Anchorage AFD tac channels seem to have changed or frequencies

Status
Not open for further replies.

scannerak

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
4
Hello everyone, I am used to getting all of the Tac3 and Tac4 for the fire department chatter and as of about 3 weeks ago I am no longer getting any call outs on these. Does anyone know if the system has been updated or the frequencies have changed to another system. I still get Tac7 info but nothing else and I have not changed anything on the scanner. Please help.
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
AFD has partially migrated onto the new P25 system. The following is the setup on my pro-106:

AFD Main Alarm is still on analog AWARN as TG32816, but also is broadcasting on AWARN p25 as TG 44021. (I have it set to old analog system, because of the lots of multi-path interference on the p25 simulcast for me)
AFD another AFD alarm is TG32784 on AWARN, which was used up until sometime in May, and then switched to the other one. This one has been silent since.

Now, the TAC channels. Some of then are still operational on the old analog system, but you may be missing lots of traffic with what is left. New TGs on AWARN P25 system are as follows:
44023 - TAC 3
44024 - TAC 4
44025 - TAC 5
TAC 6 and TAC 7 are still on the old AWARN system. I have heard them use TAC 7 to communicate with the Airport Police/Fire department.
There is also TAC 9 - 44029, which is definitely AFD, but I'm not sure of it's exact purpose.
Yesterday, I heard AFD activity from the structure fire in Indian two days ago - and some traffic was on TG 44081, which may be a new Girdwood talkgroup.
AFD also has access to ALMR's Incident command talkgroups- they used 16698 during that fire.
Medic to Hospital remains on AWANR TG 33008

Hope this helps.
 

scannerak

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
4
Thank you

Thank you for the clarification on this. I was wondering why I was missing all of these calls. Now to program it correctly into the scanner. I have a BDC996xt which is digital but having some problems getting anything to come through on those talk groups. Any info you may have on how to get these entered or a dummy way of searching for these would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 

Thunderbolt

Global Database Administrator
Moderator
Joined
Dec 23, 2001
Messages
7,110
Location
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Is the new AWARN P25 TRS, a subsystem of the ALMR? I take it their radios will do both systems? Are they sharing talkgroups with each P25 TRS?

73s

Ron
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
I'm not exactly sure how, but both systems do broadcast the same select talkgroups from time to time. I've heard AFD (44021) and some APD (44101) on ALMR, and I've heard mat-com (11861) and soldotna AST (11811) on AWARN. Trick is, they don't always appear on these different systems. Is it a matter or someone tuning into the other system, and that's what my scanner picks up?
 

AKBMW

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
28
Awarn

ALMR and AWARN are tied together. You might not hear a TG on ALMR that is native to AWARN if no one is affiliated on the site you are scanning and either priority scanning that TG or on that TGs channel in their radio.
 

AKBMW

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
28
AWARN is the 3rd zone of ALMR and is strictly 700 Mhz although dual band P25 radios can roam freely between all three
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
What's the second zone? And thanks for clearing it up..I wish all awarn talkgroups showed up on ALMR. Sound quality is so much better.

Does anyone know if Palmer Police switched to ALMR and is with mat-com or are they still on their conventional frequency?
 

AKBMW

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
28
Awarn

Awarn has much better sound quality because it's simulcast and almr is multicast. Almr is comprised of two zone just for redundancy. Awarn is operated just like ALMR but is for the municipality and mutual operation with other state fed and local agencies
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
Ehh, unless you mixed it up - AWARN does NOT have better sound. Simulcast decode on my 106 sucks. ALMR comes in clear.
 

AKBMW

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
28
Awarn

No, AWARN has superior audio quality as it is simulcasted and the best audio is always selected based on BER. What you are probably hearing is legacy systems (analog) being patched into the infrastructure which won't sound as good as communications that start on the P25 system.
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
There are multiple threads on this website about poor sound quality of p25 simulcast systems. What scanner are you using with what settings to get superior sound quality?
 

AKBMW

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
28
p25 scanning

Well, yeah that is the difference. An actual P25 radio sounds much better on the 700 mhz simulcast than most audio on the p25 vhf side. Higher latency/loss of voice bits on the latter.

I have a BCD996xt and yes it does not sound the same as a 4000 dollar radio with a slightly above average speaker. The 996xt has a speaker mounted on the bottom which sounds horrible unless you mobile mount it or lift it off the desk. I really hadn't tried comparing the scanning audio of VHF vs 700 yet. But I will take your word for it if you think its noticeably degraded when compared to ALMR coverage. I will see what I had my settings on in the 996
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
Okay, glad the confusion is cleared up. There are two active control channels on the AWARN system, and they don't sound too bad in some parts of town, and are listenable when my radio is stationary. But again, your unit may do better than my RS-106.
 

scannerak

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
4
Confirmation on new Tac3 and Tac4 TG

Has anyone been able to actually listen to traffic on the new Talk group channels for FD. I have not been able to pick up any traffic on these channels for 44023 - TAC 3 and 44024 - TAC 4. I also have a RS p106 that can just scan the site but has not given any traffic on these channels when they go to them.
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
Yes, I've been able to pick up TAC 4 and 5 just a few hours ago this morning.

On the AWARN P25 system make sure to have the following:
CC1 - 774.531250
(that's the only freq I have entered, and it works.)
System is set to P25 AUTO.

Do you see the T in the corner when you scan?
Does the main AFD dispatch work on 44021?
What part of town do you live in? I haven't been able to get the system to work past south eagle river.
Otherwise, besides some simulcast distortion, my 106 does fine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top