kc0unh
Newbie
I have been lucky enough to hear them in Osceola, Ia off of the Winterset site when a radio affiliates.
Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
Iowa Statewide Interoperability Communication System (ISICS)
Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
My sources say the ISP will be switching within the next 30 days. There's no new tower at Rock Rapids yet, so in that area they'll either need signal boosters to reach Sanborn or continue using the old DPS system, which I'm told will be patched into ISICS for now.
In my day job, I'm the News Director for KIWA Radio in Sheldon. I interviewed basically the man in charge of the system -- Lt. Thomas Lampe yesterday. The story and the entire interview can be found at New Statewide Public Safety Radio System Almost Ready. The interview, which is chocked-full of information that is interesting to us (scanner nerds) is at the bottom of the story. Enjoy!
mspazz
Member
Hello,
With ISICS being a statewide system, can someone with a p25 p2 scanner monitor talkgroups from anywhere in the state?
I know that actually being on the system we can tx/rx as long as we have permission in the form of a MOU between agencies, however as a scanner user at home, I have no clue what I will be able to scan. Will it just be what I'm physically in range of?
With ISICS being a statewide system, can someone with a p25 p2 scanner monitor talkgroups from anywhere in the state?
I know that actually being on the system we can tx/rx as long as we have permission in the form of a MOU between agencies, however as a scanner user at home, I have no clue what I will be able to scan. Will it just be what I'm physically in range of?
My understanding (and everyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is if a radio affiliates with the tower you're listening to, you'll be able to listen to the talkgroups it's monitoring. So you'll routinely hear local traffic, but if a radio comes into your area from 150 miles away and requesting to hear talkgroups from its home area, you'll hear those as well. SOME talkgroups on other systems that I've monitored are statewide, regardless of who's listening. They're like "hard coded" to be on statewide, whether someone is listening to them on the local tower you're listening to or not. These are not very common. Minnesota has "LTAC 1" (Law Tactical #1) that's like that for instance. You can hear police chases from the other side of the state. But like I say, not common.
mspazz
Member
Thanks for the reply radioboy75. I run a PSAP here in Iowa and we just signed with Motorola in the last 6 months to bring our county onto ISICS by building sites to enhance our coverage. I'm still trying to learn the in's and out's of everything. It's extremely daunting when you go from knowing nothing to trying to thrust yourself into it.
rdelao_16
Member
So if Radioboy75 is correct, do we have any talkgroup numbers for ISP yet?
Also I know it’s been asked a thousand times, but is Le Mars a Powered tower or Microwave?
Also I know it’s been asked a thousand times, but is Le Mars a Powered tower or Microwave?
@tftphoto should have that answer, but I'm about 95 percent sure it's an actual tower site. I've heard the control channel. That being said, I have not bitten the bullet yet to buy a Phase II scanner, but I can copy the control channel in Sioux Center, so that's why I'm pretty certain it's an actual repeater site, not microwave-only.
Le Mars is an actual repeater tower site. I don't recall hearing anything on it except for maybe some ISP testing. Also, Starcomm recently (re?) connected to the ISICS core. For a long time it was showing no neighboring sites. Checked it over the weekend and it's now showing neighbors.... Le Mars, Castana, Denison, Cherokee and Storm Lake. I haven't been out and about since to check if any Starcomm traffic has been going out over any of the neighboring sites.
@rdelao_16 FWIW: That ISP testing has been in Phase I (at least on the Starcomm simulcast). As always, YMMV.
@rdelao_16 FWIW: That ISP testing has been in Phase I (at least on the Starcomm simulcast). As always, YMMV.
ISP Area B Law TAC2 is TGID 5102
Their talkgroups are going to be somewhat assigned on the fly or daily but will be divided by the DPS Areas. Area B is the Western part of the State.
rdelao_16
Member
So by on the fly do you mean they currently do not have assigned talkgroups and they will
Be changing or will they be changing the talkgroup on a regular basis to avoid people listening in?
Be changing or will they be changing the talkgroup on a regular basis to avoid people listening in?
First off my post above should be TGID 5102 = Law 2B (not TAC2)
If I understand correct and the person telling me how they are doing it explained it correct; they will assign the LAW TGs per post on time of day or amount of activity. So post 1 and 2 might be on Law 2A today but tomorrow post 1 might be on Law 2A and post 2 might be on Law 3A. It sort of makes sense with the workload being different depending on time of day or what day and what is going on. In the current system Post 1 would be on "Des Moines" and post 2 would be on "St Mary's" or "VanWert" - so it's similar with splitting the amount of traffic but of course in the old world that was done for coverage of a single repeater site.
Who knows until they get moved over to the new system and we hear what they are doing.
If I understand correct and the person telling me how they are doing it explained it correct; they will assign the LAW TGs per post on time of day or amount of activity. So post 1 and 2 might be on Law 2A today but tomorrow post 1 might be on Law 2A and post 2 might be on Law 3A. It sort of makes sense with the workload being different depending on time of day or what day and what is going on. In the current system Post 1 would be on "Des Moines" and post 2 would be on "St Mary's" or "VanWert" - so it's similar with splitting the amount of traffic but of course in the old world that was done for coverage of a single repeater site.
Who knows until they get moved over to the new system and we hear what they are doing.
From the ISICS page on RR, I have created a State Patrol Dispatch map. Let me know if this is not right.
I wonder when Clinton county will go from analog to digital? That's where I'm at.
That matches what the State Patrol has on their website, except they don't show the dispatch centers. The state patrol map appears to have sub-areas within each area. It will be interesting to see if the divide out talkgroup usage based on those sub areas.
ISP District Map Location
Attachments
I've seen that map many times. But it never meant anything as far as scanner listening. Now I guess it will . . . I suppose it could be said that each area is taken care of by one dispatch center, but the old map didn't indicate that necessarily.
rdelao_16
Member
My opinion and assumption would be that each district would have its own talkgroup.
For example District 5 in area B would have its own talkgroup and so on and so forth.
Otherwise talkgroups are going to get bogged down and officers won’t be able to get into dispatch. But I might be wrong.
For example District 5 in area B would have its own talkgroup and so on and so forth.
Otherwise talkgroups are going to get bogged down and officers won’t be able to get into dispatch. But I might be wrong.
Davis County is reporting a site neighbor of 50, with a control frequency of 774.33125.
I submitted it into the database as an unknown site, but anyone have an idea of what that might be? All the nearby sites that ISICS listed in their plans have been submitted and identified already. I'm speculating that perhaps a nearby county is jumping on the ISICS system and this site 050 is one of those extra sites counties that are using the system have added?
I submitted it into the database as an unknown site, but anyone have an idea of what that might be? All the nearby sites that ISICS listed in their plans have been submitted and identified already. I'm speculating that perhaps a nearby county is jumping on the ISICS system and this site 050 is one of those extra sites counties that are using the system have added?
Site 50 should be Keosauqua. I think it's on the IPTV tower there, maybe at Hwy 1 and Co Rd J40.
Where do you get this site neighbor information? Is it an area on your scanner or do you use an SDR or Unitrunker or something?
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
- Locked