How do DECs and frequencies get added to the database even though they are encrypted?

[Brettame5]

How would someone know what a channel is for without hearing the traffic that is on it?

Oakland County in Michigan is switching over to MPSCS and I noticed all their police frequencies are encrypted but the DECs are still getting added

 

[cubn]

A person might hear a certain radio ID say "call me on Tac 7" and then see the same radio IDs popup over on the encrypted talkgroup.

Other times someone has inside information on exact talkgroups names.

Still other times the TG may have been unencrypted in the past but has since going encrypted.

 

[RaleighGuy]

You can also see Radio IDs and know it is being used by a particular group of people or agency, you can also use the encryption AlgID/KeyID to identify users and positions. For example I know the RID range of our local police, and I know the KeyID for patrol encryption and detective encryption, so I can put two and two together and it is usually four.

 

[cubn]

I had put a Google alert so that I would get emailed anytime the news talked about an upcoming SWAT training in my city. Then I would watch the radio on those days and eventually I was able to figure out what encrypted talk group they were on. 🧐

 

[techman210]

Codeplugs get out “in the wild” and it makes it easy to associate a TGID with a channel name.

Codeplugs contain no encryption information.

 

[Brettame5]

A person might hear a certain radio ID say "call me on Tac 7" and then see the same radio IDs popup over on the encrypted talkgroup.

Other times someone has inside information on exact talkgroups names.

Still other times the TG may have been unencrypted in the past but has since going encrypted.

How do you see the radio IDs for a talkgroup that is ency?

 

[RaleighGuy]

How do you see the radio IDs for a talkgroup that is ency?

Radio IDs aren't encrypted, only the voice traffic, depending on your scanner or SDR software you are using they will decode just fine. Here is a photo of the screen of my TRX 1 scanner it shows the Radio ID and the E for encryption.

 

[cubn]

How do you see the radio IDs for a talkgroup that is ency?

Depends on your radio. I don't get them displayed on the Uniden 436.

Back in the day I would run Pro96com while listening on another radio.

Now I can see IDs on encrypted TGs on the Unication G4.

 

[n3obl]

yeah uniden sucks in this regard as it skips over the talkgroup. Basically only way on a uniden is to hold on the talkgroup and watch the display.

 

[Brettame5]

yeah uniden sucks in this regard as it skips over the talkgroup. Basically only way on a uniden is to hold on the talkgroup and watch the display.

That makes sense. Thanks for assistance!!

 

[mc48]

yeah uniden sucks in this regard as it skips over the talkgroup. Basically only way on a uniden is to hold on the talkgroup and watch the display.

Not entirely true, my HP2 scans encrypted TG's, I wish it would skip them, what's the point to listening to them?

 

[sonm10]

Use of logging software such as Unitrunker can help ID talk groups. As others have mentioned, knowing which agencies a radio belongs to can help narrow down usage, even when encrypted.