BCD396T "ENC" question

[robwilson]

Has anyone else experienced the "ENC" at the beginning of digital transmissions when it's not actually encrypted? It only appears briefly, then shows "P25". I seem to get this quite a bit on the Motorola Type II system that I monitor. Just wondering if anybody else has seen this. Could it be my settings or just something that the BCD396T is confused on?

Thanks,
Rob

 

[DaveIN]

Sometimes I see one side of the comm is encrypted and the other side is in the clear. Many times the conversation from the clear is sensitive information that I am sure should be secure. Perhaps the user does not know the encryption is not in use or has a bad code key, so on the 396 display I see ENC, then P25, then ENC again until the comm is finished.

 

[mam1081]

If the user had a bad key (Key Fail), the radio will not TX unless the operator moves the toggle back to "clear", or to another mode.

There are like 2 or 3 bits in the whole P25 signal that tell the scanner if it's encrypted or not (and what key # to use). Maybe it just misses that part.