T.A.C.N. questions

Bootyhunter

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Im in East Tennessee, Hawkins County specifically. I know that Sullivan county went to this state system a few years ago and everything was encrypted, police, fire, ems etc. Now Hawkins county has also gone to the state system except for fire. My question is can you listen to ems and hawkins county s.o./THP troopers now or is it all encrypted. I will consider getting a new scanner but want to see what is availble to listen to before making such a huge investment. Thanks in advance.
 

jtwalker

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Unless something has very recently changed, Hawkins SO went to their own DMR system not TACN. And the traffic is 100% encrypted and can’t be monitored with a scanner.

THP is on TACN and last I knew dispatch 1 was in the clear for district 5, which includes Hawkins.
 

Bootyhunter

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Unless something has very recently changed, Hawkins SO went to their own DMR system not TACN. And the traffic is 100% encrypted and can’t be monitored with a scanner.

THP is on TACN and last I knew dispatch 1 was in the clear for district 5, which includes Hawkins.
Oh ok, I guess I was mistaken, I thought Hawkins county joined the state system. Is that all thats available, just the THP? No county fire/police or ems from surrounding counties Hawkins/Greene/Hamblen? Thanks for the reply!
 

jtwalker

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Fire and EMS for Hawkins is still available on conventional analog channels. Not sure what the local police departments use. All county and local LE seems to have gone silent since SO went encrypted DMR, so maybe they use same system.

And don’t know about surrounding counties.

I don’t claim to be an expert on this area, I just visit family in the county regularly.
 

Bootyhunter

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Fire and EMS for Hawkins is still available on conventional analog channels. Not sure what the local police departments use. All county and local LE seems to have gone silent since SO went encrypted DMR, so maybe they use same system.

And don’t know about surrounding counties.

I don’t claim to be an expert on this area, I just visit family in the county regularly.
No ems isnt, fire is. Ems switched when the S O did.
 

Bootyhunter

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I don’t hear much from THP either, but I hear some. Wonder if they use CAD more than radio.
Idk. So what scanner do you use? I dont have a digital one, when Sullivan County went to the state system and it was all encrypted I decided not to get one. But then I see that THP dispatch is not encrypted and also other counties in the state arent. But if you dont hear much I guess its not worth the investment
 

jtwalker

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I have a Uniden SDS100 that I carry when I visit.

I didn’t bring it when I visited in November because it just seemed to be mostly quiet on prior trip down. So I guess I agree that it may not be worth the expense to buy one for the area.

Maybe someone else local will have a different opinion. Good luck.
 

Bootyhunter

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I have a Uniden SDS100 that I carry when I visit.

I didn’t bring it when I visited in November because it just seemed to be mostly quiet on prior trip down. So I guess I agree that it may not be worth the expense to buy one for the area.

Maybe someone else local will have a different opinion. Good luck.
Hey thanks for the feedback. I can understand law enforcement having an encrypted tactical channel, but everything else going encrypted is just not right. Our taxes pay for this stuff and we should be able to monitor it.
 

Bootyhunter

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Keep an eye on your local pawn shops. Sometimes they don't research well enough or they just want rid of that 'scanner'.

If you're really not into the hobby, you can also look online, some people stream channels, and what you want might be there.
Thanks, I actually came across an amazing deal on a 436hp that just got posted on fb marketplace. I contacted them, got them to send me some video of it working and made an offer and they took it. Supposed to be to me Thursday. Better than a pawn shop price as well! Looking forward to it. I hadnt bought a digital scanner, last ones I owned were Trunk tracker 3's I think. Interested to learn about and see what I can hear.
 

Mason69

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I am in middle tennessee, Smith County. There are some talkgroups that are new on the TACN (such as the DeKalb county EMS) and i have the TGID, but there are no frequencies listed. And when i manually program a new TGRP, i dont hear anything even though i am 100% sure there is traffic on there.
 
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