Difference between revisions of "Grand Canyon National Park"
From The RadioReference Wiki
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We do not recommend any particular brand of scanner. We '''do''' recomend that you research your purchase carefully to ensure that you can hear the systems you want to hear. Here are links to the more pupular scanners pages at Radio Reference: | We do not recommend any particular brand of scanner. We '''do''' recomend that you research your purchase carefully to ensure that you can hear the systems you want to hear. Here are links to the more pupular scanners pages at Radio Reference: | ||
− | *[http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/GRE_Radios GRE 500 and 600 series] [http://www.greamerica.com/ GRE Website] | + | *[http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/GRE_Radios GRE 500 and 600 series] |
+ | *[http://www.greamerica.com/ GRE Website] | ||
+ | |||
*[http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Radio_Shack_Scanners Radio Shack PRO series] | *[http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Radio_Shack_Scanners Radio Shack PRO series] | ||
+ | * | ||
+ | |||
*[http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Uniden_Scanners Uniden 396 and 996 series] | *[http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Uniden_Scanners Uniden 396 and 996 series] | ||
+ | * | ||
Another thing to remember is that scanners are not built to the same standards as professional radios and you may not be able to clearly hear what you want to listen to. This is a factor of the scanner quality and the type of system you want to hear - sometimes moving your location, adjusting or changing antennas, or adding attenuation to the frequency may help (see your radio's user guide). For more details on reception issues see the appropriate radio discussion forums at [http://forums.radioreference.com/ Radio Reference] or vist [http://groups.yahoo.com/ Yahoo groups] for your area of interest. | Another thing to remember is that scanners are not built to the same standards as professional radios and you may not be able to clearly hear what you want to listen to. This is a factor of the scanner quality and the type of system you want to hear - sometimes moving your location, adjusting or changing antennas, or adding attenuation to the frequency may help (see your radio's user guide). For more details on reception issues see the appropriate radio discussion forums at [http://forums.radioreference.com/ Radio Reference] or vist [http://groups.yahoo.com/ Yahoo groups] for your area of interest. |
Revision as of 00:14, 21 October 2009
Contents
Phoenix Area Trunked Radio System Guide for Dummies
While this page is designed to help the new hobbyist, or a traveler unfamiliar with the Phoenix area, to get started listening to one of the fastest growing areas of the country, we do expect the user to have a basic understanding of scanner terminology. And please note that this is an introductory level page concentrating on the valley's public safety trunked systems. We acknowledge that there may be more detailed sites available for the more experienced listener. If you want more detail on the valley's systems and users, may we respectfully suggest you consult Radio Reference LLC, or purchase Southwest Frequency Directory.
An Overview
There are really only four major systems in the Metropolitan Phoenix area where a radio hobbyist can hear the majority of police and fire traffic. here is a list of the systems and their subscribers (users):
Topaz Regional Wireless Cooperative (TRWC)
- Mesa
- Apache Junction
- Gilbert
- Queen Creek
- Apache Junction Fire District.
Regional Wireless Cooperative (RWC)
- Buckeye
- El Mirage
- Goodyear
- Peoria
- Phoenix
- Surprise
- Tempe
- Chandler Fire
- Daisy Mountain Fire Department
- Guadalupe Fire Department
- Maricopa Fire Department
- Sun City Fire Department
- Sun City West Fire Department
- Sun Lakes Fire Department
- Scottsdale (pending)
- Paradise Valley (pending)
- Tolleson (pending)
City of Glendale
- Avondale
- Glendale
Maricopa County Radio System
- Maricopa County
- Scottsdale
- Paradise Valley
Which radio to use
The current trend in public safety communications is to use digital technology. In the valley, there are analog systems, digital systems and combination systems. Also, since television's move to digital broadcasting, a new band of 700 Mhz frequencies have become available for public safety systems.
For instance, the Maricopa County system combines analog and digital communications on an 800 Mhz system. Phoenix, Glendale and Mesa systems are fully digital and use both 700 and 800 Mhz frequencies. Small systems like Chandler are only analog.
Most 'trunking' scanners can track the 800 Mhz analog trunking systems. To track digital systems a P25 compatible scanner is required; to track the new 700 Mhz trunked systems, a 700 Mhz capable radio is needed.
We do not recommend any particular brand of scanner. We do recomend that you research your purchase carefully to ensure that you can hear the systems you want to hear. Here are links to the more pupular scanners pages at Radio Reference:
Another thing to remember is that scanners are not built to the same standards as professional radios and you may not be able to clearly hear what you want to listen to. This is a factor of the scanner quality and the type of system you want to hear - sometimes moving your location, adjusting or changing antennas, or adding attenuation to the frequency may help (see your radio's user guide). For more details on reception issues see the appropriate radio discussion forums at Radio Reference or vist Yahoo groups for your area of interest.
What to program
Most trunked scanners require at least the data frequency (the 'control channel') to be programmed for each site. Some older scanners require all the voice frequencies to be entered as well. A complete list of frequencies can be found at the links on the bottom of this page.
Each system has 'talkgroups' or channels assigned for specific functions, such as Police or Fire Dispatch, and tactiacal or fireground channels. Since some cities are quite large, you may find many dispatch channels. Please use the links atthe bottom of this page to select the agencies and areas of interst.
To listen to valley public safety trunked systems, you need the correct transmitter frequencies and the correct voice channels - known as 'systems' and 'talkgroups.' Let's look at systems and talkgroups seperately...
Systems
What is listed here are the system names, locations and relative coverage aras to allow you to decide what systems to program to hear your areas of interest. At present, not all systems are linked to each other. In fact, there are plans to 'unlink' the TRWC and the RWC. So, a hobbyist would need to program at least the following sites to hear the majority of public safety traffic in the valley:
RWC=Phoenix system TRWC=Mesa System MCo=County System
OWNER | NAME | SITE | COVERAGE | AGENCY/ENTITY |
---|---|---|---|---|
RWC | Simulcast A | Site 201 | Phoenix metro area | Phoenix Police |
RWC | Simulcast B | Site 101 | Phoenix metro area | Phoenix and Valley Fire Departments |
RWC | Simulcast C | Site 202 | Southeast Phoenix: Chandler, Ahwatukee, Sun Lakes | Phoenix, Chandler (after migration) |
TRWC | Simulcast D | Site 301 | East Valley Cities | Mesa, Gilbert, Apache Junction Law and Fire |
RWC | Simulcast E/G | Site 102/501 | West Valley Cities | Peoria, Buckeye, El Mirage, Surprise |
RWC | Simulcast F | Site 205 | Tempe | Tempe |
RWC | Simulcast X (NEW) | Site xxx | Scottsdale | Scottsdale, Paradise Valley (after migration) |
Glendale | Glendale 01 | Site 001 | Glendale | Avondale, Glendale |
MCo | Thompson Peak | Site 001 | Primary East Simulcast | MCSO All Districts, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley |
MCo | White Tanks | Site 002 | Primary West Simulcast | MCSO All Districts |
MCo | Central Court | Site 009 | Primary Dwtwn Simulcast | MCSO All Districts, Central Jails |
City of Chandler | Chandler | Site 2425 | Chandler | Chandler PD (Scheduled to migrate to RWC) |
The following sites carry localized traffic, and are included for those listeners who may need to monitor a specific location outside the RWC-TRWC-County simulcast footprint:
OWNER | NAME | SITE | COVERAGE | USERS |
---|---|---|---|---|
RWC | Quintero IR | Site 502 | Peoria, Quintero community only | All subscribers |
RWC | Thompson Peak IR | Site 302 | East Phoenix, and Mesa area | All subscribers |
RWC | South Mtn IR | Site 203 | Emergency backup | All subscribers |
RWC | Sky Harbor IR | Site 103 | Aviation users at KPHX | All subscribers |
RWC | Daisy Mtn Conv | Site 902-904 | Conventional at Daisy Mtn FD | All subscribers |
RWC | Outlet Mall IR | Site 204 | North Phoenix | All subscribers |
RWC | Waddell Dam IR | Site 104 | Northwest Phoenix | All subscribers |
RWC | Goodyear IR | Site 105 | Far Southwest, Phoenix, Goodyear | All subscribers |
RWC | Smith Peak High Site | Site TBD | West Maricopa County, Aguila | All users |
RWC | Far North Mtn High Site | Site TBD | North Phoenix | All users |
RWC | North Mtn High Site | Site TBD | North Phoenix | All users |
RWC | Arizona City High Site | Site TBD | North Pinal County | All users |
RWC | White Tanks High Site | Site 208? | West Maricopa County | All users |
MCo | Oatman Mtn | Site 003 | Southwest Rural | MCSO District 2 |
MCo | Yarnell Hill | Site 004 | Northwest Rural | MCSO District 3 |
MCo | Mt. Gillen | Site 005 | Northwest Rural | MCSO District 4 |
MCo | Bronco Butte | Site 006 | Northeast Rural | MCSO District 4 |
MCo | Mt. Ord | Site 007 | Northeast Rural | MCSO District 5 |
MCo | Humbolt Mtn | Site 008 | Northeast Rural | MCSO District 4 |
MCo | Southeast Center | Site 010 | Southeast Rural | MCSO District 1 |
MCo | Durango Jail | Site 011 | Durango Jail users | MCSO Durango Jail |
MCo | Chandler | Site 012 | Southeast Rural | MCSO District 1 |
MCo | Smith Peak | Site 013 | Northwest Rural | MCSO District 3 |
MCo | Towers Mtn | Site 014 | Northwest Rural | MCSO District 3 |
MCo | South Scottsdale | Site 015 | Southeast Rural | MCSO District 1 |
City of Chandler | Chandler | Site 2425 | Chandler | City of Chandler |
Talkgroups:
Each Agency has unique needs, and its talkgroup (channel) assignments may differ from a neighboring agency. Agencies also frequently change priorities, and talkgroup realignment may occur. For the most part, though, the dispatch talkgroups stay the same. Dispatch talkgroups are also the busiest, with much routine traffic. Many agencies use a 'hot' channel to dispatch urgent calls. We recommend including 'hot' talkgroups in you scan list.
One of the reason that area-wide systems are so popular is the ability to provide interoperability - the ability for officers from differnt departments (and on differnt systems) to communicate with each other at the scene of an incident, without relaying through a third party. Interoperabilty (mutual aid) channels can be very exiting, but there use is sporadic. A good practice is to program these talkgroups in their own bank and scan them regularly. You may be surprised at what you will hear!
A word about encryption or scrambling: You may also notice that some talkgroups are encrypted, or scrambled - you will not be able to monitor those channels. (These talkgroups are marked with the letter 'E' on the Radio Reference pages listed below.) Due to the nature of digital encryption, specific technical information is needed to convert the scrambled signal to clear speech - and that information is know only to the system programmers and is released only to those individuals or agencies that need it. No scanner on the market today can be converted to monitor encrypted communications.
Radio Reference Frequency and Talkgroup Links
Regional Wireless Cooperative (RWC) and Topaz Regional Wireless Cooperative (TRWC)