Macon/Bibb FD moves again, PD coming soon

[charlesdotcc]

Hi guys,
Here we go again - after Macon PD and FD moved system's last month, I received an email this week saying they moved again, this time to the new Harris system. And sure enough, my feed is silent.

Is anybody local and willing to do a little detective work and see if they can find the new control channel? I've been combing through the license database, comparing the current system channels to the licenses, and trying to stream things remotely, but haven't been able to find anything that sounds right. I'm working over a slow remote desktop link, which makes the process hard and aggravating.

Also, does anybody just happen to know if it's a Phase I or II system? I'm guessing II. Does anybody know if there are any problems monitoring a Harris P25 Phase II system with the current crop of Phase II-capable scanners?

FYI - I also heard PD will be moving to the new system as well shortly.

-Charles

 

[RRR]

There is no "Macon PD" anymore. It is under the Sheriff's office now.

 

[charlesdotcc]

There is no "Macon PD" anymore. It is under the Sheriff's office now.

OK .. wrong name, same problem.

 

[RRR]

I wasn't being smart. I just meant that maybe they migrated the TG's over to the Sheriffs TG's. I understand the sheriffs TG's were encrypted from the start on the new system.

I was in Macon yesterday, and could hear conversation on the new system, sounded really clear and loud. I was busy working, but I do recall seeing the TG labeled "GCIC" with activity, but the conversation did not relate to any GCIC info, was routine conversation.

With all the TG's included in RR, plus the "*" as a wildcard, I still hear very little over it.

Does the "*" (asterisk) programmed into a BCD996XT really open the radio up to receive all TG's on a given system/group?

 

[N8IAA]

I wasn't being smart. I just meant that maybe they migrated the TG's over to the Sheriffs TG's. I understand the sheriffs TG's were encrypted from the start on the new system.

I was in Macon yesterday, and could hear conversation on the new system, sounded really clear and loud. I was busy working, but I do recall seeing the TG labeled "GCIC" with activity, but the conversation did not relate to any GCIC info, was routine conversation.

With all the TG's included in RR, plus the "*" as a wildcard, I still hear very little over it.

Does the "*" (asterisk) programmed into a BCD996XT really open the radio up to receive all TG's on a given system/group?

You need to put the system in ID, not ID scan. Then you will hear all of the TGID's associated with the system. The ' * ' is used programming individual RID's into the scanner.
Larry

 

[RRR]

Pardon my ignorance, but how do I put the BCD9600 in "ID" as opposed to "ID SCAN"?

I currently have it on "ID search"

 

[N8IAA]

Pardon my ignorance, but how do I put the BCD9600 in "ID" as opposed to "ID SCAN"?

I currently have it on "ID search"

I'm going to presume you meant the 996T/XT and that you are using software. I use FreeScan for my 396XT and 15X.
Click on the system in question, and see what it has a dot in: ID, or ID Scan. Click on ID, save, and upload to the scanner.
Larry

 

[airforceflyr]

Bibb, Monroe join regional radio system:

Bibb, Monroe join regional radio system | Local & State | Macon.com

"Using Monroe County’s current system, deputies are experiencing some “bleed over” from other radio systems, said Sheriff John Cary Bittick. Joining the new, regional system will fix the problem while also making it faster and easier for public safety workers to talk with one another when a need arises, such as during a disaster or a multi-county car chase, he said."

Isn't 154.905, 155.475 etc supposed to be for these situations ? Which btw those are dead quiet except for a few times a year - usually when deputies are passing through on I-75 for official travel. Most multi jurisdiction ops I catch in middle GA have the dispatchers do all the relaying. Telephone with the bordering county in one ear and relaying location updates to the deputy via radio. Article, also mentiones Perry as interested in joining. They are currently on Houston TRS with absolutely no problems.

 

[RRR]

Monroe county has been analog UHF for as long as I can remember, when only Lamar co. was too. Interoperability was only desired with selected areas I guess until now (Lamar is still UHF, Butts is VHF (almost) mototrbo, and they won't be going 800 any time soon, so interoperability with them won't benefit any with this. And Jones and Peach recently spend big bucks going to Nxdn, so that would be money wasted if they abandoned it. There must be some serious money sitting around needing to be spent.

Will this tie into the SEGRRN? Or is it a "single, about to be 2 county" Radio network?

More like the interest of encryption has reared it's ugly head...

 

[charlesdotcc]

Thanks for the link to the Telegraph article. So yeah - that's the new system we need to find and add it to the database. If anybody wants to help me find new frequencies and talkgroups, that'd be lovely.

Thanks.

-Charles

 

[charlesdotcc]

Oh, and by the way RRR - "ID Search" is what you want if you want to hear any activity on the system, which is what I think you were looking for. In "ID Search" mode, the scanner ignores the programmed talkgroups and just gives you any activity it sees on system. When you put it back in "ID Scan" mode, it will only give you talkgroups you have programmed in, and ignore other traffic.

So generally, yes - ID Search is for discovering new talkgroups because you'll get everything, and ID Scan is when you've decided what channels you're inteterested in and which you aren't, and you just get those.

 

[N8IAA]

Will this tie into the SEGRRN? Or is it a "single, about to be 2 county" Radio network?

Unless SEGARRN is going to build out way north and west of the coast of GA, I don't think that it will happen.

As with all news stories, a grain of salt needs to be taken with what is reported.

If you are using FreeScan to program your radio, there are two options for trunked sites: ID, and ID Scan. ID is the one in the software to choose to search for TGID's. ID Scan is for listening to only the TGID's that you programmed and want to hear.

HTH,
Larry

 

[charlesdotcc]

Good point. To clarify my earlier - "ID Search" and "ID Scan" are the terms used if you're using the interface on the scanner itself. "ID" and "ID Scan" are the corresponding terms if you're using FreeScan to program your radio.

 

[RRR]

ARC-XT pro

Many thanks for the replies

 

[N8IAA]

Thanks for the link to the Telegraph article. So yeah - that's the new system we need to find and add it to the database. If anybody wants to help me find new frequencies and talkgroups, that'd be lovely.

Thanks.

-Charles

There is no new system. Monroe is going to join the Macon/Bibb county P-25, Phase I system. They will be renaming the system.

To hear any new TGID's, run your scanners (Uniden- in ID Search mode), (RS/GRE- in Wildcard mode).

There is no encryption reported in the RR database for the Macon/Bibb system. They are in the clear digital.
Larry

 

[charlesdotcc]

I believe there might be a new system, but here's what I know, and you can see what you think:

- We had an old Motorola Smartzone system that was used up through Dec 2013 and worked happily in our scanners.
- Around the 1st week of Jan 2014 we had to reprogram our scanners to a P25 Phase 1 system (new CC's, new TGIDs, new Type). My *guess* is that this was to the Motorola system the City bought with grant money in 2006, but never bought any radios to go with it because the grant money ran out. This is the system currently listed in the RR database. This got everything working again.
- Then, last week (mid Feb 2014), I received an email that said the FD had moved again, this time over to the new Harris system, and PD/Sheriff would follow soon. And upon checking, I verified that the sender was correct - I am no longer receiving FD traffic on the system/talkgroup settings that worked a few days previous.

So that leads me to two possible conclusions:
- For the last month they've been on a Phase I system, and now they've moved on the a new Harris Phase II system. I am not hearing it because I haven't found the new system (for one), OR
- They moved to the Harris Phase II system back in January, but for approximately the past month they've been running it in Phase 1 mode for some reason, and now last week switched over to Phase II. I'm not hearing the new traffic because I'm using a Pro-106 which won't do Phase II.


So, to summarize - FD is no longer working with the settings in the database. Where'day go?


-Charles

 

[RRR]

The telegraph reported late last year when the "new system" was going in, that the Sheriff's channels would be encrypted. Don't know for sure if that is the case now or not, but I sure don't hear a lot on the system like I did on the old one

 

[mjbjr]

The telegraph reported late last year when the "new system" was going in, that the Sheriff's channels would be encrypted. Don't know for sure if that is the case now or not, but I sure don't hear a lot on the system like I did on the old one

Its non stop for me,i listen most all day and its always busy,except weekends.

 

[RRR]

- For the last month they've been on a Phase I system, and now they've moved on the a new Harris Phase II system. I am not hearing it because I haven't found the new system (for one), OR
- They moved to the Harris Phase II system back in January, but for approximately the past month they've been running it in Phase 1 mode for some reason, and now last week switched over to Phase II. I'm not hearing the new traffic because I'm using a Pro-106 which won't do Phase II.

-Charles

Are you sure the newest system is Phase 2?

 

[charlesdotcc]

Are you sure the newest system is Phase 2?

No, I'm not, it may very well possibly be Phase 1. I'm just assuming it's Phase II because of it's young age.