396 - Locking out Encryption

[wjf]

Anyone know of any way to do this?

Gets annoying.

wjf

 

[rescue161]

The 396 should mute encryption so you don't hear anything. It will still stop on an active frequency even if there is encryption on that channel. You just have to hit the L/O key (if you never want to monitor anything on that channel). You shouldn't be able to hear the encrypted channel (R2D2 sound) like you can on a Pro-96.

 

[wjf]

The 396 should mute encryption so you don't hear anything. It will still stop on an active frequency even if there is encryption on that channel. You just have to hit the L/O key (if you never want to monitor anything on that channel). You shouldn't be able to hear the encrypted channel (R2D2 sound) like you can on a Pro-96.

While it doesn't "mute" the conversation, it does gives you that R2D2 stuff, at least at first.

I hear what you're saying, but sometimes I get "half" of the conversation. Of course, the only listening worth while is what you can understand. I just want to get rid of the robot talk half.

If I lock out the channel, I won't hear the understandable stuff.

 

[rescue161]

That's strange as when I TX in DES-XL, I only here a small digital blurp out of the scanner (I'm talking milli-seconds)... No R2D2 from mine at all.

 

[AxelsHumanDad]

I briefly mentioned the same issue a while ago in the Wisconsin forum. there was a point brought up about signal strength. the stations I listen to that use part-time encryption give me 1 or 2 "bars" on the signal meter(996T + Scantenna). I'm stuck with the bleep-bloop-bzzzzt R2D2 apparently. the encryption around here isn't used enough to totally lock out the channels. but it sure is annoying to listen to.

 

[DaveIN]

The only way to completely lock out the encryption is lock out the talkgroup. Usually the first 200ms of an encrypted comm is needed before it skips the audio.

 

[commscanaus]

blipblopbloopblap=OUCH!!!

Oh yes, the 396T blocks encrytped TX after a second or so OK-

But the first second or so is VERY painful through earphones!!
New talkgroups pop up on our local system all the time, and when out cycling or driving the car, having to lock them out is a pain in the rear end.

All talkgroups here that are encrypted are between 100 and 1000.
It would be great if the 396T could be told to ignore talkgroups between those values, in software so as to avoid having to hit lockout after being blasted in the ears with R2D2 noise.
The scanner will follow with the encrypted talkgroup until it is locked out, which means missing traffic that is listenable and maybe vital.
Switching from talkgroup search to scan is one remedy- (at least when known listenable talkgoups are added to memory) but on a new network with agencies still upgrading from analogue, the search option is necessary.

My next purchase of a digital capable scanner will be held off until the ability to use NAC or lockout of talkgroup ranges is introduced- just to avoid the problem of locking up on encrypted talkgroups. Auto lockout of ENC would be nice also!

The PRO96 has the annoying feature of passing the ENTIRE encrypted transmission to the speaker without muting which means it gets used only as a base unit- NEVER with headphones (ouch!)

Commscanaus.

 

[DaveIN]

The PRO96 has the annoying feature of passing the ENTIRE encrypted transmission to the speaker without muting which means it gets used only as a base unit- NEVER with headphones (ouch!)

The BC296/796D have this problem also, all encryption, all the time. You would need a way to detect that encryption is going to be used prior to sending it to the audio section. There is no way to do that. Many time I hear comms that one side is encrypted and the other is "in the clear". For this reason, I don't lockout the talkgroups that use encryption, but at least the 396/996 are able to block "most" of the encryption noize.

 

[scanbc780]

The BC296/796D have this problem also, all encryption, all the time. You would need a way to detect that encryption is going to be used prior to sending it to the audio section. There is no way to do that. Many time I hear comms that one side is encrypted and the other is "in the clear". For this reason, I don't lockout the talkgroups that use encryption, but at least the 396/996 are able to block "most" of the encryption noize.

On your 296 and 796 you should be able to turn of status bits in the menu, I don't think it will work on 9600 systems but should work fine on 3600 systems.

 

[brandon]

Trunker can tell if a signal is encrypted so you would think a Uniden scanner could be designed to. Hopefully a firmware update can be released so it can detect the encrypted TGID without having to hear any R2D2 screeches.

 

[slicerwizard]

You would need a way to detect that encryption is going to be used prior to sending it to the audio section. There is no way to do that.

Of course there is. The control channel clearly indicates which comms are in the clear and which are encrypted.

 

[DaveIN]

Of course there is. The control channel clearly indicates which comms are in the clear and which are encrypted.

Sure I see it in Trunker, but why would you turn the audio off the talkgroup is displayed? How can you tell the radio to turn the sound off until the encrypted ststus bit has been passed? By then the audio has started. Maybe buffer the audio somehow? then you would have a lag in audio.

I've not run a trunktracker as the 2nd or audio radio for UniTrunker. Has anyone else had good results blocking the encrypted audio with this method? I'm thinking the encrypted audio would still be audible on a 796 used for a second scanner.

 

[wjf]

Sure I see it in Trunker, but why would you turn the audio off the talkgroup is displayed? How can you tell the radio to turn the sound off until the encrypted ststus bit has been passed? By then the audio has started. Maybe buffer the audio somehow? then you would have a lag in audio.

Perhaps slicerwizzard doesn't understand what I mean.

My intent is to block out stuff you can't really understand - worthless.

Probably no way around it.