Heath,Ohio Police Dept.

[LiberaFan08]

According to our local paper,the Heath police will be going to a new digital system on Friday (6-06-08) and some transmissions may be encrypted. I have not seen the new frequencies on this website and right now I am not sure where to do next. Can anyone help? I have a 396T and a 996T and have done all of the programming myself (using only the keypad!). I am very adept at programming these radios but I still need those frequencies.

 

[steveh552]

According to our local paper,the Heath police will be going to a new digital system on Friday (6-06-08) and some transmissions may be encrypted. I have not seen the new frequencies on this website and right now I am not sure where to do next. Can anyone help? I have a 396T and a 996T and have done all of the programming myself (using only the keypad!). I am very adept at programming these radios but I still need those frequencies.

I did not see the artical, but it does not suprise me. I have a feeling Newark will be doing the same thing as well, I am starting to see the smaller digital antennas on a couple cruisers, so maybe they are testing, who knows.

 

[wa8pyr]

According to our local paper,the Heath police will be going to a new digital system on Friday (6-06-08) and some transmissions may be encrypted. I have not seen the new frequencies on this website and right now I am not sure where to do next. Can anyone help? I have a 396T and a 996T and have done all of the programming myself (using only the keypad!). I am very adept at programming these radios but I still need those frequencies.

They're using the existing frequencies, just a new system.

 

[Highpockets]

They're using the existing frequencies, just a new system.

Look at the fcc site, they may have dropped the first frequency.

 

[steveh552]

Is fire also going digital?

 

[ibagli]

I would assume so since they're on the old system. I hope it's not actually encrypted though and it's just the Chief thinking that digital is the same thing.

It seems like the Heath PD is on the Licking County EMA frequency (155.775) until then, though. At least it is this morning. Fire's been on both the trunked system and low band (not just for dispatches) for a few days.

Edit: Here's the article for anyone interested.

 

[steveh552]

glad you posted the link, I had been looking at the advocate trying to see if i could find it, of course it wont be published there until a year from now.

 

[-SVGA-]

Is fire also going digital?

Heath Fire is going back to 33.860mhz. They will probably keep the 800mhz stuff for inter-departmental comms though..

-SV

 

[ibagli]

They're going back permanently, not just during the transition?

 

[LiberaFan08]

LiberaFan08 Replies on HPD

I do not know what the end result will be with the City of Heath and their new system. I am just a hobbyist like the rest of you and have no inside information. The newspaper reported last December that the Police would be encrypting their transmissions.This is sad, 99 percent of the people that they are eliminating from listening are just ordinary hobbyist types like me ( and little old ladies). If other agencies follow suit,I will be forced to go back to ham radio ( which has decayed into nothing more than glorified CB radio).

 

[steveh552]

Guess the new system is not live as of yet, still hearing PD on LCEMA band.

 

[ibagli]

I had a single digital transmission on one of the trunked frequencies last night (I had heard something about 800 on the temporary channel right before that, but I didn't hear what), but that was it. There's definitely no system running yet.

 

[steveh552]

Any updates on the upgrade? I was looking at a new scanner, but with Heath being the only trunked system other than MARCS I am debating weather to buy one. I will NOT be getting a digital scanner, not in the budget.

 

[ibagli]

It doesn't appear to be a trunked system (I don't know much about P25 systems, so I may be wrong, but I'm assuming they have control channels). So far, it's all been PD traffic and all on 856.2125. And it's not encrypted.

 

[steveh552]

what scanner are you using

 

[ibagli]

My PSR-500

 

[LiberaFan08]

Reply to ibagli

I have noticed the same thing(one frequency). I thought all 800MHz systems were trunked not conventional. Maybe they will be throwing the "trunk switch" after they get all the bugs out of it. By the way,their new system sounds awful. Kinda like they are trying to talk with their heads under water.

 

[ibagli]

There are a lot of conventional 800MHz frequencies. Grandview Heights and Worthington PD and FD and New Albany PD are all conventional and on 800. If the Fire Department and the Water and Street departments don't move to it (I haven't heard a fire run since I got back in the area and got by PSR-500 back from repair), I doubt they'd really need trunking.

 

[ibagli]

It seems like fire is still being handled by 904 on 33.86.

 

[traumacop]

Heath FD is using the VHF Madison Twp. repeater that is currently linked to lowband. They decided to switch to the county’s vhf plan for fire. This brings all fire departments inline on VHF. The county is trying to install 3 or 4 vhf repeaters, one for dispatch and the others for operations. Once fully developed, we hope to pull the plug on lowband.

PD is digital conventional right now on one of the old trunked freqs. I'm not sure where they are going. They did a test with a portable MARS repeater about a year ago and wasn't happy with the coverage in the Heath area.