Duke Power /Open Sky

[RohnsRadio]

to start I want to say I dont want to hear any "flameing"

am i right in saying that "Open Sky" is encrypted?

if this is true then why does a power company need to encrypt whose lights are off? operations around a power plant i can go along with , but normal operations?

i have listened to the power company since they were on low band, (37. something) then followed then to UHF (very fine system, I might add) and then I followed then to 900MHz. Now one part of the hobby is dying.

 

[SCPD]

wait.

to start I want to say I dont want to hear any "flameing"

am i right in saying that "Open Sky" is encrypted?

if this is true then why does a power company need to encrypt whose lights are off? operations around a power plant i can go along with , but normal operations?

i have listened to the power company since they were on low band, (37. something) then followed then to UHF (very fine system, I might add) and then I followed then to 900MHz. Now one part of the hobby is dying.

You may have to pump your scanner into the comouter now ,they may not be enc.
DSD+ is probably what you need (unless they encrypt)
I see Opensky on the rowster.
Digital Speech Decoder (software package) - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[RohnsRadio]

will give it a look when i get home today

very interesting...............
will have to look into this.

thank you

 

[n4yek]

You may have to pump your scanner into the comouter now ,they may not be enc.
DSD+ is probably what you need (unless they encrypt)
I see Opensky on the rowster.
Digital Speech Decoder (software package) - The RadioReference Wiki

DSD has a notation about Open Sky, but that's it.

DSD Plus is a different program with similar properties but does not have Open Sky options.

 

[KM4WLV]

There are a few reasons that Duke Energy went with OpenSky..........

The first and main one was that the old Motorola system was way beyond it's years and just like a lot of public safety systems out there replacement parts for the system and radios were becoming harder to get. Reason two is that with this system the radios can be used not only for voice traffic but data for the MDT's so it eliminates the need for a separate data radio/modem. There are plans in place to migrate data to the OpenSky radios.

The third and one of the bigger reasons they wanted a system like this is for security. Yes, who's power is out or where lines may be down aren't "sensitive" information, but electric utilities (just like other utilities) are considered mission critical these days. There is some traffic that doesn't need to be heard by the casual listeners, or those that may have ill intentions.

Is it perfect? Not by a long shot, but it does fit what Duke wanted and needed in a radio and data system overhaul.

 

[Drafin]

To answer the original poster's short question with a short answer, Open Sky does not necessarily mean encrypted. That being said , there is no out of the box scanner that can receive it. Others in this thread have expounded on the options available to monitoring options.

Draf

 

[DisasterGuy]

At its heart OpenSky is a data system (first customer FedEx for package tracking) that also supports voice. It is 4 slot TDMA and while it can support encryption is not itself encryption. There are many advantages to OpenSky for the right customer with realistic expectations and proper engineering.


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[RayAir]

OpenSky is 90% computer and 10% radio. OpenSky has optional AES encryption. Encryption is not by default.

Consider it proprietary digital. To my knowledge it is 4 level TDMA AMBE+2 vocoder, GMSK VoIP.

Every OpenSky radio has to be authenticated to the system before it will receive traffic. Every radio has an IP address, a log in ( manual or automatic) and a 10 digit ID
Ex- (010)-442-1235
The first three digits are for the area the radio operates in, the second three ID the agency or department and the last four are random.

All radio programming is done over the air.

The radios can have multiple profiles that are selectable. Each profile can have 16 channels. Ex profiles: Global ( wide area), N_OPS, S_OPS, W_OPS, etc.

When a user logs in to a radio, the radio downloads the TGs that are authorized for the user.

Of course, radios have GPS and can be located or bricked if lost or stolen.