Looking for help for my Special Needs Daughter

[Rocknpalms]

My daughter is special needs age 25 and is very limited to outward speech. We have moved down to Oceanside beach in California and she is now an honorary lifeguard as she washes the trucks for them almost every night and brings water and oranges to the towers on very hot days. All volunteer.

I am not a radio enthusiast but she has taken my mobile marine radio and is listening to it for any chatter. It is limited. I have spoken to the Chief of the Fire/Life Guard and he is guiding me to the radio system used so that I can get Shelby a scanner and listen to the lifeguards.

She can not do much and is pretty much stuck at home. Being able to listen would really make her day. I am reaching out to this group in hopes to find a few people that can help me find the right radio to purchase as well as find the correct frequencies for Oceanside CA lifeguards and fire.

I already purchased and returned one radio as it would not work with a trunked system. Below is part of an email I received from the Chief.

“Yes, lifeguards, and all of the "Northcomm" dispatched agencies. Those are all of the fire departments in North San Diego County since we are all members of the joint powers authority.
The system is 800Mhz, digital, trunked. I'm not a scanner person so I'm unsure of what you would need to purchase. Our police department also uses the system but law enforcement channles are encrypted.”

I took a photo of one of the lifeguards radio and it is a Motorola APX900. I am starting to think I need a phase 2 scanner.

I would like to thank any and all in advance as you will be making a very special person very happy.

 

[K4EET]

Hi @Rocknpalms and welcome to Radio Reference. You have come to the right place for answers. San Diego County is found here:

San Diego County, California (CA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for San Diego County, California (CA)

www.radioreference.com

All the best to you and your daughter.

Dave K4EET

 

[RaleighGuy]

It appears this is the system the Chief is talking about, and it lists the Lifeguard talk groups. Not knowing where you are exactly, it appears some sites are simulcast, most scanners do not play nice with simulcast sites, except for the very expensive SDS series scanners from Uniden. If this is going to be used at home you can try a SDR dongle using your PC/laptop and a variety of free software like Unitrunker. (NOTE to those chiming in here Unication and DSD+ do not work with Type II systems).

San Diego City 800MHz Trunking System, San Diego, California

San Diego City 800MHz Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

 

[wtp]

and to get an idea of the prices,

Police Scanners, Radios, Programming, Accessories | Scannermaster.com

 

[tvengr]

Not knowing where you are exactly, it appears some sites are simulcast, most scanners do not play nice with simulcast sites,

I haven't had problems with Motorola Type II simulcast systems. P25 is a different story. Motorola systems are reaching end of life. I do not know how long the current 800 MHz system will be in use.

 

[BinaryMode]

(NOTE to those chiming in here Unication and DSD+ do not work with Type II systems).

Phase II compatible. G5 Dual Band P25 Voice Pager (MSRP)

Or is type II something else I'm not aware of?

Project 25 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes, DSD+ can't decode phase II.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Phase II compatible. G5 Dual Band P25 Voice Pager (MSRP)

Or is type II something else I'm not aware of?

These are often confused:

• Type II
  • Type IIi Hybrid
  • Type II Smartnet
  • Type II SmartZone
  • Type II SmartZone OmniLink
  • Type II VOC

versus...

Project 25 Phase II "TDMA"

 

[BinaryMode]

Just FYI, SDRTrunk is now Phase II compatible. #296 APCO25 Phase II Decoder Implementation by DSheirer · Pull Request #589 · DSheirer/sdrtrunk

OP, if you need help with that go here: Voice/Control Channel Decoding Software

SDRTrunk is a Java based application. Meaning you need to install Java. Then you use one of these called an SDR (Software Defined Radio). Amazon.com : sdr RTL-SDR and NooElec are the more popular ones.

There are many SDRs, some that are actually upwards of 50 grand or better believe it or not. There's a whole Wikipedia page on the different types of SDRs out there.

The best part about running SDRTrunk and a cheap SDR is that it's a MASSIVE fraction of the cost of say a Uniden SDS or Unication pager. The only caveat is that the computer has to be used. In my case I used a Netbook with DSD+. A Dell Mini 910 to be specific. But any computer should work well for SDRTrunk. Mind you Java is a bit CPU heavy.

These are often confused:

• Type II
  • Type IIi Hybrid
  • Type II Smartnet
  • Type II SmartZone
  • Type II SmartZone OmniLink
  • Type II VOC

versus...

Project 25 Phase II "TDMA"

That's what I thought.

 

[RaleighGuy]

Phase II compatible. G5 Dual Band P25 Voice Pager (MSRP)

Or is type II something else I'm not aware of?

Project 25 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yes, DSD+ can't decode phase II.

As @Whiskey3JMC you are confusing modes. Type II Smartzone is NOT P25 Phase 2, they are different animals, and the Unication pagers will not decode a Type II system.

Also, DSD+ FL can decode Phase II, but the free version can't. The Fast Lane version is only $25 for a lifetime subscription with updates and well worth the price.

 

[tvengr]

Do you want a scanner or keep at the house or one for her to carry? Local members will be able to tell you which scanners work well and which site or sites is used for Oceanside Beach. Local members will also be better informed if the present system is being upgraded or if the lifeguards will be switching to another system. Upon further investigation, the lifeguards may be using this system: San Diego-Imperial County RCS NextGen Trunking System, Various, California If they are, simulcast will be an issue. We will have to wait for the locals to let us know which scanner is necessary.

 

[Rocknpalms]

Thank you for all your replies. Honestly it is way over my head. I must say you guys have lots of information unfortunately Im not understanding yet what I need. If there are any professional companies that will set all this up I am interested as well.

As suggested I am going to post this in the local San Diego Metro Area forum and see what information I can get there. Thank you again for the replies.

 

[Rocknpalms]

Do you want a scanner or keep at the house or one for her to carry? Local members will be able to tell you which scanners work well and which site or sites is used for Oceanside Beach. Local members will also be better informed if the present system is being upgraded or if the lifeguards will be switching to another system. Upon further investigation, the lifeguards may be using this system: San Diego-Imperial County RCS NextGen Trunking System, Various, California If they are, simulcast will be an issue. We will have to wait for the locals to let us know which scanner is necessary.

I would like a hand held for her to walk out on our patio that is in line of sight with the life guard towers and so she can bring to headquarters when she washes the trucks.

 

[W6KRU]

Do you want a scanner or keep at the house or one for her to carry? Local members will be able to tell you which scanners work well and which site or sites is used for Oceanside Beach. Local members will also be better informed if the present system is being upgraded or if the lifeguards will be switching to another system. Upon further investigation, the lifeguards may be using this system: San Diego-Imperial County RCS NextGen Trunking System, Various, California If they are, simulcast will be an issue. We will have to wait for the locals to let us know which scanner is necessary.

Yes, that is the system the LGs are on.

 

[Rocknpalms]

Yes, that is the system the LGs are on.

I see you live in Oceanside. Are you able to listen to the LG now? If so can you help me get my daughter to do the same with a handheld? Willing to pay you for your time.

 

[W6KRU]

I see you live in Oceanside. Are you able to listen to the LG now? If so can you help me get my daughter to do the same with a handheld? Willing to pay you for your time.

I'm not sure as I haven't done it in a while. I'll program a scanner and give it a try,

 

[Rocknpalms]

I'm not sure as I haven't done it in a while. I'll program a scanner and give it a try,

Thank you.

 

[SDWolfman]

You will need a scanner that is able to scan APCO 25 Phase 2 trunked systems and decode P25 digital.

I live in the south bay area and provide a couple of feeds to Broadcastify. Unfortunately I do not see any feeds that cover Oceanside lifeguards. There are two routes to go about listening to the Oceanside lifeguards. You can purchase a scanner (ex. from Uniden) or set up a computer with a software defined radio SDR. I use an SDR with sdrtunk software to provide my feeds. The SDR route is the least expensive (other than the cost of the computer), but it is a little experimental and requires some set up. The Uniden radio set up can also be a little complicated.

It does look like my calls feed somehow picks up the Oceanside Lifeguards - 'OSC LG TAC' talkgroup. Let me see if I can set up a public playlist for that talkgroup.

 

[officer_415]

If you get a premium subscription, you could listen using Broadcastify Calls on your phone:

Lifeguards/Oceanside Group Calls Live

2408 Group Calls Live

www.broadcastify.com

 

[W6KRU]

I have it working on one of my scanners. I didn't even realize there was a broadcastify feed as shown by @officer_415 above. That will be the easiest way to do this. It is on the Oceanside Lifeguard TG. The only thing you would miss would be the occasional secondary communications that take place on the Lifeguard TAC channel. All you need to access it is a phone/tablet/computer with internet access and a premium subscription to this website. If you want to go the other way you will have to purchase the scanner.

 

[tvengr]

Yes, that is the system the LGs are on.

Is that the RCS NextGen system and would the North Simulcast site be the best? Do you have problems with simulcast? For a handheld, I believe the SDS100 would be the best. Do you agree? What talkgroup is used to dispatch the lifeguards? According to the database, all talkgroups for Oceanside are still Phase 1. Thanks!