L. C. R. A.

[texasemt13]

Yesterday, while getting my haircut I was talking to a New Braunfels Fire Dept. Asst. Chief. I noticed when he stood up to leave that he was not wearing an LPE-200 anymore but a Harris radio (P5300, specifically a P5370). I asked about it and he said they recently switched to these as a cheaper alternative to the LPEs since they were planning on upgrading to a digital system in the next few years. I have not seen any other agency on the LCRA TRS that is using this radio model.

He suggested that NewB is interested in a digital system in the coming years and will more than likely side with the rest of AACOG. He suggested that since most of AACOG is VHF they'd likely all be going to a P25 VHF trunking system, or less likely a 700MHz P25 TRS. Again, this is years out. He said NewB was tired of not being able to talk to anyone except San Marcos. I said that's one nice thing about P25, that no matter what frequency range they're using they are, by definition, going to be interoperable in a sense that you can link multiple P25 systems. He also said it'd be interesting to see which direction San Antonio tries to go within AACOG since the pressure is on them to change their radio system, from the other members of AACOG.

I purposely titled this thread "LCRA" so I can start including all my LCRA comments in this thread, since usually they don't deserve their own thread (and arguably might not deserve comment at all). In the future I'm going to try to use this thread for all new LCRA talkgroups, site changes, and possibly discussion of their P25 TRS. Hopefully others will too.

 

[davidbond21]

I recall a conversation between 2 techs on the LCRA system about 6 months to a year ago, they were talking to each other and one tech asked the other if he was talking on his LPE[200], and the tech responded no, that he was on his P5300. Seeing as how long ago this was I'd have to dig up my notes to be sure but I'm pretty sure that's what it is, because I remember at the time not knowing immediately what one of these radios looked like and found it online. Looking at a pic of a P5300, that's what I remember seeing when doing a search originally. I'm pretty sure I relayed this conversation to you back then as well, though I'm just now recalling this, even though you told me about the radio earlier this morning.

 

[texasemt13]

I finally loaded the new Unitrunker and ran it on Site 28 last night, here's my findings:

Unidentified Talkgroups:
347- I hear this a lot, and thought it was a loaner talkgroup but it seems to be constantly used now.
614- Texas State Univ?
734-
735-
909-
910-
918-
931-
932-
986- PEC (I have this identified on 1 of my scanners)
1041-
1351-
1422-
1455-
1561-

1994- (this is definitely a dedicated data patch, I belive it's CapMetros)
2005- data patch?
2021- patch
2035- patch
2046- patch


Unknown Consoles:
123- this console popped up with 12 hits on SHaysFD (tgrp 626, patch to VHF). More than likely this console belongs to Hays Cty.

 

[Russell]

I had several hits on 08-053 in Fredericksburg on Saturday but was unable ID them.

 

[texasemt13]

986- Pedernales Electric Coop Hays County Crews

I had this stored in my 500 from the last round of storms. I need to verify their locations a little more before this is submitted.

Also, I show a console 111 on tgrp 1455 (unidentified) which is sandwiched in between some known CapMetro talkgroups. CapMetro has consoles 109, 115 and maybe 110, so this could be one of theirs as well.

I've got a new UniTrunker receiver now so I could get back in to this. davidbond21 and I logged for an extensive period last year on a few LCRA sites. If I can get him to type up the darn MS Access instructions (instead of reinventing that wheel) I'd be able to disseminate this information quicker.

 

[texasemt13]

Looking through an old V-folder from a trip to Matagorda earlier this summer I see that on both the Flatonia and Schulenberg sites I logged talkgroup 1423. Unknown who this is.

 

[texasemt13]

I logged some more unknown tgrps this weekend on my Matagorda trip, I got talkgroup 1423 again on Flatonia, Schulenberg and Bay City sites. Still unknown.

Flatonia:
442

Columbus:
941

 

[texasemt13]

Today on the Creedmoor Site:

Tgrp Description

1049 Hutto ISD Buses (Ray Elementary Field Trip chatter)

I don't see any other talkgroups for Hutto ISD, and I don't recall too many LCRA listeners from that area being RR members.

If there are some Austin or WilCo listeners there, we might want to listen out for some more Hutto ISD talkgroups. This talkgroup falls in to a large sequential gap (in the decimal format, from 1012- PEC to 1293- LEO C2C) and I'd bet they have more than just one talkgroup. I'm not up north enough to help out too much...

 

[Billknn]

Lcra

Am in Wimberley for a few days. New (to me) CC for the LCRA Wimberley site is 939.3875.

 

[texasemt13]

Bill, that's a frequency we don't even have for the Wimberley Site. Can you determine which LCN it is?

The Wimberley Site is a little too far away from me to run Unitrunker on. Would you be able to? If they have a new CC they might have a few new LCNs also (remember that 2009 & 2010 saw some LCN changes for the San Marcos site also).

Last question, how'd you come across this? It not being in our database, I usually have to notice that I miss a piece of the conversation before I start looking for new LCNs. If you were missing the CC you weren't hearing anything at all I guess, and decided to go look for it...?

 

[Billknn]

I have 3 scanners with the latest updates from the RRDB and heard NOTHING on all 3. The last time I was here I didnt receive anything either so I was more than curious. I took a trip through the 900 MHZ allocation with my TH-F6, looking for a loud CC and found 939.3875. I added it to the list in the Pro-96 and bingo I was copying everything again (at least I think it's everything). Wish I would have remembered the cable for the iscan!

 

[texasemt13]

Bill, for EDACS it's imperative that the LCNs are in order. Could you list your LCN order as it is programmed in your scanner?

 

[Billknn]

Since 939 is the highest frequency, I just added it to the top or hi end of the list. Having said that, channel 6 in the RRDB seems out of sequence, however, when I tried to move that to chan 2 the scanner failed to decode properly, so I returned it like it was and left the 939 as ch 7.

I am letting the TH-F6 scan all the Wimberley channels(at least the older published ones) - obviously not trunk tracking - and listening to the scanner simultaneously to see if I am missing anything. I seem to be getting everything with the possibility of maybe another new freq that I have yet to identify but am not real sure - yet.

 

[pacrat551]

Bill,

Here is all the freqs on the FCC license for the Wimberly site. This could explain some missing radio traffic.

936.17500000 (LCN 1 in DB)
936.23750000 (LCN 6 in DB)
937.23750000 (LCN 3 in DB)
938.21250000 (LCN 4 in DB)
938.23750000
938.91250000 (LCN 5 in DB)
939.25000000
939.38750000

936.8875 is LCN 2 in DB, but I can't find an FCC license for it??

 

[pacrat551]

I can't quite pick up Wimberley but san Marcos shows LCN 2 for wimberley in the peer list

Ok, I got it. Database has been updated, all freqs are the same except for LCN 2 which is now 939.3875. Site still broadcasting 6 channels, 936.8875 no longer shows up.

 

[texasemt13]

Last week, I noticed that some New Braunfels ACOs were using talkgroup 481 for their communications. After listening for awhile, I can confirm that this is strictly being used for New Braunfels Animal Control. In the past, ACOs were on the NBPD Disp 1 talkgroup (633), and were dispatched from the same. Since, they started appearing on talkgroup 481 I have not heard them on 633, so they might have made a permanent switch. I'll keep on the listen out.

I also noticed that talkgroup 1369 (Comal County SO Patch) was not active, but talkgroup 2034 was active with CCSO traffic. For a few days talkgroup 1369 was quiet while all CCSO Ch 1 traffic was patched to talkgroup 2034. As of yesterday afternoon, it is all back on talkgroup 1369. Not sure why it was different for a few days.

 

[Russell]

2034 works out to 15-142 which is a patch group. EDACS systems use the high groups for patch IDs. You generally see activity on a patch and a "normal" group (or two) simultaneously. I don't know all the details and LCRA seems to be a bit different. Perhaps no radio on the 1369 talkgroup was affiliated with the tower you were listening to.

 

[texasemt13]

2034 works out to 15-142 which is a patch group. EDACS systems use the high groups for patch IDs. You generally see activity on a patch and a "normal" group (or two) simultaneously. I don't know all the details and LCRA seems to be a bit different. Perhaps no radio on the 1369 talkgroup was affiliated with the tower you were listening to.

Yes, Russell, 2034 is normally used for patches. 1369 is usually a dedicated patch for CCSO to the LCRA system. When CCSO switched from analog conventional to P25 conventional, the 1369 patch was down for a few months. Since, it has come back, broadcasting the analog audio from CCSO's P25 conventional channel 1. It has been this way for awhile now, and the two talkgroups (1369 and 2034) never existed simultaneously. 1369 was just the dedicated patch, and made it easy for NBPD to do patches through their dispatch center.

*lightbulb* Wait, that's it. Maybe a second patch was in place at the time, through CCSO and another LCRA agency (it wasn't NBPD). Because now 2034 is quiet on the New Braunfels site, and 1369 is humming away again as it always did.

Bottom line is, I was too lazy to hook up Unitrunker while this was happening to see what was going on.

*180 degree turn* I did hear the New Braunfels dispatcher dispatching on the animal control talkgroup this morning. So I don't expect the ACOs to be on the PD talkgroups anymore, though they certainly have the capability.

 

[texasemt13]

Can anyone near Bastrop, La Grange or Schulenberg confirm that talkgroup 941 is for EMS in Bastrop County?

The last two times I've traveled down I-10 I've caught EMS to PD (dispatch) traffic, mostly transfers. Yesterday I heard them send a transfer from "Smithville Regional" to "South Austin." I'm not sure the emergency services districting there, or who services the Smithville area but I bet this talkgroup belongs to them. I only heard "Medic 1" yesterday.

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[Montz816]

Austin." I'm not sure the emergency services districting there, or who services the Smithville area but I bet this talkgroup belongs to them. I only heard "Medic 1" yesterday.

Thanks for any help in advance.

Guardian ems is the agency who services Bastrop area not too sure of much more than that. I do know they are the primary 911 for bastrop county. The link to the agency is below. Good luck.

Home - Guardian EMS