Local School District Listening

[domtheavgeek]

No, he's referring to a different site on the same system & the fact that not all traffic is carried on every site
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How would I know if the school frequencies are on another site?

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

By programming the sites into your scanner & if you're within listening range, listening of course

 

[k2hz]

There are too many variables here and you need to give us clearer information on what you are doing. You are correct that they only need to talk if there is a problem like a kid forgot something on the bus. This will only happen a few times a day so you can not come to a conclusion about if a TG is in use unless you continuously monitor it for an extended period. And that means parked on the TG, not just in a scan list. I am very familiar with this type of system and there is usually very little activity other than early morning for notice of students absent or late and afternoon for situations such as you described. I think there is good reason to believe they are on Albany P25 TG10974 but Albany/Schenectady has 4 sites. Which site are you monitoring? If you are scanning all 4 sites you are likely to miss activity. You need to park your scanner on TG10974 on the specific site Guilderland is likely to be on.

The TG will only be active on a site where a subscriber unit is current affiliated.

If anybody in the Albany area is monitoring with Unitrunker perhaps they can confirm if the TG is indeed in use and on what site(s).

 

[domtheavgeek]

So I guess that we’ve come down to the conclusion to where I need to find out the schools frequencies/talk group. Please reply if you have any tips on how I can find those.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Already did, not going to repeat myself...

 

[domtheavgeek]

Already did, not going to repeat myself...

Yes I did see your tips, thank you.

 

[k2hz]

Since TG10974 is in the RRDB as Guilderland it obviously has been observed by someone in the area so we can assume it is probably active on at least one site. So the only question is why you are not hearing the activity which is why I am attempting to determine how you are attempting to monitor it. You chance of picking it up by simply putting it in a scan list with multiple sites and other services are slim to none for an infrequently active TG.

 

[domtheavgeek]

There are too many variables here and you need to give us clearer information on what you are doing. You are correct that they only need to talk if there is a problem like a kid forgot something on the bus. This will only happen a few times a day so you can not come to a conclusion about if a TG is in use unless you continuously monitor it for and extended period. And that means parked on the TG, not just in a scan list. I am very familiar with this type of system and there is usually very little activity other than early morning for notice of students absent or late and afternoon for situations such as you described. I think there is good reason to believe they are on Albany P25 TG10974 but Albany/Schenectady has 4 sites. Which site are you monitoring? If you are scanning all 4 sites you are likely to miss activity. You need to park your scanner on TG10974 on the specific site Guilderland is likely to be on.

The TG will only be active on a site where a subscriber unit is current affiliated.

If anybody in the Albany area is monitoring with Unitrunker perhaps they can confirm if the TG is indeed in use and on what site(s).

The school district has tracking capabilities but there are not as advanced as you think. They only show the buses location and speed which is not much info for a dispatcher. During dismissal and arrival times, they are talking a lot. They need to tell the buses when to leave, if a kid is looking for a bus, if they need to go back and get someone etc. What I’m trying to say is that they talk more than you think. I listened to the talk group today during dismissal time and heard nothing, that gives me a very strong indication that the talk group is inactive and not working anymore.
No, I am not on the scanning mode, I am holding on the talk group specifically. I would not miss anything. Could I possibly be too far away?
I am not 100% sure because I am not sure how to tell what site I’m listening to but I assume that I am listening to the TGID on the Albany County Simulcast.

 

[domtheavgeek]

Since TG10974 is in the RRDB as Guilderland it obviously has been observed by someone in the area so we can assume it is probably active on at least one site. So the only question is why you are not hearing the activity which is why I am attempting to determine how you are attempting to monitor it. You chance of picking it up by simply putting it in a scan list with multiple sites and other services are slim to none for an infrequently active TG.

Here’s what I did: I entered the talk group ID into the P25 system on my scanner and held on the talk group channel during dismissal time. I am now starting to wonder if I am just too far away to hear it..

 

[k2hz]

Here’s what I did: I entered the talk group ID into the P25 system on my scanner and held on the talk group channel during dismissal time. I am now starting to wonder if I am just too far away to hear it..

Which site are you monitoring? I don't know enough about the area to know which site is most likely to be used by Guilderland. If the scanner is showing a good P25 control signal then you are close enough to the site if it is the primary site for Guilderland. Do you receive the other TGs such as Law and Fire OK on the site you are monitoring? You scanner is subject to simulcast problems that cause intermittent reception. I know you said you did not have these problems with the other services but which site(s) does that apply to?

 

[domtheavgeek]

Which site are you monitoring? I don't know enough about the area to know which site is most likely to be used by Guilderland. If the scanner is showing a good P25 control signal then you are close enough to the site if it is the primary site for Guilderland. Do you receive the other TGs such as Law and Fire OK on the site you are monitoring? You scanner is subject to simulcast problems that cause intermittent reception. I know you said you did not have these problems with the other services but which site(s) does that apply to?

I’m unsure how to tell which site a TG is using, could you help me?

 

[k2hz]

The scanner display should show the site name.

 

[domtheavgeek]

The scanner display should show the site name.

For some reason it doesn’t, it says P25 then the frequency.

 

[Thunderknight]

Guilderland Police is on the County cell, so one might assume the buses would be too Since they probably need similar coverage.

 

[domtheavgeek]

Guilderland Police is on the County cell, so one might assume the buses would be too Since they probably need similar coverage.

Agreed

 

[k2hz]

W

For some reason it doesn’t, it says P25 then the frequency.

What is the frequency it shows?

 

[domtheavgeek]

W

What is the frequency it shows?

The one I am currently holding on, 47.460.

 

[k2hz]

Guilderland Police is on the County cell, so one might assume the buses would be too Since they probably need similar coverage.

So, I think it is reasonable to assume Guilderland should be TG10974 on the County cell. So we need to find out why you don't hear any activity assuming you are properly programmed to receive that Cell and TG. An additional problem I have found with monitoring schools in my area that have gone to DMR or NXDN systems is a growing use of the Individual Call feature for calls to a specific bus so nothing is heard on their TG except for general messages to all buses.

 

[k2hz]

The one I am currently holding on, 47.460.

You need to program the Albany/Schenectady P25 system Site 2 only and then program TG10974. Is the system in your scanner?

 

[domtheavgeek]

I

You need to program the Albany/Schenectady P25 system Site 2 only and then program TG10974. Is the system in your scanner?

I’m still confused? I programmed the TGID into the P25 system