Tracy PD Updating...

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kma371

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Ive been told that Tracy PD in San Joaquin Co will be going P25 digital very soon. They will be operating on the San Joaquin Co Sheriff's Office "Channel 3" today (07/08) from 0600-1700 while the change is being made.

Unknown if Tracys current freq's will be used once the change is made.

DB is current for both agencies mentioned.



***Update: It looks like they have added 453.925 to its current license with Emission Designators 11K2F3E and 20K0F3E added to it. I think the 2nd designator is a P25 one, but correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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P-3_Radio_Guy

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Ive been told that Tracy PD in San Joaquin Co will be going P25 digital very soon. They will be operating on the San Joaquin Co Sheriff's Office "Channel 3" temporaily, while the change is being made.

Unknown if Tracys current freq's will be used once the change is made.

DB is current for both agencies mentioned.



***Update: It looks like they have added 453.925 to its current license with Emission Designators 11K2F3E and 20K0F3E added to it. I think the 2nd designator is a P25 one, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Phase I—Emission designator 8K10F1E (C4FM, compatible four-level frequency modulation) in a 12.5 kHz channel.

Phase II—Emission designator of 5K76G1E (CQPSK, compatible quadrature phase shift keying) in a 6.25 kHz channel.
 

gusbuster1217

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I hope with the ability there, unlike Manteca P.D., they choose not to encrypt all their transmissions. I never hear Ripon encrypted though same size and area as Manteca. Except for special circumstances such as raids and like, don't see the need to encrypt\encode everything.

When I head back to town, will program the new channels myself. Thanks for the heads up.
 

kma371

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well the Manteca officers are the ones flipping the encryption swich on the portables. They have told me they like the idea their transmissions can be "scrambled" so they just leave it on. So its not a fixed thing.
 

gusbuster1217

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well the Manteca officers are the ones flipping the encryption swich on the portables. They have told me they like the idea their transmissions can be "scrambled" so they just leave it on. So its not a fixed thing.
Oh I realize its the patrol officer who chooses. However, it defeats the purpose when dispatch is out in the open and most of the time the sergeants are out in the open. Then the tac channels are also out in the open most of the time, at least it was that way during this last holiday and Memorial holiday.

Of course, most of the officers don't realize probably that the bad guys rarely are in possession of a scanner that can decode the digital signal in the first place as demonstrated when I talked with a motor officer during the parade on the fourth.

I look forward to trying to see if new frequency is in operation Saturday morning. i will be working in Tracy that day for a few hours.

I'm surprised that the sj record or sun\post newspapers didn't have an announcement like they did for the Ripon\Manteca conversion.
 

kma371

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maybe they will keep their previously licensed channel and use for a secondary instead of clemars like they've been doing.
 

gusbuster1217

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Just came into the area this afternoon. It was weird to here Tracy digital signal as I came to 680- 580 interchange. Now I got to set different alerts so I can distinqush between Manteca and Tracy.
 

WayneH

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Updated the database with the NAC. I never heard any activity on the two other channels the few hours I monitored. No encryption heard.

The dispatcher sounds terrible even on a Motorola radio. Not sure if it's a console config or just his voice.

I also caught keyups on 453.6500 NAC 293. I don't know who it is but it seems to come from San Joaquin County. They're licensed for it but it's strange they have that single P25 repeater.
 

kma371

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Wayne, got your text....by the licenese locations, that new UHF repeater could be one of the following.

Public Works or the Courthouses
 

gusbuster1217

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The dispatcher sounds terrible even on a Motorola radio. Not sure if it's a console config or just his voice.

I was listening today and yesterday in the afternoon as I was coming into Manteca.

Dispatch was a low voice yesterday. This morning, he was talking a lot louder. Maybe he had the mike a lot closer to his mouth.

I don't know if it is the same with their radio's as with my 396, all the voices are lower and harder to here when comparing to sjc sheriff.
 

DOUGARTY

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TRACY, CA.
Needing some advice / help on tracy PD scanner

Dear kma371 - I think ??? possibly your thread just solved my mystery as to why my scanner (PRO-74) Race Scanner800 MHz Radio Shack is making a squelching and then goes into a brrruuzzzzzrrrr-ing sound on 453.975 frequncie for Tracy Police. I am sure it is only when the TPD key up to talk. Is it because they went to didgital? and the scanner I have is not didgital? I think it is not didgital anyway, not quite sure. If it is because they went didgital (if) are there any reasonable priced scanners out there that will pick up Tracy Police transmissions? Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated. If Tracy Police are now didgital my other question is...do I program that same frequecie of 453.975 in a didgital scanner to listen to them and will it work? If not, does anyone know the new Tracy Police frequencies? Any help will be much appreciated. I miss keeping up on my neighborhood and family's too.

Thank you ... DOUGARTY in Tracy, Ca.


Ive been told that Tracy PD in San Joaquin Co will be going P25 digital very soon. They will be operating on the San Joaquin Co Sheriff's Office "Channel 3" today (07/08) from 0600-1700 while the change is being made.

Unknown if Tracys current freq's will be used once the change is made.

DB is current for both agencies mentioned.



***Update: It looks like they have added 453.925 to its current license with Emission Designators 11K2F3E and 20K0F3E added to it. I think the 2nd designator is a P25 one, but correct me if I'm wrong.
 

inigo88

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Yes, your scanners are not digital and yes, if you buy a digital scanner it will convert that buzzing/machine gun/chainsaw noise into crisp clear voice. Unfortunately digital scanners are NOT reasonably priced (depending on your definition of "reasonable") - it just comes with the territory. Give the search feature in this forum a try and you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about them. A new digital scanner like the GRE PSR-500 will be about $500. I would recommend the Radioshack (GRE) PRO-96 or the Uniden 396T, because there are enough of them out there to be found used on places like eBay for much less.

Hope that helps,

Inigo
 

gusbuster1217

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Manteca CA
Yes, your scanners are not digital and yes, if you buy a digital scanner it will convert that buzzing/machine gun/chainsaw noise into crisp clear voice. Unfortunately digital scanners are NOT reasonably priced (depending on your definition of "reasonable") - it just comes with the territory. Give the search feature in this forum a try and you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about them. A new digital scanner like the GRE PSR-500 will be about $500. I would recommend the Radioshack (GRE) PRO-96 or the Uniden 396T, because there are enough of them out there to be found used on places like eBay for much less.

Hope that helps,

Inigo

Food for thought though, I would seriously consider the purchase only if you have money to burn or you're dependent on a scanner because of work. Why?

Well for example, City of Manteca PD. They went digital in Dec '07. With a digital radio system, this gives the ability to encode\encrypt their signal. A regular digital scanner like the 396 or gre 500 and others, if encoded, all you hear is a garbled voice. Manteca PD, it's up to officer discretion, most of the patrol officers choose to use encryption, but most of the time, dispatch is out in the open. So far, Ripon and Tracy are broadcasting in the clear so a digital scanner will properly decode the transmission. However, depending on department policy, their transmission can go encoded\encrypted and you'll be stuck with a $400 paper weight if all you're interested is scanning PD.

Other places where I know the agency broadcast digital, San Mateo County Sherriff. Dispatch, I never heard encoded, but their auto theft and narcotics division are encoded.
 

DOUGARTY

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Wow, thanks for the quick and informative reply. I couldn't understand why it was making the 'chainsaw' noise and other agencys were still coming through, now I know !. My other question is, is didgital here to stay for awhile or, will it be later replaced with the trunking system and last, is the trunking-system a step up from didgital meaning I might have to face the possibility of another scanner repalcement from didgital to a trunking scanner? Or if I get the didgital will that have trunking. Well, $500 is kinda steep at the time so I'll check out e-bay like you suggest...
Thank you very much for the help you guys!
dougarty



Food for thought though, I would seriously consider the purchase only if you have money to burn or you're dependent on a scanner because of work. Why?

Well for example, City of Manteca PD. They went digital in Dec '07. With a digital radio system, this gives the ability to encode\encrypt their signal. A regular digital scanner like the 396 or gre 500 and others, if encoded, all you hear is a garbled voice. Manteca PD, it's up to officer discretion, most of the patrol officers choose to use encryption, but most of the time, dispatch is out in the open. So far, Ripon and Tracy are broadcasting in the clear so a digital scanner will properly decode the transmission. However, depending on department policy, their transmission can go encoded\encrypted and you'll be stuck with a $400 paper weight if all you're interested is scanning PD.

Other places where I know the agency broadcast digital, San Mateo County Sherriff. Dispatch, I never heard encoded, but their auto theft and narcotics division are encoded.
 

gusbuster1217

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Manteca CA
. My other question is, is didgital here to stay for awhile or, will it be later replaced with the trunking system and last, is the trunking-system a step up from didgital meaning I might have to face the possibility of another scanner repalcement from didgital to a trunking scanner? Or if I get the didgital will that have trunking. Well, $500 is kinda steep at the time so I'll check out e-bay like you suggest...
Thank you very much for the help you guys!
dougarty

To answer your question, San Mateo County's radio system is not only a p 25 digital system but it is also trunked and both the uniden 396 and GSR 500 handle it with no problems, except when narc and auto theft, as they are always encrypted.

At some point, I see law Agencies going digital when there is spare money around to upgrade radioes.

So once you make the big purchase, pretty much you cover your bases except for few systems.

Now which scanner is better, that's up for debate as each have there place.

Like I said earlier, as long as Tracy PD doesn't choose to encrypt transmissions, then any digital capable scanner will work.
 
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