I see that Milwaukee's OpenSky system is not encypted. Can I buy a Harris M/A-Com P7300 700/800MHz Portable Radio and program it to use NAS?. Should be pretty easy I believe. Of course this is temprorory until the city dumps OpenSky to use a Harris Phase 2 system. The new P2 system will have limited encryption other than the tac, car to car, admin channels, sensitive stuff, etc. Most routine dispatch traffic should be unencrypted. Getting and programming an OpenSky should be pretty easy and if we can put a golf cart on a planet 141 million miles away, getting a Harris radio programmed for receive only on Milwaukee's radio system should be a piece of cake. I would like to listen to MPD and nobody is providing a stream of it, I would try and see what I could do. I have a couple of spare SDR's lying around I could use but cannot find which software to use. Going to be spending quite a bit of time in the MKE area this summer.
Milwaukee OpenSky Radio
- Thread starter iowajm780
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Mex
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No, OpenSky is IP based (kinda sorta like wifi), meaning you basically need a radio to be connected and registered on the network to be able to listen or transmit on said system. Your better off waiting for the system to reach the end of life so they switch over to the new P25 system
CrabbyMilton
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MFD is patched to the OASIS system so you'll be able to hear that. Rest assured there is still plenty to hear in Milwaukee County.
The fact that MPD still hasn't followed MFD's lead on full-time OASIS ISSI in-the-clear tells me they would likely be full-time encrypted on any new P25 system. I'm not getting my hopes up for a P25 system to change anything for listeners. It would be nice if the District Dispatch talkgroups were in-the-clear, with all Tac channels encrypted, but I don't see it happening unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong.
The report I found and posted states they want full enc.
RayAir
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Your only hope of monitoring OpenSky would be if SOI (scene of incident) mode was in use and you had an OpenSky capable radio in OpenSky mode.
Also would need to know how to place the radio in SOI mode and know the channel number to enter (e.g- Cxxx Bxx)
Then from the Profile Menu there are two profiles, Global1 and Global2 each with 16 selectable talk groups.
SOI doesn't have any authentication or provisioning. No I.P routing. It also isn't connected to the main OpenSky system. It's a 2 slot vehicle repeater operating in OpenSky mode.
That said it's unlikely you'll ever find Milwaukee using SOI mode.
It would typically only be used at major incidents to alleviate traffic off the main system and only if they choose to use it, if they even have V-TAC repeaters in the cars.
As far as the main system, each radio has a 10 digit user ID, an IP address, and if the system is encrypted you have to log on with a password. Otherwise log-in can be programmed by the system admin to take place automatically.
There's also an authentication process that takes place when you power up your subscriber radio. Based on your user ID, your radio profile (talk groups) is downloaded from the system after successfully authenticating.
The process only takes a few seconds after powering on your radio.
Note- I had an official OpenSky radio for a previous job and the voice quality was quite good and every time I hit PTT the call always went through. That said as many know, OpenSky systems had serious problems in many other areas.
Here, it took them 6 years to get a working system. Was supposed to take 2.
Also would need to know how to place the radio in SOI mode and know the channel number to enter (e.g- Cxxx Bxx)
Then from the Profile Menu there are two profiles, Global1 and Global2 each with 16 selectable talk groups.
SOI doesn't have any authentication or provisioning. No I.P routing. It also isn't connected to the main OpenSky system. It's a 2 slot vehicle repeater operating in OpenSky mode.
That said it's unlikely you'll ever find Milwaukee using SOI mode.
It would typically only be used at major incidents to alleviate traffic off the main system and only if they choose to use it, if they even have V-TAC repeaters in the cars.
As far as the main system, each radio has a 10 digit user ID, an IP address, and if the system is encrypted you have to log on with a password. Otherwise log-in can be programmed by the system admin to take place automatically.
There's also an authentication process that takes place when you power up your subscriber radio. Based on your user ID, your radio profile (talk groups) is downloaded from the system after successfully authenticating.
The process only takes a few seconds after powering on your radio.
Note- I had an official OpenSky radio for a previous job and the voice quality was quite good and every time I hit PTT the call always went through. That said as many know, OpenSky systems had serious problems in many other areas.
Here, it took them 6 years to get a working system. Was supposed to take 2.
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