency Management. It's the one city public safety agency that we haven't accounted for on the system. The talkgroup number also makes sense, since EM is under the Fire Department in Fredericksburg.

Radio IDs seen on 5801: 4423002, 4423009, 4423017.

Dave

I did hear their unit EM1 alot on Fred Fire 1 so maybe he was using 5801 also.

 

[N4VKF]

I see that someone has discovered the Fred Regional Transit Talkgroup. Was that you Dave?

 

[dtscho]

Yes, that was me.

I've only heard them talking a couple of times on the talkgroup, however. Seems like they should be busier - they were talkative when they were using the old LTR system. Also, the buses still have UHF antennas, so maybe they're still using the Communication Specialists Capacity Plus system at least for some comms.

I think one of the radio IDs I saw was 4422000.

Dave

 

[N4VKF]

Yes, that was me.

I've only heard them talking a couple of times on the talkgroup, however. Seems like they should be busier - they were talkative when they were using the old LTR system. Also, the buses still have UHF antennas, so maybe they're still using the Communication Specialists Capacity Plus system at least for some comms.

I think one of the radio IDs I saw was 4422000.

Dave

Yeah I've always noticed the UHF antennas. Never have been able to catch them talking

 

[fredva]

Yeah I've always noticed the UHF antennas. Never have been able to catch them talking

If they've been on the local Capacity Plus UHF system, I believe everything or nearly everything on there is encrypted.

 

[N4VKF]

Catching TG 4520 in Encrypted mode. Possibly Stafford Sheriff

 

[dtscho]

I haven't heard the FRED buses on 5765 in a while. I really don't think that's where primary operations are.

I'm still seeing 5801 (encrypted) used regularly. I'm wondering if it's UMW PD, as I haven't heard them active on 154.8150 in some time. If it is them, I guess that's another law enforcement agency that's gone encrypted. The UMW PD vehicles still have VHF antennas, but they also have other antennas - I wonder if one of them is for 700 MHz.

Dave

 

[KC4ASF]

I haven't heard the FRED buses on 5765 in a while. I really don't think that's where primary operations are.

I'm still seeing 5801 (encrypted) used regularly. I'm wondering if it's UMW PD, as I haven't heard them active on 154.8150 in some time. If it is them, I guess that's another law enforcement agency that's gone encrypted. The UMW PD vehicles still have VHF antennas, but they also have other antennas - I wonder if one of them is for 700 MHz.

Dave

My ProScan records show I last heard anything UMW VHF was 07/16 at 0847. I last hear the FRED buses on 07/01 at 1605.

 

[N4VKF]

Joining the County/City system makes sense for police interop because they also have a campus in Stafford.

I found the news article. It is official. They are on the trunk system
New agreement allows UMW to join Stafford's public safety radio

 

[dtscho]

Talkgroup 4703 was active this morning with what sounded like traffic control (possibly flaggers making note of last car to pass a point, etc.). This talkgroup has also had missing-person lookouts on it before. I wonder if it's some kind of county-wide group.

Dave

 

[N4VKF]

Water/sewer Utilities? They usually have to dig up and repair roads to fix water lines.

 

[dtscho]

I haven't heard the FRED buses on 5765 in a while. I really don't think that's where primary operations are.

I'm still seeing 5801 (encrypted) used regularly. I'm wondering if it's UMW PD, as I haven't heard them active on 154.8150 in some time. If it is them, I guess that's another law enforcement agency that's gone encrypted. The UMW PD vehicles still have VHF antennas, but they also have other antennas - I wonder if one of them is for 700 MHz.

Dave

UMW PD confirmed this morning using talkgroup 5801. Added to database.

Dave

 

[dhmann1811]

UMW PD confirmed this morning using talkgroup 5801. Added to database.

Dave

Dave, out of curiosity, how do you confirm a talk group when it is encrypted? I’m trying to understand the process and the “how”. Thanks!

 

[dtscho]

There was a fire alarm at UMW's University Center this morning. (I heard the dispatch on Fredericksburg Fire Dispatch talkgroup 5701.) Coincidentally, I happened to be walking on UMW's campus at the time. I went over there, heard the alarm going off, etc. A UMW officer had responded. During this time, talkgroup 5801 was extremely active. Given that we know UMW has migrated to the Stafford/Fredericksburg system, and not seeing any other talkgroups that were unidentified, I believe that's enough to confirm 5801 is UMW PD.

That's one way to confirm an encrypted talkgroup. Another (probably more common) way is for someone to reference the encrypted talkgroup on a clear talkgroup. Then, just use ID Search and wait for the encrypted talkgroup to show up.

Dave

 

[dhmann1811]

There was a fire alarm at UMW's University Center this morning. (I heard the dispatch on Fredericksburg Fire Dispatch talkgroup 5701.) Coincidentally, I happened to be walking on UMW's campus at the time. I went over there, heard the alarm going off, etc. A UMW officer had responded. During this time, talkgroup 5801 was extremely active. Given that we know UMW has migrated to the Stafford/Fredericksburg system, and not seeing any other talkgroups that were unidentified, I believe that's enough to confirm 5801 is UMW PD.

That's one way to confirm an encrypted talkgroup. Another (probably more common) way is for someone to reference the encrypted talkgroup on a clear talkgroup. Then, just use ID Search and wait for the encrypted talkgroup to show up.

Dave

Excellent, thanks for the explanation.
Dave

 

[dtscho]

Talkgroup 5802 (encrypted) active this morning. This must be a UMW Police alternate channel. Radio IDs of 4423201 and 4423501 seen. These two IDs were seen a few minutes later on 5801.

Dave