POCSAG Alpha pager decoding.

[SurgePGH]

I will be travelling to a county that uses UHF POCSAG paging for dispatch of the fire departments. For the sake of space and portability is it possible to program an alpha-numeric pager to receive the pages and decode them all?
The county uses 453.XXX MHz for alpha paging.
I'm pretty sure that each department would have its own cap code.
Can a pager such as the elite gold or other variants be programmed to wildcard and display every page from that county?
I understand that an SDR can do this with the proper software but am looking for a small/ portable solution while visiting this area.
This all of course would be strictly for educational purposes.

 

[N0UJT]

If you have the programming equipment and software, yes. I don't know how many departments there are, but typically those pagers can handle multiple capcodes (16 comes to mind for the Unication ), so it might be easier to just program each individually so you can manage it better. If it is indeed POCSAG, then encryption isn't a concern. If you have the capcodes and the frequency typically the dealer can program them for you.

Edit: I believe apollo pagers are user programmable, so if you get one of those in the UHF band you can probably program it yourself.

 

[SurgePGH]

If you have the programming equipment and software, yes. I don't know how many departments there are, but typically those pagers can handle multiple capcodes (16 comes to mind for the Unication ), so it might be easier to just program each individually so you can manage it better. If it is indeed POCSAG, then encryption isn't a concern. If you have the capcodes and the frequency typically the dealer can program them for you.

But is there a way to wild card the capcode so the pager will receive the pages for all of the departments?

 

[N0UJT]

It's been a while, but I don't believe so - although there are several different manufacturers now. Typically in POCSAG this was something that either was accomplished by a group page (like an all-call capcode or system page), or just giving the pager multiple capcodes. FLEX and LRS have a few more bells and whistles. I don't know, maybe just try downloading the software and poking around - at least for unication. You could call pagersdirect - I think they might have an idea. Sorry

 

[TampaTyron]

I maintain old school vhf and 900MHz paging systems for several hospitals chains and a large nationwide provider. That option does not exist on any of the paging receivers we use. I have been in paging for a while and the only thing that comes close is decoding the entire paging channel and adding cap codes you figure out. TT

 

[ka3aaa]

a program called pdw will work but you need a taped scanner to go along with it.

 

[SurgePGH]

a program called pdw will work but you need a taped scanner to go along with it.

I understand that. Was trying to see if this could be done with a pager on the correct frequency and a wildcard cap code.

 

[dlwtrunked]

a program called pdw will work but you need a taped scanner to go along with it.

Ancient way. Today, an SDR, virtual audio program, and a PC/laptop. No extra wires and no taping a scanners. Also, generally of questionable legality.

 

[SurgePGH]

Ancient way. Today, an SDR, virtual audio program, and a PC/laptop. No extra wires and no taping a scanners. Also, generally of questionable legality.

No. This is not the purpose of this thread. I am looking for SMALL and Temporary. Small as in on my person, self contained. Can a pager be programmed to do this?

 

[TampaTyron]

No, it does not exist. TT

 

[dlwtrunked]

No. This is not the purpose of this thread. I am looking for SMALL and Temporary. Small as in on my person, self contained. Can a pager be programmed to do this?

I was only responding to his post--not your general question. The answer to your question is "no"; it would have arisen privacy concerns in customers.

 

[redbeard]

HackRF with a Portapack and Mayhem firmware decodes POCSAG IIRC

 

[N4KVL]

There is no way to program a Unication pager to operate in promiscuous decode mode.

IF it is a very small department, you might get away with the 16 slots. You'll need to decode off the air with PDW or or similar software to discover the capcodes relevant to interests.

The system that I maintain for the department I work for is POCSAG and IS AES encrypted. Each unit has a unique capcode. There are well over 500 of them.

 

[dlwtrunked]

HackRF with a Portapack and Mayhem firmware decodes POCSAG IIRC

There is also a plugin for SDRSharp that works with Airspy and also HackRF.