KG7PBS
Member
I was expecting that anything that has a need for security will probably have ENCRYPTED TGs.
Will probably have Cal-Trans, CDF, State Parks,
Cal OES, maybe F&G, and a few other State agencies that need radios but not ENC. My 2 cents
California Radio Interoperable System (CRIS)
- Thread starter mcjones2013
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I was expecting that anything that has a need for security will probably have ENCRYPTED TGs.
Will probably have Cal-Trans, CDF, State Parks,
Cal OES, maybe F&G, and a few other State agencies that need radios but not ENC. My 2 cents
ScannerDude244
Member
Caltrans District 5 has finally switch over to their 800mhz this past year. But with CRIS coming up that might be short lived.
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Not to go off topic but, lets hope not. They have spent a lot of money building out that crazy complex yet brilliantly designed (from an engineering standpoint) system.
mkewman
Member
In my experiance assisting with Motorola P25 system build out, radio techs like to use Encryption for testing. There are a number of reasons, 1 it's kinda cool. 2, it tests the encryption features like Over the air Rekey, etc, and lastly, anyone who happens to have a demo radio that isn't keyed can't hear field testing. You kinda don't want end users to hear about field testing, things can be misunderstood or misconstrued during testing and rumors can fly.
I once heard a story from a legendary P25 specialist who told me a story about a massively expensive multi site simulcast city system that was nearly torpedoed before they even started doing field testing in earnest. A fire chief (or maybe it was police, I forget) who didn't want a p25 system had a demo radio set to scan sitting in his office and heard a tech say "wow, there's no coverage anywhere in here" on a testing channel sarcastically in the basement of city hall (ironically where the Chief's office was.) The fire chief threw a world-class fit and wanted the whole system removed, effectively throwing away millions before all the sites were even turned on. Luckily, a couple city council members thought he was a little hasty and wanted a second opinion.
Eventually, they were able to prove to him that it actually had better coverage than the aging VHF voting system they had by calling in a third party RF coverage vendor who tested both systems in Gov buildings and it some office and hotel buildings on the outskirts of the city. Around this time, a storm knocked out power to the radio sites for the aging system, but since they had just added a new generator and UPS system to those same sites for the Trunked system, city electricians were able to temporarily move power off the old Generator/UPS System and onto the new UPS/Generator system for the trunked system. The combination of the 3rd party coverage vendor and the power outage was enough to convince him to call off the dogs. But it cost the vendor and the city thousands of dollars. (and the project went from coming in under budget to well over budget) But it just goes to show, just the perception of the system not working during testing can be a big problem.
The state is not going to pay for encryption for the majority of users of this system. It's just not going to happen. The system is expensive by itself, to get the licenses for encryption, OTAR for every user is cost prohibitive, especially at the per radio subscription costs they have set forth. I can see DOJ and other "secret squirrel" Law enforecment talkgroups being encrypted (CHP Dignitary Protection) but that's about it.
It's good to log the Radio IDs and Talkgroups of all the traffic on the system because it helps us get a good idea of who's a radio tech and who's not, what are their channels, etc.
I hope you are right my friend, we'll all we know when the system opens up for everyday use.
Hearing traffic on Mt. Saint Helena today from Shasta County. "Redding HQ" and "CalNet?" have been super busy on TG1973 with RID's in the 67xxx range.
Regards,
-Frank C.
Regards,
-Frank C.
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I was checking out the Calls archive for the CRIS Wolf Mountain site and it sound like a few units were doing radio checks on talk group 721 yesterday.
I'm fairly sure they were CHP units out of the Grass Valley (42) office. The locations they were calling out would also match up with that office. I'm not sure if this talk group will be just for the Grass Valley office or if it will be the "Green", I'm personally leaning towards it being a "private" channel just for that office or perhaps just a radio testing channel of some kind.
They also mentioned they were talking on a site at "the new AT&T tower in Downieville".
I'm fairly sure they were CHP units out of the Grass Valley (42) office. The locations they were calling out would also match up with that office. I'm not sure if this talk group will be just for the Grass Valley office or if it will be the "Green", I'm personally leaning towards it being a "private" channel just for that office or perhaps just a radio testing channel of some kind.
They also mentioned they were talking on a site at "the new AT&T tower in Downieville".
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Downieville!? Could this possibly be a budding VHF site? I cannot imagine they'd deploy 700 MHz in an area as steep and mountainous as that.
ScannerDude244
Member
Theirs been alot of traffic on TG 200 this past week all of it enc.
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If it were a VHF site it would need to be licensed with the FCC and so far the only VHF licenses are for the sites along the 395 corridor. It's possible they were using some kind of FirstNet/AT&T connection, if so it sounded really good.
I have been told 151.1975 reporting as site 60 (licensed at Leviathan Peak WRPW349) is showing as a neighbor on Pine Hill.
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Did some more listening to archives today and one of the CHP units on TG:721 said his radio went out of range and he turned it off and back on and it said he was now on LTE, so I guess this would 'confirm' that at least some of the radios being used do have LTE capability.
Edit; This also shows why it's a good idea to setup a CRIS Calls node if you have the ability. The more nodes capturing talk group testing/activity the more opportunity we have to identify them.
Edit; This also shows why it's a good idea to setup a CRIS Calls node if you have the ability. The more nodes capturing talk group testing/activity the more opportunity we have to identify them.
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This morning Mt Saint Helena is reporting a new neighbor. Site 1.16 CC 1-1772 of 773.08125...
Has anyone else seen a new site in the SF North Bay/Lake County area pop up? I can not hear it from Cloverdale.
Regards,
-Frank C.
Has anyone else seen a new site in the SF North Bay/Lake County area pop up? I can not hear it from Cloverdale.
Regards,
-Frank C.
Should be Sonoma Mountain, if someone in that area can confirm.
I also just found Site 19 on 770.20625. It should be Sunol Ridge, if someone can confirm that too.
I can try and confirm Sonoma early next week. Thanks for the lead. Strange I'm not hearing it directly...
Regards,
-Frank C.
The CRIS sites are pretty low-powered from what I've seen.
ScannerDude244
Member
Site 36 is also reporting neighbor sites 39 and 53 already in the DB
Thanks. If anyone else has neighbor lists that aren't in the DB, let me know and I can add them.
ScannerDude244
Member
20 is reporting 18,19 but you got them already
Just for clarity: Site 13, Mount Saint Helena, is reporting Sites, 8, 15, 16, and 50 as neighbors.
Regards,
-Frank C.
Regards,
-Frank C.
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