Upcoming Encryption

[KD0NDO]

Well Wright county is still in the clear. Nothing abnormal in unitrunker that would suggest they’re doing any testing or patching to new encrypted mains.

Does anyone have any info?

 

[bearcatrp]

I still see them in my logs on proscan. Let’s hope wright county doesn’t go 100% encryption.

 

[stmills]

I am wondering if Wright County talkgroups will remain the same, just encrypted - Looking at the spread of Talkgroups Wright county uses and what is used around their spread of talkgroups they might not have the available talkgroups to create new encrypted talkgroups alongside the unencrypted talkgroups

 

[KD0NDO]

I am wondering if Wright County talkgroups will remain the same, just encrypted - Looking at the spread of Talkgroups Wright county uses and what is used around their spread of talkgroups they might not have the available talkgroups to create new encrypted talkgroups alongside the unencrypted talkgroups

I was wondering the same. Or switch to their already encrypted talkgroups law 4 and law 5

 

[bearcatrp]

I don’t listen to my SDS200 while it’s scanning. Will it stop on an encrypted frequency momentarily then move on with no voice happening? I check the logs periodically for anything over 10 seconds and listen to the recording.

 

[sonm10]

Yes, it will stop momentarily, but it will be garbled

 

[INDY72]

Unidens stop for only a couple of seconds and display enc... shouldn't pass any audio but there is a glitch there. Whistler TRX whill play the sound or a tone depending on your settings.

 

[egftechman]

Can officially add Freeborn County to the list now too. They switched all traffic to 21844 Law 2 encrypted this morning, with plans to encrypt 21843 Law Main full time starting May 1st.

That is unfortunate, but again the MNBCA and FBI are pushing for full encryption of all law enforcement activity, and with all the hype about "cybersecurity" now, that's all someone has to scream at the lawmakers to get them to go along with it. I'm going to guess a bunch of MN's MLCGP funds will go to encrypt radio traffic...It's sad to see, but I'm going to guess law enforcement scanning will be a thing of the past soon. I've been scanning for nearly 4 decades, and unlike previous attempts of encryption, moving to P25 encrypted doesn't degrade performance or add a lot of cost, so I think it's going to stick...
What we may need to push for is more "official feeds", but they usually come with a caveat that they will be blacked out during significant events, or have significant delays in them, or both. Maybe sites like Broadcastify need to make official feeds a potential revenue stream for local agencies, they get a part of subscription or ad revenue (would be easy to insert ads on the calls platform without missing anything)

 

[bearcatrp]

Am all for encryption for Tac frequencies only. Not regular frequencies.

 

[wogggieee]

That is unfortunate, but again the MNBCA and FBI are pushing for full encryption of all law enforcement activity, and with all the hype about "cybersecurity" now, that's all someone has to scream at the lawmakers to get them to go along with it. I'm going to guess a bunch of MN's MLCGP funds will go to encrypt radio traffic...It's sad to see, but I'm going to guess law enforcement scanning will be a thing of the past soon. I've been scanning for nearly 4 decades, and unlike previous attempts of encryption, moving to P25 encrypted doesn't degrade performance or add a lot of cost, so I think it's going to stick...
What we may need to push for is more "official feeds", but they usually come with a caveat that they will be blacked out during significant events, or have significant delays in them, or both. Maybe sites like Broadcastify need to make official feeds a potential revenue stream for local agencies, they get a part of subscription or ad revenue (would be easy to insert ads on the calls platform without missing anything)

A solution looking for an excuse

 

[KD0FEO]

I haven't seen any suspicious or abnormal activity in trunking recorder or sdrtrunk, looks like it's behind schedule or delayed.. hopefully permanently. I'll update when it does happen, I generally keep my remote desktop open monitoring sdrtrunk running the wright county public safety stream.

 

[INDY72]

A solution looking for an excuse

Also please remember Motorola specifically mentions scanners on the actual radio info about encryption for pretty much all the APX family..
Blocking scanners is a priority in selling points now.

 

[wogggieee]

Also please remember Motorola specifically mentions scanners on the actual radio info about encryption for pretty much all the APX family..
Blocking scanners is a priority in selling points now.

Yep a solution looking for an excuse. I never saved the article but I read one awhile back about a department going encrypted in which the Chief of Police cited criminals using scanners to put their officers in danger. When asked for examples of it actually happening he could provide none.

 

[egftechman]

Yep a solution looking for an excuse. I never saved the article but I read one awhile back about a department going encrypted in which the Chief of Police cited criminals using scanners to put their officers in danger. When asked for examples of it actually happening he could provide none.

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!
Motorola is making out really well on the P25 P1-P2 systems. They convinced the public sector to move from $400 radios to $4,000 radios..and why do places like Jails need to be part of a statewide trunking system? The just need a reliable on-prem system (2-3 conventional repeaters would suffice for most facilities) with maybe one channel/talkgroup linked to wider system for incoming transports, coordinating assistance from outside agencies, and ability for a dispatcher to make other patches.
And if they can squeeze out a few more $$ to enable encryption (and also push more vendor lock-in) they'll do it...
Maybe you need to asks your county commissioners and state lawmakers what the costs are?

 

[KD0FEO]

https://mnecb.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09212023-931

 

[egftechman]

View attachment 158292
View attachment 158293

https://mnecb.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09212023-931

How many trucks and firefighters does like Foley fire department have? $80,000 for radios seem overkill? I mean did two-way radio service in the mid-1990s for a bit in Northern Minnesota, and those were they type of fire departments the had you do everything to keep their Micors (or worse Mocoms) running for as long as possible, because they didn't have a budget to replace them.

 

[INDY72]

Per engine usually, 1 mobile, at least 3 portables. Per ladder, 1, or 2 mobiles if it's a tiller 2, and 3 to 4 portable. Per Ambulance ... 1 or 2 mobiles and 2 or 3 portable. Add in chief cars etc, that is 1 mobile and 1 or sometimes 2 portable each... plus alerting radio at each station. That's usual for most FD nowadays. APX run $3,000.00 or more each. So for an Station with say 1 engine, 1 ladder, 1 medic, maybe an tanker, special rig, and admin vehicle, that's 21 mobile/portables, and alerting radio at a glance. You do the math. $66,000.00 conservatively not talking installing costs etc.. Add in backup radios,... So yes $80,000.00 sounds about normal.

 

[AAFC]

FOLLOW THE MONEY!!
Motorola is making out really well on the P25 P1-P2 systems. They convinced the public sector to move from $400 radios to $4,000 radios..and why do places like Jails need to be part of a statewide trunking system? The just need a reliable on-prem system (2-3 conventional repeaters would suffice for most facilities) with maybe one channel/talkgroup linked to wider system for incoming transports, coordinating assistance from outside agencies, and ability for a dispatcher to make other patches.
And if they can squeeze out a few more $$ to enable encryption (and also push more vendor lock-in) they'll do it...
Maybe you need to asks your county commissioners and state lawmakers what the costs are?

I've been sounding the cost alarm since encryption began..... nobody seems to care. Unfortunately.

 

[ryolsen8]

Per engine usually, 1 mobile, at least 3 portables. Per ladder, 1, or 2 mobiles if it's a tiller 2, and 3 to 4 portable. Per Ambulance ... 1 or 2 mobiles and 2 or 3 portable. Add in chief cars etc, that is 1 mobile and 1 or sometimes 2 portable each... plus alerting radio at each station. That's usual for most FD nowadays. APX run $3,000.00 or more each. So for an Station with say 1 engine, 1 ladder, 1 medic, maybe an tanker, special rig, and admin vehicle, that's 21 mobile/portables, and alerting radio at a glance. You do the math. $66,000.00 conservatively not talking installing costs etc.. Add in backup radios,... So yes $80,000.00 sounds about normal.

Non XE model 6k's with full encryption are right at $5300. That would only come out to around 15 portables, assuming they got regular 6ks, and no mobiles.

 

[CcSkyEye]

Per engine usually, 1 mobile, at least 3 portables. Per ladder, 1, or 2 mobiles if it's a tiller 2, and 3 to 4 portable. Per Ambulance ... 1 or 2 mobiles and 2 or 3 portable. Add in chief cars etc, that is 1 mobile and 1 or sometimes 2 portable each... plus alerting radio at each station. That's usual for most FD nowadays. APX run $3,000.00 or more each. So for an Station with say 1 engine, 1 ladder, 1 medic, maybe an tanker, special rig, and admin vehicle, that's 21 mobile/portables, and alerting radio at a glance. You do the math. $66,000.00 conservatively not talking installing costs etc.. Add in backup radios,... So yes $80,000.00 sounds about normal.

Everything listed and also things such as speaker mic, spare batteries and multi changer banks. Adds up very quick.