US DOJ IWN P25 System

[Unadan]

Anyone here have any luck monitoring this system in Portland? I've got all the CNs programmed into my BCD 396T but so far have only occasionally heard very garbled and unintelligible broadcasts. Maybe I need to use a different antenna to hear the lower freqs this system uses?

 

[Unadan]

Anyone tried monitoring this system yet?

 

[icom1020]

It's 99% encryption fortified with P25 to keep govt. agents strong.

 

[ScanRite]

Actually, I was going to fire this system up today to see what I find. I'll let you know what I get.

Duane

 

[Unadan]

I've tried monitoring this system from downtown 19th floor and only occasionally "hear" any activity. I'm scanning with a BCD 396T with an RS 800mhz duck.

 

[KE7JFF]

I listen to this system as part of my usual scan list rotation on my PRO106. Its pretty much all encryption but I did hear an voice in a clear once say "Yeah, that would be great" at around 3 AM.

I've noticed that activity on the system perks up always when you hear FPS using their P25 repeater in Portland. I'm wondering if there's some sort of relay going on or perhaps just a strange coincidence.

 

[ChrisP]

Anyone here have any luck monitoring this system in Portland? I've got all the CNs programmed into my BCD 396T but so far have only occasionally heard very garbled and unintelligible broadcasts. Maybe I need to use a different antenna to hear the lower freqs this system uses?

I do keep an eye and and ear on the IWN system, but 99% of the traffic is encrypted. I watch the system activity using the PRO96COM software package and the PRO-96 scanner, so I do log the radios and active talk groups. There have been a few, rare operations that were in the clear for a brief time, but the "garbled and unintelligible" signals you heard are that way for a reason.

- Chris

 

[Unadan]

Another question - on my recently purchased 396t - I programmed all the control channels for this system with freescan - however, I get an error message upon loading that no apco band plan was found and that it may have to be entered manually. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I never got this message with my 396T and the UASD software.

 

[ChrisP]

Another question - on my recently purchased 396t - I programmed all the control channels for this system with freescan - however, I get an error message upon loading that no apco band plan was found and that it may have to be entered manually. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I never got this message with my 396T and the UASD software.

Although I don't use Freescan, there should be no band plan with the IWN system. It is a true P25 system that does broadcast the channel frequencies, so you should be able to just enter the control channels and go to town. I use the 396 and the 996 to monitor the system just fine, but I programmed them with the USAD software...

- Chris

 

[Unadan]

Are you programming all of the IWN channels into your scanner or control channels only?

 

[ChrisP]

Are you programming all of the IWN channels into your scanner or control channels only?

In my 396, I think I just threw in all the channels I had for the Portland area sites. In my 996, I actually built each site separately with just the known control channels and the alternate control channels.

I preferred putting in all the frequencies, as some sites I wasn't sure what the alternate control channel was, and it wasn't like I was filling up the scanner memory (50+ systems and I'm just topping 51% used).

- Chris

 

[Unadan]

Did you input any band plan information into your scanner? I've left mine with default settings. Actually as I'm typing this I just heard my first message (intelligible for the first time!) on this system.

 

[ChrisP]

Did you input any band plan information into your scanner? I've left mine with default settings. Actually as I'm typing this I just heard my first message (intelligible for the first time!) on this system.

Yep, someone was in the clear today!

And no, there was no band plan entered. The system type is "P25" and the band plan table is all zeros.

- Chris

 

[OutlawHoss]

Functionality Achieved with DOJ IWN

I managed to successfully program this system on my 396T. I took all the control and alternate channels from the database for Jackson Co. and put them in one system, that system being the P25. The 396T automatically makes this a control channel only system. After programming it, I put the scanner on ID Search (as opposed to ID Scan) and I have a couple of unique TGIDs that my scanner found that aren't on the database listing. I've also done a custom search, with the option of control channel search only, and found the same control channel and subsequent TGIDs again, as verification. The 396T automatically filled in a band plan, and since it works, I'm not messing with it. I had some questions I have about this band plan though, and after some research I think leaving it on auto-step and the bands its discovered is the best option. Of course this system is encrypted and there's no way around that; I did get a few hits at some odd hour that weren't encrypted, and the scanner showed 'P25' and transmitted fine. I do use FreeScan, and it seems to work pretty well for me. If I were to offer any advice, I'd download all your programmed systems and frequencies, save it, swipe the scanner, make sure you have, or do the firmware upgrade, and once that's all done upload your saved systems with the clear scanner first option checked. That's my two cents.