Douglas SO digital sounds

[Sindoris]

I have my ham radio tuned to Douglas County SO CH2 & 4 since it has the higher antenna. I noticed digital transmission today on their channel 2 (155.520 no PL). I tried to see if my P106 would decode it, but it would not. I did a quick Google search for Motorola TRBO sounds and it sounded just like them. I guess Douglas is testing new radios maybe? Anyone else hear it or know any more? I guess my days of listening to the increased action of Douglas County is coming to an end.

 

[SkiBob]

I have my ham radio tuned to Douglas County SO CH2 & 4 since it has the higher antenna. I noticed digital transmission today on their channel 2 (155.520 no PL). I tried to see if my P106 would decode it, but it would not. I did a quick Google search for Motorola TRBO sounds and it sounded just like them. I guess Douglas is testing new radios maybe? Anyone else hear it or know any more? I guess my days of listening to the increased action of Douglas County is coming to an end.

It has been that way the 4+ years I've been scanning. Chanel 2 does not go through a repeater, so if you are hearing it from a distance you are not likely hearing the DCSO transmission. I would suggest putting in 118.8 for the tone to block out the other garbage. I have no idea where it is coming from, but the DCSO has only been granted $234,122 to upgrade their radio system this year. How they use that I don't know, but I wouldn't relate that to the odd noises on Chnl 2 that we have been hearing for years.

It will likely be a few years before they are given more money for much of anything. They recently built a new jail (the DC welcome center on I-20). They spent nearly a million dollars on just the sign out front. When that went public, they lost all trust with taxpayers funds.

 

[Sindoris]

Gotcha. I'm in Douglas county (used ATL for my location on RR) just below I-20 near HWY 5. I've never heard it before and my P106 can hear it in my house on a rubber duck. I normally keep a PL on that freq, but I noticed some SO units didn't transmit the tone and I was only hearing one way transmissions unless I broke squelch, so I removed it from my scanner. I have a new Kenwood that I put in the house and added the frequencies earlier this year, but just started hearing it. I did find it strange that they would be using Mototrbo on a conventional system (simplex). Maybe it's a cheaper way to keep normal people from listening. Not many people would buy a $700 radio to listen in on a secondary frequency, but who knows. I know SO is frustrated with their current system from the way they talk on the radio. Heard one LT respond when dispatch said he was stepped on "Yeah, of course I was". Traffic is getting busy here (not a good thing).

 

[SkiBob]

I'm not an expert by any means, so correct me if I'm wrong. Perhaps the reason why you are only hearing 1 way conversations is because Channel 2 doesn't hit the repeater. Since they went narrow band, you can't hear much of any car to car traffic on channel 4 either. Most of the stuff on 2 is SO dispatch to 911 or if they are 10-33 then they go over to channel 2.

To get a sense to what i'm talking about tune in freq 159.06 Tone 118.8 and see what you hear. That is the input frequency to the repeater for the main dispatch freq. You won't hear much because it's not hitting the repeater yet. That's the same type of thing you are hearing for channel 2. You will hear dispatch, but if the units are in the Thornton road area, you won't hear them, or it will be very faint.

For some, this is really basic information and if it is for you, my apologies. I am not about insulting anyone, but attempting to help for many to enjoy the hobby

 

[Sindoris]

Well it started when I would monitor Ch4. Since that is a state band I put in the 118.8 PL to limit it to DCSO. I would hear someone talk and then see my S-Meter reach 4&5 but heard nothing. I would open the squelch and hear the other officer respond. I figure that maybe there were some officers with radios that didn't have PL on their CH4 (maybe to talk to other counties). I got the same on Channel 2 once. I would see my S-Meter, but it wouldn't break squelch so I would open and I could hear them. I just turned off the Tone squelch to keep it simple. Maybe an officer was using a backup radio or something during that time and it didn't transmit the tone.

Yeah, I realized they were not on a repeater a while ago. I could always hear dispatch on CH2, when they were 10-3 or talking to Douglasville's dispatcher, but only heard the local units respond. That is why I use my Ham rig to listen to CH2 & 4, since the antenna is mounted outdoors. I get pretty good range using it.

For all I know it could have been Paudling Playing on some mutual aid channel. I saw the FCC database has several counties licensed for 155.520. Or maybe some strange atmospheric skip that I was hearing. I was just curious to see if they were about to move to digital in 2014. Being a former EMT, I enjoy listening to public safety and I had hoped I would get to continue. It's getting harder and harder though, between digital and encryption. I guess we enjoy it while we can. Thanks for all the insight.

Oh, and I'm not insulted. I've been playing with scanners since I was 15 (my parents were public safety so I would listen to them when they were on duty 25 years ago), but I still learn new things all the time, especially with all the digital scanners. Thanks again.