BCD396XT/BCD996XT: New Redding PD (Shasta County CA) system

[jpaul1982]

Their new P25 Phase 2 trunked system went live yesterday and channel 1 is streaming clearly on Broadcastify. The RR DB shows the single control channel and I’ve programmed my UNIDEN 996XT accordingly. My buddy who works for RPD said the channel lineup on their end is still the same, with “Patrol 1” or “REDDING PD 1” being the only non encrypted channel. My 996XT is set to ID SEARCH and I’m not getting any audio.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[KevinC]

If the TG’s are TDMA your radio won’t decode them.

 

[jpaul1982]

Thanks for the prompt reply. According to RPD’s official press release about their new system and info from my buddy who’s an officer, channel 1 will NOT be encrypted and available for the public to listen. All others are encrypted. Dispatch calls, initial responses, and traffic stops are all on channel 1. Once stable and ready to run a person’s identifying info, they switch to channel 2 until the incident or stop is concluded. Should my unit still be capable of hearing channel 1 since there’s no encryption?? Thanks again.

 

[KevinC]

Thanks for the prompt reply. According to RPD’s official press release about their new system and info from my buddy who’s an officer, channel 1 will NOT be encrypted and available for the public to listen. All others are encrypted. Dispatch calls, initial responses, and traffic stops are all on channel 1. Once stable and ready to run a person’s identifying info, they switch to channel 2 until the incident or stop is concluded. Should my unit still be capable of hearing channel 1 since there’s no encryption?? Thanks again.

If the TG is FDMA then yes, if it's TDMA then no. I would suspect it's TDMA.

 

[jpaul1982]

Any issues you see with my programming:

1) I setup a new P25 system - tried both Standard Trunk and One-Freq Trunk, 2) added the sole control channel listed from the RR DB, and 3) set it to ID SEARCH.

The scanning will stop to show signal as if it’s receiving activity with a an ID along with an occasional “DAT” or “LNK”, but no audio. But it’s very brief… I don’t hear any of the more common digital encryption .5 second scramble when it stops.

 

[n1chu]

Agree with Kevin C. If you are looking for TDMA, which is what you say the Redding PD is using, it’s a phase 2 system and you would need to use the newer 996P2 version of the scanner. A 996XT, which is FDMA, will not work. Encryption does not enter into the picture as to why you are not receiving RPD ch1.

 

[jpaul1982]

That makes sense. Thank you!

 

[wtp]

also, if any single radio in a talkgroup is still phase 1 you will hear the talkgroup.
they system reverts back so everyone can communicate.
if they are all phase 2 you will not hear it at all.

 

[tvengr]

Looking at the FCC database, the system is simulcast. Depending upon your location, you may have reception problems with any scanner other than the Uniden SDS100 handheld or SDS200 base/mobile. The BCD996P2 may or may not work at your location. If you try the BCD996P2, order it from a dealer with a good return policy. I don't see any talkgroup information in the database yet. If a talkgroup Mode is D, you can receive it with the BCD996XT. If Mode is T (TDMA), it cannot be received by the BCD996XT. If Mode is DE or TE, it is fully encrypted and cannot be received by any scanner. If Mode is De to Te, it is encrypted part of the time.

 

[jpaul1982]

I live in the city and am a state patrol officer. I handle the programming for our patrol vehicle scanners, which are all 996XT’s. We’ve never had issue in the past with the RPD system in our vehicles or personally at home (where signal strength is 100%). I was hoping it would be a simple programming change to add the new system to replace the old, but no. The old system is still live, however it only is home to public works/waste/etc - - RPD has completely removed themselves from it. As an alternate for now, we can use the Broadcastify feed provided by RPD as a link on their website to monitor channel 1 only with the 30-ish second delay.

 

[tvengr]

I handle the programming for our patrol vehicle scanners, which are all 996XT’s.

What programming software are you using?

 

[jpaul1982]

Butel ARCXT, license paid for by my department.

 

[tvengr]

I use ARC-XT also. Please let me know if you have any questions about the programming.

 

[jpaul1982]

For now, I’ll just wait to see if the RR DB gets updated with TG ID’s and further info for programming the new system before looking into the newer 996P2 scanner.

 

[donc13]

So you are saying CHP has no interlink (mutual aid) channels where a dispatcher on one system can't simulcast the same audio over both systems? In this case, "simulcast" means the same AUDIO over multiple systems and frequencies.

Larger Colorado cities and the Colorado State Patrol have had that ability for 40 years.

When trunking came around and a statewide radio system, mutual aid channels made it even easier.

 

[jpaul1982]

Certain dispatch centers have different options. But for the most part, they can multicast or simulcast only on the channels which are accessible on their console. For example, some areas often patch the primary low band with a UHF or even CALAW channel if necessary. Some exceptions are seen in larger areas like in Southern California, multiple agencies subscribe to a system or particular access/mutual aid channel that can be patched or simulcast by any of the agencies at any time based on the need. Most dispatch consoles only have the ability to listen/monitor the surrounding allied agencies, during an incident they will just repeat what is heard on their respective dispatch channel by including “per the scanner” in their broadcast. Hope that answers the question….

 

[donc13]

Yea, I have been out of law enforcement for almost as long as I was active. Just have a few more months until "active" and "retired" timespans are equal.

'71 to 97 Active Denver Police. And yes, patching between adjacent agencies and Denver required a phone call from one agency to the other. From precinct to precinct was all done in the radio room for top priority incidents.

Much has changed since then. I played an active role in getting CAD requirements out for bid, evaluation, installed, integrated, MDTs, etc. during my last 6 years there. One of many, many people involved in that.

 

[norcalscan]

RPD Patrol 1 should be TGID 201. The entire system should be TDMA only. The entire thing was paid for with electric utility fire grant funds so new radios for everyone.
There is a discussion thread on this on Californa > Sac Valley forum

 

[jpaul1982]

TDMA = Our current 996XT’s won’t pick it up and the 996P2 will??

Thanks!

 

[hexagon_keyhole]

TDMA = Our current 996XT’s won’t pick it up and the 996P2 will??

Thanks!

Correct.

The BCD996XT supports only P25 Phase 1, which uses FDMA.
The BCD996P2, which is an upgrade of the XT has both P25 Phase 1 and most importantly Phase 2 which uses TDMA.
APCO Project 25 - The RadioReference Wiki

Uniden's BCD325P2, BCD996P2, BCD436HP, BCD536HP, Home Patrol 2, SDS100, and SDS200 will work with this new APCO P25 Phase 2 system.

If there will be simulcasting, the SDS100 and SDS200 will perform significantly better.