End of Public Access to Scanner Access of Public Safety Freqs

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Mmiyaki

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"Dr. James Ireland, director of the city Department of Emergency Services, said the agency has received no complaints from the public about access to its radio communications."

I think we need to change that.
 

fuhwurd

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The End is Near:

Update to Encrypted system nearly complete

I am all for an updated and more efficient system with improved coverage, but hiding behind encryption is just one more lost layer of transparency...
It really sucks on how they decided to do that. On the bright side theres another P25 system that can be listened to which is the PACMERS P25 P1 system. It's partially encrypted but fortunately, most of the transmissions are clear.
 

scan18

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Some of the comments in that article seem a little odd to me. It says that all someone needs to listen to Kauai PD is low cost hardware or a phone app. And the Councilmember says she “knows a lot of people in the community” and is surprised at how people can currently listen in easily.

Really? I don’t think there is even a public feed for Kaui is there? And if not, so she knows a lot of people in the community hunched over their Raspberry Pi’s and SDR dongles (i.e, low cost hardware) feverishly trying to tune in to Kauai PD? Yeah, ok.

Not to say there aren’t some hobbyists on Kauai, I’m sure there are. But I have a hard time believing that Kauai has a current problem with criminals listening in. Maybe I’m wrong, who knows.
 

David628

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Their not hiding anything. And all radio and bodycam footage is FOIA’able. I wrote to a media source here in our area where our PD encrypted and he said traffic is normal as usual. Denver media also has access to DPD encrypted dispatch channels. As expected DPD traffic is normal, no coverups or conspiracy’s happening there either. Sucks to lose it but move on. You have awesome beach’s btw. I’d rather be in Hawaii snorkeling.
 

ShyFlyer

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Their not hiding anything.
Well, yes they are, but it's not some cloak and dagger conspiracy either (as you noted later in your post).

Let me explain. When an agency encrypts, they sell the act as securing their operations against "bad actors" that could/would use the radio traffic to gain a tactical advantage over the agency. While true, to an extent, routine dispatch traffic rarely gives that advantage to "bad actors" so long as agency practice is to move "hot calls" off of primary dispatch to a secondary, secure, channel. This is simple to do, yet many agencies fail to do it (many reasons). The real reason is to keep radio traffic out of the hands of the public for as long as possible in the event the agency's actions are called into question, which in today's climate, is an absolute certainty.


...all radio and bodycam footage is FOIA’able
This is true, and an important point to keep in mind. However, with FOIA requests, the agency whose actions are being called into question can, and will, take as long as it possibly can to release such information. How long depends on how...skilled...their legal eagles are at holding up the process.


As expected DPD traffic is normal, no coverups or conspiracy’s happening there either.
Another important point. Agencies that have gone totally dark (as a few I'm personally familiar with) aren't suddenly in the business of subverting the Constitutional rights of citizens nor preparing for the rein of the Dark Lord of the Sith. They are simply trying to secure their operations and it's much easier to just encrypt everything than pick and choose which channels to leave open, which to encrypt. The people making these decisions are at the Command Staff level, know little about radios beyond how to operate them, and have "bigger fish to fry."

Locking out the public, however, is one of hundreds of tiny steps in that direction. In other words, death by a thousand paper cuts. Total encryption isn't the end of the world, but it's not something to just shrug off either.
 

fuhwurd

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The End is Near:

Update to Encrypted system nearly complete

I am all for an updated and more efficient system with improved coverage, but hiding behind encryption is just one more lost layer of transparency...

The end has finally begun. HPD barely talks on the legacy EDACS system. Only transit groups, DLNR, zoo and refuse service are still on the legacy system.
 

himages

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you got that right N361HA....to be techy correct, just after 6pm yesterday evening. I had my harris p7200 on as well as my sds100 "doorstop" on and just after 6....HPD went cold with ALL channels/districts. I went home to reset both rigs and charge up my p7200....nadas. Its also affecting the IPN (incident paging network) guys too....If we do see the news networks and SA covering breaking news, then they must have got legal access to radios to send their teams.
 

fuhwurd

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you got that right N361HA....to be techy correct, just after 6pm yesterday evening. I had my harris p7200 on as well as my sds100 "doorstop" on and just after 6....HPD went cold with ALL channels/districts. I went home to reset both rigs and charge up my p7200....nadas. Its also affecting the IPN (incident paging network) guys too....If we do see the news networks and SA covering breaking news, then they must have got legal access to radios to send their teams.
they just went back from being dead for some reason
 

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himages

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what do you mean? I have my sds and harris on and nadas....no transmissions, unless that screen grab of yours is from the computer which I am not that techy yet....
 

fuhwurd

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what do you mean? I have my sds and harris on and nadas....no transmissions, unless that screen grab of yours is from the computer which I am not that techy yet....
oh im using an SDR to scan the system, also using it to scan the PACMERS P25 TRS system

im scanning the Metro Simulcast site
 

himages

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SDR....is it easy to "install" on the computer or do I need to be tech savy? I also heard someone mention to me about that SDR thing. With that system, can you pick up HPD, HFD and EMS? sorry....still learning the operation of my sds100....aint selling it yet just in case a hurricane decides to give HI a "scare" again.....
 

himages

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would you mind if you can tell me what SDR you have? no worries...not cop, not fcc, and definetely not city/state comm workers. btw, even IPN dispatch is only picking up calls from EMS. there are no HFD calls being logged on unless EMS calls for "co-response".
 

fuhwurd

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would you mind if you can tell me what SDR you have? no worries...not cop, not fcc, and definetely not city/state comm workers. btw, even IPN dispatch is only picking up calls from EMS. there are no HFD calls being logged on unless EMS calls for "co-response".
im using the RTL-SDR, pretty easy to install, all you need is Zadig to replace the drivers that are on the USB and software like SDRTrunk which is great for scanning P25 TRS or Unitrunker which is what I use to scan the legacy EDACS TRS.
 

himages

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btw....dunno what happened but HPD is back to provoice (with both my sds and harris p7200) so maybe they were "testing the new system out" before taking the entire plunge. there is a gentleman on youtube that shows how to do the same similar procedure with the computer laptop, only thing he uses his android phone! maybe you can google "RTL SDR and android and see his vid. I probably hate leaving a laptop in my car just to "scan hpd, ems, hfd".......I reside close to the kalihi area so you probably know what i mean!
 

himages

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im using the RTL-SDR, pretty easy to install, all you need is Zadig to replace the drivers that are on the USB and software like SDRTrunk which is great for scanning P25 TRS or Unitrunker which is what I use to scan the legacy EDACS TRS.
do you receive dispatch calls from HFD as well? EMS is ok but my primary is HFD.
 

fuhwurd

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do you receive dispatch calls from HFD as well? EMS is ok but my primary is HFD.
actually sometimes but rarely, they transmit on the HFD talkgroups but, ocean safety/ems/hfd sometimes talk on the 4 interop talkgroups. I've also seen that video before of the guy using his phone as an SDR receiver but i don't think SDRTrunk nor Unitrunker would run on that. also, you can leave the laptop home running some broadcasting software, maybe using zello as your own private broadcasting service (would recommend instead of setting up a broadcastify stream) and then connect your phone or anything you use to the zello stream without having the risk of your laptop being stolen. did that multiple times but I usually bring the laptop and SDR with me whenever i go out.



Screenshot 2021-07-21 093533.png

this is what SDRTrunk looks like, displays information of the control channel and what its doing but most importantly it receives and decodes the digital calls
 

fuhwurd

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Honolulu Ocean Safety and HFD is active sometimes on the EDACS System but they use the INTEROP 1 Talkgroup via crosspatch.
 
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