Thanks for the heads up!
Brazos Valley Activity Thread
- Thread starter rattlerbb01
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College Station FD will be the first in the city to move to the new system. CSPD will move in the near future followed by all city departments. Bryan and Brazos County entites are "dragging there feet". All should be on the new system by the end of the year.
Bryan and Brazos county will not need new radios or equipment. When they made the change to there 800 system a few years back all new stuff was purchased then. That stuff just needs reprograming.
Bryan and Brazos county will not need new radios or equipment. When they made the change to there 800 system a few years back all new stuff was purchased then. That stuff just needs reprograming.
The county system radios are pretty old (Bryan Utilities still use XTS3000s). Although BCSO/BPD/BFD may have newer 700-capable radios, Bryan Utilities would need entirely new radios if they move. What is going to happen to the current county and College Station systems after this?
I don't have any info on BTU. I have no idea about the old systems but I'll ask around.
I didn't mean the electric company. What I meant was the water, sewer, sanitation, and transportation departments (i.e. all the other users on the county system). I don't think Bryan Texas Utilities Electric Cooperative is moving off of their low band frequency any time soon.
TGID 3878: "...Yeah, they say College Station's switching over on October 4."
If correct, anyone in the Bryan/College Station area who doesn't have the local TxWARN P25 sites programmed into their scanners should think about doing so soon...if they want to continue to listen to CSFD (or, eventually, CSPD).
If correct, anyone in the Bryan/College Station area who doesn't have the local TxWARN P25 sites programmed into their scanners should think about doing so soon...if they want to continue to listen to CSFD (or, eventually, CSPD).
mrosenba
Member
Washington County Frequencies
I live in Washington County and I know that we are in the process of switching over to the new Brazos Valley 700 mHz system. Since my old scanner will no longer work when they go live on the new system, what do you guys recommend that I get so that I can monitor the new frequencies? The std.. trunk tracking scanner that I have won't pick up 700 mHz range I think.
FYI... all the Fire Department vehicles have had the new systems installed and I heard that they were installing the equipment in dispatch this past week... but everything in this conversion is taking forever. Brenham Police and Washington County SO will be the last radios to be installed, with the switch to using the new system happening then.
I live in Washington County and I know that we are in the process of switching over to the new Brazos Valley 700 mHz system. Since my old scanner will no longer work when they go live on the new system, what do you guys recommend that I get so that I can monitor the new frequencies? The std.. trunk tracking scanner that I have won't pick up 700 mHz range I think.
FYI... all the Fire Department vehicles have had the new systems installed and I heard that they were installing the equipment in dispatch this past week... but everything in this conversion is taking forever. Brenham Police and Washington County SO will be the last radios to be installed, with the switch to using the new system happening then.
You'll need either a GRE PSR-500 (RadioShack PRO-106), GRE PSR-600, Uniden BCD396XT, or Uniden BCD996XT. I'm currently using a 996T (the predecessor to the 996XT), a 396XT, and a PSR600. All of the scanners I mentioned can do trunking in the 700 MHz range and digital voice. I suspect that Washington County will be on the system by the end of the year, along with all of Bryan, College Station, and Brazos County.
mrosenba
Member
Thanks for the info. Most locals here in Washington County that have had their scanners over the last twenty or so years have never even heard of a trunked or digital system. I'm sure that in a few months when the switch is made... there will be a lot of people trying to figure out what to get and how to program them.
I'm lucky enough to have one of the new FD handheld radios and I think the new system will be a lot better than what we are using now. If you guys have any questions you think that I can help answer, let me know. Also, let me know if i'm "crossing the line" by providing info on our new system. I've been scanning for years, but now have been issued a radio to use and never really have looked into what "legal" issues might pop up now that I actually have a radio.
I'm lucky enough to have one of the new FD handheld radios and I think the new system will be a lot better than what we are using now. If you guys have any questions you think that I can help answer, let me know. Also, let me know if i'm "crossing the line" by providing info on our new system. I've been scanning for years, but now have been issued a radio to use and never really have looked into what "legal" issues might pop up now that I actually have a radio.
There's almost nothing we don't already know (except for the talkgroups).
You are not crossing the line legally. The only way you would be doing that would be if you were giving us encryption keys, and I doubt you or anybody in Washington County will ever have access to those. We don't want or need them anyhow. However, ethically, it may be a big no-no within your department or agency to provide talkgroups or other radio data from your radio. That should usually be left up to the chief or public information person. That is why it is entirely up to you whether you provide the talkgroups to us or not. It is your job we are talking about, not ours.
That said, if you decide that you want to "discover" the talkgroups, their decimal number as shown on a scanner, and their corresponding "alpha tag" or channel name and use, here are two methods I have used.
1. Scanners such as the GRE PSR500/600 come with a programming cable, and free programs such as Unitrunker, which is available for download in the downloads section of radioreference.com, are available to read the control channel data from the control channel. In the Brenham tower's case, this frequency is 774.44375. When parked on this channel, and having your scanner connected and monitoring the control channel data stream, you turn on the department radio. It will show the radio immediately being "affiliated" with whatever talkgroup you are on. For instance, if you turn the radio on to the Brenham fire talkgroup, it will show your radio ID "join" talkgroup 2516. If you change the channel, the next talkgroup will show up as "joined' by your same radio ID. You get the picture from here on out.
2. I don't recommend this at all. But it works. If you don't have a computer, you can key up each individual channel without talking briefly, and the scanner, provided it is not busy, or you have busy talkgroups locked out, will display the talkgroup and pass the silent key-up audio, and that will let you know the decimal number of the channel. Two reasons I don't recommend or endorse this option: A system administrator could notice that your radio transmitted on every talkgroup in your radio by looking at the radio logs. If a sudden plethora of new talkgroups in that range show up on radioreference at the same time, they have a good idea of who the culprit is. Second, it is a emergency radio first and foremost. You could be keying over somebody else who might have important traffic. You are a grown person, you can certainly use your head on this one.
Bottom line, we appreciate information from people in the know about radio systems. But we don't want you to compromise your job security or trust from your superiors by asking you to do something potentially harmful to them.
I have another way for option 2. It is not uncommon to hear a bunch of new TGIDs appear one after the other. Most of the new TxDOT TGs I have cought up here appeared within the span of two or three minutes in one day--and most had no voice traffic. If you do this, don't post them on RR all at once. You could gradually post them, maybe on or two one day and some more a few days (or a week) later. You also can avoid keying them up one after another by spreading them out over a period of time. Key up one or two one day, then do it again a few days later, and repeat the process until you've got all of the channels.
If I had a new radio the first thing I would do is flip through the channels to see what I had. I imagine this is the first thing most new users will do. In that case the affiliation with each group will show up. And if more than one guy is in the room, many new users will test these channels by talking on them. This may take a system admin by surprise the first couple of times but after that any admin worth his salt will know that new users will be doing this and ignore users flipping through channels.
However, once you have all the new info, it's up to you how you want to post it. I personally have updated the DB with obvious radio dumps. As said before, don't put your job on the line. If you're concerned then post them in small groups - common use channels first. It's usually up to the Chief, not the system admins. You should know your Chief's position.
However, once you have all the new info, it's up to you how you want to post it. I personally have updated the DB with obvious radio dumps. As said before, don't put your job on the line. If you're concerned then post them in small groups - common use channels first. It's usually up to the Chief, not the system admins. You should know your Chief's position.
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nosliwmj
Member
College Station was working on the radios today, I'm guessing something to do with the switchover. I head the radio tech telling CSPD dispatch the system would be down for a bit. After about 5-10 minutes it was business ad usual again.
Haven't heard much in the way of new activity on TxWARN yet. Remember, the switchover is not until Monday, so it might not be too surprising that there hasn't been much activity yet. I would expect to start seeing things over the weekend, though.
mrosenba
Member
Thanks for the advice... Once I get a new scanner that will pick up the new frequencies, I'd be able to determine the talkgroups the old fashioned way anyhow. (at least the common ones) I'd like to get a setup like the one mentioned in option one and ferret out all the talkgroups correctly. That seems like the most straightforward way to determine them.
Once the old channels go dead I predict that there will be many new people on the site trying to figure out what to buy and how to program it. The majority of people that live here and listen don't have any concept of a trunked or digital system. (or at least I think they don't... I might be wrong)
Once the old channels go dead I predict that there will be many new people on the site trying to figure out what to buy and how to program it. The majority of people that live here and listen don't have any concept of a trunked or digital system. (or at least I think they don't... I might be wrong)
Those people can just ask me. If you want to know what scanners to use in the Brazos Valley, just look at my signature.
Nothing from CSFD yet. No new TGIDs all weekend, so I don't know what is going on.
mrosenba
Member
Monitoring the TxWARN system
So after reading the wiki on the TxWARN system, it doesn't look too different than what I've monitored with my old Motorola trunked systems. I do have a few questions that I hope somebody can help with.
If I program in the data channels and frequencies for a tower (Brenham for example), and somebody on their system is talking but actually using a different tower, ( College Station ) will I hear both ends of the transmission or do both sites need to be in the scanner to hear them? On the north side of the county, most of the radios grab a signal from either the Millican, Hensel or College Station sites rather than the Brenham tower.
So after reading the wiki on the TxWARN system, it doesn't look too different than what I've monitored with my old Motorola trunked systems. I do have a few questions that I hope somebody can help with.
If I program in the data channels and frequencies for a tower (Brenham for example), and somebody on their system is talking but actually using a different tower, ( College Station ) will I hear both ends of the transmission or do both sites need to be in the scanner to hear them? On the north side of the county, most of the radios grab a signal from either the Millican, Hensel or College Station sites rather than the Brenham tower.
If I understand correctly, what you are asking about is what happens when two users are talking to each other on different towers. The answer is, you would catch the entire conversation on both sites. So, if someone is affiliated with the Brenham tower but talking to another person who is affiliated with the College Station tower, both sites would be broadcasting the channel in use. An no, you don't have to have both sites in to receive the channel.
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