Philly PD Phase II

[soberbyker]

I searched a bit for this but came up with some old threads talking about the possibility of a switch, but now it appears they have switched.

Admittedly I normally just listen to DELCO and haven't tuned into Philly for awhile. Yesterday I activated the PPD scan list and was only getting wildcard hits. I looked around, and forget where/how I found it but it appears the freqs I had programmed in became depreciated. I must have missed that memo. Anyway I deleted that scanlist and downloaded the current PPD Phase II from RR and I now am getting all the district stuff again, which is a bit of a surprise because I am using a RS Pro-197 to do it with.

So, when was the switch made and why were the freqs changed, they are still in the 800 band?

 

[trentbob]

There haven't been any changes made in Philly for a while but if you're listening on a pro 197 that's a very very old radio even though Whistler sells a version of it to this day.

The pro-197 doesn't pick up Phase 2 but Philly is Phase 1 not phase 2, that's a database error that's been there forever and as I say there haven't been any changes in Philly for a while so I'm assuming you've had your radio a long time.

It's an 800 megahertz simulcast system very susceptible to LSM so you must be in the right spot to be able to be picking them up without transmissions breaking up Etc.

There is another thread right near this one on the Philly simulcast system that I posted on today. You want to check it out.

Have fun.

 

[phillydjdan]

I just verified this moment that the PPD has NOT switched to Phase 2. I was just picking up a transmission on a 996XT, which cannot decode Phase 2. Furthermore, I have personally viewed a file that confirms that NO radio currently on the Philadelphia P25 system is even capable of operating in Phase 2 mode. This was as of about 1 month ago. Believe me when I tell you, if they were planning on switching to Phase 2, it would take a whole lot longer than a month to re-flash the thousands of radios out there (at a significant cost per radio). The city isn't going to fork out that kind of money for a feature they honestly don't need. They have more than enough voice channels to handle a major calamity, they don't need the added capacity right now. The only confirmed changes they made recently was the addition of 2 new underground (subway) sites for coverage down there and there was rumor that the PD District talkgroups would change over to full time encryption, but that has not happened yet, and the rumor is that there is someone with lots of pins on his lapel that has stopped that plan, at least for now.

SO FOR THE DATABASE ADMINS: ONCE AGAIN, THE PHILADELPHIA P25 SYSTEM IS NOT A PHASE 2 SYSTEM! The system is merely CAPABLE of it.

 

[trentbob]

Hahaha, reminds me of deja vu all over again.

 

[Swipesy]

Hahaha, reminds me of deja vu all over again.

Does this mean you will be changing your Avatar to a picture of Yogi?

 

[trentbob]

Funny John, pretty sharp observation, you know that quote was first said by Casey Stengel hahaha. I'll just stick with my yearbook photo, makes me look younger.

I think I do remember a discussion with Dan a long time ago regarding the database calling Philly system Phase 2. It does confuse a lot of people.

I thought at that time he did go the right route to change it but I don't remember. I do remember a lot of contentious conversation about revealing sensitive talkgroups which were quickly encrypted after that. I just don't remember all this stuff anymore, I'm getting old.

 

[phillydjdan]

Shhhhhhhh

 

[phillydjdan]

Well would ya look at that! They changed it to Phase I in the database!

 

[phillydjdan]

This information should probably be updated also, since it's about 8 years old...

"This is the city of Philadelphia's new Project-25 Phase II TDMA capable trunked radio system which will replace the current 3600 Baud Motorola SmartZone system that has been in use since the late 1990's.
As this system begins to take shape, expect to see many changes in the way radio traffic is handled in the city. It is also anticipated that there will be a wide-spread use of encryption thoughout the public-safety agencies...
This system is being installed on the 7.11 platform, with the ability for Project-25 Phase II TDMA operation; however, until all radios have been replaced throughout the city, it is likely this system will remain a standard Project-25 Phase I FDMA system, at least for the immediate future.
Current radios being used throughout the city are Motorola ASTRO XTS3000's; however, many of these have or are being replaced with Motorola XTS5000 series radios in order to support 9600 Baud trunking and the 700/800MHz. bands."

What is should say is this:

"This is the city of Philadelphia's Project 25 Phase I (but TDMA capable) trunked radio system which has replaced the old 3600 baud Motorola SmartZone system. There is wide-spread use of encryption throughout the public safety agencies.

The system is installed on the 7.11 platform, with the ability for Project 25 Phase II TDMA operation, however, the subscriber radios are not currently flashed for TDMA. Current radios used throughout the city are Motorola APX6000s with fire having the XE (rugged) models."

If I could get this information changed, that would be great!

 

[trentbob]

That's great that they changed the database! I kind of feel like they're never going to change anything at least in my lifetime, you might live to see it Dan LOL. Just my two cents.

 

[trentbob]

I'm talking about Philadelphia radio system and the change over to phase 2, not the database hahaha. Again I think it's great that it's being updated.

 

[phillydjdan]

Bob, I don't really think they have any desire to move to Phase II. They are happy with the Phase I operation and honestly only purchased the newer backbone equipment due to the 15MHz rebanding everyone had to do a few years ago. I think if they hadn't had to do that they would still be using the older P25 9600 baud repeaters that were not Phase II capable...

 

[radio3353]

It is certainly nice to see the Philly database listing now shows Phase I. I brought this Phase II business to the attention of 'management' over a year ago and was quickley told that the database was correct! The explanation given to me was that if a system is capable of Phase II then that is how it is listed, even if it is only used in Phase I mode . Confusing indeed. Now I can finally stop shaking my head over that answer . Thanks guys.

 

[trentbob]

Yep I agree that I don't think Philly's going to change anything with their radio system anytime soon. Don't fix it if it ain't broke and they can't afford to do it anyway.

 

[soberbyker]

It is certainly nice to see the Philly database listing now shows Phase I. I brought this Phase II business to the attention of 'management' over a year ago and was quickley told that the database was correct! The explanation given to me was that if a system is capable of Phase II then that is how it is listed, even if it is only used in Phase I mode . Confusing indeed. Now I can finally stop shaking my head over that answer . Thanks guys.

Well, I guess my question was good for something then.

I still don't understand why I wasn't getting anything but wildcard hits until I deleted a reloaded the system. I am getting everything I used to again. What I deleted was in the 800 band.

.

 

[brotherbosco]

Hey all. I'm trying to set up UniTrunker, anyone have the actual control channels? Thanks in advance

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

As of this update:
Zone 1: 853.5875
Zone 2: 853.3375