Hawai'i County Radio System Upgrade

[scan18]

My analog scanner doesn't work anymore (of course). What should I buy now?
Cannot get used to not having my scanner.

Theoretically, any Phase 2 scanner should work. I am able to monitor the system using a Uniden BCD996P2 and a Home Patrol 2. I also have a Radio Shack Pro-668 that should be able to receive the system, but for some reason I am not getting anything on that one. It appears to be locking on the control channel, but no voice channels coming up at all. I even tried loading up the experimental WS1080 firmware and still nothing. Very odd.

 

[namrogorman]

I'll remember that day that my analog scanner went silent

 

[808djmkona]

Are you able to monitor at this time with a digital scanner if you got one. I am still uncertain if all frequencies are encrypted at this point

 

[namrogorman]

I'm in the same boat as you are. Thinking of buying a P25 phase 2 scanner but not sure if I can listen in. Member Scan18 says he can get some channels and they are not encrypted. I will monitor this forum for updates.

 

[pb808]

HPD scanner

we all are serious scanner users, otherwise we would not be subscribing to this forum.
can we find out if digital scanners work before we buy one?
if not, is the only way to monitor is to have a police radio?
if so, where can one buy it?

 

[pb808]

And here's the other thing. since it appears there are only 4 of us discussing this, can we talk to each other outside this page? Or is privacy a real issue? It's like our little club. I'd love to talk to you folks who have more knowledge than I do.

 

[allend]

From what I have gathered throughout the years Hawaii is not heavy or making encryption a big deal. Maui County upgraded to Phase II and there is some minor encryption once in a while but from monitoring it last year it was not a big deal. Kaui upgraded and is not using encryption and usually when a system is built out encryption is in full force right out of the gate.

Now if Honolulu decides to upgrade from EDACS Provice in the future they might use some encryption since its a big city and there might be a need for some talkgroups to be encrypted.

So as to The Big Island of Hawaii we can say that encryption most likely won't be used unless they might add a PD tactical or something to where they might want it secured.

The good thing with these system upgrades and moving to a state island upgrade is that the system coverage always gets better for the whole island. They use more sites that have been upgraded and use more point to point microwave which gives coverage to everybody. It's a win win for everybody.

 

[pb808]

Thank you! Of course, public safety and good communication are the most important things.

 

[DeDawg]

And here's the other thing. since it appears there are only 4 of us discussing this.

Lilely more like me reading and learning. I am waiting to see what is successful monitoring the new system before spending yet more money on radios.

The good thing may be, the elimination of the horribly overmodulated audio of the Kona channels. Painful to listen to. Their techs that maintained the system were incompetent as heck.

 

[namrogorman]

Theoretically, any Phase 2 scanner should work. I am able to monitor the system using a Uniden BCD996P2 and a Home Patrol 2. I also have a Radio Shack Pro-668 that should be able to receive the system, but for some reason I am not getting anything on that one. It appears to be locking on the control channel, but no voice channels coming up at all. I even tried loading up the experimental WS1080 firmware and still nothing. Very odd.

Hi scan18, did you get your pro-668 up and running?
Bidding on one on eBay and would like to know if it can pick up communications

 

[scan18]

Hi scan18, did you get your pro-668 up and running?

Bidding on one on eBay and would like to know if it can pick up communications

Unfortunately, I have not. it is very strange too because when they first started testing the system, I was able to pick up some voice activity on my Pro-668. But then all of a sudden, as testing started to increase, I would get nothing. I know the scanner itself is fine because I am able to receive the Maui Phase 2 system with no problem. The last time I was in Waimea, I tried the site up there too and nothing. I see it locking on the control channel and the T is blinking, but nothing is coming through. Like I've said, my Uniden BDC996P2 is having no problem at all receiving the system. I also recently picked up a Home Patrol 2 and that one works fine as well.



I've analyzed the properties of the system using Unitrunker and one thing I noticed is it says "No" next to "Data", "Voice", and "Authenticated". When I look at the Maui system and also the HIRIN statewide system, it says "Yes" next to those. It's kind of a long shot, but I wonder if this (or some other setting on the system itself that we have no control over) is preventing the Pro-668 from recognizing the system.



I'd be interested to see if someone with a Whistler TRX-1 or TRX-2 is able to pick up the system. I'm not buying another radio just to find out.

EDIT: Just wanted to add, if anyone does pick up a Pro-668 and is able to monitor the system, please let me know. That way Ill know it's something on my end I'm doing wrong, which certainly may be the case.

 

[namrogorman]

Thanks scan18. I'm going to buy a BDC996P2 which are on ebay and Amazon for about $350. I'm having scanner withdraws.

 

[SCPD]

I have a Whistler 1088 and Home Patrol - 2, the HP-2 works no problem while in Hilo, but the Whistler 1088 just took an ordeal for it to receive traffic while I was Hilo. Drove the Hamakua Coast and receiving traffic no problem from HFD and PD, after I hit Waimea. Just went silent, HP-2 and 1088 showed T locked on to the control, but nothing was being picked up all the way into Kona, even around Kona nothing as well on both HP-2 and 1088. Anyone else in Kona, having the same problem around the west side of the island with either a Uniden or Whistler?

I spoke with a friend who is radio technician on Maui coming over to the island, he was going to look into it and check my scanner settings to see what is going on while on the island.

Also Mahalo, to those updating the Talkgroups for Hawaii County, really helped me out a lot while in Hilo. I'll hopefully be able to provide details on the Kailua-Kona side soon.

 

[scan18]

I have a Whistler 1088 and Home Patrol - 2, the HP-2 works no problem while in Hilo, but the Whistler 1088 just took an ordeal for it to receive traffic while I was Hilo. Drove the Hamakua Coast and receiving traffic no problem from HFD and PD, after I hit Waimea. Just went silent, HP-2 and 1088 showed T locked on to the control, but nothing was being picked up all the way into Kona, even around Kona nothing as well on both HP-2 and 1088. Anyone else in Kona, having the same problem around the west side of the island with either a Uniden or Whistler?

I spoke with a friend who is radio technician on Maui coming over to the island, he was going to look into it and check my scanner settings to see what is going on while on the island.

Also Mahalo, to those updating the Talkgroups for Hawaii County, really helped me out a lot while in Hilo. I'll hopefully be able to provide details on the Kailua-Kona side soon.

Thanks for the info, Bagdeppa... just curious, did you manually add the sites on the Kona side into your WS1088 and HP-2? I ask because the Kona side sites are not currently in the RR database, so if you are using the sites directly from the full database then that may be why you are not picking up anything on the Kona side. If so, you would need to add those sites manually, the frequencies are in the Misc. Notes section.

Interesting, so it sounds like you are having at least some success in picking up the system with your Whistler. I need to get all the sites programmed into my Pro-668 and do some driving to see if I can pick anything up closer to Hilo and/or Kona. So far I've only been able to test using the Honoka'a and Waimea sites.

 

[namrogorman]

Some info from Pro96Com and Site NAC's.
Quickly logging from the large cruise ship that's in Hilo Port

____________________________________________________________________________________
-TowerInfo
System ID : 855
WACN : BEE00
Tower Number (Decimal): 1-1
Tower Number (Hex) : T0101
Control Capabilities : Data,Voice,Registration
Flavor : Phase 2
Call Sign(s) : WQVN651
Timestamp : Sat Mar 18 15:48:39 2017
SITE NAC:851

-Tables
#Format: Table ID,Base Freq,Spacing,Input Offset,Assumed/Confirmed,BandWidth,Slots
04,145.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
05,155.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
06,165.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
07,145.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
08,150.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
09,155.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
10,160.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
11,165.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2

-Frequencies
#Format: Channel,Usage,Frequency(/Slot),Input Channel,Input Frequency(/Slot),Input Explicit(1/0),Hit Count
"04-2407","i",151.01750,"04-2407",151.01750,0,1
"04-2494","c",151.23500,"05-1624",159.06000,1,0
"05-0235","a",155.58750,"05-1762",159.40500,1,0
"08-0814","v",151.01750/0,"09-3200",159.00000/0,1,12
"08-0815","v",151.01750/1,"09-3201",159.00000/1,1,9
"09-0470","v",155.58750/0,"09-3524",159.40500/0,1,2
"09-0471","v",155.58750/1,"09-3525",159.40500/1,1,1

-Neighbors
#Format: TowerID,TowerIDHex,System ID,Channel,Frequency
105,"T0105",855,"05-0466",156.16500
106,"T0106",855,"04-2578",151.44500
107,"T0107",855,"04-2569",151.42250
111,"T010B",855,"05-0445",156.11250

_____________________________________________________________________________________

FileVersion:8
-TowerInfo
System ID : 855
WACN : BEE00
Tower Number (Decimal): 1-5
Tower Number (Hex) : T0105
Control Capabilities : Data,Voice,Registration
Flavor : Phase 2
Call Sign(s) : WQWG875
Timestamp : Sat Mar 18 16:46:31 2017
SITE NAC: 855

-Tables
#Format: Table ID,Base Freq,Spacing,Input Offset,Assumed/Confirmed,BandWidth,Slots
04,145.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
05,155.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
06,165.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
07,145.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
08,150.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
09,155.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
10,160.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
11,165.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2

-Frequencies
#Format: Channel,Usage,Frequency(/Slot),Input Channel,Input Frequency(/Slot),Input Explicit(1/0),Hit Count
"05-0085","di",155.21250,"05-0085",155.21250,0,1
"05-0151","ad",155.37750,"05-1654",159.13500,1,0
"05-0229","ad",155.57250,"05-1636",159.09000,1,0
"05-0466","c",156.16500,"05-1732",159.33000,1,0
"09-0170","v",155.21250/0,"09-3050",158.81250/0,1,6
"09-0171","v",155.21250/1,"09-3051",158.81250/1,1,6
"09-0302","v",155.37750/0,"09-3308",159.13500/0,1,2
"09-0458","v",155.57250/0,"09-3272",159.09000/0,1,45
"09-0459","v",155.57250/1,"09-3273",159.09000/1,1,44

-Neighbors
#Format: TowerID,TowerIDHex,System ID,Channel,Frequency
101,"T0101",855,"04-2494",151.23500
106,"T0106",855,"04-2578",151.44500
111,"T010B",855,"05-0445",156.11250

_______________________________________________________________________________

FileVersion:8
-TowerInfo
System ID : 855
WACN : BEE00
Tower Number (Decimal): 1-6
Tower Number (Hex) : T0106
Control Capabilities : Data,Voice,Registration
Flavor : Phase 2
Call Sign(s) :
Timestamp : Sat Mar 18 17:55:40 2017
SITE NAC: 856

-Tables
#Format: Table ID,Base Freq,Spacing,Input Offset,Assumed/Confirmed,BandWidth,Slots
04,145.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
05,155.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
06,165.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
07,145.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
08,150.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
09,155.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
10,160.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
11,165.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2

-Frequencies
#Format: Channel,Usage,Frequency(/Slot),Input Channel,Input Frequency(/Slot),Input Explicit(1/0),Hit Count
"04-2518","a",151.29500,"05-1718",159.29500,1,0
"04-2578","c",151.44500,"05-1780",159.45000,1,0
"08-0868","v",151.08500/0,"08-0868",151.08500/0,0,2
"08-0869","v",151.08500/1,"09-3009",158.76000/1,1,1

-Neighbors
#Format: TowerID,TowerIDHex,System ID,Channel,Frequency
101,"T0101",855,"04-2494",151.23500
105,"T0105",855,"05-0466",156.16500
108,"T0108",855,"05-0160",155.40000
111,"T010B",855,"05-0445",156.11250
112,"T010C",855,"05-0208",155.52000

_____________________________________________________________________________

FileVersion:8
-TowerInfo
System ID : 855
WACN : BEE00
Tower Number (Decimal): 1-7
Tower Number (Hex) : T0107
Control Capabilities : Data,Voice,Registration
Flavor : Phase 2
Call Sign(s) : WQVQ892
Timestamp : Sat Mar 18 17:13:48 2017
SITE NAC: 857

-Tables
#Format: Table ID,Base Freq,Spacing,Input Offset,Assumed/Confirmed,BandWidth,Slots
04,145.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
05,155.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
06,165.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
07,145.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
08,150.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
09,155.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
10,160.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
11,165.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2

-Frequencies
#Format: Channel,Usage,Frequency(/Slot),Input Channel,Input Frequency(/Slot),Input Explicit(1/0),Hit Count
"04-2446","di",151.11500,"04-2446",151.11500,0,1
"04-2506","a",151.26500,"04-3547",153.86750,1,0
"04-2569","c",151.42250,"04-3610",154.02500,1,0
"08-0892","v",151.11500/0,"08-3028",153.78500/0,1,3
"08-0893","v",151.11500/1,"08-3029",153.78500/1,1,2

-Neighbors
#Format: TowerID,TowerIDHex,System ID,Channel,Frequency
101,"T0101",855,"04-2494",151.23500
104,"T0104",855,"04-2563",151.40750
108,"T0108",855,"05-0160",155.40000
116,"T0110",855,"05-0442",156.10500
___________________________________________________________________________________

FileVersion:8
-TowerInfo
System ID : 855
WACN : BEE00
Tower Number (Decimal): 1-11
Tower Number (Hex) : T010B
Control Capabilities : Data,Voice,Registration
Flavor : Phase 2
Call Sign(s) : WQWE527
Timestamp : Sat Mar 18 18:13:46 2017
SITE NAC: 85B

-Tables
#Format: Table ID,Base Freq,Spacing,Input Offset,Assumed/Confirmed,BandWidth,Slots
04,145.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
05,155.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
06,165.00000,0.00250,0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,1
07,145.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
08,150.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
09,155.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
10,160.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2
11,165.00000,0.00250,-0.00000,"Confirmed",0.01250,2

-Frequencies
#Format: Channel,Usage,Frequency(/Slot),Input Channel,Input Frequency(/Slot),Input Explicit(1/0),Hit Count
"05-0091","i",155.22750,"05-0091",155.22750,0,1
"05-0145","a",155.36250,"05-1606",159.01500,1,0
"05-0250","ad",155.62500,"05-1693",159.23250,1,0
"05-0445","c",156.11250,"05-1537",158.84250,1,0
"09-0182","v",155.22750/0,"09-3500",159.37500/0,1,1
"09-0500","v",155.62500/0,"09-3386",159.23250/0,1,2
"09-0501","v",155.62500/1,"09-3387",159.23250/1,1,1

-Neighbors
#Format: TowerID,TowerIDHex,System ID,Channel,Frequency
101,"T0101",855,"04-2494",151.23500
105,"T0105",855,"05-0466",156.16500
106,"T0106",855,"04-2578",151.44500
113,"T010D",855,"04-2482",151.20500
__________________________________________________________

If it is not too much trouble can you add the tower info for the following call signs to complete the Big Island list?
Pahoa WQWB398
Kamuela WQVW513
Kailua WQVS330
Captain Cook WQWH841
Ocean View WQVR841
South Point WQWD759
Naalehu WQWC582

 

[SCPD]

Thanks for the info, Bagdeppa... just curious, did you manually add the sites on the Kona side into your WS1088 and HP-2? I ask because the Kona side sites are not currently in the RR database, so if you are using the sites directly from the full database then that may be why you are not picking up anything on the Kona side. If so, you would need to add those sites manually, the frequencies are in the Misc. Notes section.

Interesting, so it sounds like you are having at least some success in picking up the system with your Whistler. I need to get all the sites programmed into my Pro-668 and do some driving to see if I can pick anything up closer to Hilo and/or Kona. So far I've only been able to test using the Honoka'a and Waimea sites.

Thanks Scan 18, let me try entering it in manually entering the sites from the misc. section and see what I come up with. Hopefully that may solve my problem for both scanners and get at least something, I might put a wildcard on the system to see what I come up with on my Whistler. I'm still trying to figure why Hawaii County system is a little more complicated than Maui County system. I picked up Maui County Phase 2 no problem while in Waimea earlier today and yet our county system is not picking up. I'll keep everyone in the loop if I get any hits on West Hawaii TGID for HFD and PD soon.

 

[ccs247]

If it is not too much trouble can you add the tower info for the following call signs to complete the Big Island list?
Pahoa WQWB398
Kamuela WQVW513
Kailua WQVS330
Captain Cook WQWH841
Ocean View WQVR841
South Point WQWD759
Naalehu WQWC582

The Pahoa and Hawaiian Ocean View Estates sites are still under construction. The FCC has granted an extension till 7/31/17.

 

[pb808]

Hawaii County scanner

I contacted Scanner Master since they are sponsoring this site. Put my name on the waiting list for a pre-programmed digital trunking scanner. Rich has 7 of us from Hawaii County on the call list so far. If you know how to program a scanner, you can buy one now. So far, they have 6 talk groups programs but at least 100 more will be available in about 2 weeks. I am going to wait for a pre-programmed one since I don't know how to program.

 

[ccs247]

FYI, there are at least 42 talk groups in this system. The 6100 series are law enforcement and 6500 series are fire. It will be awhile before talk group usage can be verified.

 

[scan18]

This afternoon there was an incident near Waipio Valley, and fire control patched in the Hamakua talk group (6502) to talk group 6509 which they referred to as "Special Ops". I've submitted that one to the database.