HERO units now on Ga Tech Phase II System!

[Casey]

Sounds like HERO units have now switched to being dispatched primarily on Ga Tech System tgs 901, 902, 909, 911. Very active calling TMC and TMC giving out locations on the interstate for stalls. Can anybody else confirm this? They have finally gotten rid of SouthernLinc it sounds like. CG

 

[DanRollman]

Agree. Someone mentioned this in an unrelated thread here a few weeks ago, and I finally had a chance to listen this morning. I concur. Seems like 909 is northwest (have heard locations on I-75 in Cobb) and 901 is activity closer in Atlanta and the south end. Very preliminary sense though. Will be good to listen and refine how these talkgroups are used. BTW, I am seeing different radio IDs with each transmission, so I don't think this is simply a patch from SouthernLinc. Seems like the real deal.

Will also be good to figure out whether they are using other P25 systems further out from the city. Have heard locations as far as Panola Road to the east and I-75/Canton Rd to the NW - surprised a tower in downtown Atlanta is working reliably that far out. But harder still to believe they are using this on I-985 in Hall County, GA400 in Forsyth County, etc. The Metro Atlanta HERO team has a really big area to cover. As we know, Georgia State Patrol uses several area trunked systems (Atlanta, Cobb and Gwinnett, to name 3) to cover the whole metro; wondering if HERO does too.

 

[Casey]

Dan, I think also the database is missing a control channel for GA Tech, I had to put all the voice frequencies in today for it to find the CC because the two listed weren't pickup up. Also it is nice to hear the E going to e on PD. TG 909 just had a unit coming up saying refueling on Delk Rd, so that one could be Cobb or 75 calls above the river

 

[DanRollman]

Dan, I think also the database is missing a control channel for GA Tech, I had to put all the voice frequencies in today for it to find the CC because the two listed weren't pickup up. Also it is nice to hear the E going to e on PD. TG 909 just had a unit coming up saying refueling on Delk Rd, so that one could be Cobb or 75 calls above the river

Thanks. I agree there is something odd and it sometimes seems to miss transmissions. Relative to the FCC license, I am not readily seeing what frequency could be missing from the DB.

 

[Casey]

I'll leave it up to the higher ups, such as yourself Dan, but it may be logical to tweak the name of this system since it makes sense to probably call it State of Georgia Phase II System/etc if you go by the license and antenna location information...now that they are loading some non GA Tech users on it it appears to be a future go to system for state users. Thinking back, I think the state tried to put GSP on the previous version of this system back in the analog days but the coverage just didn't work and GSP went to the Atlanta system. I don't know if the Cobb transmitter site near 75 is operational either, it's been sitting there for a long time empty.

 

[DanRollman]

Good idea. I changed the name. I have never seen any official documentation of what this system is called, so all we have to go on is what we listeners think it represents.

 

[RRR]

Who put in the listing of "Freeway" patrol?

Georgia doesn't have "Freeways" we have "Highways"

 

[DanRollman]

Who put in the listing of "Freeway" patrol? Georgia doesn't have "Freeways" we have "Highways"

Hmm. I thought you might be right, but the Georgia DOT seems to use the term "freeway" a lot. A few examples:

The Georgia Department of Transportation doesn't agree with you.

http://www.dot.ga.gov/PartnerSmart/Public/PressReleases/Georgia%20DOT%20Announces%20Nation's%20First%20Statewide%20Freeway%20Patrol%20Service%20with%20Launch%20of%20CHAMP.pdf

GDOTAnnouncementDetails

So I dunno.

I always thought a highway is any state or federal maintained road, but a freeway is a specific kind of highway that has controlled access (e.g. onramps and offramps). If that's right, HERO patrols the highways that are freeways but doesn't patrol the highways that aren't freeways. Freeway vs Highway - Difference and Comparison | Diffen.

 

[RRR]

Here in Georgia, we have "Interstates" and "Highways" on the state level.

There is no such thing as a "Freeway" in Georgia. That is a yankee term that someone apparently brought down with them.

You will never hear a trooper call out "10-38, freeway 75..." No, it is either Georgia 401 or I (Interstate) 75"

That's the way it is here. Controlled access "highways" are "Interstates". Show me one (official) Georgia state sign with "Freeway" on it.

The "New DOT" is really amusing. "Completely throw decades of experience out the window, and adopt all European standards." ...Geez..

 

[DanRollman]

Show me one (official) Georgia state sign with "Freeway" on it.

I already showed you several Georgia DOT documents that refer to controlled-access highways in Georgia as "freeways", but I see you want a photo of a state sign too ("photo or it didn't happen?"

Did you do a quick Google search before you posted the above? Anyway, took me 5 seconds to find the below example. There are obviously many more.



I'll stop here. This is, admittedly, silly and off topic. But it's Saturday morning so what the heck.

I would, however, love to talk more about HERO. Anyone else spending any time listening to them and enjoying learning more about how they operate, or just me?

Dan

 

[Cameron314]

Here in Georgia, we have "Interstates" and "Highways" on the state level.

There is no such thing as a "Freeway" in Georgia. That is a yankee term that someone apparently brought down with them.

You will never hear a trooper call out "10-38, freeway 75..." No, it is either Georgia 401 or I (Interstate) 75"

That's the way it is here. Controlled access "highways" are "Interstates". Show me one (official) Georgia state sign with "Freeway" on it.

The "New DOT" is really amusing. "Completely throw decades of experience out the window, and adopt all European standards." ...Geez..

Being a controlled access highway does not make it an Interstate.

 

[AK9R]

Being a controlled access highway does not make it an Interstate.

True, but I'm not sure that's the point of this thread.

Folks, lets get back to talking about the talkgroups that HERO units use.

 

[rayvelcoro]

I already showed you several Georgia DOT documents that refer to controlled-access highways in Georgia as "freeways", but I see you want a photo of a state sign too ("photo or it didn't happen?"

Did you do a quick Google search before you posted the above? Anyway, took me 5 seconds to find the below example. There are obviously many more.

View attachment 76381

I'll stop here. This is, admittedly, silly and off topic. But it's Saturday morning so what the heck.

I would, however, love to talk more about HERO. Anyone else spending any time listening to them and enjoying learning more about how they operate, or just me?

Dan

Thanks for the HERO info Dan! I've always wanted to be able to listen to them since moving to ATL 20 years ago. I'm out of town visiting South Carolina but I refreshed my database and loaded up a bank in anticipation of my return soon. I'm a little concerned about how far the system will "reach out" from downtown if it's designed for GA Tech, though. I receive the ATL Public safety system fairly well, so I'll just have to wait and see what I can hear out at "the ranch."

 

[rayvelcoro]

Thanks for the HERO info Dan! I've always wanted to be able to listen to them since moving to ATL 20 years ago. I'm out of town visiting South Carolina but I refreshed my database and loaded up a bank in anticipation of my return soon. I'm a little concerned about how far the system will "reach out" from downtown if it's designed for GA Tech, though. I receive the ATL Public safety system fairly well, so I'll just have to wait and see what I can hear out at "the ranch."

By the way, how do I submit new discoveries to the RR DB?

 

[DanRollman]

Thanks for the HERO info Dan! I've always wanted to be able to listen to them since moving to ATL 20 years ago. I'm out of town visiting South Carolina but I refreshed my database and loaded up a bank in anticipation of my return soon. I'm a little concerned about how far the system will "reach out" from downtown if it's designed for GA Tech, though. I receive the ATL Public safety system fairly well, so I'll just have to wait and see what I can hear out at "the ranch."

I too am surprised that HERO is making effective use of what I think is a single tower in downtown Atlanta. On that system I've heard HERO trucks in I-75 into Cobb (but not beyond), I-75 south to places like Jodeco, Georgia 400 up into Alpharetta, and I-85 up to Buford. And of course the whole of I-285. Clearly they are using something else outside those areas, because we know they now cover 985 into Hall County, well up I-575, etc.

I am generally hearing the system ok in some of those fringes on my KNG and Unication G5 radios, but of course my SDS100 scanner has more trouble the further I get from downtown/midtown.

Dan

 

[Firebuff880]

I find it a little SAD and maybe a commentary on the new LTE based Southern Lync deployment.

The SAD part is they had the UASI P25 system (now gone) that they could have been on for years and ignored it. But maybe ISSI will be the saving grace here for coverage..

 

[MTS2000des]

The SAD part is they had the UASI P25 system (now gone) that they could have been on for years and ignored it. But maybe ISSI will be the saving grace here for coverage..

No one wanted to fund the cost of replacing legacy UASI equipment (STR3000), and ISSI has limitations due to the disparate systems having different voice channel capacities, TDMA/DDM/FDMA, core version, etc not to mention ISSI roaming is only supported (officially) on APX subscribers in the current UASI ISSI implementation.

 

[Casey]

Dan, i've attached a screenshot of a 2017 Southernlinc video they did showing HERO using their equipment...the HERO giving the tour was at the HERO headquarters compound under I-85 in Buckhead....the SouthernLinc portable screen shown tells us he is tuned to 'Alpha Dispatch'...I think that is probably what we have currently called 'central ops'....I would also bet they also use Bravo Dispatch and Charlie Dispatch and Delta Dispatch naming convention to the other zones we have listed in the database now. I'm not sure which go to which but I'm confident that Alpha Dispatch is the main 285 & connector central area ops channel.

 

[DanRollman]

I think you're exactly right. As luck would have it, just today I heard a unit on what I've labeled Central say he is "back on Alpha Dispatch".

Take a look at http://www.dot.ga.gov/AboutGeorgia/Board/Board Meeting Documents/TheHEROProgramat25.pdf

See Slide 4. I bet if we match up the HERO operator callsigns in that table to the channel they are working on, we will figure out what is B, C and D. Not sure how to make sense of the C/A, C/B and C/D though. Maybe it will make more sense once we understand who from that list generally works on what channel and what time of day. Must be a correlation there.

 

[Casey]

Cool find Dan.....I think Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta dispatches are right on the money...the further enumerated breakdowns shown on that flow chart may not apply to talkgroups per se but I think we are making great progress on the lion's share of HERO comms/labels.