More NE Georgia Counties Probably Going Silent

[AerialEars]

Counties weighing public safety radio partnership
Digital for better communication

By Adam Thompson, Athens Banner-Herald, November 30, 2008

Public safety agencies in the region aren't on the same wavelength, electromagnetically speaking, but that soon may change.

While agreements are far from final, officials in Clarke, Oconee, Greene, Morgan and Walton counties are seriously discussing a partnership to build new antennas for a regional 800 MHz public safety radio system.

Oconee County commissioners last week earmarked $3.2 million in a proposed list of $40 million in sales tax-funded projects to pay for their part of the network - tentatively called the Oconee Areawide Radio System.

Link to the rest of the story.

Looks as if my county and every county around me is drinking the Kool Aid. As since they're drinking from Walton County's pitcher, looks like I'll need to find a new hobby.

 

[AndrewC75]

I don't see anything in the article that indicates this will be anything more than a standard P25 system, similar to the UASI/GEWIN system. By no means does it indicate that it will be unmonitorable; that is yet to be determined.

 

[SCPD]

I don't foresee any of this happening anywhere any time soon. I costs to much and with diminished tax revenue capital expenditures are being suspended left and right.

 

[WouffHong]

Georgia changes..

Maybe I should hold onto my Pro-96 for NW Georgia? - Although we tend to be more conservative in technology-spending when not needed over here
Tom
http://scannorthga.com
http://scangilmer.com

 

[pachanga22]

Do WHAT? This WIlliams guy is gulping down Motorola's hook, line, sinker, and pole. How pathetic!

"And there's a reason to do the radio project now, and make sure it's done right, Williams said.

The Federal Communications Commission is requiring most public safety radio systems by 2013 to narrow the bandwidth they use to communicate.

If Oconee County is stuck with its current VHF radio system, it soon would have to apply for a new FCC license at a narrower band that would make radios half as powerful and give at least twice as many dead spots, he said.

"Right now, we have a good footprint, as far as radio traffic goes, but when we have to reduce that footprint, it's going to open up more holes for possible interference," Williams said.

 

[AerialEars]

I base my assumption on the fact that they're looking at joining with Walton County, whose system is well on the way to being operable. Walton has already decided to use end to end OTAR encryption on all talk groups.

 

[roadranger]

It ain't over till the Fat Lady...

This can go any and all directions. I read about this too, and am glad you guys are on top of this. My thoughts are along these lines. When the local ARES group is called in to help when the purchased Digital system goes down, the local entities will soon miss the comforts and convieniences of it, when we do help out with Two-Meters. Imagine what we'll look like as the last mode of communication. Will they call us again? Will they fund a different mode of communication?

I think that it may be a little expensive to upgrade on either side of the hobby, but there are tons of other less exiting things to listen for. Not all of my existing electronics interest are in scanning. Maybe I can be close enough to listen to an officer's wireless mike!

Oh, yeah, I thought that the acronym was cute for the Lake Areas. I wanted to use it for a radio club @ Lake Oconee. It would involved boaters also. OARS, the Oconee Area Radio System is what the counties would use. My name would have used "Society" insted of "System".

 

[wmrouse]

Plain Talk

I've just purchased a Uniden BCD396XT and in shock ( and pain) with what has transpired since my last scanner purchase 10 years ago. I frankly haven't had any interest in scanners lately and did not keep up with all the changes (apparently a lot of changes). I'm frantically reading all these posts but there's so much to digest. My "plain talk" question is, from what I've been able to understand, is it a correct assumption that even with this new BCD396XT, I still will not be able to monitor the police frequencies in Gwinnett (as well as other metro counties) because of encryption?

Someone please advise and if there is any good reason to have a high priced scanner like the BCD396XT anymore.

Lowry
Lawrenceville, GA.

 

[N8IAA]

I've just purchased a Uniden BCD396XT and in shock ( and pain) with what has transpired since my last scanner purchase 10 years ago. I frankly haven't had any interest in scanners lately and did not keep up with all the changes (apparently a lot of changes). I'm frantically reading all these posts but there's so much to digest. My "plain talk" question is, from what I've been able to understand, is it a correct assumption that even with this new BCD396XT, I still will not be able to monitor the police frequencies in Gwinnett (as well as other metro counties) because of encryption?

Someone please advise and if there is any good reason to have a high priced scanner like the BCD396XT anymore.

Lowry
Lawrenceville, GA.

Well, Lowry, I personally would have bought a GRE PSR-500, or, a RS Pro-106. But that will not answer your question. You can listen to the GCFD, Forsyth County SO, FD, and Cumming PD. No Hall County except for prisoner details. Fulton county and Atlanta are still analog, as well as, De Kalb. But, in the near future, De Kalb will go digital. There is still a wealth of conventional frequencies to monitor. You might even want to put some Fed freqs in and check for P-25 activity. Don't forget that Camp Merrill is transitioning to P-25 in the 380Mhz flavor Their testing is loud and clear in the Gwinnett area. And, Holy Cow, you are alive and well)
HTH,
Larry

 

[MTS2000des]

City of Atlanta is also going digital, reports are encryption has been heard on the test talkgroups.
Fulton is analog and will most likely be for a while.
Cobb is digital and most talkgroups are in the clear, with the exception of some MCS and other sensitive talkgroups.

The counties which have gone underground and choose to hide from their citizens and media are:

Hall (as mentioned)
Gwinnett (except for fire)
Walton (total encryption on all TG's)

Anyone else can still be monitored for now.

 

[pachanga22]

City of Atlanta is also going digital, reports are encryption has been heard on the test talkgroups.
Fulton is analog and will most likely be for a while.
Cobb is digital and most talkgroups are in the clear, with the exception of some MCS and other sensitive talkgroups.

The counties which have gone underground and choose to hide from their citizens and media are:

Hall (as mentioned)
Gwinnett (except for fire)
Walton (total encryption on all TG's)

Anyone else can still be monitored for now.

I bet encryption boards for XTS portables are at least $1K a pop. Good job at wasting taxpayers money. :roll:

 

[SCPD]

The FD i am with is in the process of converting to narrow band VHF and we are looking at almost 20,000 dollars for new mobiles and pagers. Fortunately most of our hand helds are narrow band capable (i think we only have to replace 4 out of 10). This whole thing will ultimately boil down to money. With tax revenues short and public safety getting the shaft on most every budget level i just cant foresee any major expenditures especially given the way county/city commissioners look at, why do we need a new one, whats wrong with the old one. With that logic you can not justify the money. However with Uncle Obama throwing money at every little thing except for what he should maybe there will be big Home Land Security grants to pay for it all. Either way the tax payer and the firefighters/police officers/sheriffs deputies will get the shaft.

 

[kc4wai]

I am glad to see some dialog on this subject...it's been on my mind.

City of Atlanta is also going digital, reports are encryption has been heard on the test talkgroups.
Fulton is analog and will most likely be for a while.
Cobb is digital and most talkgroups are in the clear, with the exception of some MCS and other sensitive talkgroups.

The counties which have gone underground and choose to hide from their citizens and media are:

Hall (as mentioned)
Gwinnett (except for fire)
Walton (total encryption on all TG's)

Anyone else can still be monitored for now.

Well put sir (i.e. "counties which have gone underground and choose to hide from their citizens and media"). I had this discussion with a cop buddy of mine. He told me "we don't want the criminals listening to us on scanners anymore". I told him "with or without police scanners, criminals are still gonna commit crimes". Show me FBI statistics that prove that the use of encrypted police communications stems the tide of criminal activity and I will shut my mouth. Keep this subject alive people. Law enforcement officers are public servants. I'm sure this sort of thing was acceptable in Soviet Russia...but there is no reason whatsoever in the United States for 911 dispatch calls to be encrypted.

 

[pachanga22]

misuse of govt funds

What chaps me the most is animal control, tax assessors, etc. they're buying encryption boards for.

FOR WHAT???? :evil:

 

[kc4wai]

What I'm hoping is that it won't last. All P25 systems running encryption can revert back to operating in the clear. The local media around is pretty ruthless. They frown upon secrecy at the local government level and have no reservations about exposing it. The first mistake these counties made by running encryption was not allowing the media to monitor for traffic reports. So with enough pressure from the Atlanta media, this encryption nonsense may very well be short lived.

You know what Gwinnett County told the media? That they don't need to monitor police communications over the radio, but rather to call 911 if they need to know what's going on. Yeah, that's really smart.

 

[pachanga22]

You mean call Gwinnett 911, sit on hold for 10 minutes, then be confronted by a hostile dispatcher?

Yeah, that's what you meant. I used to call and tell them of traffic accidents, dead deer or trees in the roadway, etc. but I quit calling because they're, well, mean.

 

[b7spectra]

If I recall, in Jacksonville, Florida (where they went encrypted years ago), the Police have a single channel that is dedicated analog (a channel that all the media monitors) and they, supposedly, will make notifications over it to the media. I remember when back in the 90's when everyone was getting on the TRS bandwagon, we (Metro Traffic) purchased a bunch of Spectra radios and had each jurisdiction program in their main channels (Fire & Police/Sheriff) so they could hear the calls as well as stop us from calling them every 15 minutes to get updates!

 

[procopper7005]

I am glad to see some dialog on this subject...it's been on my mind.



Well put sir (i.e. "counties which have gone underground and choose to hide from their citizens and media"). I had this discussion with a cop buddy of mine. He told me "we don't want the criminals listening to us on scanners anymore". I told him "with or without police scanners, criminals are still gonna commit crimes". Show me FBI statistics that prove that the use of encrypted police communications stems the tide of criminal activity and I will shut my mouth. Keep this subject alive people. Law enforcement officers are public servants. I'm sure this sort of thing was acceptable in Soviet Russia...but there is no reason whatsoever in the United States for 911 dispatch calls to be encrypted.

I'm a cop, I think that dispatch channels should be in the open, but TAC channels, detective, narcotics, SWAT, etc channels should be encrypted if the agency chooses to do so. While working narcotics I have found many police scanners tuned to tactical channels used by entry teams, narcotics units, etc. The criminal element should be barred from listening to investigative type traffic.
Regular uniform cops though, keep it in the open.

 

[kc4wai]

Absolutely. Keep the routine dispatch calls in the clear and encrypt all sensitive traffic, which was possible via the old analog systems. I think my biggest gripe is these local governments spending all this money on digital and/or trunking systems they don't need. The key thing for public safety is too achieve as close to 100% on-hip portable in-building/street-level coverage for any jurisdiction. I believe 95% is acceptable, but I have heard of trunked systems not even having 85% in-car mobile coverage. As a communications professional I can honestly say that is unacceptable. If the system works, stick with it and make improvements where you can. I think the old saying is "don't throw the baby out with the bath water". A lot of jurisdictions have done that by abandoning their older (but reliable) comm systems.

 

[pachanga22]

Barrow County broke

Bet they come up with some justification to spen money to keep up with the Joneses...

Spending, forgiven debt help put Barrow in hole | News | OnlineAthens.com



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