Panola County Help

[Haplo45]

Hello all. Let me start by saying thanks for any and all help that you give me. I'm debating getting into the scanner hobby and have a few questions.

As you can tell by the thread title I live in Panola County. Main things I would like to monitor are Police, Fire, and EMS. In the research I've done it's apparent that all the county fire and police transmissions are analog. Makes sense since my father is currently using a Uniden BC125AT and is able to receive them. Here's the problem though. The local sheriffs department is fixing to go digital. I don't have any information on what mode digital system they are upgrading to or any info besides being told that it's happening. I'd like to get a scanner that's capable of receiving what they are currently transmitting and what they eventually upgrade to. I'd also like something that I can get setup and then easily transfer my configuration onto a scanner that my dad will eventually purchase to keep up with the upgrade.


Besides asking someone at the sheriffs department what they are doing can information be gleaned from FCC filings? If so where because I've been digging around some and haven't discovered any information that seemed relevant to me.

That being said above I'd also like to know if its possible to monitor surrounding counties very successfully. If it is then what they are running becomes important to me as well. It's a lot to take in and can get overwhelming. I'm more of a hands on learner and not having a scanner in hand becomes a problem to learning as well.

So what do you fine folks recommend? Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Thanks again

 

[mwjones]

Looking at the FCC licenses for Panola County, there's no new trunked system licensed, and no pending applications, so my guess is they are going to join the Texas Wide Area Radio Network (TxWARN) system, that already has a tower in Carthage. TxWARN is a large system that covers a good chunk of East Texas including Houston/Galveston and going North beyond Tyler and Longview (but so far hasn't encroached on the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex).

TxWARN is a Project 25 Phase 2 system, which there are many scanners that can receive it (although if an agency turns on encryption, even the best scanners in the world will leave you SOL). The Carthage site (based on the FCC license) is not simulcast, which can be problematic for some scanners, so that doesn't limit your options. If looking at Uniden, a BCD325P2, BCD436HP and SDS100 are all current handhelds that support Project 25 Phase 2. As far as ease of programming, both the BCD436HP and SDS100 come with Uniden's Sentinel software for Windows, that allows you to update the radios without much skill - they also feature a national database (typically updated weekly) so you just identify what systems you want to listen to, create a favorites list and send it to the scanner. There are other manufacturers out there, but I primarily run Uniden (I have an SDS100 and others) so I'm not the best person to recommend others.

Being a trunked system, and the fact that Nacogdoches County and Rusk County are already on this system, you are likely to hear some of their traffic as some of their radios affiliate with the tower in Carthage. Harrison County still is using analog from the looks of it, but Marshall is going "Tier 3" digital, which the BCD436HP and SDS100 can receive with a paid upgrade (what they call DMR). American Electric Power's Project 25 Phase 2 system (that has 2 sites in Panola County) uses a newer variant that no Uniden Scanner can currently receive, although that may change in a future firmware update (I personally like having my Power Companies frequencies in my scanner, just in case there's a power outage, I might hear restoration efforts and predict when the power is going to be back on).

I hope this helps.

 

[Haplo45]

Thank you for your reply. I have been looking at the options on radios and the sds100 has been one I am interested in. Rather pricy but seems to have good reviews.

Is it possible that the sheriffs office upgrades equipment at each of their radio sites to a digital radio and keep the same frequency they currently have licensed? I’m new to this and don’t know if that’s even possible.

 

[mwjones]

Is it possible that the sheriffs office upgrades equipment at each of their radio sites to a digital radio and keep the same frequency they currently have licensed? I’m new to this and don’t know if that’s even possible.

I didn't look at that when I first replied, but in fact, 155.07, the Sheriff's dispatch frequency is indeed licensed for Project 25 Digital Voice. Where I live in Van Alstyne, the Combined Police/Fire dispatch channel is Project 25 Digital Voice (although the Police Chief caught the Encryption bug, so I can only hear Fire dispatch on it), so that most certainly is an option if they don't want to go trunked.

I also looked at Carthage Police and Fire dispatch frequencies, and it looks like they are also Project 25 Digital Voice licensed, so they may be planning for a switchover in the future as well. The Volunteer Fire Departments on the other hand only show Analog voice on their licenses, so they're likely staying analog for the time being.

 

[Haplo45]

With that further bit of information is it possible that those towers could be simulcast when the transition happens?

 

[mwjones]

With that further bit of information is it possible that those towers could be simulcast when the transition happens?

Never saying never, but the license for the Sheriff currently only has a license for a single site, a 400 foot tall tower by the Water Plant on the South side of Carthage. With a single tower, there wouldn't be a need for simulcast.

It is likely that one tower provides enough coverage for the county, although the fringes over by the state line may have some issues.

 

[wtp]

Haplo45, i sent a bunch of info in a PM to you, look to the top right of this page.

 

[Haplo45]

Haplo45, i sent a bunch of info in a PM to you, look to the top right of this page.

Thank you so much. Tons to look at.

 

[ke5fgc]

UT Health EMS is on TxWARN and provides EMS coverage in Panola county. I believe everything else is VHF conventional.