decatur and grady going digital

[radiomanNJ1]

Dude? Do you have the scanner set for picking up digital?

No one else has found it "blocked" out.

Hey dude have u noticed that Seminole county in Georgia has blocked out there EMS frequency I got a digital scanner.im also a firefighter and can't pick them up.

 

[Timw1339]

Silent Radio

The frequencies have changed again. It is Nov. 2017 and have not heard any traffic on the channels since Nov 8, 2017. Has anyone heard or know how to find the new channels. I have a Whistler 1098 and would hate to see a $650.00 paper weight sitting on my desk ! Any help to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WXFanatic]

The frequencies have changed again. It is Nov. 2017 and have not heard any traffic on the channels since Nov 8, 2017. Has anyone heard or know how to find the new channels. I have a Whistler 1098 and would hate to see a $650.00 paper weight sitting on my desk ! Any help to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

I have a BCD996XT and have the same results as you. Not getting anything out of Cairo at all. Currently in Whigham and never had any issues. They definitely went along with the 700MHZ switch.

The Grady County Facebook page made a post back in October that they were making the transition - https://www.facebook.com/gradycountyga/posts/1123375504460983

E911 Radio System Upgrade
Grady County is upgrading from a VHF to a 700 MHz radio system. This represents a $1.85 million upgrade to give our personnel a good communication system. We also will install a new tower at the Reno Volunteer Fire Department grounds.

 

[kg4ojj]

If you program these frequencies into your scanner, do you hear anything?

Setup as conventional frequencies, Narrow FM (NFM), and NAC search (tone type; not PL/CTCSS).

For advanced users, create a new Trunked Radio System and add a wildcard or ID Search.

These are licensed for Grady County (Whigham site) and Decatur County (Bainbridge site) under WQZQ691:

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=3937665

769.33125
770.50625
770.78125
771.25625
771.75625
772.50625
774.15625

For advanced users, once you discover the Control Channel (sounds like a constant machine gun), run UniTrunker or Pro96Com to discover the TRS information (control channel assignment, SysID, WACN, Phase 1/2, etc.). Some scanners give you some of that information, as-is. Your mileage may vary.

 

[WXFanatic]

If you program these frequencies into your scanner, do you hear anything?

Setup as conventional frequencies, Narrow FM (NFM), and NAC search (tone type; not PL/CTCSS).

For advanced users, create a new Trunked Radio System and add a wildcard or ID Search.

These are licensed for Grady County (Whigham site) and Decatur County (Bainbridge site) under WQZQ691:

ULS License - Trunked Public Safety 700 MHz License - WQZQ691 - DECATUR, COUNTY OF

769.33125
770.50625
770.78125
771.25625
771.75625
772.50625
774.15625

For advanced users, once you discover the Control Channel (sounds like a constant machine gun), run UniTrunker or Pro96Com to discover the TRS information (control channel assignment, SysID, WACN, Phase 1/2, etc.). Some scanners give you some of that information, as-is. Your mileage may vary.

So I setup a custom search w/ the range of frequencies you listed w/ my BCD996XT.

Here's how they played out thus far:

769.3312 - DAT (It was so constant I had to temporarily L/O)
770.7812 - NAC:8D4 / LNK
770.9687 - DAT
771.2562 - NAC:8D4 / LNK
771.7562 - NAC:8D4 / LNK/ENC
772.5062 - NAC:8D4 / LNK/ENC - at times I will hear the dispatch lady but it's not often. Replies are usually LNK/ENC

So far that's all I've had. Been listening for about an hour tonight and I have only heard dispatch a few times on 772.5062. Usually quick and fast replies.

It might be time to sell my BCD996XT and BCD436HP as I have no use for either outside Grady County. Of course that's assuming that I've done everything correctly.

 

[kg4ojj]

Your control channel is very likely 769.33125, if you hear constant data (machine-gun sound).

That control channel can change, so I usually monitor all channels.

I've built a quick .hpe for the BCDx36HP scanners. Unzip the attached file.

 

[Timw1339]

I have a whistler 1098 will it still work ?

 

[kg4ojj]

Nope. Different format for your scanner. There is no easy way for me to send you a preprogrammed file.

I can walk you through setup on that scanner. You have my phone number.

Mark gives you help, here: http://new.marksscanners.com/1080_1095/1095_1098.shtml

 

[WXFanatic]

Nope. Different format for your scanner. There is no easy way for me to send you a preprogrammed file.

I can walk you through setup on that scanner. You have my phone number.

Mark gives you help, here: Easier to Read Whistler WS1095/1098 Base/Mobile Scanner and Software Manual

I'm having the same results. All transmissions were encrypted.

Thank you for your help. It's much appreciated even though the desired result wasn't favorable to the hobby.

 

[kg4ojj]

I went on a road trip and got close enough to monitor the system with PRO96COM.

It's part of the Southwest Georgia (SOWEGA) trunked radio system.

The system ID, 8D7, matches the Albany/Leesburg/Thomasville system.

It's site #4 (RFSS 06, Site 04 - hex) on this multi-county system.

The control channel is 769.33125 and the (one) alternate control channel is 770.50625

100% of my monitoring was (painfully) encrypted.

The monitored talkgroups were in the 900 and 1300 range.

I'll submit this as part of the SOWEGA trunked system.

Locally, you may find some talkgroups without encryption. I cannot tell from the data dump file if encryption is strapped for all talkgroups.