Radio System Administrator

[productionguy85]

Has anybody ever wondered, what the Radio system Administrators or Managers think looking at all our forums about their systems? Do you think they think we are craze with some of our ideas about there systems or are they thinking they need to better secure there systems. Just wondering your thought on the topic.



I apologise if this is in the wrong forum. Please move to the correct one if applicable.

 

[mmckenna]

Has anybody ever wondered, what the Radio system Administrators or Managers think looking at all our forums about their systems? Do you think they think we are craze with some of our ideas about there systems or are they thinking they need to better secure there systems. Just wondering your thought on the topic.

Interesting question. I run a trunked system as well as some conventional systems and it's been interesting, over the years, reading forums like this.

What stands out most is the need for security. Often it's easy to think "security by obscurity", or in other words, no one is going to hack into my system. Used to seem like the number of knowledgeable people that could figure out how to set up a radio to access a trunked system was really low. Now, maybe in part due to the internet, it seems like the risk is higher.
If anything, I've been more careful about how I secure our system. When I switched from an analog trunked system to a digital system, I took extra steps to keep the system secure from unauthorized access. I'm not worried about others listening to some of the stuff, but more someone programming up a radio to access the system and cause interference.

The other issue I see, occasionally, is people judging systems based on what they know as a hobbyist, amateur or scanner listener. I see a fair amount of judgement about system design, system choices, interoperability, etc. that are just uninformed. If anything it can be kind of humorous to read. Other times, it's just annoying.

If anything, I find it interesting that there are people out there that are so into in this stuff. I've done my best to help out hobbyist where I can, and where appropriate. Reading some of the posts on here makes me realize that someone listening in on one of my systems is getting enjoyment out of it.

Should be interesting to see what others say….

 

[Thunderknight]

The other issue I see, occasionally, is people judging systems based on what they know as a hobbyist, amateur or scanner listener. I see a fair amount of judgement about system design, system choices, interoperability, etc. that are just uninformed. If anything it can be kind of humorous to read. Other times, it's just annoying.

Yes, a major issue. Scanners do not operate like PS radios, and the needs of scanner listeners are often very different. Take "scan" itself. Most hobbyists scan a zillion channels. I tend to discourage a lot of scan on the PS radios I setup. If you plant on one channel, the odds of mssing traffic are less.
Same for coverage complaints. Scanners don't work as well as dedicated PS radios. And coverage is designed to work where needed, not where people want to listen from.
A common complaint seems to be why do we need trunking? As someone who also does licensing, trunking is much more efficient Trying to find frequencies in a crowded area is not easy!

I manage a lot of PS radios. *But I'm also a scanner hobbyist*. I don't manage my local (home) PS system, but I scan it with a scanner all day as a hobbyist who likes to know what is going on. If my local depts decided to encrypt, I woud be really bummed out. But as someone who manages PS radio communications, I would totally understand if they did.

 

[N4DES]

Has anybody ever wondered, what the Radio system Administrators or Managers think looking at all our forums about their systems? Do you think they think we are craze with some of our ideas about there systems or are they thinking they need to better secure there systems. Just wondering your thought on the topic.

I apologise if this is in the wrong forum. Please move to the correct one if applicable.

It is what it is, as long as the systems are open I have no issue with anyone listening to my users, even though some of my users don't like to be listened to, but I have no control of that.

On the other side, I have no regard for illegal hacking as I have a job to do and will use the tools that I have at my disposal to capture and inhibit illegal affiliations and do so when required.