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Phoenix Area Trunked Radio System Guide
This page is designed to help the traveler or new hobbyist to get started listening to one of the fastest growing areas of the country. We feel that this site can and will give the hobbyist in Maricopa County a great start in the hobby. 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 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
- Chandler
- El Mirage
- Goodyear
- Peoria
- Phoenix
- Surprise
- Tempe
- Guadalupe Fire Department
- Daisy Mountain 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. But new technology is expensive and conversion requires time. In the valley, there are both analog and digital systems. The Maricopa County system combines analog and digital communications: The Sheriff's patrol is primarily digital, while some users, such as Scottsdale and Paradise Valley are analog. On the other hand, the Phoenix, Glendale and Mesa systems are fully digital with no analog traffic. Most trunking scanner can track the analog trunking systems, but to track digital systems a P25 compatible scanner is required, such as the GRE/Radio Shack 500 and 600 series or the Uniden 396 and 996 series. Please be aware 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 and the system - sometimes moving your location, adjusting or changing antennas, or adding attenuation to the channel may help (see your radio's user guide). For more details on reception issues see the appropriate radio discussion groups at Radio reference LLC.
What to program:
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) |
These 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 so its talkgroup (channel) assignments may differ from a neighboring agency. Agencies also frequently change priorities, as
when new administration comes aboard, and channel realignment may occur. For the most part, though, the normal dispatch channels stay the same.
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. 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 agency that need it. No scanner on the market today can be converted to monitor encrypted communications.
Here are links to the talkgroup pages for the sites listed above:
Topaz Regional Wireless Cooperative (TRWC)
Regional Wireless Cooperative (RWC)
City of Glendale
Maricopa County Radio System