Richmond County Has Switched to New System

[shajoe44]

I understand this is a Georgia agency but since they were on the Palmetto 800 system thought I would put it here also. Richmond County has switched over to their new system this morning. It is totally encyrpted.

 

[brian]

Thanks for the update.

I assume this means that the Palmetto 800 Augusta, McBean and Blythe sites are still on the air but are very quiet now with maybe only some Aiken County and SC state agencies carried occasionally? One would reasonably assume that those sites will eventually be taken offline.

 

[shajoe44]

Actually Brian, the Aiken County talk groups will not affliate with any of those towers. I am curious if they still have capability to talk to North Augusta and Aiken County when a chase is involved. As of today the fire dept is still using their Alert Channel to give out the call. I will keep monitoring those Ga sites and see what's on them.

 

[gtwreck75]

Someone posted the proposal for the system from back in 2018 here. I'm guessing they have the other agencies programmed into the radios:

By utilizing a system that is interoperable, Augusta will be able to continue communicating with other agencies during disasters and on a daily basis, as needed. By providing this level of communication, Augusta will be able to minimize the loss of property and the loss of life during a disaster. By purchasing our own radio system Augusta will have the ability to connect to surrounding agencies and communicate seamlessly during disasters and for the purpose of day to day communications. Agencies within the coverage of Augusta's system would also use the system and possibly provide a method of recovering some of the capital required to build the system and assist with the ongoing operating expenses.

 

[TigerScan2000]

I'm in and out of that area (Augusta) from time to time when I make trips to Fort Gordon. I hate to see another site / area go encrypted.

I have been entertaining the idea of upgrading from my HP436 to an SDS101. However, if more sites keep hitting the Big E, it's hard to justify the expense.

 

[gtwreck75]

I'm in and out of that area (Augusta) from time to time when I make trips to Fort Gordon. I hate to see another site / area go encrypted.

I have been entertaining the idea of upgrading from my HP436 to an SDS101. However, if more sites keep hitting the Big E, it's hard to justify the expense.

I think is just a matter of time. Based on the figures in the proposal, encryption costs 0.5% of the total...or nothing basically. I’ve also been told that Motorola is giving it away for free in some cases.

 

[Caesar]

I'm in and out of that area (Augusta) from time to time when I make trips to Fort Gordon. I hate to see another site / area go encrypted.

I have been entertaining the idea of upgrading from my HP436 to an SDS101. However, if more sites keep hitting the Big E, it's hard to justify the expense.

I was in the same boat last year as you, but I put my bcd436HP on ebay and was very surprised when it sold for somewhere between $440 to $460 after shipping, of course after ebay and PP fees my profit was right at $400, but in any event, it helped fund the cost of the SDS100. I didn't think the 436 held that much value but apparently they are, or at least last year were hard to come by. The sds100 i ordered was back ordered for 2 months from the bearcat warehouse.

 

[Ron0172]

I understand this is a Georgia agency but since they were on the Palmetto 800 system thought I would put it here also. Richmond County has switched over to their new system this morning. It is totally encyrpted.

So its going to be impossible to receive Richmond county police radio feeds ???

 

[gtwreck75]

So its going to be impossible to receive Richmond county police radio feeds ???

Yes. You need their encryption key and the right radio.

 

[Ron0172]

Yes. You need their encryption key and the right radio.

Thanks you.