Richmond County Sheriffs Office

[gtwreck75]

Been noticing a decline in radio traffic on Pal 800. I heard a brief mention, from a dispatcher, telling an S.O. unit to switch over a few days back. Everything has been silent for past couple of days so I assumed they were in a transition phase. If they're 100% encrypted then I might as well start selling some stuff. Richmond County was the last hold out on encryption and that was all I had left to listen to. I live in McDuffie County and they went silent about 10 years ago, Columbia County went silent in 2012 and now this. I have an SDS100 and a TRX-1 that are totally useless to me now. I distrust any form of government when they start hiding information from their citizens. I've enjoyed this hobby since 1987, going to be tough giving it up. It doesn't make sense to maintain an account here on RR as I'll be giving up the hobby. AMF

They not only went encrypted but they switched to their own P25 system using their own towers and not Palmetto 800. It's very tough to give up agree. It's frustrating because most of SC is still open as is Charlotte, NC but I'm mostly in Augusta so used to listen to RCSO 95% of the time. It seems like it's just GA and it's little county systems all are going encrypted. Even Atlanta is still mostly open for listening.

Fire is still on Palmetto 800 but I can only imagine they will use Augusta's system eventually.

 

[shajoe44]

They are still dispatching Fire calls on the Palmetto 800 alert talkgroup. Also Augusta University and Augusta Technical College Public Safety is still on there. Not sure what type antenna you have but their are several agencies in neighboring counties to you that use DMR. I actually monitor Burke and Jefferson County on my TRX-1.

 

[RRR]

Richmond County is going places! Haven't you heard?

 

[shajoe44]

I saw that this morning. What a JOKE.............wonder if any of his girlfriends will be riding with him.

 

[jbm32]

I am no longer hearing anything from Augusta University or Hospital. The only thing I am receiving is Fire Dispatch and Richmond Board of Education. I believe it would have been in the public interest to have kept Law Dispatch in the clear. It would be nice to know where the accidents are before you come up on them.

There is still plenty to listen to on conventional frequencies. I monitor Ham repeaters, GMRS repeaters, FRS, MURS, Aviation both Civil and Military, EMS, Railroads, Ft. Gordon, SRS, GSP and NOAA Weather Radio. I have a radio that I can listen to HAM D-Star with conversations from all over the world. I hope to get another radio soon to monitor
HAM DMR and the Augusta National.

In my opinion, the hobby is not dead.

 

[gman4661]

This weekend, I spoke with someone with Richmond Co. The following is a synopsis of what I was told:

1. The new system is not an improvement over Pal 800.
2. There are dead spots. Coverage drops off rapidly just outside the borders of the county. Obviously, it doesn't share towers with Columbia Co.
3. The Augusta FD has had problems with the system, but those problems were not specified.
4. It appears that state agencies such as Augusta University and Augusta Tech are paying subscriber fees to the county.
5. There was a major disagreement with the Georgia State Patrol over access to the new system.
6. Due to the disagreement, GSP stopped assigning troopers to work Richmond Co.
7. Eventually, GSP gained very limited access to the system, something like three talk groups.
8. There was no mention of DNR or Community Supervision access.
9. Apparently, there is a talk group to contact Columbia Co. SO. It is thought that it only functions to contact CCSO dispatch.
10. The person I spoke with was unaware of any backup equipment in case of a tower failure.

Please keep in mind that these are the observations or perceptions of only one person who uses the system daily on the job, not a radio system expert.