KALAMAZOO ENCRYPTION

[newsdork]

IT IS HAPPENING, HAS ANYONE ELSE HEARD THIS?

 

[seamusg]

What TG's?

 

[OmensEdge]

This is the main reason I got rid of my Pro-96. I'm glad I knew this was coming. I read that all talkgroups were going to be encrypted which makes owning a digital scanner in this city a complete loss. I guess there are probably some people that might enjoy listening to the rare WMU Police transmissions or digital traffic from the next county over (if you're lucky enough to live in an area here that allows you to pick it up). For me, the main reason I bought a digital scanner was to listen to Township and Public Safety. I'm glad this happened now when the demand for digital scanners is quite high and the price hasn't dropped. I consider myself lucky to have been able to sell this particular scanner and receive a good fraction of what I originally paid for it.

I also heard that they scrapped the upgrades that should have been completed by now. They were going to put a repeater at the Howard Street location. I don't know if they went through with upgrading the Adams Park and Plainwell towers like they said they were going to, either.

 

[MacombMonitor]

IT IS HAPPENING, HAS ANYONE ELSE HEARD THIS?

Are you saying that ALL comms are encrypted, ALL the time? Or is it that you've heard an occasional comm that was encrypted? Michigan State Police have used encryption, on occasion, but I doubt it will become a full time practice.

Or...are you just looking for a good deal on a digital scanner! :wink:

 

[rdale]

The scan_michigan list said that all Kalamazoo comms would be encrypted all the time starting in June...

 

[MacombMonitor]

The scan_michigan list said that all Kalamazoo comms would be encrypted all the time starting in June...

I can't find proof of this. I did read they were going Digital, but no mention of being encrypted. Are you sure these people aren't trying to monitor digital, with an analog scanner? :shock:

 

[rdale]

Several posters in the last two weeks have indicated that Kalamazoo radios were in the process of being reprogrammed, since all Kazoo comms were going to fulltime encryption. As I recall this was planned from the beginning.

Kalamazoo has been digital for a while, so I imagine if they were hearing them before it meant they were using a digital scanner ;>

 

[garryd451]

kalamazoo

This is the main reason I got rid of my Pro-96. I'm glad I knew this was coming. I read that all talkgroups were going to be encrypted which makes owning a digital scanner in this city a complete loss. I guess there are probably some people that might enjoy listening to the rare WMU Police transmissions or digital traffic from the next county over (if you're lucky enough to live in an area here that allows you to pick it up). For me, the main reason I bought a digital scanner was to listen to Township and Public Safety. I'm glad this happened now when the demand for digital scanners is quite high and the price hasn't dropped. I consider myself lucky to have been able to sell this particular scanner and receive a good fraction of what I originally paid for it.

I also heard that they scrapped the upgrades that should have been completed by now. They were going to put a repeater at the Howard Street location. I don't know if they went through with upgrading the Adams Park and Plainwell towers like they said they were going to, either.

since You got rid of your pro-96, what kind of scanner are You now using?

Also what agencies are You montering with this scanner?

 

[OmensEdge]

I have a Pro-95 right now I'm using. I monitor everything conventional that I can pick up in the area and the old trunked system that Kalamazoo Public Safety used to occupy along with Metro Transit.

Before, I could listen to a lot of digital stuff, but it didn't come in that good considering the area I'm in. I'm on the west side of Kalamazoo where most of the radio problems have been reported ever since they went digital. I was monitoring some State Police, Allegan PD after they went digital, some Barry County stuff, and some Kalamazoo Township PD and Public Safety. Again, it was rare that I would hear anything from any of these agencies. Most of the time I would have to have my scanner up on top of my dresser shelf in my bedroom which was only a foot away from the ceiling. Anywhere else I took it, the digital transmissions were so scrambled that they were unreadable.

 

[Thunderbolt]

I hope that this is not a new trend of things to come in the future across the state!

 

[newsdork]

WHAT I HEARD WAS A KALAMAZOO RADIO, I DID NOT SEE WHICH TG IT WAS BUT MY ALPHA READ KALAMAZOO SOMETHING OR RATHER. NOW TODAY I AM HEARING SOME OF THEIR TRAFFIC CLEAN AGAIN.
IN CONVERSATIONS I HAVE HAD WITH SHERIFFF MIKE ANDERSON HE HAS INDICATED THAT HIS INTENTION WAS TO EVETUALLY ENCRYPT EVERY RADIO. MOTOROLA EXECS ALSO CONFIRMED FOR ME THAT THEY HAD TAKEN ORDERS FROM KALAMAZOO COUNTY FOR THE NEEDED EQUIPMENT.
MOTOROLA EXECS WOULD NOT CONFIRM THAT THE WORD "MOTOROLA" IS LATIN FOR - WE CAN MAKE IT WORK IF YOU WILL JUST SPEND A TON MORE MONEY. THAT THEORY IS PURE SPECULATION.

 

[mikey60]

Are they at least making arrangements for the local media to have access to the dispatch talkgroups? I think the media should buy their own radios, but they should be programmed for recieve only operation for the news media.

Personally I think dispatch talkgroups should not be encrypted. But that's only my opinion.

Mike

 

[MacombMonitor]

It's possible that they're going go be equipped to use encryption when circumstances warrant it, such as Homeland Security related emergencies. As I mentioned earlier, Michigan State Police have it, but only use it on rare occasions. I hear them go encrypted maybe once, or twice a day at the most, and only for a very short time. Possibly they have just been testing it, but do not intend to use it all of the time. Or is that just wishful thinking :?: :shock: :evil:

 

[newsdork]

ANDERSONS TAKE WAS THAT HE WANTED TO ENCRYPT ALL TALK GROUPS AT ALL TIMES. HE FELT BAD THAT THE MEDIA WOULD BE LEFT OUT. HE DID NOT ACT LIKE HE HAS MUCH INTEREST IN ALLOWING THE MEDIA TO HEAR.

 

[MacombMonitor]

ANDERSONS TAKE WAS THAT HE WANTED TO ENCRYPT ALL TALK GROUPS AT ALL TIMES. HE FELT BAD THAT THE MEDIA WOULD BE LEFT OUT. HE DID NOT ACT LIKE HE HAS MUCH INTEREST IN ALLOWING THE MEDIA TO HEAR.

There could be some very serious, if not legal, implications from doing this. It will be interesting to follow the riff-raff!

 

[rdale]

It took me nearly two years to get a rig for my TV station... I imagine they wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on if a local media outlet really wanted to get a Motorola and have it programmed, but I wonder if the expense would be worth it.

- Rob

 

[MacombMonitor]

It took me nearly two years to get a rig for my TV station... I imagine they wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on if a local media outlet really wanted to get a Motorola and have it programmed, but I wonder if the expense would be worth it.

- Rob

Getting the radio is the easy part. But to decrypt an encrypted signal, you would require the proper key. If you obtained it by "other means", you would be committing a felony!

 

[rdale]

What I'm saying is that from the time I contacted Lansing Fire about buying a Motorola W7 and getting it programmed by the state, to the time it made it to my desk, was nearly 18 months. We were the first media entity in the state (and possibly still the only) to have requested a radio for MPSCS.

- Rob

 

[MacombMonitor]

What I'm saying is that from the time I contacted Lansing Fire about buying a Motorola W7 and getting it programmed by the state, to the time it made it to my desk, was nearly 18 months. We were the first media entity in the state (and possibly still the only) to have requested a radio for MPSCS.

- Rob

You probably didn't miss anything, as it probably wasn't working correctly until then anyway. I'll bet MPSCS didn't let you listen in on encrypted comms :?:

 

[rdale]

We missed everything... Lansing Fire has been on MPSCS since 1997 so we hadn't heard anything more than a dispatch for years (they used to simulcast dispatch only on VHF until around 2000.) We didn't ask for any encrypted comms because LFD doesn't do that.

We originally got just dispatch - they wouldn't give us fireground. I called back daily until they finally caved and gave us the fireground channels (2 & 3.) Then the first call I heard when the radio came back went to channel 4 ;> It was the EMS / Trauma channel, so I called again and they added 4 & 5 (Admin.)

I imagine if a media outlet wanted any dispatch channel, even if encrypted as it sounds like Kazoo will do, it would be allowed. Can't imagine the state would want to wage a legal battle for dispatches. Based on what I've seen elsewhere, it would be a losing battle.

- Rob