Williamson Co Incident

[mojicaman]

Does anyone know what was going on yesterday afternoon in Will Co around the Liberty Hill area? They had EMS personel including EMS One, deputies, DPS, DPS Helo, Stat Air, police, and a few other counties. It sounding like somebody escaped from a jail or something. I haven't found anything on any of the news channels.

 

[W5TWX]

I was hearing a little bit of it. I was down in central Austin and couldn't get very good reception. I did hear them say that they needed a horse possee put together at one point. I checked all the local news sources on the i-net later but never saw any mentionings of it.

 

[W5TWX]

By the way, did you ever decide if you were going to get a BCD396T? I just got one from Communication Electronics for $519.00 and that included shipping. The website says they are on backorder, but if you call their toll free number and ask, they will probably tell you they have some. That's what I did. They are very reliable. I've bought scanners and supplies from them in the past. Also, are you in the Round Rock or Williamson County area?

 

[mojicaman]

I never got a 396 as I am still using my Pro 96. I was hoping that some one could tell me if the 396 still had the warbilie sound that comes through during transmissions on Austin Travis Co EMS. My 96 does it frequently. I guess I need to test a 396 out.

I live in Stiener Ranch and work in Cedar Park. When I am at work I monitor Will Co. Thats real strange about that incident, I haven't heard anything more about it.

 

[W5TWX]

I live in south Round Rock. I haven't listen to any digital on mine yet so I can't say what Austin sounds like. I'm p0lanning on programing some Austin into it, but I just haven't had time to yet. I'm going to sometime in the next few days and then I can let you know. So far, the audio is far more better than anyother radio i've listened to. I'm very surprised being that it is so tiny. The whole radio itself is very small and compact.

 

[FlashSWT]

Hey mojicaman, I just heard back from a colleague up in Williamson County and here is what he told me:

"There was a missing person report that originated in the Leander/Liberty Hill area Monday (1705 CR 285) at 1407. It eventually led to a response from everyone, including Starflight, DPS, Wilco and EMS."

.

 

[W5TWX]

Thanks Flash

 

[mojicaman]

Thanks Flash!! I am surprised that it didn't receive any media attention. Especially for the amount of resources that were involved.

 

[garyva]

This was a missing 18 year old who'd had recent surgery to remove a brain tumor, and who had the mental development of a much younger person. He was also overdue for seizure medication and was truly a critical missing. There were three helos involved in the search, many Williamson County Sheriff's Office units, EMS, Emergency Management, Emergency Communications, Travis County Search and Rescue, Burnet County Sheriff's Office, Equine Rescue, bloodhounds from the Texas Department of Corrections, DPS, and probably others. Fortunately, he was found shortly before dark in good condition. I was also rather surprised at the lack of media coverage on this; there was one cameraman out at the scene, but I never saw anything on the 10PM news.

 

[mfn002]

Speaking of lack of news coverage of big events, there was once a multi-alarm fire at a vacant apartment complex in Houston. Over 100 Houston Fire Department firefighters responded, but not a word was ever mentioned in the Houston Chronicle about it.

 

[mojicaman]

Garyva - Thanks for the info..I was wondering what the deal was.

 

[southtexasphantom]

If it had been on the news, just think of all the heat the institution responsible for him would be taking. Sounds like it got pushed under the rug to me.

 

[FlashSWT]

STP, trust me, I don't think the media would push anything "under the rug" just to save the institution a little grief. And there is no chance that it was law enforcement that tried to hide the event from the media. Williamson County is well monitored (so the event could have been heard by anyone who wanted) and in my experience most agencies up there are very open with the area media.

.

 

[skipgoulet]

Mojicaman: Are you getting good reception on your Pro96? I was in the RS at the mall in Odessa over the weekend, and they were telling me that all their Trunk Trackers and 2096s have come back because they're not receiving the trunks. The new digital system for Odessa is not yet online. My Pro-2051 that I use mobile has had problems getting the trunks if the weather is cool or cold, but the VHF/UHF traffic has been fine. The 2051 that I have in the house has worked fine with no problems. Anyone else having problems with their RS scanners?

The guy at RS said that their technical people say there is nothing wrong with the radios, but something is messing up the trunks somewhere.

 

[mojicaman]

Skip: My 96 works really well with Austin/Travis Co Fire and EMS. There is the occasional warble sound during transmission and sometimes it last long enough to cut off that portion of the conversation. However, most of the time if I push the attenuator button it usually goes away. I really have never gotten a straight answer as to what causes this. The Williamson County Fire and EMS system works good as well. I never have the warble problem while monitoring this system but some of the transmissions are staticky.(not really enough to miss anything) Will Co is not 100% digital yet but it will be soon. Overall I don't feel like I am having any problems with reception although I would like to know how to correct the occasional warble sound if indeed it can be fixed. Please send me a pm if you need more.

 

[skipgoulet]

Thanks for letting me know that your Pro96 is doing the job. I've been told that for Odessa's new digital system that only the 2096 will work...or the newer digital Bearcats. They're saying that something has to be re-programmed in the Pro96, but I'm not sure if it's something you do yourself or have to be sent in.

Midland is on the EDACS system, and the past couple of days I'm hear encryption on a couple of their channels that hasn't been there before. Tom Teferteller, who works at Ch 9, says they're encryting the SWAT channels.

Sooner or later I'm gonna have to break down and buy a digital radio..tha's inevitable if I want to keep monitoring...but for now it's just an expense I can't afford.

As to the radios that went back to Radio Shack....I tend to agree that it's a problem of someone not knowing how to properly program. I spoke to one of the newsmen at Ch 7 in Odessa last night. They have a new 2096 that's currently programmed for the two current trunks..Midland and Odessa...and they don't seem to be receiving everything. I feel that it's a programming issue as well.

When Odessa and Midland both went to their current trunks close to 10 years ago, the respective cities ended up providing the three news stations with radios that could monitor their traffic. The only downside is that they were programmed for only the channels that the cities WANTED them to hear:so they're basically hearing the dispatches,etc., but none of the tact channels. Hopefully that will be fixed when they get the new radios programmed properly.

 

[garyva]

BTW, Williamson Co is exactly 0% digital today, though we'll start migration in October or so. County subscriber units are 99% hybrid analog/digital and can seamlessly go on the Austin/Travis digital system at will (and that remaining 1% will be completed soon.). See other threads on the Wilco system for further.