Johns Creek PD

[N8IAA]

^^^ +1 Butchgone. This is why Gwinnett locked us out. News media interference at the site. Why I stopped voting for SPLOST garbage. BAH!
Larry

 

[MTS2000des]

I am newer to the scanning community here in Georgia and have been mostly a reader of these posts until I ran across this one. I had to sign up and respond.

You gotta love anonymous posts. So enraged they had to "sign up and respond". Another sock puppet upset because their scanner is going dark. Aww..so sad.

I have been in community service for 30 years, retired. All I have to say that this is the craziest thing I have heard.

So what's the point?

This is a hobby and a legal hobby by the way.

So what does this have to do with the progression of technology? Many hobbies have fallen out of popularity as technology moved on. Are you upset because you can't rent VHS cassettes anymore and Blockbuster went bankrupt? I imagine you're anonymously posting over on AV Forums blasting those with their 4K TVs and video servers.

But this guys MTS, wannabe stadium cop makes it sound like its something we abuse and wants to ruin it for all of us scanning enthusiasts.

Uh no. I earn my living supporting systems utilized by real police and fire departments, among others. Not whackers or people who show up on scenes getting in the way. Sorry if you feel that I am the cause of your inability to listen to your scanner. I wish I was that important. I am not. These decisions are occurring at pay grades well above mine.

But I do utilize my training, experience and due diligence to make sure informed decisions are made. Many on here have provided great guidance as well.

I am not going to get into the whys, whos and what's as I am an old man.

So play some golf, spend time with your grand kids, go teach a class at a community college. No one likes a whiner. Do something positive. Your "30 years of community service" might make for an interesting book. I might even buy it. Many people enjoy reading books. I sure do.

I can tell you, what this guy is doing is trying to make people who enjoy the hobby or listen to the area happenings look bad.

Who is "this guy" and how is "he" making people who "enjoy the hobby look bad"? Sounds like a lot of allegations with zero basis in fact. Remember, choose words carefully!

I am 78 years old, I use this as my hobby and it keeps me feeling safe in my environment!!

I suggest you find another method of feeling safe and entertained than a scanner. The future does not look bright for you, you see, the Federal government (your tax dollars at work) have funded this little project called FirstNET. LTE is the future. 100 percent encrypted. 100 percent secure. It's the same thing you use when you reach for your iPhone/Android/whatever except it will run on a custom built network for public safety.

I am glad you think it's all "this guy" but I think you should go on a war path against DHS, AT&T, Verizon and APCO, IAFC, and others because this is who are the big players in this arena.

 

[DanRollman]

I seriously doubt people are moving out of your area because of this.

Well, I sold my mountain house in White County earlier this year "in part" because I don't (currently) care to own real estate in a jurisdiction where I can't fully monitor routine local public safety radio communications if/when I care to. I'm that guy. (White County now encrypts subscriber radios in the field but not the Dispatcher). But I am very much statistically insignificant no doubt. As in, surely, the one and only person to sell a property in White County for this reason.

Agree with pretty much everything else you've said in this thread Eric. Encryption is the future. LMR is just catching up with every other aspect of the technology that dominates our lives. And I guess I even agree with your quote above, since I'm almost surely the only exception to it (or one of an exceedingly few exceptions to it). This hobby of mine has a limited life expectancy these days no doubt. But like my parents lives, I'd like to see it extended as long as reasonably possible. And I'd like to maximize my enjoyment of it while I still can (hence my investment in KNG-P800 radios that feature true RX Only operation without System Key requirements, rather than crappy-*** consumer grade scanner toys that are nearly useless for proper decoding of CQPSK/LSM).

Dan

 

[MTS2000des]

Well, I sold my mountain house in White County earlier this year "in part" because I don't (currently) care to own real estate in a jurisdiction where I can't fully monitor routine local public safety radio communications if/when I care to. I'm that guy. (

Dan, I get it, I truly do. If Cobb were to go full encrypted (and I not have access which I currently have), I'd probably be a little upset. But I would also understand why. I enjoy listening to fire, mainly because I like to AVOID areas of traffic! I also like to know what's burning. (Cobb's radio manager has told me I spend more time with radios on his system than his after he sees my IDs on ZoneWatch/GenWatch pop up frequently).

I also see the future. It's unavoidable. Now what I do think is that we in the service business should look at things like streaming (with delay of course) audio of dispatch, provide live CAD (some agencies do this today) and become more active on social media (Smyrna, GA just launched their FaceBook page today).

This hobby of mine has a limited life expectancy these days no doubt. But like my parents lives, I'd like to see it extended as long as reasonably possible.

I am with you Dan. Really. My first exposure to public safety radio was in 1982 as an 8 year old. Got me into ham radio. (I've always been fascinated with RF since I was a toddler). I am honored to be able to serve the public and do this for a living, though I have ventured into more of an I.T. role as a systems manager mainly dealing with CAD (we are implementing a new CAD/RMS system as we speak) but radio is becoming all I.P...the system I helped put on the air and programmed hundreds of radios on is after all, just one big I.P. network not much different than anything else I.P.

Suffice it to say, had I not had the benefit of DECADES of being a hobbyist and amateur radio operator, I might not be where I am. I hate to say that other folks like me growing up today may not get that exposure due to encryption. But then, the generations after ours are more advanced with technology from the time they are speaking, they are interacting with networked devices as they utter their first words.

One might make the comparison to making music. The days of splicing tape and mixing down tracks are gone. A laptop, ProTools, and a mouse are what make music today. Technology and evolution go hand in hand.

I hate to see scanning go away. But look at the world we live in. I am not going to bring up streaming because, it is a taboo subject on this site, but you know what's been said. Look at Vegas for example. Got a chance to tour their radio shop when I was at IWCE. I can tell you they can go full time AES-256 in no time. From what I am reading on their forums, this will probably happen. They cite the MCI they just had as a reason. I am not gonna debate it- but this theme is one very common in our industry.

And I'd like to maximize my enjoyment of it while I still can (hence my investment in KNG-P800 radios that feature true RX Only operation without System Key requirements, rather than crappy-*** consumer grade scanner toys that are nearly useless for proper decoding of CQPSK/LSM).

I own a KNG-P2800 myself. Superb piece of equipment. So is the G5. I have two demos in my office, both with TDMA (Beta firmware) and they work as good as our APX radios. I took one to Lawrenceville and heard Cobb fire dispatch all the way down 316 to Sugarloaf. With a "nub" antenna.

There will still be plenty to listen to on our system. Keep scanning.

 

[nunyax]

I’ll echo the sentiment, that the Georgia database is lacking. For example, I have submitted info for GSP/state law enforcement a couple of times but it was never posted in the data base. So I’ll be the first to admit I stopped submitting because of that. As long as someone is a gate keeper who decides what people should know, or not, there is no point in sharing info with what I thought was an open forum.
BG..

Same thing happened to me. My last submission was marked as 'completed' but never showed up. That was nearly 3 years ago and I've made no further submissions.

 

[bobbobber]

Malcolm, anyone who knows your real background would know not to listen to your advice or opinions on "whackers" or amateur radio and public safety having a wedge in it. Some of us remember and have pictures too

 

[DanRollman]

I own a KNG-P2800 myself. Superb piece of equipment. So is the G5. I have two demos in my office, both with TDMA (Beta firmware) and they work as good as our APX radios.

Interesting to hear your G5 sounds as good as your APX. I'd agree that my KNG radios sound as good as an APX, but not my G5. My G5 "decodes" as accurately as an APX, and certainly "sounds" better than a consumer scanner toy (that's not saying much), but my G5 doesn't sound anywhere close to as good as an APX or KNG. I assumed this was because the G5 seems to have such a small speaker. Maybe mine is just a dud. Luck you with TDMA in a G5, though. Looking forward to that.

Dan