The pro's and con's of police digital radio's.

[jackj]

I know, I wanted to see what he would come up with. Something like the antenna had metal and plastic rods to pick up the 1's and 0's. Metal for 1's and plastic for 0's maybe?

 

[n5ims]

I would be interested in knowing the difference between a digital and an analog antenna please?

There is (or at least was during the conversion from analog to digital TV) a serious difference between a digital antenna and analog antenna. The digital ones cost more!

I saw this in action at my local Best Buy. They had some RCA 'rabbit ear' antennas for sale. They both looked exactly the same, came in identical boxes (save one difference I'll mention shortly), same model number, and same UPC code. The ones with the "HDTV Ready" sticker sold for $59.95, while those without the sticker sold for $19.95. Since both had the same UPC code, I'm not sure how they rang up, but those were the prices on the boxes and marked on the store shelves.

 

[NCIC105]

Darn.
All this time I thought I lived in the United States and did not have to worry about Canada law....

Why would someone quote a law that does not apply here? DUH

 

[rdale]

Because this was originally started in the Canada forum until a moderator moved it.

 

[swest90]

The pros are only for the company selling the equipment.
The agency, tax payers and citizens receive all the cons.

 

[NCIC105]

Because this was originally started in the Canada forum until a moderator moved it.

OK
Now I understand...
Thanks

DUH me!

 

[moonbounce]

Okay, digital doesn't necessarily mean encryption, but the only digital police radio that I know that is not encrypted is the OPP, in my world all the rest are digital and encrypted. So to me digital and encryption go basically hand in hand. I don't know of any analog police radio's that are encrypted, at least not in my neck of the woods. And just buying a digital radio only works if all you want to do is listen to the OPP.

Rdale asked " who asked for it" meaning the original post that I started, good point. It started in the "Canada Radio Discussion Forums" in the Ontario section under "P25 coming to London?". It was suggested by non other than Mike Oxlong and I quote :

" Guys, let's keep this related to London's new P25 system.

If you want to discuss encryption, take it to another forum" .

So that is what I did, and thinking as it originated in the Ontario forum I didn't think that it would be moved without any explanation to me or the posters on the Ontario thread.

As for I don't have the right to listen to encrypted police comms, it is not a matter of having rights as far as I know it isn't against any special law that makes it illegal to monitor police comms. Like I was saying in my original post was that digital + encryption is overkill. I can understand the need for certain privacy communications and I agree with that, but I don't believe we should be cut out of all communications.Ever heard of a police state and the powers that police can conjure up in a moments notice. All we have to do is look at the G20 summit in Toronto this summer, and in my opinion we are getting closer to a police state. But that is just my opinion, and in a free world I should be able to express such, so far anyways.

P.S. it is amazing how the topic has shifted from the original topic to a new topic about antennas, without anyone being warned or any posts moved. HHHHMMMM!

 

[rdale]

Good points, but we have about 783 threads on "Encryption: Good or Bad" already

 

[slicerwizard]

Okay, digital doesn't necessarily mean encryption, but the only digital police radio that I know that is not encrypted is the OPP, in my world all the rest are digital and encrypted. So to me digital and encryption go basically hand in hand.

You wrote "I for one disagree with police use of digital radio, I don't think they are necessary, I think they are in use to hide from the people that they are their to protect" knowing full well that the OPP use digital radios and hide from no one. You set the stage for the backlash that followed. The Internet is full of trolls who write inflammatory posts just like yours. When you write like that, you will be perceived as either woefully uninformed or trolling.

P.S. it is amazing how the topic has shifted from the original topic to a new topic about antennas, without anyone being warned or any posts moved. HHHHMMMM!

Because it brought the thread quality up a couple of notches?

 

[jim202]

Let me see if I can slide the conversation back onto the original question.

The analog verses digital radios starts with cost. You can about double the cost for a radio with
the digital abilities. Now depending on age, design and vocoder used, you may or may not get
additional range out of the radio at the fringes. This is due to the error correction that some radios have built into them.

The problems that I have seen first hand with the digital radios is they sound garbled or a
better description is people sound like they are talking underwater at times. This is due to
timing errors in the signal. The errors can be on the receiving end on simplex or the
receiver at the repeater or trunking site. Either way, the radio (s) can't figure out what to do
with the poor signal or multi path signal and do the best they can.

Is digital worth the effort and money? Not in my opinion, but it doesn't count. The politics
always win out and the best sales person with the best BS always wins. The free meals
always make an impression on the decision makers.

With the FCC pushing for narrower band limits on channel use, the only way this can be
done eventually is with digital communications. So weather we like it or not, the digital
wave is upon us and we won't have any influence on the outcome.

 

[CCHLLM]

Amen!

Let me see if I can slide the conversation back onto the original question.

The analog verses digital radios starts with cost. You can about double the cost for a radio with
the digital abilities. Now depending on age, design and vocoder used, you may or may not get
additional range out of the radio at the fringes. This is due to the error correction that some radios have built into them.

The problems that I have seen first hand with the digital radios is they sound garbled or a
better description is people sound like they are talking underwater at times. This is due to
timing errors in the signal. The errors can be on the receiving end on simplex or the
receiver at the repeater or trunking site. Either way, the radio (s) can't figure out what to do
with the poor signal or multi path signal and do the best they can.

Is digital worth the effort and money? Not in my opinion, but it doesn't count. The politics
always win out and the best sales person with the best BS always wins. The free meals
always make an impression on the decision makers.

With the FCC pushing for narrower band limits on channel use, the only way this can be
done eventually is with digital communications. So weather we like it or not, the digital
wave is upon us and we won't have any influence on the outcome.

Well said. The only thing I would add is my ubiquitous question: why is it that it's always the ones who don't use the equipment and who don't have to live with the day-to-day shortcomings of their decisions that get to make those equipment decisions, and it's always the ones who do have to live with all the shortcomings that never have any input?

 

[zerg901]

slicerwizard said -

"The Internet is full of trolls who write inflammatory posts just like yours"

I say -

Calling Doctor Scorn! Calling Doctor Derision! Calling Doctor Scutum!

Peter Sz

 

[exkalibur]

Okay, digital doesn't necessarily mean encryption, but the only digital police radio that I know that is not encrypted is the OPP, in my world all the rest are digital and encrypted. So to me digital and encryption go basically hand in hand. I don't know of any analog police radio's that are encrypted, at least not in my neck of the woods. And just buying a digital radio only works if all you want to do is listen to the OPP.

So a point of correction...in Ontario, these guys are digital and not encrypted:

-Barrie
-Brantford
-Chatham/Kent
-MTO Enforcement
-MNR Enforcement


I'm sure there's more, but to suggest that the OPP are the only ones who are digital and not encrypted is rather mis-informed.