Georgia Forestry Commission P25?

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KF4ZMB

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I have recently moved back in to the Northwest Georgia area and have noticed on the Georgia Forestry Commission 159.225 frequency I am only hearing what sounds like possibly P25 transmissions. I do not currently own a P25 compatible scanner (hope to get one soon after Christmas), so I can not verify that this is what this is.

I did find the following article online (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps6712/ps6718/prod_case_study0900aecd8064dcd8.pdf) concerning a Cisco IPICS system, but being completely new to the world of digital scanning (although I have monitored analog for years and have actually dispatched on a digital system) I am not sure if this is P25 or some other system entirely.

Can anyone shed some light on this situation?

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Christian KF4ZMB
 

mrwilson706

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Very interesting, I'll have to enter some frequencies into the scanner to check it out! ButchGone's got the right idea.


I don't see how the IPICS could be Project 25, I think it's just an interop gateway to leverage existing Cisco infrastructure- at least that's what I remember when it was demoed to us.

I had Cisco pitch that system to us 3+ years ago, It leverages existing Cisco unified communications (Cisco VoIP) and their Interoperability server to manage talkgroups across analog/digital platforms. Soft radios, existing analog radios and Cisco 79xx series phones at the time. I believe the demo truck was a Ford Explorer, with a satellite mounted on the roof for connectivity. The rear cargo area had an interoperability server, Call Manager server and a layer 3 switch. Pitched as great for incident management but I guess they've found other uses as well.

I wonder if GTA had them purchase Cisco UC at the the same time and deployed phones? Or did they already have the phones which made the IPICS purchase and Smartnet (warranty) a little easier to swallow.

Thanks for the post, maybe we'll hunt this thing down and get some answers.
 

KF4ZMB

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I heard this on 159.225 MHz WNLZ670 which shows to be the Georgia Forestry Commission District 1 repeater. In times past (about 5 years ago before I moved off) I was able to hear voice on this frequency concerning Chattooga, Walker, and Catoosa Counties.

Thanks for the replies and for the information you were able to provide mrwilson706. I know while working in Florida I had read an article for public safety dispatchers (I was a 911 Operator in Central Florida at the time) concerning Georgia Forestry Commission stating that its dispatch functions were handled from Macon, Georgia. I can not remember what magazine/journal that was in however.

Thanks again,
Christian KF4ZMB
 

KF4ZMB

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Yesterday for Christmas I got a PRO-106 so I have now placed the Georgia Forestry Commission channels in it as P25. I will post here if I get audio that way and if so what NAC is used.

Christian KF4ZMB
 

KF4ZMB

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159.225 Additional

Today I heard 159.225 (Georgia Forestry Commission Repeater) transmitting in plain FM on the "Chattooga County Repeater" (assuming this is the Summerville Repeater) using a PL tone of 110.9 Hz. This is the first audio I have heard on this channel since adding it in to my new PRO-106. I also heard "Macon Dispatch" calling a Bartow County unit on 159.390 today while I was in Rome Georgia. Due to the fact that I was driving I was unable to see if a PL tone was being used. I could only hear "Macon Dispatch's" side of the transmission, but did hear him refer to calling them on the "Coosa West Tower".

Prior to getting a PRO-106 I did hear what sounded like P25 audio (and have had others say they have heard the same); however, since getting a P25 scanner I have heard very little traffic on ANY of the Forestry frequencies before today.

I assume (although I can not prove it yet) that all the different repeaters on the 159.225 frequency use different PL tones. I will post additional PL tones if/when I am able to obtain them.

Christian KF4ZMB
 

ButchGone

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Today heard analog traffic mixed with data burst noise. Sounded like the repeater alternated between analog and digital modes. This was 159.225 into Chattanooga. Was listening on analog only radio so couldn't tell if it was p25 or something else.
And it wasn't just the local repeater because other more distant repeaters keyed too and did same thing.
BG..
 

KF4ZMB

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I have also heard what sounds like digital transmissions again on the 159.225 recently as well. I also, sadly, was not with my PRO-106 when I heard it so I was unable to confirm if it was P25 and if so who was communicating. Hopefully I will be able to provide better information soon.

Christian KF4ZMB
 
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