fnnm1062
longtime member
After hearing that the C-C-E Central Dispatch Authority recently joined the MPSCS, I decided to reach out to them to see what I could find out. Below are excerpts of email exchanges between a command person and myself:
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Thank you for your inquiry on our recent radio upgrade including our new connection to the MPSCS.
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I will do my best to answer your questions.
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1.***** Are comms in the clear or encrypted?
At this time the 800 Talkgroups are not encrypted. Eventually some of them will be.
2. Are you on your own subsystem of the MPSCS?
Yes. We can continue to operate independently if the MSPCS if connectivity to them is lost.
3. Did all agencies FD, PD, and EMS switchover?
Our response agencies all have 800 radios, but the current plan is for them to remain on the VHF system as the primary radios. We have invested heavily in our current VHF infrastructure (which includes towers, microwave, simulcast etc,) to abandon that now would not make sense. The system is pretty robust (with the exception of a few areas that have been impacted by the Narrowbanding mandate). I believe that with our current system design we will have both local functionality and interoperable communications. I also think that you may see a slow migration of certain disciplines like law to begin relying more on 800 Talkgroups in time.
4. Is there anyway I could get a list of the talk groups so I can put them in my system for when I travel?
We typically do not give out Talkgroup lists. I do know that there are some websites that make these available. I can tell you that most of our Talkgroups do work on the standard formatting, beginning with the County Code and then the standard descriptors. For example 63P911 or 63COM.
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I'm still trying to do some research, but it looks like this will be a summer time game of hide and seek.
*
Thank you for your inquiry on our recent radio upgrade including our new connection to the MPSCS.
*
I will do my best to answer your questions.
*
1.***** Are comms in the clear or encrypted?
At this time the 800 Talkgroups are not encrypted. Eventually some of them will be.
2. Are you on your own subsystem of the MPSCS?
Yes. We can continue to operate independently if the MSPCS if connectivity to them is lost.
3. Did all agencies FD, PD, and EMS switchover?
Our response agencies all have 800 radios, but the current plan is for them to remain on the VHF system as the primary radios. We have invested heavily in our current VHF infrastructure (which includes towers, microwave, simulcast etc,) to abandon that now would not make sense. The system is pretty robust (with the exception of a few areas that have been impacted by the Narrowbanding mandate). I believe that with our current system design we will have both local functionality and interoperable communications. I also think that you may see a slow migration of certain disciplines like law to begin relying more on 800 Talkgroups in time.
4. Is there anyway I could get a list of the talk groups so I can put them in my system for when I travel?
We typically do not give out Talkgroup lists. I do know that there are some websites that make these available. I can tell you that most of our Talkgroups do work on the standard formatting, beginning with the County Code and then the standard descriptors. For example 63P911 or 63COM.
*
I'm still trying to do some research, but it looks like this will be a summer time game of hide and seek.
