Grand Canyon National Park

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 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. In the valley, there are analog systems digital systems and combinations systems. For instance, 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. Small systems like Chandler are only analog.

Most 'trunking' scanners can track the analog trunking systems, but to track digital systems a P25 compatible scanner is required, such as the GRE 500 and 600 series, the Radio Shack PRO 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

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

Maricopa County Public Safety Systems

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:

Maricopa County Public Safety Sites

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 channel realignment may occur. For the most part, though, the 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. (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)

City of Glendale

Maricopa County Radio System

City of Chandler