453.975 is currently patched with INCIDENT 3.
Champaign County METCAD - Digital Interoperable Communication Environment (MDICE)
- Thread starter Starcom21
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I've noticed that METCAD removed many talkgroups from their listing on this page. Anything that'd I'd heard on the TG's they used to have listed was always encrypted anyway (specifically PATROL OPS 2 and INCIDENT 5). Maybe this indicates that public safety talkgroups not shown on the page will utilized full-time encryption.
METCAD police agencies were using TG "INCIDENT 4" at the U of I football game last Saturday evening and it wasn't encyrpted. They simulcast that talkgroup onto 453.250 during the game, but in the morning it wasn't simulcast over UHF.
Somewhat related to MDICE and the City of Champaign TRS, last night I heard some testing on 856.7375 (103.5 PL) which is licensed to the Champaign Park District. Maybe they will be moving to this repeater instead of to MDICE??
METCAD police agencies were using TG "INCIDENT 4" at the U of I football game last Saturday evening and it wasn't encyrpted. They simulcast that talkgroup onto 453.250 during the game, but in the morning it wasn't simulcast over UHF.
Somewhat related to MDICE and the City of Champaign TRS, last night I heard some testing on 856.7375 (103.5 PL) which is licensed to the Champaign Park District. Maybe they will be moving to this repeater instead of to MDICE??
Heard a unit last night on PATROL 2 tell another to "switch over to my channel." Then I heard some encrypted conversations on 21513.
I need to get more vigilant about tracking the radio id's with pro96com and then seeing what units are using the encrypted talkgroups to help identify possible talkgroup usage. Even if it's encrypted, it's still nice to learn the talkgroup layout.
I need to get more vigilant about tracking the radio id's with pro96com and then seeing what units are using the encrypted talkgroups to help identify possible talkgroup usage. Even if it's encrypted, it's still nice to learn the talkgroup layout.
Today the Champaign PD talkgroup is simulcasting 453.400 plus some of the CPD units are using digital radios now.
CPD is now using MDICE exclusively
Tonight I've noticed that 453.400 is no longer carrying any CPD traffic. Everything is on MDICE TG 21500. You can still hear TG 21501 on 453.150/453.900 as I type this.
Tonight I've noticed that 453.400 is no longer carrying any CPD traffic. Everything is on MDICE TG 21500. You can still hear TG 21501 on 453.150/453.900 as I type this.
U of I Utilities talkgroups, other observations
U of I utilities was testing on TG 22901 unencrypted.
I've noticed that ever since emplementing the system, TG 21002 has been encrypted. Urbana used TG 22502 INCIDENT 3 at the Chautauqua festival unencrypted.
U of I utilities was testing on TG 22901 unencrypted.
I've noticed that ever since emplementing the system, TG 21002 has been encrypted. Urbana used TG 22502 INCIDENT 3 at the Chautauqua festival unencrypted.
Pro96com radio ids
From listening to Pro96com and logging radio ids, here's what I have found.
METCAD Radio ID sequences
4001000 Champaign PD
4001100 Champaign PD
4001200 Urbana PD
4001300 Urbana PD
4001500 U of I PD
4001700 County Sheriff
4001800 County Sheriff
4002200 Rural PDs
4002300 Rural PDs
49###50 METCAD DISPATCH CONSOLE
*I'm guessing that for each entity, one of the series is for mobile radios and one is for portable radios but that's just a guess based on what I've observed with Starcom21 in McLean County.
Pro96com misses a lot more radio ids on MDICE than it does on Starcom and both have good signal strengths where I'm at. For example, I will hear "349 from METCAD" while seeing METCAD's radio id transmitting on PATROL 2, but 349's radio id won't show up when he responds back. It makes it hard to accurately log radio id's when Pro96com doesn't read them 100% of the time. I guess this is the issue of monitoring a simulcast system. The recieve rate jumps around a lot (as high 90%+ all the way down to below 50% at times all while sitting in the same spot). The percentage on Starcom21 is more constant in the 90s.
For general listening on the MDICE simulcast system, the 396 misses less parts of the conversations than the Pro96 does. Sometimes the 396 will miss only one transmission out an entire conversation depending upon where the radio is located (which is annoying but better than them being encrypted or using M/A COM), but the Pro96 will miss some parts of conversations that the 396 will pick up even though they are sitting right next to eachother and have basically the same antenna. The Pro96 gets lots of motor-boating noises whereas the 396 doesn't. It was so refreshing to be in Normal listening to Starcom recently and not having to worry about where the radio was pointed because it'd cause the scanner not to decode the P25 audio. If I listen by earphone, the Pro96 sounds much better but when listening through the internal speaker from across the room, either radio sounds acceptable.
From listening to Pro96com and logging radio ids, here's what I have found.
METCAD Radio ID sequences
4001000 Champaign PD
4001100 Champaign PD
4001200 Urbana PD
4001300 Urbana PD
4001500 U of I PD
4001700 County Sheriff
4001800 County Sheriff
4002200 Rural PDs
4002300 Rural PDs
49###50 METCAD DISPATCH CONSOLE
*I'm guessing that for each entity, one of the series is for mobile radios and one is for portable radios but that's just a guess based on what I've observed with Starcom21 in McLean County.
Pro96com misses a lot more radio ids on MDICE than it does on Starcom and both have good signal strengths where I'm at. For example, I will hear "349 from METCAD" while seeing METCAD's radio id transmitting on PATROL 2, but 349's radio id won't show up when he responds back. It makes it hard to accurately log radio id's when Pro96com doesn't read them 100% of the time. I guess this is the issue of monitoring a simulcast system. The recieve rate jumps around a lot (as high 90%+ all the way down to below 50% at times all while sitting in the same spot). The percentage on Starcom21 is more constant in the 90s.
For general listening on the MDICE simulcast system, the 396 misses less parts of the conversations than the Pro96 does. Sometimes the 396 will miss only one transmission out an entire conversation depending upon where the radio is located (which is annoying but better than them being encrypted or using M/A COM), but the Pro96 will miss some parts of conversations that the 396 will pick up even though they are sitting right next to eachother and have basically the same antenna. The Pro96 gets lots of motor-boating noises whereas the 396 doesn't. It was so refreshing to be in Normal listening to Starcom recently and not having to worry about where the radio was pointed because it'd cause the scanner not to decode the P25 audio. If I listen by earphone, the Pro96 sounds much better but when listening through the internal speaker from across the room, either radio sounds acceptable.
453.150 simulcast off
Just noticed yesterday that 453.150 isn't simulcasting PATROL 2 anymore. Not sure when the simulcast was turned off. 453.900 still carries PATROL 2 though. INCIDENT 4 was simulcast on 453.250 during Saturday's football game as usual.
Just noticed yesterday that 453.150 isn't simulcasting PATROL 2 anymore. Not sure when the simulcast was turned off. 453.900 still carries PATROL 2 though. INCIDENT 4 was simulcast on 453.250 during Saturday's football game as usual.
We drove thru the area the other day and I listened to the Champaign system with a 996. I noticed that it suffers from the same reception problems as the Chicago area StarCom21 simulcast sites.
K9JLR
Member
I can't believe what I read on that website. I'm still in partial shock. I've never seen anything like that, but I think it's a good approach. More agencies could stand to follow a similar approach. As someone else already posted, the approach Champaign is taking with this system is contrary to that which is taken by many agencies. It's refreshing to see all of that detailed information on their website. They even got the scanner types correct!
The Village of Rantoul November 6, 2007 Board Study Session had a Q & A about Rantoul PD and FD joining MDICE. Video of the meeting can be found here (forward exactly to 1 hour into the meeting). Technical aspects of the MDICE system are discussed.
Also worth noting is that PATROL 2 is no longer simulcast on either 453.150 or 453.900. During the football games, however, INCIDENT 4 is still simulcast on 453.250 (but only during football games). Other times that INCIDENT 4 is used, it is not simulcast onto UHF.
Also worth noting is that PATROL 2 is no longer simulcast on either 453.150 or 453.900. During the football games, however, INCIDENT 4 is still simulcast on 453.250 (but only during football games). Other times that INCIDENT 4 is used, it is not simulcast onto UHF.
It seems the new fire unit numbering has gone into effect. So far:
1xx is Champaign
2xx is Urbana
60xx is Eastern Prairie
82xx is Arrow Ambulance (their ambulances are numbered 827x, heard 8276 and 8275)
89xx is Pro Ambulance (their ambulances are numbered 898x, heard 8986)
Engines are 5x
Ladders are 6x
Car 10 is now 110 and Car 20 is now 220
Can anyone fill in more info?
1xx is Champaign
2xx is Urbana
60xx is Eastern Prairie
82xx is Arrow Ambulance (their ambulances are numbered 827x, heard 8276 and 8275)
89xx is Pro Ambulance (their ambulances are numbered 898x, heard 8986)
Engines are 5x
Ladders are 6x
Car 10 is now 110 and Car 20 is now 220
Can anyone fill in more info?
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recent observations...
TG 21531 unidentified, encrypted
TG 24975 unidentified, P25
TG 21529 unidentified, encrypted
also saw fire command and fireground 3 active (too quick to see if encrypted or P25)
the courthouse security talkgroup is now in use in P25 mode
During the shooting on Monday night, they left the CPD units at the crime scene on PATROL 1 unencrypted with 10-33 traffic but it wasn't clear to me if they sent the rest of the patrol officers to PATROL 2, INCIDENT 1, or if they just held their traffic. In the UHF days they used to either have all other units go to 453.250 or the other units would just hold their traffic until the situation was secure. I don't know if they've had 10-33 traffic before since switching to MDICE since the dispatcher was asking CPD command if they wanted to move to a secure channel or go to INCIDENT 1.
TG 21531 unidentified, encrypted
TG 24975 unidentified, P25
TG 21529 unidentified, encrypted
also saw fire command and fireground 3 active (too quick to see if encrypted or P25)
the courthouse security talkgroup is now in use in P25 mode
During the shooting on Monday night, they left the CPD units at the crime scene on PATROL 1 unencrypted with 10-33 traffic but it wasn't clear to me if they sent the rest of the patrol officers to PATROL 2, INCIDENT 1, or if they just held their traffic. In the UHF days they used to either have all other units go to 453.250 or the other units would just hold their traffic until the situation was secure. I don't know if they've had 10-33 traffic before since switching to MDICE since the dispatcher was asking CPD command if they wanted to move to a secure channel or go to INCIDENT 1.
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Some new talkgroups for the UIUC Utilities and the County Highway Department were posted recently at: http://www.metcad911.org/MDICE/Scanner_information.htm
Lately I've heard TG 22013 which fits in with the fire department TG series (P25, unencrypted) but I haven't heard enough to know what the exact usage will be (so far just training/testing/demo)
Lately I've heard TG 22013 which fits in with the fire department TG series (P25, unencrypted) but I haven't heard enough to know what the exact usage will be (so far just training/testing/demo)
We won't know for sure until they start using it but I think the 22013 might be for a patch to metro fire. My understanding is they will still tone metro depts on 154.07 unitl all fire depts are on the new system so they would need a patch to 154.07 in their radios until then. This seems to have been one of the main TG's used during radio training for the cities that's why I am gussing it is going to be the metro patch.
pro96com logging found the following as unencrypted and encrypted talkgroups after monitoring for many days:
P25, UNENCRYPTED
21003 TECHS/MAINT
21201 EMA OPS 1
21204 WX SPTR CORD
21500 PATROL 1 - CPD
21501 PATROL 2
21504 T: 101 DT: 8/21/07@17:14
21505 T: 101 DT: 8/21/07@17:15
21532 COURTHOUSE SEC
22000 FIRE COMMAND
22012 FIRE DISPATCH
22013 FIRE TESTING
22500 INCIDENT 1
22502 INCIDENT 3
22503 INCIDENT 4
22705 PW 5 -
22708 PW 8 - CO HWY 1
22900 UI UTIL 1
24975 T: 101 DT: 12/12/07@21:04
P25, ENCRYPTED
21002 TESTING
21200 EMA ADMIN
21250 T: 101 DT: 11/30/07@16:46
21506 PATROL OPS 1
21507 PATROL OPS 2
21512 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@14:05
21526 ALL POLICE
21527 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@14:36
21528 T: 101 DT: 10/8/07@20:31
21529 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@13:52
21530 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@16:32
21536 INVESTIGATIONS 1
22014 FIRE ???
22504 INCIDENT 5
22507 INCIDENT 8
P25, UNENCRYPTED
21003 TECHS/MAINT
21201 EMA OPS 1
21204 WX SPTR CORD
21500 PATROL 1 - CPD
21501 PATROL 2
21504 T: 101 DT: 8/21/07@17:14
21505 T: 101 DT: 8/21/07@17:15
21532 COURTHOUSE SEC
22000 FIRE COMMAND
22012 FIRE DISPATCH
22013 FIRE TESTING
22500 INCIDENT 1
22502 INCIDENT 3
22503 INCIDENT 4
22705 PW 5 -
22708 PW 8 - CO HWY 1
22900 UI UTIL 1
24975 T: 101 DT: 12/12/07@21:04
P25, ENCRYPTED
21002 TESTING
21200 EMA ADMIN
21250 T: 101 DT: 11/30/07@16:46
21506 PATROL OPS 1
21507 PATROL OPS 2
21512 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@14:05
21526 ALL POLICE
21527 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@14:36
21528 T: 101 DT: 10/8/07@20:31
21529 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@13:52
21530 T: 101 DT: 8/23/07@16:32
21536 INVESTIGATIONS 1
22014 FIRE ???
22504 INCIDENT 5
22507 INCIDENT 8
Parkland PD on MDICE TG 21505
This morning I'm hearing Parkland PD on TG 21505. I'm too far away to hear if there is still any activity on 453.825, their old channel.
This morning I'm hearing Parkland PD on TG 21505. I'm too far away to hear if there is still any activity on 453.825, their old channel.
Updated info on Radio ID sequences,
It seems that the lower part of the 40012xx series is Champaign, mostly Command and Ida units.
40025xx are Parkland Police Units
402xxxx are fire units
420xxxx are Public Works units
450xxxx are U of I Utilities units
It seems that the lower part of the 40012xx series is Champaign, mostly Command and Ida units.
40025xx are Parkland Police Units
402xxxx are fire units
420xxxx are Public Works units
450xxxx are U of I Utilities units
It seems that the consoles at METCAD are radio #’s 490#050 where the “ #” is the number of the console (such as 4903050 is DIS 3). Also, the low 4000000’s are METCAD test or staff radios since these show up on the METCAD 21001, 21003, etc. talkgroups.
On Monday this week I heard 154.070 simulcast onto TG 22012 for a short while.
On Monday this week I heard 154.070 simulcast onto TG 22012 for a short while.
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