SVRCS Question Thread

[Stealthguy05]

that's a huge fat F. that's a joke. that's putting police and citizens at risk. they told the public that this exact situation wouldn't happen. Im glad it happened now, because god forbid there is a school shooting, and this same thing happens. lets hope they get it together.

From what I hear they usually use the encrypted SB LAW channels whenever they have stuff like this. They did that for Gilroy and Downtown San Jose and it worked flawlessly. Could be that Campbell is still learning how to use SVRCS. The technology isn't the issue here, it's the fact that these agencies are switching to a highly interoperable system with functionality that they have no idea exists yet. The fire agencies have been instrumental with interoperability and channel plans etc, but law has been slow to catch up. It's an attitude, not a technology. The tech is there, It's just time to make sure that everybody knows how to use it.

 

[jdalbec]

Yup! This is what they were requesting aid for Police find 1 woman shot, 1 man dead in Campbell

 

[jdalbec]

From what I hear they usually use the encrypted SB LAW channels whenever they have stuff like this. They did that for Gilroy and Downtown San Jose and it worked flawlessly. Could be that Campbell is still learning how to use SVRCS. The technology isn't the issue here, it's the fact that these agencies are switching to a highly interoperable system with functionality that they have no idea exists yet. The fire agencies have been instrumental with interoperability and channel plans etc, but law has been slow to catch up. It's an attitude, not a technology. The tech is there, It's just time to make sure that everybody knows how to use it.

Nope it was Air 3 who was trying to talk to CPD ground units on the old analog frequencies it was the Sherriff's office F@#k Up not Campbell's

 

[Eng74]

They had the same thing happen recently in Orange County. CHP copter was trying to get in touch with a local PD but they did not have the new digital radio to contact the ground units.

 

[ea1321]

Hello All,
I am thinking of purchasing a P25 Phase II scanner to listen to the digital frequencies that aren't encrypted here in Santa Clara County.

By any chance have any of you gotten the chance to listen to the agencies that aren't encrypted. I think the agencies are Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View and Los Altos just to name a few.

For those who are listening to Santa Clara County Control 2, there are making the switch. However not all of the pack-sets and vehicle radios are up to date.

Thanks.

 

[Stealthguy05]

Hello All,
I am thinking of purchasing a P25 Phase II scanner to listen to the digital frequencies that aren't encrypted here in Santa Clara County.

By any chance have any of you gotten the chance to listen to the agencies that aren't encrypted. I think the agencies are Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View and Los Altos just to name a few.

For those who are listening to Santa Clara County Control 2, there are making the switch. However not all of the pack-sets and vehicle radios are up to date.

Thanks.

Geographically, most of the valley is or will soon be encrypted. (Sheriff, Campbell, SJPD, Morgan Hill, & Gilroy)

For the most part, West/North is clear.
The smaller agencies that are able to be monitored sound great. As far as I know, Fire agencies are in the clear with some command channels encrypted for sensitive calls. Public Works and VTA are clear as well. There is still a lot of neat traffic to listen to and it's still worth getting a scanner.

 

[ea1321]

Geographically, most of the valley is or will soon be encrypted. (Sheriff, Campbell, SJPD, Morgan Hill, & Gilroy)

For the most part, West/North is clear.
The smaller agencies that are able to be monitored sound great. As far as I know, Fire agencies are in the clear with some command channels encrypted for sensitive calls. Public Works and VTA are clear as well. There is still a lot of neat traffic to listen to and it's still worth getting a scanner.

Great. Thank you so much for info. Looks like I will be purchasing a unit very soon.

 

[jdalbec]

Just a question, I know Santa Clara County Sheriff's Control 1 has been migrated to P25 but they were still simulcasting on the old analog Freq. Has anyone noticed as of yesterday afternoon you can now ONLY hear the dispatcher?

 

[ea1321]

Just a question, I know Santa Clara County Sheriff's Control 1 has been migrated to P25 but they were still simulcasting on the old analog Freq. Has anyone noticed as of yesterday afternoon you can now ONLY hear the dispatcher?

I was listening to them about 12 hours yesterday. From 06hrs-16hrs. I received them just fine. They were working the evacuations on Mt. Hamilton and so forth. When I went to tune in this AM, I am only hearing the dispatcher. They may be doing a dry run as they were doing with Westside. I can pick up Westside on my scanner no problem now. I will check back to you when I get into work and check the PD scanner.

 

[jdalbec]

I was listening to them about 12 hours yesterday. From 06hrs-16hrs. I received them just fine. They were working the evacuations on Mt. Hamilton and so forth. When I went to tune in this AM, I am only hearing the dispatcher. They may be doing a dry run as they were doing with Westside. I can pick up Westside on my scanner no problem now. I will check back to you when I get into work and check the PD scanner.

Yup I was hearing all that too, I am hearing some traffic besides the dispatchers but is sounds like "process servers" I'll need to break out the SDR and SDR-Trunk to check out the westside

 

[ea1321]

I checked in with County Comm and they are doing a dry run on the new system. Not all units have switched over their radios. The center I work in is not getting them either since we have not upgraded the entire system, just for our center and units.

Lastly, it looks like west side has made the switch but we can still hear the dispatchers.

 

[jdalbec]

I checked in with County Comm and they are doing a dry run on the new system. Not all units have switched over their radios. The center I work in is not getting them either since we have not upgraded the entire system, just for our center and units.

Lastly, it looks like west side has made the switch but we can still hear the dispatchers.

Thank you for the info!

 

[tonydi]

First off, let me preface my remarks by saying I'm barely able to turn on the scanner so I don't understand a lot of the tech details.

I'm hearing (and not hearing) the same thing, just the dispatch side for SCC Sheriff on the west side of San Jose. I did hear one car talking to dispatch and the dispatcher questioned why the car wasn't coming in on "the trunk". The deputy said they had to use a trainer's car which hadn't been converted yet.

Since SJPD has gone encrypted and SCC Sheriff has gone to this other system I figure this old Bearcat BC220 is a doorstop since those were the only things I listen to.

So today I was going to look for a replacement scanner and came here first and discovered two things. One, that a scanner that handles the new trunked SCC Sheriff setup is pretty expensive for a super casual user like myself and two, even if I did spend a lot of money I might end up with an expensive doorstop if SCC moves to encrypted shortly like seems to be the case.

Is that about right? Should I just not bother looking for another scanner?

 

[Eng74]

Fire as far as I know will not go encrypted so you will still have that and you can still get a lot of info there if the PD or SO is on/going to the call also. Yes the SDS. 100 and SDS 200 are expensive, but they worth it. They work really well on both the SVRCS and EBRCS. Those two radios have been my go to radios when I am in the Bay Area for the last year.

 

[tonydi]

I don't normally monitor SJFD but the last time I did my scanner was able to pick them up. Have they gone to this trunk scheme too? If nothing else I'm still able to get their traffic on web apps like Broadcastify and the Pulse app so unless they go encrypted I think I'm ok there. My usage is mainly turning on the scanner when "hey, what are all those sirens for" or "why does the sheriff have three units speeding around the neighborhood" scenarios arise. So it's not even really a hobby where I might be able to justify the costs to myself, let alone my wife. ;-)

 

[ea1321]

I don't normally monitor SJFD but the last time I did my scanner was able to pick them up. Have they gone to this trunk scheme too? If nothing else I'm still able to get their traffic on web apps like Broadcastify and the Pulse app so unless they go encrypted I think I'm ok there. My usage is mainly turning on the scanner when "hey, what are all those sirens for" or "why does the sheriff have three units speeding around the neighborhood" scenarios arise. So it's not even really a hobby where I might be able to justify the costs to myself, let alone my wife. ;-)

Hey there,
The whole county of Santa Clara is going to this "trunk scheme" unfortunately. SJFD is still working out the kinks in the hose. SJFD has switched over to an automated dispatch system. This where they tone out the station and the details, then the dispatcher will give more info when it comes in. So for a long convoluted answer. Yes. SJFD is making the switch. Their command channels 21, 22, and 23 are digital as well. The weird thing is they can still be picked up on both Analog and Digital. So I do not think they have fully made the switch as of yet.

 

[tonydi]

Thanks, yeah, I've heard exactly what you describe with SJFD, even just tonight.

I guess at this point my main question is if SCC Sheriff will go encrypted anytime soon. If so, my quest to replace my Bearcat is effectively over.

 

[ea1321]

Well I have the BCD436HP and I am loving it so far. I am receiving SJSUPD, Mountain View PD, Los Gatos PD, County Parks PD, Palo Alto PD, and Milpitas PD just to name a few. The only problem that I have been running into is that when the field unit transmits it comes in muffled on my end. I hear the dispatcher loud and clear. Lastly, the only bummer is if there is a mass casualty event, pursuit, or something along those lines. All the responding agencies will hop on to a "Mutual Aid" channel and 99.9999 percent of the time they pick the encrypted channels.

 

[ea1321]

On another note. Does anyone on this thread know if Santa Cruz County will be making the switch anytime soon? I noticed the S/O and I believe Capitola PD has deployed the Motorola APX portables. I have tried numerous threads, but no answer. Thanks!

 

[mmckenna]

On another note. Does anyone on this thread know if Santa Cruz County will be making the switch anytime soon? I noticed the S/O and I believe Capitola PD has deployed the Motorola APX portables. I have tried numerous threads, but no answer. Thanks!

No, Santa Cruz County won't be.
I've worked with the County guys for going on 20+ years now, and they've looked at it. Santa Cruz county would not offer itself well to 700MHz. They already have a crap-load of radio sites to get what they need on VHF, having to triple or quadruple that to achieve the same coverage is well beyond what the tax base can support. They did play around with some 800MHz stuff, but gave up on it.
As for the APX, some cities have moved to them. I do think Santa Cruz SO has some APX radios as they needed something to replace a few failing XTS radios that are long past their prime, however rumors are that the sheriff officers don't really like them. A few cities have been buying the APX to replace radios as needed. It's very likely they'll be replacing most hand held radios with Harris XL models in the future.
P25 on VHF is likely in the future, existing repeaters/receivers are mostly converted over to Tait, and new radios are all being purchased as P25.

700/Trunked county wide will not happen in my lifetime.