Palmentto 800 Beaufort/Jasper Counties

[N1RCW]

I started a thread earlier today and received some good information from one of the Admin's (Brian), I recently moved to the Beaufort County area and found out that a majority of the public safety TG's on the 800 P25 system are encrypted,Tho Bluffton Fire is still running clear. Has anyone local heard of that department also flipping the switch to encryption? How about the Fire Mutual Aid system if it's operation is on the Palmentto system. New to the area and I'd like to invest in a new P25 Trunking capable scanner,but not if Encryption is on the move..
Any Info would be great. I currently monitor the VHF Simual-Cast of the Beaufort County Dispatch but would like to be able to listen to the FG operations when they switch to Ops.. Thanks Rick, N1RCW

 

[KF4LMT]

During a trip from Savannah to Charleston and back last week, I heard unencrypted traffic on TG 542 - Bluffton FD Admin (Beaufort Co), TG 704 - Beaufort County FD Dispatch 1, and TG 6541 - Jasper County FD Dispatch.

Hope that helps

 

[N1RCW]

KF4LMT, Thanks for the info.. !

 

[brian]

Hey Rick -

Welcome to the SC Forum.

I visit Hilton Head Island on a regular basis, and so even though I don't live there, I'm pretty familiar with the scanning environment there.

As mentioned previously, all Beaufort Co and Jasper Co law enforcement are encrypted. That's been the case in BC for years, and it is a fairly recent change (last 18 months or so?) for Jasper County. BC EMS dispatch/ops has also been encrypted for years, though occasionally you'll hear individual EMS units, or even dispatch, in the clear, as if they forget to "flip the switch" sometimes. Strangely, EMS communication to ERs in and around Beaufort County remain in the clear, which I find unusual.

For BC Fire, the "North of Broad" FDs seem to be the ones that have encrypted Ops and Admin channels, while dispatch is in the clear. As you probably know, generally all routine FD radio traffic is on the dispatch channel, and Ops channels are used on scenes that require extended operations. And, again, as mentioned previously, Bluffton FD and HHI F/R (both "South of Broad") seem to be completely in the clear. I don't imagine that's likely to change anytime soon. I have never heard encryption on the Major Incident talkgroups.

State agencies also use Palmetto 800 and most are in the clear. SCHP, SC DOT Highway Emergency Response (aka SHEP), DHEC, EMD and DNR all have routine communications in the clear. SLED, DOC and PPP traffic is encrypted most of the time.

Obviously, regarding encryption, all of this could change at any time, with no warning. Charleston County just began encrypting all law enforcement last year. Understand that this is a risk that's just part of the hobby now.

Hope this helps.

Brian

 

[N1RCW]

Hey Rick -

Welcome to the SC Forum.

I visit Hilton Head Island on a regular basis, and so even though I don't live there, I'm pretty familiar with the scanning environment there.

As mentioned previously, all Beaufort Co and Jasper Co law enforcement are encrypted. That's been the case in BC for years, and it is a fairly recent change (last 18 months or so?) for Jasper County. BC EMS dispatch/ops has also been encrypted for years, though occasionally you'll hear individual EMS units, or even dispatch, in the clear, as if they forget to "flip the switch" sometimes. Strangely, EMS communication to ERs in and around Beaufort County remain in the clear, which I find unusual.

For BC Fire, the "North of Broad" FDs seem to be the ones that have encrypted Ops and Admin channels, while dispatch is in the clear. As you probably know, generally all routine FD radio traffic is on the dispatch channel, and Ops channels are used on scenes that require extended operations. And, again, as mentioned previously, Bluffton FD and HHI F/R (both "South of Broad") seem to be completely in the clear. I don't imagine that's likely to change anytime soon. I have never heard encryption on the Major Incident talkgroups.

State agencies also use Palmetto 800 and most are in the clear. SCHP, SC DOT Highway Emergency Response (aka SHEP), DHEC, EMD and DNR all have routine communications in the clear. SLED, DOC and PPP traffic is encrypted most of the time.

Obviously, regarding encryption, all of this could change at any time, with no warning. Charleston County just began encrypting all law enforcement last year. Understand that this is a risk that's just part of the hobby now.

Hope this helps.

Brian

Brian, again thank you for the updated info. I think I will still look into obtaining the 996p2 as I have had good luck with the Uniden products . My neighbor is a Deputy Fire chief for Bluffton and confirms your suggestions. Thanks again! Rick N1RCW.

 

[brian]

I hope it works out well for you, Rick. There are still a lot of things to listen to other than law enforcement. There is a lot of DMR activity in the Bluffton area that hasn't been documented. There are also the jets that fly out of MCAS Beaufort that might be interesting to listen to. You just have to be a little creative.

Good luck.