New MCSO P-25 Phase II system

[b1100mac]

Has anyone found any clues as to when this system will go into service? I asked a deputy in town the other day and his response was “whay new radio system?”
I have been monitoring it for a month hoping to hear some radio tech chatter, but so far not a peep.

 

[KR7CQ]

Thought I would bump this thread. Last I heard, only encrypted TGs were being tracked, so that might be why you haven't heard anything if you are trying to monitor with a Uniden scanner. I hear they may be going fully encrypted as PCSO just did (though I'm crossing my fingers).

Has anyone heard any unencrypted voice on this system yet?

 

[montana1975]

what are the freqs?

 

[cellphone]

what are the freqs?

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=9073

 

[cellphone]

Has anyone heard any unencrypted voice on this system yet?

Yes. I have caught about 20 unencrypted talkgroups and about 20 Encrypted talkgroups. So far all I have monitored has been radio maintenance testing and chit-chat while working on sites. I have not caught any talkgroup names yet. I’ll get a Wiki put together in the coming days and we can all document our talkgroups we have monitored.

 

[KR7CQ]

Yes. I have caught about 20 unencrypted talkgroups and about 20 Encrypted talkgroups. So far all I have monitored has been radio maintenance testing and chit-chat while working on sites. I have not caught any talkgroup names yet. I’ll get a Wiki put together in the coming days and we can all document our talkgroups we have monitored.

Very nice, and much appreciated. Thanks for your time and effort in this.

I know it's small and maybe meaningless, but I did write a letter to the Sheriff asking that he consider the benefits to the public of leaving dispatch "channels" in the clear, while keeping tactical ops encrypted. I also did an interview with the AZ Republic that was published a few years back about this topic as well, and tried to get across the benefits of a "balanced" approach to encryption. It's all probably trivial in the grand scheme, but at least I can say I did what I could to speak against blanket encryption.

MCSO can only be contacted by phone or snail mail for anyone who might want to take a moment to drop a line as I did.

 

[cellphone]

Here is a Wiki I started with talkgroups I have either logged or monitored. I have included columns for description and Encrypted/Clear. As you monitor talkgroups, please update the description with guesses.

Maricopa County (P25) - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[KR7CQ]

Does anyone know, on a Uniden BCDx36 scanner, will you only need to enter the control channels and that's it as far as the system goes (other than talk groups)?

 

[b1100mac]

As fast as the X36's scan, I just downloaded them all from the database, and it seems to pick up the sites, but I havent heard a peep using a wildcard for TG's...mac

 

[cellphone]

You only need the control channels. No harm putting in all site frequencies.

 

[KR7CQ]

Is it known if the "Litchfield Park / Buckeye" simulcast is really a simulcast system at this time, or is it just a tower atop the White Tanks right now? I've never understood the idea of having a simulcast system, and then putting a tower on top of a mountain where the signal for that tower can be heard for 30-40 miles (North Mountain / RWC / Simulcast A & B come to mind). Isn't a big part of simulcast localizing frequency allocation? I would think that you would want all of the towers to be relatively short overall...but I'm wandering off topic I suppose...

 

[KR7CQ]

This morning I heard radio techs doing their thing (without encryption obviously). I wish I could list the TG, but I was in the midst of hooking my latest 536 to my main radio cabinet multicoupler and was tweaking the programming, and erased the recordings (sorry). I believe I saw "P10" listed as the description (instead of P25). The audio was so pristine, I find it hard to believe that there was more than one site transmitting on that frequency. Just by gut instinct and experience, it looked / sounded like a White Tanks transmitter, alone (for now) The signal was full scale, solid. I have zero doubt that it will be as they call it, a simulcast, and maybe it was today, but the 536 was clearly just getting data primarily (at the least) from one tower. And my feed point is about 30' above ground. Just sharing the marginal information I saw / heard today.

 

[cellphone]

Instead of P25, you will see PT0 or PT1 for the TDMA slots 0 and 1 when monitoring a Phase 2 talkgroup.

The talkgroup you were likely hearing was 1598. This has been the most active. I think they are programming radios and do a few test transmissions on this talkgroup. I have logged many radio IDs with a few transmissions on this talkgroup.

 

[KR7CQ]

I suspect it was PT0 (my vision isn't great without glasses and I hate wearing glasses - wasn't this morning). I am sure I saw a "0" at the end so...

Anyway, it sure didn't sound like a simulcast. The guys went back and forth for a bit, and there was nothing in the audio to say "simulcast". I'm in North Glendale and my antenna sees the White Tanks "line of sight", and any other tower out there (slightly higher elevation) should have been hitting me too.

 

[scannerizer]

Very nice, and much appreciated. Thanks for your time and effort in this.

I know it's small and maybe meaningless, but I did write a letter to the Sheriff asking that he consider the benefits to the public of leaving dispatch "channels" in the clear, while keeping tactical ops encrypted. I also did an interview with the AZ Republic that was published a few years back about this topic as well, and tried to get across the benefits of a "balanced" approach to encryption. It's all probably trivial in the grand scheme, but at least I can say I did what I could to speak against blanket encryption.

MCSO can only be contacted by phone or snail mail for anyone who might want to take a moment to drop a line as I did.

Applause to you for doing that. I tried to contact LVMPD after hearing word that they'd done that (wanna go to Vegas someday and always wanted to listen to LVMPD when I went) but no cigar.

And please post the link to the interview if it's still up.

 

[KR7CQ]

Got the new Phase 2 G4 programmed this morning and immediately heard a bit of testing on TG 1598. From my home I can pick up the Buckeye, Scottsdale, Anthem, Towers, and Downtown simulcasts right off the bat (those are the only ones I programmed in for now). That's a LOT better than what I was seeing from either my 436 or SDS100.