San Diego / Imperial Co Regional Communications System Update Thread

[N6XAX]

N6XAX, Thanks for taking the time to respond with your feedback, sharing your experience with the SDS200, providing guidance on what to expect in North County and the tips for programming. I appreciate it and will likely be purchasing the SDS200 (or SDS100) soon and look forward to learning how to operate it. Have a good one!

Good luck, let me know how you make out!

 

[shinkley]

Hi N6XAX, I live in South OC and on occasion was getting Calexico (I think) radio traffic on the San Diego/Imperial Digital system., but zilch for anything else. I have a BCD436. I'm assuming the sentinel "include all the services function/toggle" will work on the 436 and may open things up for SD?. Also, think the problem is dealing with the simulcast(s). With a outside antenna the 436 gets some LAPD and SO & Camp Pendleton, so maybe more experimenting is needed to get some North SD traffic? I do travel regularly to all parts of SD county for work and am really struggling on purchasing a SDS100 or 200, but because of the future of encryption as experience here in the OC, (not just with LE, but all FDs as well), having difficultly justifying the cost.

 

[N6XAX]

Hi N6XAX, I live in South OC and on occasion was getting Calexico (I think) radio traffic on the San Diego/Imperial Digital system., but zilch for anything else. I have a BCD436. I'm assuming the sentinel "include all the services function/toggle" will work on the 436 and may open things up for SD?. Also, think the problem is dealing with the simulcast(s). With a outside antenna the 436 gets some LAPD and SO & Camp Pendleton, so maybe more experimenting is needed to get some North SD traffic? I do travel regularly to all parts of SD county for work and am really struggling on purchasing a SDS100 or 200, but because of the future of encryption as experience here in the OC, (not just with LE, but all FDs as well), having difficultly justifying the cost.

Hello shinkley - yes, I did go back and select all of the service types, and that seemed to help. The key for SD-Imperial RCS NextGen is making sure that you can receive Northcom dispatch; that's where you can hear all of the outbound calls. But the real trick is deselecting all of the other channels; I only have two other channels enabled. Since so many other channels in RCS Next Gen are encrypted, if you're trying to scan all of RCS NextGen you're just going through hundreds of channels that you can't decode. Which means your scanner is too busy digging through a massive haystack and you end up missing out on everything that you can decode. Calexico is on RCS NextGen so I suppose you could hear them, though I don't have them enabled. The BCD436 should work fine; I believe that's the handheld version of the 536HP? When I asked Bearcat Warehouse which radio would work best for SD County, they told me that the 536HP was an option: " The next step up would be the Homepatrol-2 & BCD536HP, the HP models come with a pre-programmed zip code scanning feature additionally they also include programming software." They do offer an upgrade program so perhaps you can trade in your 436 and apply it towards a SDS100/200?

 

[Sjoe]

Hi Sjoe - yes, I am very happy with the SDS200, and there's plenty to listen to in North County. I set up a few different scanning lists, mostly based on an increasing x-mile radius around my location, which allows me to expand my listening area or switch it out altogether for a different area. I've gotten comfortable with the programming and would recommend it (as others have on this forum) - the best way to learn how to use your new scanner is to program it yourself. I'm also not sure there's much benefit to having it preprogrammed initially, as 1) preprogramming it for all of San Diego County pulls in tons of channels - some I want to listen to but many I do not, so I would have had to reprogram it anyway; and 2) because these scanners have tons of options, they are intricate - I'm still learning about different features and will be for some time. So you'll need to get up the learning curve, might as well start right when you unbox it. There are plenty of resources (such as the Easier to Read SDS200 manual mentioned above) and many folks on the forum here that are willing to help out. Another note: if, like me, you're interested in public safety in smaller towns/cities in North County, know that those entities just don't transmit as often as the larger cities (say Escondido) or anything in the City of San Diego. So if you're scanning all SD County+City, the bigger burgs will swamp the smaller areas and you'll miss all of the local traffic. Dial the scanning area in tight to start and then open it up as you go.

Hi N6XAX, are you able to comment on what type of non-encrypted, public safety communications you are able to hear in your local area with the SDS200? (Security/Patrol/Fire/EMT/Etc.) Thanks again for your insight on what to expect with the radio.

 

[brendan3]

North county with the SDS100 here -- What I want to listen to... and can pick up... without a problem is NorthComm/Metro/Heartland Fire/CalFire/Hospitals/Mutual Aid/Camp Pendleton Fire as well as aircraft. If I have a good LOS I can even pick up SD city Fire. I have programmed most of my favorites lists to currate what I want to hear but the SDS100 can easily pickup any of this out of the box by entering your zip and setting service types to what you want, and avoiding the miscellaneous.

 

[inigo88]

The following talkgroups are likely out of date:

DEC	HEX	Mode	Alpha Tag	Description	Tag
625	271	D	N MARSAFE	North Marine Safety (Encinitas & Solana Beach)	Interop
1241	4d9	D	S MARSAFE	South Marine Safety	Interop

I added the comment recently: "Coronado Lifeguards refer to S MARSAFE as "Tac", so these may be repurposed."

Does anyone know if the MARSAFE interop talkgroups have truly gone away, or did Coronado Lifeguards just hijack S MARSAFE for their own personal Tac channel use?

Anyone in West Zone / North Zone ever hear N MARSAFE on TG 625 still? Seems like a countywide "Lifeguard Interop" type talkgroup would be worthwhile to keep in the system.

 

[Mike_G_D]

The following talkgroups are likely out of date:

DEC	HEX	Mode	Alpha Tag	Description	Tag
625	271	D	N MARSAFE	North Marine Safety (Encinitas & Solana Beach)	Interop
1241	4d9	D	S MARSAFE	South Marine Safety	Interop

I added the comment recently: "Coronado Lifeguards refer to S MARSAFE as "Tac", so these may be repurposed."

Does anyone know if the MARSAFE interop talkgroups have truly gone away, or did Coronado Lifeguards just hijack S MARSAFE for their own personal Tac channel use?

Anyone in West Zone / North Zone ever hear N MARSAFE on TG 625 still? Seems like a countywide "Lifeguard Interop" type talkgroup would be worthwhile to keep in the system.

I'll keep an ear out. I'm in Vista and pretty much in my own little Faraday cage; about the only thing I can receive now is the North Simulcast site and, weirdly, CHP Tan. I know I used to hear traffic on the N MARSAFE TG but I don't monitor nearly as often these days. Still I keep my BlueTail P25RX hooked up and ready to activate whenever the mood strikes me (incredible P25 audio incl. simulcast - nearly full quieting analog FM quality). You reminded me that the Lifeguards TGs can be quite interesting to monitor in the summer. With the heat we are experiencing now even more so. Switched it on and immediately started receiving LG traffic though not on N MARSAFE so far.

 

[inigo88]

Here are two more talkgroups that have been repurposed, this time from Caltrans:

DEC	HEX	Mode	Alpha Tag	Description	Tag
1269	4f5	T	CTIRRTN	Irrigation North	Public Works
1271	4f7	T	CTIRRTS	Irrigation South	Public Works

Both of these talkgroups were in use with Fire/EMS event traffic yesterday for an event in Chula Vista. Looks like it was likely a concert at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheater.

Anybody know the official talkgroup names or where they line up in the fire fleetmap?

 

[MikeyC]

I know the database shows TG 12 as "SDG&E Gas" but the traffic I've heard on it is definitely not gas related It's patched (the radio ID always shows up as "0") so it must be a talkgroup on SDG&E's system. I don't have their system programmed into another scanner but the traffic on TG 12 (at least in the couple of months I've been monitoring it) has all been electric-related.

 

[mike619]

1269 they are calling Event Tac 1 I believe it's for Metro Zone 6 departments.

 

[inigo88]

I know the database shows TG 12 as "SDG&E Gas" but the traffic I've heard on it is definitely not gas related It's patched (the radio ID always shows up as "0") so it must be a talkgroup on SDG&E's system. I don't have their system programmed into another scanner but the traffic on TG 12 (at least in the couple of months I've been monitoring it) has all been electric-related.

I’ll keep an ear out for TG 12.

RCS TG 119 is patched to SDG&E TG 9 “Distribution South 1.”

The giveaway like you said is that both sides of the conversation are on RCS radio ID 0.

SDG&E dispatch uses several callsigns (that I haven’t totally figured out yet) including Station A (central electric dispatch center?), Station L (San Luis Rey?), and Station Y (gas?) among others.

This can help you narrow down the talkgroup on the SDG&E P25 system if you are unable to monitor both simultaneously.