Sherman, Texas PD

[Russell]

It's in the DB, just not public, yet.
Sherman

 

[nd5y]

With 100 Watts of power, I might be able to pick them up in Van Alstyne with my indoor antenna

I can probably receive it in the mornings if there is any band opening going on. The only problem is the x.7125 frequencies are used in Arlington and Lawton, OK. If they use 854.6625 for the CC I will eventually hear it.

 

[mwjones]

It's a new system with new frequencies.
I don't know if it's on the air yet.
It won't be in the database until somebody figures it out and submits it.
Program these frequencies as analog FM and see if you hear any digital noise.
854.6625
856.7125
857.7125
858.7125
859.7125

Being the license was just issued, they are likely just now starting construction, so it'll be at least a couple of months before we hear a signal from it. They have 12 months to get it on the air per the license, so that puts it any time from November 1, 2023 to August 24, 2024 for it to start broadcasting (never mind it actually being put into "production" use, which could be quite a bit longer).

 

[nd5y]

Being the license was just issued, they are likely just now starting construction, so it'll be at least a couple of months before we hear a signal from it.

Probably right, but who knows. When Wichita Falls built the new system it was on the air about a week before they even filed the application.

 

[Ensnared]

Sherman PD primaries on 155.01000 NAC 317 however they have 5 TAC channels and 2 dedicated SWAT channels both of which are licensed as P25 only (NO analog). The 5 TAC channels are for special events/crime scene and are Analog only and rarely used. (These are NOT the same as Sherman Fire TAC channels.) Sherman PD have the option to go encrypted on primary but a phone call is easier most of the time. The MDC also carries a lot of traffic via an in house messenger app much like Bonham PD's private Chat on their MDC's. There is also some POC use by specialized units. Sherman ISD Police operate on a new multi-site DMR system. Sherman has kicked around the idea of a Trunking system but its wireless provider has discouraged them from it as it would take money out of his pockets. Police is hard to hear outside of the city where as Fire can be heard quite well a county any direction. 155.01000 is a 5 site simulcast so digital distortion can be a factor on older digital scanners.

I did not find these in the RR DB. Do all of these channels use 317 NAC?

 

[riverradio68]

I did not find these in the RR DB. Do all of these channels use 317 NAC?

There in the licenses section and no, they are licensed for analog only.

 

[mwjones]

Sherman City Council just approved the contract for the trunked radio system this week, the Agenda Item says that it will be a Tait System (I didn't know Tait did P25), Zetron Consoles, and Stolz Telecom is doing the installation, with a $3.2 Million price tag.

Agenda

 

[WB5UOM]

And being installed on 4 water towers.
I know it's done, but still think it's not best choice.

 

[KI5IRE]

I've heard Stolz does good work. I think I remember a buddy of mine who's a firefighter for a small VFD and is his department's "radio guy", told me Stolz is the vendor on the OMACS system (also Tait) and a vendor for the OKWIN system (Motorola) in Oklahoma. I'm also pretty sure I read somewhere some of the subscriber units on TXWARN are Tait.

The OMACS system sounded good when I lived in OKC and worked overnights shooting news there, so this should be a good system. They were also able to patch that system to multiple Harris and Motorola systems and it seemed to sound good patched, at least on an SDS100 and Unication G5. Also very little ENC utilized on the OMACS system...but I did see on that quote that they quoted Sherman for a KVL...so I don't know what that might mean for this system.

The same buddy of mine who's a firefighter showed me a Tait portable that he was demoing through Stolz for his department and it looked like a solid radio. Don't know about the mobiles though.

My point, this system should be totally fine. They'll at least be on a P25 compliant system and should in theory have interop capabilities with other systems nearby.

Also, anyone know if this system is just for Sherman, or is it also for everyone in the county?

 

[WB5UOM]

TxWarn may have some Tait, but the numbers likely are not big.
Nothing wrong with Tait that Ive heard on Subscriber side and they are supposed to be very good on the infrastructure side.

 

[Gopher]

What effect will this have on Austin College's radios? They are tied into Sherman's system in some way and their signal has degraded severely in the last six months.

 

[mwjones]

What effect will this have on Austin College's radios? They are tied into Sherman's system in some way and their signal has degraded severely in the last six months.

I suspect the answer lies within the Campus PD's existing environment - They have their own licensed frequency (which RRDB says is analog), do they currently have interoperability with Sherman (ie their radios can be switched to Sherman's P25 non-trunked frequency, and they can converse with dispatch or patrol units?)

If that's the case, they're probably going to have to upgrade their radios to connect to the trunked system (if Sherman will even allow them to) - and may in the future just use a talkgroup on the trunked system instead of their analog frequency.

Of course, we the monitoring public are not likely to know the answers until the system comes online.

 

[riverradio68]

Take this with a grain of salt ... Sherman FIRE raised holy hell when Denison Fire went encrypted and started in trying to get the city to buy a trunked system. I didn't think it would happen considering the politics and "good ole boy society" so locked in with Shipman Communications of Denison. But I guess it is going to happen after all.

We can EXPECT a good level of encryption with this. While the new Sherman Police Chief is pretty transparent he's also solid cop and a die hard in officer safety. That being said, they DO have encryption options on the VHF but rarely even use it, The SWAT VHF Channel is 100% encrypted (154.0025).

Now, Sherman ISD Police are operating on a UHF DMR system and I've not heard encryption on it (it could be there). But this rivalry between Sherman and Denison could prove disappointing for us with Scanners.

It's long overdue though. T.I., Globitech, a rapidly growing community and so much more of the High Tech industry moving in, they needed it. It wouldn't shock me to see Grayson County join eventually as well.

By the way. TAIT's DMR is rising up against TETRA in Europe. Their digital is some solid stuff.

 

[Gopher]

Take this with a grain of salt ... Sherman FIRE raised holy hell when Denison Fire went encrypted and started in trying to get the city to buy a trunked system. I didn't think it would happen considering the politics and "good ole boy society" so locked in with Shipman Communications of Denison. But I guess it is going to happen after all.

We can EXPECT a good level of encryption with this. While the new Sherman Police Chief is pretty transparent he's also solid cop and a die hard in officer safety. That being said, they DO have encryption options on the VHF but rarely even use it, The SWAT VHF Channel is 100% encrypted (154.0025).

Now, Sherman ISD Police are operating on a UHF DMR system and I've not heard encryption on it (it could be there). But this rivalry between Sherman and Denison could prove disappointing for us with Scanners.

It's long overdue though. T.I., Globitech, a rapidly growing community and so much more of the High Tech industry moving in, they needed it. It wouldn't shock me to see Grayson County join eventually as well.

By the way. TAIT's DMR is rising up against TETRA in Europe. Their digital is some solid stuff.

There will be a new sheriff next election. Depending on how that election goes it will be interesting to see what changes will happen there. I would think funding will be the sticking point on any upgrades for them.

 

[riverradio68]

I could see Sherman giving GSO some talkgroups especially for the courthouse and jail. but yeah the Politics are thick in Grayson Co. Some say that DA is going to get thrown out of office too ..

Sherman could do an awful lot with a 5 channel system, at base that's 128 talkgroups which is more than enough for Sherman. I'm curious if Howe and Pottsboro will be offered to go on also?

 

[Gopher]

I could see Sherman giving GSO some talkgroups especially for the courthouse and jail. but yeah the Politics are thick in Grayson Co. Some say that DA is going to get thrown out of office too ..

Sherman could do an awful lot with a 5 channel system, at base that's 128 talkgroups which is more than enough for Sherman. I'm curious if Howe and Pottsboro will be offered to go on also?

I could see Howe going with Van Alstyne before going to Sherman. Pottsboro would be a better fit with Denison. Gunter is on an island by itself but would fit in with VA.

 

[riverradio68]

The reason I bring up Howe on Sherman would be mutual aid to TI.