"EDACS" systems around here?

Status
Not open for further replies.

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
I was wondering since my BCD996P2 receives a few different modes, are there any "EDACS" systems that might be of interest to scan? I have P25, LTR systems but don't know anything about EDACS except you have to program the frequencies in "LCN" logical channel order" (number).
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
Only if you want to come to the Boston area. The last active EDACS system in this area is the MBTA. That said, the audio is Pro Voice digital and you'd need to buy that upgrade if it's even available for the P2.

Hartford is close to phasing out their system, it has very little traffic on it. Eventually, I think the plan is for them to migrate to the CT statewide trunk.

Worcester and Manchester abandoned EDACS some years ago and those systems are shut down.

EDACS technology is hopelessly outdated so you won't see any new systems on it and I think that Harris is no longer providing support for it.
 

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
Only if you want to come to the Boston area. The last active EDACS system in this area is the MBTA. That said, the audio is Pro Voice digital and you'd need to buy that upgrade if it's even available for the P2.

Hartford is close to phasing out their system, it has very little traffic on it. Eventually, I think the plan is for them to migrate to the CT statewide trunk.

Worcester and Manchester abandoned EDACS some years ago and those systems are shut down.

EDACS technology is hopelessly outdated so you won't see any new systems on it and I think that Harris is no longer providing support for it.
Hahahahaha damn. How come Uniden still includes that mode in it's scanners seeing that EDACS is being phased out? I dont know of Pro Voice Digital is used in my area. I am in cranston RI. Or DMR either.
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
There is no Pro Voice because there is no EDACS. The two are tied together. There is DMR in Rhode Island, but there may not be anything of interest to you.

Why does Uniden include EDACS? Likely because they long ago paid for the right to use the software to decode it. That was developed in the mid 1980s, so essentially it's free.
 

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
There is no Pro Voice because there is no EDACS. The two are tied together. There is DMR in Rhode Island, but there may not be anything of interest to you.

Why does Uniden include EDACS? Likely because they long ago paid for the right to use the software to decode it. That was developed in the mid 1980s, so essentially it's free.
OK so then those upgrades for my radio aren't worthwhile except for maybe NXDN??? Not sure if anyone is using that around here either.
 

GTR8000

NY/NJ Database Guy
Database Admin
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
15,417
Location
BEE00
Hahahahaha damn. How come Uniden still includes that mode in it's scanners seeing that EDACS is being phased out?
Because the term "being phased out" can be pretty subjective, and it often takes many years for some of these older systems to finally die off. Harris stopped supporting EDACS systems as of the end of 2017, but there are still at least 100 active EDACS systems on the air all across the country. Motorola stopped supporting 3600 SmartNet systems many years ago, and 3600 SmartZone systems also around 2017, and yet there are hundreds of those systems still on the air with no end in sight. Many agencies simply do not have the funding to migrate to P25 systems, and so they do whatever they can to keep these old systems alive and kicking.

Just because there is no EDACS left in your neck of the woods doesn't mean it's extinct everywhere. It doesn't cost Uniden or Whistler anything to keep including those older protocols, they were licensed decades ago, and so you'll see them even on the very latest designs. Heck, Uniden still puts X2-TDMA in the SDS series scanners, and Motorola dumped that in 2011 when the official Phase II spec was adopted by the TIA. There are no X2-TDMA systems left in existence, but the protocol (unfortunately) remains in the scanner.
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
There's a fair amount of NXDN and a lot more DMR in use in the northeast. Not much of it is public safety, it's mostly commercial traffic like Foxwoods, Plainridge, Gillette, as well as some SMR repeater systems.

For digital, most public safety agencies use P25 of some sort. There are a few public safety agencies that wanted digital but didn't have the funding for P25, so they use DMR.




I believe Foxwoods casino is now using NXDN.
 

jperuta

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Messages
228
Location
Wethersfield CT
Hartford Connecticut is EDACS. Fire, DPW, Schools, and PD still on it. System is 32 years old, HFD is simulcasting on 6 800 MHZ digital channels. As well as 154.3100. Hartford has been talking about replacing, its slow moving, they are weighing their options.
 

cg

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 13, 2000
Messages
4,575
Location
Connecticut
Correct on Foxwoods, it is a 4 site NXDN trunked system.

Since you are in an area where the majority of the public safety traffic is on the P25 RISCON system, you don't have the challenges of other areas. It the Hartford/Springfield area where I am, we have public safety on analog, DMR CON+, DMR conventional, EDACS, P25 Conventional, P25 TRS (phase 1 and/or Phase 2), LTR, and Passport TRS.

Hartford is as broke as any of the other New England cities. With the crazy spending in the COVID pandemic, it may be a bit before you see a new system. I would expect a huge reduction in large projects for the next few years.

chris
 

OceanNora

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2016
Messages
130
Re: DMR, a few of the colleges and hospitals use DMR (JWU, RISD, RWU if you go down that way) so if those are things that interest you the DMR upgrade may be worth your while.
 

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
Re: DMR, a few of the colleges and hospitals use DMR (JWU, RISD, RWU if you go down that way) so if those are things that interest you the DMR upgrade may be worth your while.
I have been monitoring a few different hospitals like Kent, RI Hosp, and Butler on the UHF freqs they use. The only college I hear is JWU in RISCON. So in my case prob not worth upgrading yet.
 

oilmillcharlie

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
325
Location
Southern RI
Correct on Foxwoods, it is a 4 site NXDN trunked system.

Since you are in an area where the majority of the public safety traffic is on the P25 RISCON system, you don't have the challenges of other areas. It the Hartford/Springfield area where I am, we have public safety on analog, DMR CON+, DMR conventional, EDACS, P25 Conventional, P25 TRS (phase 1 and/or Phase 2), LTR, and Passport TRS.

Hartford is as broke as any of the other New England cities. With the crazy spending in the COVID pandemic, it may be a bit before you see a new system. I would expect a huge reduction in large projects for the next few years.

chris
Many holes in the RISCON system. That's why there are putting up a new tower at the Charlestown PD on Route one. Also big gap in the NWS broadcast system.
 

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
Many holes in the RISCON system. That's why there are putting up a new tower at the Charlestown PD on Route one. Also big gap in the NWS broadcast system.
Yes I am finding it very difficult to organize my radio. I am wondering why in Freescan the options as to where to store what in what system is very limited. For example I put all the North, South and Providence (city) systems in their own separate "bank". But where would you put all those miscellaneous things like Ripta, the DEM, all other NON PD & FD things? I ended up just loading them into the Providence (city) system. Well I guess since Freescan isn't being updated anymore the choices are few. I guess you could CREATE a NEW system for all the Misc. stuff? I am gonna experiment with it. I am wondering if another software is better organized to use for this type of scanning? I am checking out Proscan but not sure of it yet.
 

ProScan

Software Provider
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
7,409
Location
Ontario, Calif.
Yes I am finding it very difficult to organize my radio. I am wondering why in Freescan the options as to where to store what in what system is very limited. For example I put all the North, South and Providence (city) systems in their own separate "bank". But where would you put all those miscellaneous things like Ripta, the DEM, all other NON PD & FD things? I ended up just loading them into the Providence (city) system. Well I guess since Freescan isn't being updated anymore the choices are few. I guess you could CREATE a NEW system for all the Misc. stuff? I am gonna experiment with it. I am wondering if another software is better organized to use for this type of scanning? I am checking out Proscan but not sure of it yet.
All software for DMA scanners organizes the Systems, Groups, Sites, & Channels the same way. We all follow the Uniden DMA hierarchy structure. Freescan uses the same Uniden DMA hierarchy structure. It's true that it's not currently being updated but that has nothing to do with the organization. What ProScan has over Freescan is the ability to Drag & Drop nodes making it slightly easier to organize.
And what are you not sure of ProScan yet?
 

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
All software for DMA scanners organizes the Systems, Groups, Sites, & Channels the same way. We all follow the Uniden DMA hierarchy structure. Freescan uses the same Uniden DMA hierarchy structure. It's true that it's not currently being updated but that has nothing to do with the organization. What ProScan has over Freescan is the ability to Drag & Drop nodes making it slightly easier to organize.
And what are you not sure of ProScan yet?
OK thank you....but I still don't understand why when you run Freescan, on the left side of screen in the program, when its set for "Rhode Island" (my State) for example......you see 4 "systems" North Simulcast, East Simulcast, Providence City Simulcast & South Simulcast.
And on the right hand side of page is all the towns in Rhode Island as well as a bunch of other departments like DEM, State Police, Statewide mutual aide etc et......
So my issue from day one has been what items from the RIGHT do you put in the systems on the LEFT? There is no clear definition of what TOWNS go in what place.....and especially all the NON TOWN things like college security, busses, DEM, etc.
So what I have been doing is putting all the TOWNS in the NORTHERN part of state in the NORTH system, all the towns in the SOUTHERN part of state in the SOUTH system, and Providence (city) and everything else in the PROVIDENCE system. (I dont use the EAST system, can't get it from here) What I am trying to say is how can you program the radio precisely when there is no clear cut explanation of WHERE to put the items on the right, into the items on the LEFT? You would think for example if you wanted to program the NORTH zone into your scanner, the program would ALREADY HAVE the proper towns & data for that NORTH zone! Same would apply to any other systems you want to program. In other words, what do they consider NORTH from SOUTH from PROVIDENCE?
I can program the radio via Freescan with no problem and it does work ok but it's the confusion of differentiaing where to put items from right to the places on left accurately.
 

Attachments

  • 1.JPG
    1.JPG
    14.9 KB · Views: 7
  • 2.JPG
    2.JPG
    22.4 KB · Views: 7

ProScan

Software Provider
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
7,409
Location
Ontario, Calif.
I think what you are looking for is the organization already done. That's not a Freescan issue. It's up to you on how you want to organize. No one will have the same exact requirements. Also, later you may want to reorganize. If you're not monitoring East Simulcast then just delete it.
 

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
I think what you are looking for is the organization already done. That's not a Freescan issue. It's up to you on how you want to organize. No one will have the same exact requirements. Also, later you may want to reorganize. If you're not monitoring East Simulcast then just delete it.
OK thats fine, I don't use the EAST zone, but the program doesnt care if you program a town in the SOUTH part of state into the NORTH system? This is what I don't understand. Because you have to pick items from the list on the right side in Freescan and assign them to the 4 "folders" on the left side list. It is confusing because how do you know what goes where? Sorry to sound redundant and stupid but I still don't see how this is already organized! For example where do you put things like "DEM, EMA, Busses, etc" in which zone? Or it doesnt matter WHERE you put them?
 

ProScan

Software Provider
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
7,409
Location
Ontario, Calif.
OK thats fine, I don't use the EAST zone, but the program doesnt care if you program a town in the SOUTH part of state into the NORTH system? This is what I don't understand. Because you have to pick items from the list on the right side in Freescan and assign them to the 4 "folders" on the left side list. It is confusing because how do you know what goes where? Sorry to sound redundant and stupid but I still don't see how this is already organized! For example where do you put things like "DEM, EMA, Busses, etc" in which zone? Or it doesnt matter WHERE you put them?
You can make a new group in the same system and name it "Misc" (or whatever). Put "DEM, EMA, Busses, etc" in that group.
 

bobruzzo

W1AV
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2019
Messages
1,414
Location
Cranston, Rhode Island
You can make a new group in the same system and name it "Misc" (or whatever). Put "DEM, EMA, Busses, etc" in that group.
OK I got it but you can't create a new SYSTEM called "Misc" or whatever. I tried but in Freescan, you can't edit the System fields on the left like adding a new one of your own.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top