Nebraska (Statewide) Wireless Interoperable Network "N-WIN"

[SquierStrat]

By default, the GRE 600 only scans talkgroups that have been programmed. The equivalent of "ID Scan" mode is our wildcard scan. The wildcard must be programmed as a talkgroup but it actually is a catch all (except those marked as lock-out).

Just wanted to correct so theres no confusion; Uniden's ID SEARCH (not id scan) is the equivalent of GREs wildcard talkgroup.

 

[SquierStrat]

Also, Ex-Dispatcher, I havent been in your situation yet, (travelling through numerous sites) but have thought about it.. What i would probably do is program all the sites CCs and alternate CCs into 1 system, set it to stationary, and set it to check all control channels in every pass... other then that, and the Wildcard suggestion, The only other thing i could suggest is making each site on NWIN a separate system in your scanner, (with multi site set to off, of course)

 

[Ex-Dispatcher]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have all the CCs and alts for the SE portion of the state in 1 system, but I have only tried the stationary setting while sitting in a Lincoln hotel. I'm hitting the highway tomorrow so I'll leave it on stationary and see what happens outside the realm of the Lincoln system.

SUCCESS! Sitting in the hotel with the above settings I have caught several transmissions on N-WIN for Troop C dispatch. Thanks to all for the help.

 

[khphighwayman]

HQ Troop switched over

Really wasn't hearing much traffic on NWIN from down here in Kansas until the past couple days. Once in a while sporadic traffic on Beatrice from different troop areas. Now I'm hearing a ton of traffic off the Beatrice tower on HQ Troop dispatch from guys all over southeast Nebraska. Sounds like they may have switched over at last in HQ Troop. Also anyone else hearing talkgroup 3073? Its definitely an HQ Troop talkgroup judging by the traffic I'm hearing on it. just hasn't been assigned an alpha tag on it yet on RR.

 

[SCPD]

3073 has been id'ed as HQ Dispatch 3

 

[SCPD]

Sounds like Troop HQ splits their radio traffic between Dispatch 1 and Dispatch 3. Unknown how they are split.
It sounds like Troop C does the same thing.
Unknown if other Troop areas are doing the same.
Troop A mainly uses Dispatch 1. I have heard Dispatch 3 used for radar enforcement and as a back up when Dispatch 1 is cleared for 10-33 (emergency) traffic. I have heard Troop A use the encrypted dispatch 2 and 4 talk groups for perimeters and while searching for suspects, similar to how ORIONs DCSO, OPD and LE event talk groups are used.

 

[KF0SKV]

Sounds like Troop HQ splits their radio traffic between Dispatch 1 and Dispatch 3. Unknown how they are split.
It sounds like Troop C does the same thing.
Unknown if other Troop areas are doing the same.
Troop A mainly uses Dispatch 1. I have heard Dispatch 3 used for radar enforcement and as a back up when Dispatch 1 is cleared for 10-33 (emergency) traffic. I have heard Troop A use the encrypted dispatch 2 and 4 talk groups for perimeters and while searching for suspects, similar to how ORIONs DCSO, OPD and LE event talk groups are used.

It works about the same up here in Troop B Country. When both 3079/3087 are in use, I have heard traffic moved over on LE 1/3015.

I have begun to notice Norfolk Tower has been loaded up on several occasions, watching the voice traffic over pro96com. NPPD are put into Queued status, while of course NSP has priority.

 

[Ex-Dispatcher]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have all the CCs and alts for the SE portion of the state in 1 system, but I have only tried the stationary setting while sitting in a Lincoln hotel. I'm hitting the highway tomorrow so I'll leave it on stationary and see what happens outside the realm of the Lincoln system.

SUCCESS! Sitting in the hotel with the above settings I have caught several transmissions on N-WIN for Troop C dispatch. Thanks to all for the help.

I'm back in Nebraska, and hearing lots of traffic on N-WIN. Before starting this trip I had a light-bulb moment. In order to best determine the best way to monitor a system such as N-WIN I needed to try at least two sets of settings at a time. That's when the light bulb lit up! I went into PSR Edit and duplicated the system, giving the copy a new name. I then changed the system settings from "STAT, scan all control channels on each pass" to "Roam" with threshholds of 55 lo and 85 high. I copied all talkgroups from the original into the new system, and set them to display purple on the LED when active. Both systems are set to scan in the same bank, and I can tell at a glance which is receiving.

Today I traveled the SE portion of the state, meandering from Falls City to Lincoln in a rather twisty route. I received lots of traffic, especially when that big accident occurred at Nebraska City. So far it appears that both sets of settings are working well. Many times I would hear a conversation start on one and end on the other. It was just luck of the draw as to which was actively scanning when the transmission started. I'll be in state for a couple of days, so I'll let you know if one emerges as better than the other.

 

[khphighwayman]

Pro-197

This question is for Ex Dispatcher. Ive just recently got a PRO-197. It sounds like youre running either that or GRE equivalent. Can I ask if you entered the custom trunking table into the scanner when you programmed it? or did you just download the NWIN sites and talkgroups off of this website and go with it? Ive been having some issues with hearing this system on radio shack scanners. Thanks for the input

 

[towersites]

I was just in Garden County and Keith County Area. I only heard the dispatch side. I wonder if it is a patch from the lowband system.

 

[autovon]

Now that the Plattsmouth and Omaha sites are pretty busy, I just had to upgrade and get a BCD996XT. It's nice to be able to hear NSP with just the telescoping whip on the back of the scanner.

 

[KF0SKV]

I was just in Garden County and Keith County Area. I only heard the dispatch side. I wonder if it is a patch from the lowband system.

Chances are you are hearing Troop D simulcasting over different sites. The Dispatcher has the option to open certain towers during transmissions, but you will only hear the Dispatcher on those towers.

NSP Lowband across the state has been reduced to a "protection" type capacity, mainly for areas that N-WIN has coverage gaps, or for mutual aid.

 

[33kracing]

Not to change subject... but what exactly is simulcast dispatch... i hear lincoln pd might be upgrading radio system... and ppl say they may run a simulcast dispatch but theyre not sure. Any clarity on this would be appreciated... thanks in advance!!

 

[PJH]

There is two things out there that sometimes get confused.. Simulcast and Multicast.

Multicast is when a dispatcher can transmit the same message on multiple towers on multiple channels at the same time. IE: "Mayday transmitted on the fireground all units standby" and have it go over Fire 1, Fire 2, Command Tactical, etc.

Simulcast is is when the radio system transmits on multiple towers on the SAME frequency at the same time. This is typically used in wide area systems (conventional and trunked). This requires excellent transmitter upkeep and a time reference so that everything is "on freq". When it isn't, the signal recieved in the field gets a little jumbled and you can have all sorts of different audio effects.

The timing is used (today its GPS based) so that every tower is sync'd due to path delays, distance, etc.

The poor mans soultion back in the day (and still used in some areas) is to either:

-Have seperate repeaters on different channels in different parts of a county
-Have all repeaters on the same output freq but different input PL's to open them up
-Have all repeaters on the same output freq but different input/output PL's

All required the user to change channels as they roamed around the coverage area. Obviously in todays public safety world, its a bit of a challenge to jump out of a car to chase someone and have your portable on the wrong channel and try to change it in a foot chase.

 

[PJH]

I also forgot to add...

In one of the other posts, its mentioned that lowband is being repeated on the TRS or vice vera. This is actually called "patching" and is done at the radion console or in the back room. All it does is create a link between the two systems. We did this when for awhile when we converted our state lowband simplex system over to a new statewide digtal trunked system. This allowed the non-upgraded cars to talk to people with the new radios and so forth, and provided a redundant means of comms until everyone was happy. On simplex systems such as NE, you usually will not hear the field side of the conversation unless the consoles are setup to patch in the input audio.

CHP has done this with their lowband system creating a "poor mans" repeater system in many areas. They just patch the input audio to the output side at the console level (at some CHP offices, back end at some others) so everyone can hear each other. This is why when ducting is good in the summer you can hear the field units and the dispatcher.

 

[Ex-Dispatcher]

This question is for Ex Dispatcher. Ive just recently got a PRO-197. It sounds like youre running either that or GRE equivalent. Can I ask if you entered the custom trunking table into the scanner when you programmed it? or did you just download the NWIN sites and talkgroups off of this website and go with it? Ive been having some issues with hearing this system on radio shack scanners. Thanks for the input

I am running the GRE PSR-600. I setup a P25 system with the Control Channels for all towers in the SE portion of the state. I then setup the desired talkgroups. I used PSR-Edit software to program the scanner.

 

[rankin39]

NWIN input freqs. in the fed range?

Do any of you guys up there in the Cornhusker state have a list of the INPUT frequencies being used on the federal frequencies being used by NWIN? I have the outputs and occasionally hear them well here near Kansas City, but I occasionally hear snatches of audio on other frequencies that aren't used here in KS and am trying to figure out whether I'm hearing NWIN mobiles via meteor scatter or other temporary propagation. Is there a formula for determining the inputs? Or simply a list? Thanks,

Bob, WoNXN (west of KC)

 

[cellphone]

Do any of you guys up there in the Cornhusker state have a list of the INPUT frequencies being used on the federal frequencies being used by NWIN? I have the outputs and occasionally hear them well here near Kansas City, but I occasionally hear snatches of audio on other frequencies that aren't used here in KS and am trying to figure out whether I'm hearing NWIN mobiles via meteor scatter or other temporary propagation. Is there a formula for determining the inputs? Or simply a list? Thanks,

Bob, WoNXN (west of KC)

FCC Licenses contain both input and output frequencies. Below are links to all FCC licenses for sites using Federal frequencies:

Jones Creek
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Trunked License - WQPV893 - NEBRASKA, STATE OF - Frequencies Summary
Cedar Bluffs
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Trunked License - WQPM987 - NEBRASKA, STATE OF - Frequencies Summary
Omaha
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Trunked License - WQPM982 - NEBRASKA, STATE OF - Frequencies Summary
Craig
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Trunked License - WQPX202 - NEBRASKA, STATE OF - Frequencies Summary
Plattsmouth
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Trunked License - WQPX201 - NEBRASKA, STATE OF - Frequencies Summary
Falls City
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Trunked License - WQPX729 - NEBRASKA, STATE OF - Frequencies Summary
Sterling
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Trunked License - WQPN200 - NEBRASKA, STATE OF - Frequencies Summary

 

[PJH]

A quick answer is that there are no standard offsets on VHF. It's whatever is assigned by the FCC/freq coordinators.

 

[rankin39]

FCC Licenses contain both input and output frequencies. Below are links to all FCC licenses for sites using Federal frequencies:

Thanks for that info. I guess I had assumed that the fed. freqs. would not be listed. I see they are all in the 163-166 MHz. region, so that's not what I'm hearing on 168.6125 MHz. It must be from somewhere else in the Midwest. It's a local "common use" channel, so it could be just about any agency.

Bob, WoNXN