The Future of Radio Scanning in Tasmania

[pb_lonny]

The radio scanning hobby in Tasmania is in the process of seeing some major changes:

- The various emergency services are moving to a APCO25 digital trunking network, the Police and Ambulance Tasmania will both be 100% encrypted. Over the next 6 to 12 months this will really take off and cause a number of changes to the way the radio scanner hobby is undertaken in Tasmania.


- A number of business two way radio communication users are moving to digital modes, this is a combination of DMR, P25 or other digital modes. More and more the radio scanning hobby will be less about the content of the communication and more about the fact the communication is been undertaken.


- Over the past few years a number of two way radio users have gone "off the air", this is a move to data terminal type devices, tablets or the use of mobile phones. I see this increasing.

- One area where I have seen an increase in the use of radio is by a number of shops in the state who now have UHF headsets for staff, these are very low power so you need to be very close but they are interesting to hear about the daily going on's and some of the content is very strange at times.

 

[VK3RX]

Yep, I guess what has happened up here will happen down there too in due course.

 

[Australia4001]

From my information , the company that will be supplying the service , telstra , will be 100% encrypted , not certain talkgroups, all users , telstra setup the qld gwn ( strapped full encryption) , and will have the same business model for tassie . Enjoy it while you can ,
I know the tender documents mentioned that only some users will be enc , but further discussions show this maybe not the case

 

[pb_lonny]

Yep, I guess what has happened up here will happen down there too in due course.

Yes, this is what I am expecting.

 

[pb_lonny]

From my information , the company that will be supplying the service , telstra , will be 100% encrypted , not certain talkgroups, all users , telstra setup the qld gwn ( strapped full encryption) , and will have the same business model for tassie . Enjoy it while you can ,
I know the tender documents mentioned that only some users will be enc , but further discussions show this maybe not the case

This sounds very likely, I wonder how the volunteers in the TFS will handle this as I know a lot of them have scanners to keep an ear on things from home and farmers / land owners who do the same.

 

[Kazzaw]

We should point out that the QLD Government approached Telstra to make the network fully encrypted. It wasn't telstras decision, they were just doing as they were told.

From what I can see it looks as though the TAS government has issued Telstra the same directions.

 

[pb_lonny]

We should point out that the QLD Government approached Telstra to make the network fully encrypted. It wasn't telstras decision, they were just doing as they were told.

From what I can see it looks as though the TAS government has issued Telstra the same directions.

Yes, and that is why I am done...

Gone, Done, No More

Blog about radio scanning in the greater Launceston area, covered by the 7250 post code.

7250radioscanning.blogspot.com

 

[KK4JUG]

There's a little over 530,000 in Tasmania. How many scanners can there be? It's sad but most of the population doesn't share the same enthusiasm as pb_lonny.

 

[VicradioZone]

You'd be surprised how many scanners are used throughout Tasmania. One of the big draws currently is the fact that their Police can still be monitored, obviously this will change as it did on the mainland for most other States when their new system is completed.

Obviously the market never really reached the levels of the mainland, but for the moment given the ability to monitor I think you'll find it a surprisingly active market. You only have to look at their local Facebook pages to see how active it can be with many requests for 'who has a scanner for sale' and such.

Mind you I wouldn't class them as true hobbyists given their rather limited scope of interest, that being the Police.

 

[pb_lonny]

The issue is that once less people do it, less people see it as a hobby and as such the hobby dies off for everybody...

 

[KK4JUG]

The issue is that once less people do it, less people see it as a hobby and as such the hobby dies off for everybody...

Yes, and according to you, encryption is is on the horizon. I'm sure there are those who are not willing to spend probably 800 $A for something that will be a doorstop in the '.too distant future. It doesn't look promising.

On the brighter side, Tasmania is going to share some Devils with the mainland. That's not terribly encouraging but other than that, I got nuthin'.

 

[commscanaus]

Mind you I wouldn't class them as true hobbyists given their rather limited scope of interest, that being the Police.

A very true statement.

Way back in 06' when Vicpol changed over to trunked P25 encrypted, several of my monitoring enthusiast friends just threw their hands in the air and sold off all their equipment.
Even one mate who was keen on listening to the fire services decided digital was all too hard and chucked it in.
Many scanner users decided it was pointless without being able to hear shootings and car chases.

But that is where the difference lies between a scanner user and a radio enthusiast.
The radio enthusiast will always find something to hear and often has interests in different areas.
I like HF, VHF Airband, Marine VHF and discovering new systems as they pop up on air, whether running encryption or not.
And the equipment to do it all with has never been better!

Yes the Golden Age of analogue everything is well behind us but that does not prevent me from enjoying being a radio enthusiast!
And I will be very interested to see what frequency band they adopt for P25 in Tassie.

Commscanaus.

 

[VicradioZone]

A very true statement.

Way back in 06' when Vicpol changed over to trunked P25 encrypted, several of my monitoring enthusiast friends just threw their hands in the air and sold off all their equipment.
Even one mate who was keen on listening to the fire services decided digital was all too hard and chucked it in.
Many scanner users decided it was pointless without being able to hear shootings and car chases.

But that is where the difference lies between a scanner user and a radio enthusiast.
The radio enthusiast will always find something to hear and often has interests in different areas.
I like HF, VHF Airband, Marine VHF and discovering new systems as they pop up on air, whether running encryption or not.
And the equipment to do it all with has never been better!

Yes the Golden Age of analogue everything is well behind us but that does not prevent me from enjoying being a radio enthusiast!
And I will be very interested to see what frequency band they adopt for P25 in Tassie.

Commscanaus.

Can you stop reading my mind please.

 

[Lokyi792]

per other thread... it won't be ready until late 2021/2022 and they're talking about a staged implementation into 2023... so kinda jumping the gun to say it's dead already mate.
Afaik they're only moving over to P25 Phase 2... which DSD+ can already decode... might be different once they eventually swith over to LTE, but that'll be even further down the track.

 

[Kazzaw]

It looks to be the same implementation that Telstra and Motorola have completed in QLD... P25 Phase 2... Initial users fully encrypted

I'd say its dead