TDCJ Switch To DMR

[Enforcer52]

Last Week the TDCJ Polunsky Unit in Livingston. TX, switched their conventional channels 1 and 3 to DMR. Here are the specs:

Polunsky 1
Freq - 153.785
CC - 2
TG - 702
Slot - 1

Polunsky 3
Freq - 154.430
CC - 2
TG 703
Slot 1

 

[Enforcer52]

Guess they are still tweaking on the system, they have changed Polunsky 1 to CC-5

 

[rattlerbb01]

Guess they are still tweaking on the system, they have changed Polunsky 1 to CC-5

Good stuff, when they settle on something drop the submission and we can update it.

 

[BrokenCircuit]

I'm scanning the Bonham units and Telford (Bowie County) neither have changed over yet but their licenses have been amended. I'm curios though, I see the P25 emission in the license yet they are going DMR, are they keeping P25 as a backbone option?

 

[Echo4Thirty]

Often times agencies just add the emmission designators to their licneses when doing a modfication. We have fire depts that have analog, P25, NXDN and DMR all allowed on their licenses.

 

[Enforcer52]

Following frequencies upgraded/changed to DMR

TDCJ Wainwright 1 154.235000 TG 702 CC3 Slot1


TDCJ Ferguson 1 153.815000 TG 701 CC1 Slot1


TDCJ Estelle 3 155.137500 TG 703 CC1 Slot1

Changes submitted to database.

 

[kmartin]

I've been wondering when the TDCJ was going to move to P25 or DMR i guess DMR it is ! But I feel encryption is not to far away ?

 

[KevinC]

I merged both TDCJ threads so we don't have ones for each facilities switch.

With that being said I'm getting DMR on 155.5725 (Ramsey), but it's too weak to decode. I do get a CC of 1 though.

 

[BrokenCircuit]

I've been wondering when the TDCJ was going to move to P25 or DMR i guess DMR it is ! But I feel encryption is not to far away ?

Yes, probably and on DMR its so much easier than having to write and upload encryption without a key writer. Not to mention a whole lot cheaper. Wouldn't surprise me to hear of Baofeng DMR radios used by some ... So, what are they going to encrypt anyways? Count time? Count Clear? Send your chow? TDCJ does more on their internal telephone network than they do on the radio ...

 

[EAFrizzle]

Lots of good fights weekly at the Hightower complex when I lived in Houston. Always a good late night channel to scan.

Add that to a great deal of ineptitude heard on-air after hiring waves, and I can see why they'd like encryption.

 

[BrokenCircuit]

153.785000 Slot 1/Color 1 TGID 702 RID: 226632, 266129, 226586 I THINK it's Choice Moore Unit, I'm on a short distance antenna right now so I need to listen some more before I go giving it a Facility name.

 

[Enforcer52]

153.785 is used at several units, and is a designated statewide facility channel. Choice Moore listed freq is 151.955, but most units have at least 2 channels. So more listening is probably needed if other units are in your area of reception.

 

[BrokenCircuit]

Been listening to it all morning, RSSI is in the 300's so its quite possibly Bonham. The 151.955 frequency was a temporary building channel. Choice Moore and Buster Cole share a repeater. Everything I am hearing indicates its these two units.

The Beto/Michael/Cofield units are too far for me to effectively hear and Telford is using a non-standard pair, additionally Telford never comes in well due to its location as well. I'm a 20 minute drive to the front gates at Moore/Cole units.

 

[Echo4Thirty]

I've been wondering when the TDCJ was going to move to P25 or DMR i guess DMR it is ! But I feel encryption is not to far away ?

In the huntsville area they have been carrying XPR3500s forever so that made a natural switch. Other parts of the state were still on PR400s (yuk).

 

[BrokenCircuit]

I have this programmed as a Trunked system (DMR One Channel on Uniden and a DMR System on the TRX 2) Both are scanning it flawlessly. And guess what? All weekend long, every few hours I hear "Count time on the Choice Moore Unit" Hmm ... Logic of Deduction?

Oh, FWIW, here's the FCC License .... FCC Callsign WPFZ711 (Texas Department of Criminal Justice, ITD)

 

[Enforcer52]

Count time on the Choice Moore Unit

Several times a day, all units count the number of inmates to make sure no body has escaped. They count more often at night.

 

[rattlerbb01]

Several times a day, all units count the number of inmates to make sure no body has escaped. They count more often at night.

The policy used to be 7 counts per day, and one count each shift must be an ID check. They called those “bedbook” counts and you had to verify they were the person matching the ID and that they were alive and breathing. About 6 months before I switched careers, I had a trustee die of a heart attack after he told me he wasn’t feeling good at count time before breakfast, and wanted me to let his field boss know he wasn’t “turning out” for work. That was my “bedbook” count and it saved my ass since others around him were woken up by me and heard our interaction. The next shift counted him dead in his bunk once before his field boss came to check on him. Just a little side story about counts for y’all.

 

[BrokenCircuit]

I understand the count thing, Whoever last updated several of the units put the temporary frequency in for Choice Moore unit, the frequency was a backup building channel they used as simplex. Both Buster Cole State Jail and Choice Moore Transfer facility pretty much share all frequencies as they do their Warden and Services. The two are hard to scan if you don't understand TDCJ. I happen to have inside knowledge of that, 3.6 years and 21 days to be exact!

So far Choice Moore is operating on the DMR fully. Cole Unit is still on Simplex VHF analog. Moore is: 153.7850/155.0250 CC: 1 TS: 1 TGID: 702 and if you want it, I have a detailed list of User ID's including Back Gate, Front gate, Boiler room, education, Pill window, Maintenance, Laundry, Food Service, Count room and Control Picket. I'm running the system as a DMR One Frequency Trunk.

Side note: Telford Unit is (New Boston) too far to my east to hear. Winnsboro SAFE-P I get at night but is stull conventional. The Tennessee Colony units do come in but many of their channels are used by more local agencies so it'll be tricky to monitor those.

Oh hey, did you know Hutchins is now a release center for Northern area? Beto/Cofield inmates don't have to go to Walls for release anymore if they're paroling to north Texas, Hutchins does that now - who knew!?

My stream, carries this TDCJ stuff, just gotta know what your listening for. https://sky.doscast.com/start/lrhradio/

 

[nd5y]

Allred (Wichita Falls) has 2 repeaters and today they are still analog if anybody cares.