Interoperability report

[brian]

Radio hobbyists in South Carolina will be interested to read this state radio interoperability report for first responders. It's a little dated (2019) but it has some great information for how our state has provided leadership in supporting interoperable communications for all first responders in the state. The Palmetto 800 system in the state-sanctioned platform for communications, and the large number of county and local agencies that use it day to day is testament to its success. Obviously, cost (in both equipment and ongoing service fees) is a barrier for some agencies, mostly from smaller, more rural counties.

This report offers a list of state agencies and counties with a run-down of what type of radio system each uses. Look up your favorite county or agency to see what level on interoperability they currently have. The "Significant System Activities" section (pages 3-5) is particularly interesting.

https://admin.sc.gov/sites/default/files/Interoperability%20Report.pdf

 

[mrat1234]

i read about the agencies useing the palmetto 800 system and was wondering how come talkgroups for the citadel,labor,licensing and regulation (llr),sc forestry commission law enforcement,sc department of revenue enforcement haven't been discovered yet. are these agencies encrypted. im really interested in monitoring forestry law enforcement

 

[brian]

So you realize that the RadioReference database information is "crowd-sourced" by individuals who learn this information? There is no "master source" of all radio information that feeds into RR. On occasion, we receive information directly from people in the radio and/or public safety industry who have access to this information professionally. But most of the time, the information in the database is learned by hobbyists who listen and attempt to determine the use of frequencies and talkgroups that they hear in use.

Those hobbyists are few and far between these days. Most scanner hobbyists want to buy a scanner, enter a zip code and listen, which works pretty well for most people. They have no interest in learning about radio systems or delving into the more technical aspects of the hobby. And that's fine. Those of us who take time to research FCC data, run "wildcards" or ID searches, band searches, use software like Pro96Comm or DSD+, these are the folks that are generating the data found in the RR database. Many of these folks choose to remain anonymous and rarely if ever post in these forums, but they will submit info directly to the database or contact me privately.

As for the specific agencies you mention, my guess is that their talkgroups just aren't very busy. They aren't active often, and the few of us trying to listen and identify them don't have enough information for a positive identification. I suspect that there are MANY talkgroups, probably even a majority, that are rarely if ever used and that we'll never identify. And that's okay too.

Another thought is that there may be hobbyists that find this information and choose to keep it to themselves rather than submit it for public publication. Some people feel good knowing things others don't know, or some may fear that publishing the information will lead to encryption, which is a very reasonable attitude to have.

I personally find the process of research, learning and listening very enjoyable. But it takes time, and patience, and dedication that most aren't willing to devote. If anyone is interested in learning more about that aspect of the hobby, but aren't sure how to get started, feel free to reach out to me other others either through the forums or private message.

 

[mrat1234]

i know this thread is about interoperability but im noticing encryption on and off on all Columbia police talk groups mainly dispatch channels

 

[Caesar]

i know this thread is about interoperability but im noticing encryption on and off on all Columbia police talk groups mainly dispatch channels

I don’t believe this is accurate, I haven’t experienced any ENC on the CPD dispatch channels. Maybe you were experiencing some simulcast or maintenance issues?

 

[mrat1234]

It's not all the time it possibly could be special units like swat or gang unit

 

[mrat1234]

i just noticed some state troopers with moto apx8000s. one of them is my friend and he let me look at the radio. as i was looking through it i noticed everything was open and not setup for secure but then i noticed a zone that was labeled secure and when i looked through the secure zone i noticed it had a secure talkgroups for each troop then it was labeled secure tac 8 - 16

 

[mrat1234]

hopefully highway patrol will not encrypt their dispatch channels when the roll out of apx radios is complete. their mobile radios in the cars were still xtl series