Alabama Interoperable Radio System (was: Alabama First Responder Network)

[TomServo]

Hello all, I'm newly able to listen to AIRS here in Baldwin County and I have a couple of questions. First, what's the deal with the state troopers patch in Mobile? TG 28111 wasn't active until just tonight, and boy does it sound bad. It's clearly just a patch off the VHF system complete with (unintelligible) Morse code IDs from the base unit. Also, I don't know if it's the radio I'm using or them but half the calls don't seem to register on the AIRS system.

Next, is the Life Flight (or whatever it's called) helicopter that's based at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center on AIRS? I haven't heard anything from them except on the Foley airport frequency and that's pretty infrequent. Their UHF frequency seems dead aside from some distant weak signal that pops up occasionally. I wasn't sure if they would communicate on one of the Medstar talkgroups or have their own. I hear them overflying my location multiple times a day sometimes so I know they stay busy.

Finally, is it normal to have occasional traffic from distant agencies? I've noticed that the Seminole site seems to pick up all the traffic from 30139 Air Com Dispatch which seems to be based in Montgomery. I've also heard on of the Huntsville fire tac channels pop up on that site as well.

 

[TomServo]

Well, I guess I should have waited a few more hours. I'm hearing them now talking to the FD units on scene on an ops channel. But I do still wonder if they have their own dedicated talkgroup somewhere.

 

[WX4AJM]

Hello all, I'm newly able to listen to AIRS here in Baldwin County and I have a couple of questions. First, what's the deal with the state troopers patch in Mobile? TG 28111 wasn't active until just tonight, and boy does it sound bad. It's clearly just a patch off the VHF system complete with (unintelligible) Morse code IDs from the base unit. Also, I don't know if it's the radio I'm using or them but half the calls don't seem to register on the AIRS system.

Next, is the Life Flight (or whatever it's called) helicopter that's based at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center on AIRS? I haven't heard anything from them except on the Foley airport frequency and that's pretty infrequent. Their UHF frequency seems dead aside from some distant weak signal that pops up occasionally. I wasn't sure if they would communicate on one of the Medstar talkgroups or have their own. I hear them overflying my location multiple times a day sometimes so I know they stay busy.

Finally, is it normal to have occasional traffic from distant agencies? I've noticed that the Seminole site seems to pick up all the traffic from 30139 Air Com Dispatch which seems to be based in Montgomery. I've also heard on of the Huntsville fire tac channels pop up on that site as well.

Sometimes I will get traffic from the air medical TGIDs, typically they are on a local site because I hear our local dispatchers talking to them. If your local dispatchers aren't OTA with them, they may have it patched over the system, but that's just my speculation.

Welcome to the puzzle. I've been listening to our local AIRS to your east for almost a year, and have still been figuring out new things every other day. Does anybody REALLY need four RTL-SDR dongles... no, but the curious can't help it sometimes!

 

[sadave]

Hello all, I'm newly able to listen to AIRS here in Baldwin County and I have a couple of questions. First, what's the deal with the state troopers patch in Mobile? TG 28111 wasn't active until just tonight, and boy does it sound bad. It's clearly just a patch off the VHF system complete with (unintelligible) Morse code IDs from the base unit. Also, I don't know if it's the radio I'm using or them but half the calls don't seem to register on the AIRS system.

Next, is the Life Flight (or whatever it's called) helicopter that's based at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center on AIRS? I haven't heard anything from them except on the Foley airport frequency and that's pretty infrequent. Their UHF frequency seems dead aside from some distant weak signal that pops up occasionally. I wasn't sure if they would communicate on one of the Medstar talkgroups or have their own. I hear them overflying my location multiple times a day sometimes so I know they stay busy.

Finally, is it normal to have occasional traffic from distant agencies? I've noticed that the Seminole site seems to pick up all the traffic from 30139 Air Com Dispatch which seems to be based in Montgomery. I've also heard on of the Huntsville fire tac channels pop up on that site as well.

Good morning!

Listening to ALEA on TG 28111 is like fingernails on a chalkboard. I suspect this patch is being utilized to test the system interoperability with their VHF radios and may only involve a small number of vehicles and/or Troopers equipped with AIRS handhelds. Since the ability to monitor any trunked system is dependent on at least one radio affiliating with a site within your monitoring range, ALEA's use of AIRS in Troop A seems limited and sporadic. As far as the sound quality, I heard a radio tech a couple of days ago doing some testing. He was loud and clear but the dispatcher still sounded awful. Conversely, the ALEA patch in Mobile on the MCCD system is crystal clear.

MedStar's AirCare 1 and 2 are dispatched on AIRS TG 31039 by Air Methods Communications in Omaha, Nebraska. And, as you noted later, they can be heard on a multitude of other TGs and systems. TG 31039 can be fairly active with dispatch calls going out for many medical helicopters throughout Alabama. The same rule of site affiliation applies as above; i.e., if there is any AIRS radio on TG 31039 within range of a site you can monitor, you'll be able to hear everything (even hundreds of miles away).

Picking up traffic from distant agencies is one of the reasons I always keep my scanners in ID Searching mode with location filters turned off. Since we live in a popular vacation destination, you may be able to pick up all kinds of far away traffic when personnel on vacation bring their handhelds to the beach. Normally you would not be able to hear them but, that's right, when their radios affiliate with one of our nearby sites, we get their traffic just like we were in their home city. Things tend to light up when there are law enforcement, fire department, or EMS conferences in the area. In fact, Foley will be hosting a large police canine competition later this week so keep your ears open for out-of-towners.

When you have a moment, please send me the Huntsville TGs you've been picking up from the Seminole site.

Shep

 

[mike36507]

I wasn't aware that AirCare was being dispatched by Air Methods. I know LifeFlight in Pensacola and SouthFlight in Mobile have been. But last I heard, MedStar's AirCare was dispatched by ShandsCare in Florida and could be picked up on the NXDN TG 1876

 

[TomServo]

Sometimes I will get traffic from the air medical TGIDs, typically they are on a local site because I hear our local dispatchers talking to them. If your local dispatchers aren't OTA with them, they may have it patched over the system, but that's just my speculation.

Welcome to the puzzle. I've been listening to our local AIRS to your east for almost a year, and have still been figuring out new things every other day. Does anybody REALLY need four RTL-SDR dongles... no, but the curious can't help it sometimes!

Four dongles? You have me beat! I only have two RSP-1 SDRPlay units.

All the calls I was hearing were referring only to places around Montgomery, like a flight from Tallassee to Baptist South Hospital.

MedStar's AirCare 1 and 2 are dispatched on AIRS TG 31039 by Air Methods Communications in Omaha, Nebraska. And, as you noted later, they can be heard on a multitude of other TGs and systems. TG 31039 can be fairly active with dispatch calls going out for many medical helicopters throughout Alabama. The same rule of site affiliation applies as above; i.e., if there is any AIRS radio on TG 31039 within range of a site you can monitor, you'll be able to hear everything (even hundreds of miles away).

Picking up traffic from distant agencies is one of the reasons I always keep my scanners in ID Searching mode with location filters turned off. Since we live in a popular vacation destination, you may be able to pick up all kinds of far away traffic when personnel on vacation bring their handhelds to the beach. Normally you would not be able to hear them but, that's right, when their radios affiliate with one of our nearby sites, we get their traffic just like we were in their home city. Things tend to light up when there are law enforcement, fire department, or EMS conferences in the area. In fact, Foley will be hosting a large police canine competition later this week so keep your ears open for out-of-towners.

When you have a moment, please send me the Huntsville TGs you've been picking up from the Seminole site.

Shep

Shep, that is some great information, thanks! Looking at the talkgroup numbers, I am thinking I may have initially transposed some numbers: what I thought I heard was 30139, one of the Huntsville fire ops channels. I bet it was actually the Air Methods TG 31039! The method for labeling talkgroups in SDRTrunk is a bit awkward so it's really easy for me to transpose numbers when adding labels to talkgroup numbers in the application.

The app does allow site logging, I think, so I will turn that on for the AIRS sites I can hear and see if it finds anything new. With my current setup, I can only hear Magnolia Springs, Robertsdale and Seminole, but Magnolia Springs seems to bring in traffic from Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fairhope from time to time, so that's a plus.

I've got a small UHF beam that I'm getting ready to mount and I'm hoping that will allow me to hear the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach sites if I'm lucky.

I wasn't aware that AirCare was being dispatched by Air Methods. I know LifeFlight in Pensacola and SouthFlight in Mobile have been. But last I heard, MedStar's AirCare was dispatched by ShandsCare in Florida and could be picked up on the NXDN TG 1876

Oof, if they're on NXDN that leaves me out; SDRTrunk does not support that as far as I can tell. I've got an old version of DSDplus that can decode it but it never trunk-tracked the system properly. Of course within a few days of getting that running, Foley PD went all encrypted so there was a lot of dead air on that system and I gave up listening.

There was a fairly big incident north of I-10 last night that warranted two helicopters, one from Foley and one from Pensacola. But I never heard them outside of them talking on the BC FD Ops channel everyone was coordinating on.

 

[mike36507]

Foley PD dispatch is open, but their officers are encrypted. Which is kinda weird.

 

[TomServo]

Foley PD dispatch is open, but their officers are encrypted. Which is kinda weird.

I'll have to try to listen to the Foley NXDN site again with DSDplus and see what pops up. Last I remember the PD was 100% encrypted but the FD wasn't. That was a good while ago, more than a year in the past.

 

[radiopro52]

I can confirm Foley PD is only partially encrypted now (as of when I was last there in December 2022). They did used to be fully encrypted so I think it's a fair compromise.

 

[sadave]

Foley PD dispatch is open, but their officers are encrypted. Which is kinda weird.

Weird indeed. Several months ago, I spoke to one their officers who knew all about their encryption but he was stunned to learn the base was unencrypted and only the cars/portables were encrypted. After that conversation, I expected them to go to full encryption but that has not happened. In the RRDB, that is why the Mode for TG 120 is "De." The lowercase "e" represents partial encryption.

Several times a month, Baldwin County S.O. dispatch will be in the clear for a few hours with all the cars/portables remaining encrypted on all their TGs. I have never figured out the cause for that anomaly.

Shep

 

[sadave]

I wasn't aware that AirCare was being dispatched by Air Methods. I know LifeFlight in Pensacola and SouthFlight in Mobile have been. But last I heard, MedStar's AirCare was dispatched by ShandsCare in Florida and could be picked up on the NXDN TG 1876

I am actually trying to pin down exactly what entity (i.e., who is the voice) responsible for dispatching Air Care 1 and 2 in Baldwin County. Air Methods confirmed they have no affiliation with Air Care and do not dispatch for them. So, I called ShandsCair confirmed they dispatch Air Care. I'll send an update to RRDB for the correction.

 

[WX4AJM]

Weird indeed. Several months ago, I spoke to one their officers who knew all about their encryption but he was stunned to learn the base was unencrypted and only the cars/portables were encrypted. After that conversation, I expected them to go to full encryption but that has not happened. In the RRDB, that is why the Mode for TG 120 is "De." The lowercase "e" represents partial encryption.

Several times a month, Baldwin County S.O. dispatch will be in the clear for a few hours with all the cars/portables remaining encrypted on all their TGs. I have never figured out the cause for that anomaly.

Shep

I have noticed some of Dothan's Tac groups, dispatch is unencrypted but cars and portables are encrypted.

The quickness to encrypt now is what keeps me questioning whether to continue providing LEO channels to Broadcastify in my feeds.

 

[TomServo]

I can't say I blame you for reconsidering making those available.

Me personally, I understand if tac channels and special operations are encrypted but in the interest of transparency I'd always prefer dispatch and regular comms to be in the clear. I feel like they're hiding something when they just blank encrypt everything, including fire channels. Having dispatch clear but the cars not is a compromise I can live with, though. I figured with the rise of data terminals in cars they didn't really have much of an excuse since private citizen info is less likely to be heard widely now.

After listening to the NXDN system here in Foley for longer, I am now hearing (some) cars in the clear on the BCSO patch but the dispatch is encrypted. If nothing else it's interesting listening to how the different digital systems sound. In both P25 (AIRS) and NXDN (Foley) they sound almost indecipherable to me, but there are some notable differences in clarity and how they encode background noise. It's been so long since I've heard any DMR I can't remember how it sounds.

 

[sadave]

I wasn't aware that AirCare was being dispatched by Air Methods. I know LifeFlight in Pensacola and SouthFlight in Mobile have been. But last I heard, MedStar's AirCare was dispatched by ShandsCare in Florida and could be picked up on the NXDN TG 1876

And in another update for RRDB, the dispatch for Air Care is indeed on NXDN TG 1875 instead of AIRS TG 31039. Though there are times you will hear Air Care on AIRS (primarily communicating with ground units), their primary radio is NXDN TG 1875.

Shep

 

[KJ4TDM]

New catches Jeffco Simulcast:

3057 - drone pilots either testing drone operation or showing off features
3287 - Enc.
3734 - Enc.
40600 - Enc.
963 - Unsure, need to hear more
1717 - Fire dept maybe, talking about a woods fire

 

[TomServo]

I was able to leave my radios running this evening while I was out of the home, logging talkgroups, and came up with some new ones that I don't see listed or mentioned in this thread, followed by which sites the talkgroup was heard on:

22688 - heard on Magnolia Springs and Spanish Fort sites
20386 - Magnolia Springs
20633 - Seminole site
22549 - Spanish Fort
22545 - Spanish Fort
20632 - Seminole, Robertsdale (heard what sounded like burn control management — Rosinton Fireground?)
20681 - Spanish Fort
22689 - Spanish Fort (sounded like event or traffic control, mentioned a church in Spanish Fort city limits)

There was also 22208 which has been reported going back to 2012 but isn't listed.

Normally the Spanish Fort tower isn't decodable here but it started working after sunset. Weirdly the Seminole tower is getting a lot of traffic this evening from Escambia County, I have heard Poarch Creek Indian and Atmore city traffic off and on all evening.

 

[sadave]

I was able to leave my radios running this evening while I was out of the home, logging talkgroups, and came up with some new ones that I don't see listed or mentioned in this thread, followed by which sites the talkgroup was heard on:

22688 - heard on Magnolia Springs and Spanish Fort sites
20386 - Magnolia Springs
20633 - Seminole site
22549 - Spanish Fort
22545 - Spanish Fort
20632 - Seminole, Robertsdale (heard what sounded like burn control management — Rosinton Fireground?)
20681 - Spanish Fort
22689 - Spanish Fort (sounded like event or traffic control, mentioned a church in Spanish Fort city limits)

There was also 22208 which has been reported going back to 2012 but isn't listed.

Normally the Spanish Fort tower isn't decodable here but it started working after sunset. Weirdly the Seminole tower is getting a lot of traffic this evening from Escambia County, I have heard Poarch Creek Indian and Atmore city traffic off and on all evening.

Good morning!

22688 - I have this as Spanish Fort PD (unencrypted) used for special events, parking, traffic details. I haven't submitted to RRDB while trying to hear what the users call it.
20386 - This will be Barnwell FD but waiting to hear what the users call it.
20633 - This is Rosinton FD Admin talkgroup
22549 & 22545 - These are new ones. The "54" in 22549 does not match with any previously identified departments. I'll be listening for traffic. Maybe Newman's Ambulance who just set up shop on the Eastern Shore?
20632 - I have this one as Rosinton FD Special Detail but haven't submitted it until I hear what they call it.
20681 - This is Spanish Fort PD (encrypted).
22689 - This would also be Spanish Fort. Sometimes on ID Search, the talkgroup numbers don't decode properly so this may be the same as 22688. Everything I have for Spanish Fort talkgroups end in odd numbers so 22689 may be the right one and 22688 is incorrect - or, they are both good. I'll listen in as well.
22208 - This is Gulf Shores PD Special Detail (unencrypted) also used for special events (The Parrot Head convention is in town).

Good catches, all.

Shep

 

[TomServo]

Good morning!

22688 - I have this as Spanish Fort PD (unencrypted) used for special events, parking, traffic details. I haven't submitted to RRDB while trying to hear what the users call it.
20386 - This will be Barnwell FD but waiting to hear what the users call it.
20633 - This is Rosinton FD Admin talkgroup
22549 & 22545 - These are new ones. The "54" in 22549 does not match with any previously identified departments. I'll be listening for traffic. Maybe Newman's Ambulance who just set up shop on the Eastern Shore?
20632 - I have this one as Rosinton FD Special Detail but haven't submitted it until I hear what they call it.
20681 - This is Spanish Fort PD (encrypted).
22689 - This would also be Spanish Fort. Sometimes on ID Search, the talkgroup numbers don't decode properly so this may be the same as 22688. Everything I have for Spanish Fort talkgroups end in odd numbers so 22689 may be the right one and 22688 is incorrect - or, they are both good. I'll listen in as well.
22208 - This is Gulf Shores PD Special Detail (unencrypted) also used for special events (The Parrot Head convention is in town).

Good catches, all.

Shep

Thanks so much for sharing your info! I'm surprised Rosinton would have three different talkgroups for such a small rural department, but right now they're all being used for different purposes.

I'm still exploring all that SDRtrunk can do so I didn't realize until tonight I can record individual aliases in mp3 format. I'll set some of these mystery talkgroups up to record and see if anything pops up.

So, does Spanish Fort use both 20681 and 22681 for their PD? I see 22681 pop up as encrypted but 20681 is in the clear, although I haven't heard audio off it yet.

BTW, have you ever heard anything on the Medstar 2 and 3 talkgroups? So far I only hear things on 1, and at times it can get pretty hectic.

 

[TomServo]

And a few more unknown talkgroups this afternoon…

20781 - Robertsdale tower
20654 - Seminole tower

 

[sadave]

And a few more unknown talkgroups this afternoon…

20781 - Robertsdale tower
20654 - Seminole tower

Good morning!

I heard 20781 for the first time a couple of days ago. It is Crossroads VFD and it is possible they have obtained some additional radios.
20654 is Styx River VFD but I haven't submitted it until I hear what they call it.

I think a fairly standard programming package for the Baldwin County fire departments includes three talk groups - operations, administration, and training though they often go by other names.

Spanish Fort FD uses the "20..." talk groups (clear) and Spanish Fort PD uses the "22..." talkgroups (encrypted) - but there are exceptions. For example, I have heard 20681 (clear) in use by drug interdiction units on I-10.

I haven't heard anything on MedStar 2 or 3 for a couple of years and suspect most of those conversations are now via phone.

Shep