Durake

I'm sure this has topic has been on here before, but hear me out.
December 26th, 2015 my city was hit by an EF4 Tornado, and guess what the first thing was to go? The Power.. Your probably wondering where the encryption part comes in right..? Let me put this in order for you.
 
I have a Motorola XTS3000 800MHz Model II that scans my cities Public Safety Trunking System,
 
So I was in my room as usual, playing games and talking to friends on Skype, when I noticed the lights flickered, at the time I didn't think much of it, then it happens 2 more times within 3 minutes, so I get up and go to the living room and see my parents and my older brother watching the news. The weatherman is stating there is a tornado watch for Dallas County, and this thing was far away from my city, I live in Northeast Dallas and he was reporting the storm in far South Dallas, so we didn't think much of it, and I go back to my room playing and talking to friends on Skype. A short 10 minutes go by and the power goes out for about 5 seconds then flips back on, I opened the door to my room and my dad and brother were opening it just as I was, and said "We're getting your bed and moving to the laundry room!" Before leaving I grabbed my Motorola XTS3000, flicked it on and then ran to the laundry room, passing by the living room I see on the TV it says "Tornado Warning for Eastern part of Dallas County" and continued my way to the laundry room, mom was already in there and my brother and dad got back with the mattress and we all sat down, power went it again and we began listening to my radio as it scans through PD and FD talkgroups, we hear:
 
"40 hold all traffic, 50, I can still see it, looks like its North of 66, still East of Dalrock"
"500 to all units, be advised we've lost power and our phones in here, we're going to try to get some off duty employees in here to help us out!"
 
then FD tones out the FD for an entrapment and the reply is
 
"Firecom from Station 3 be advised the station does not have power--" and then he literally cuts out
 
During this whole time we have NO Cell Service, nor do we have any AM/FM Radios to listen to the weather service, so here we are, stuck with my 3000 listening, trying to figure out where this thing is, and guess what.. That radio may have saved our lives, think of someone equivalent to us out there, with either a scanner, or some type of device to listen to the PD/FD.. That may have saved their life. Lots of cities came from all over to help out with the disaster.
 
Then the next few months pass and I set a schedule to meet with the city who runs the system and talk to him and his team about the new system that is coming up and ask them specifically what the backup plan was if the current system went down, great example was the tornado.
 
Anyway, the whole deal is that my city is encrypting ALL of their talkgroups, PD and FD, all of them, every single one of them.. That is what they decided. Yes I 100% understand the things these officers go through and the risk they take, I back them up 110% but to encrypt FD? Like, I submitted an FOIA Request to gather the radio audio, and heard they told all the stations of the weather situation, so when you think about it, that could save someones life, by listening to that broadcast, as the power was down, so no way to look it up on the internet or receive updates. I suppose they assume everyone has an AM/FM Radio? I mean we did at the time, lost in the garage.. Lol..
 
What do y'all think about encryption when it comes to Public Safety Communications, because think of if they were encrypted when it hit.. And don't even get me started on encryption when it comes to Interoperability, I suppose that's where the Statewide 800MHz IOP Channels come into play..

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This is a great system for the day to day user. Well done team!
 
If possible, could you add a Disaster Relief teams, search and rescue teams.
 
State, county info
Type of resource radio comm, s&r
How many volunteers
Any emergency equip
Generator, canopy, repeaters, radios, trailer etc
Primary and secondary. Contact info
Phone & address, web, email
Any other affiliation, REACT, red cross, arrl etc
Should not be open to all to join, request must be sent
To team designee..
 
Team contact info should be public so
Emergency operators can request them
 
Thank you

For those of you with IP connected GMRS repeaters, what software/hardware are you using (TeamSpeak, Zello, app-rpt)?  
 
I'd like to hear from other repeater/network owners about this.  I would like to get my repeater connected to the Internet, but would prefer to use a "standard" that's already in place and preferably something that's been adopted by other GMRS repeater owners.  Ideally, it'd be nice to have some sort of Allstar link system for GMRS repeaters that require registration of license holders to gain access to repeaters via IP clients.  I read some threads/posts on this forum about a special version of the Asterisk app-rpt that is not dependent on Allstar, but have been unsuccessful in finding that version of the software.  I have a Raspberry Pi that I'd like to use the repeater controller if that does exist.  
 
Any input is greatly appreciated.

What about having an online system for repeater owners to grant access to and manage users of their repeater(s)?  

Living in Austin, I tried this repeater today from the top of the Murchison/Far West hill, adjacent to the Austin ISD I/B tower, but was unable to pass a signal through it.  I tried listening to it for several hours today and heard nothing.

Just an observation here...
 
Emails that start with LOL, have no capitalization, and use sentence fragments, IMHO, are not only highly unprofessional (this guy wants you to believe he's got a pro system there.) and the content is also suspect. I give him 0 points for credibility.

Hey Drake,
 
Could you send me a private message and let me know which repeaters shouldn't be assigned to you? I'm not sure why that happened yet.

Thanks for the review, WQYA707!
 
I am confused about one thing... For certification, the radio is supposed to be locked to GMRS frequencies. How did you test VHF output or am I misunderstanding the review?

"VHF power: 2W/5.4W, SWR (with J pole): 1.1 to 1.5 across the band"
 
Yeah, that's why I asked the question in my post.

Probably has it hooked to Skype or one of the PTT apps...to make his "nationwide network". 
 
Sounds like a mess to me. 

Is this the smallest FRS/GMRS radio in the world? I have seen many radio watches, but this one looks very small. 
Radios

You can send me one of those R1225, I will test them   

467.5750      467.6000         467.6250         467.6500        467.6750      467.7000      467.7250      
So we are licensed to transmit on this frequencies and receive 5mhz lower on a repeater setup right? But can we TX/RX on those 467mhz frequencies Simplex mode TX and RX on 467mhz? I'm looking for just a little more privacy when traveling and stay away from bubble pack GMRS people
 
It should be legal right? 

Thanks for the info, makes sense about interfering with repeaters in the area. 

Trust me, 5 measly watts isn't going to make any practical difference in performance. If 45 watts won't work well, neither will 50 watts.

True, you will be in trouble and could be fined too, BUT if its an emergency, I doubt Ham radio operators will not help just because you don't have a Call Sign. I have a portable in my wife's car and inside the master room closet, it has several active repeaters programmed into it, My wife doesn't have a Ham radio license, but I told her, if there is a home invasion, and your cellphone is not with you, at least in the closet with the doors shut, she can still ask for help.  

You would still be forbidden from transmitting in an emergency unless you have an amateur radio license. 
Sent from my LG-D631 using Tapatalk

I have 128 of the 200 channels programmed into my radio: HAM, GMRS, MURS, FRS, Fire & Rescue, Police, School Systems, Hospitals, EMT's, Business bands, Marine Band, and anything else I can think of or learn about. I want to be able to have the best possible chance for communication with someone during an emergency. I also plot the location, height, frequency, and power of every transmission that I listen to on a daily basis (except the pirate radios). What use are empty channels in a radio? 

Um, <raises hand shyly) I have to admit that I have on occasion mistakenly given out my GMRS call on 2m/70cm repeaters and vice-versa, but have always caught myself and made an immediate correction.
 
When you have so many mics to choose from it's entirely possible to pick up the wrong one.

I love his antennas! I've ordered lots. I'm looking into making my own for the fun and learning of it. 
 
I couldn't hit a GMRS Repeater about 15 miles away with a 25 watt base unit with an antenna about 8 foot up, but when I got Ed Fong's antenna, I put that up in a tree about the same height as the other antenna, and with 4 watts, I could hit it and receive it clear as day.. And nothing was wrong with the base or antennas, I tried 2 different radios and 3 different antennas, and 3 different locations, Ed's antenna worked great, and I appreciate the hours he spent with me on the phone talking about repeaters and the process of building his and everything. 

I love his antennas! I've ordered lots. I'm looking into making my own for the fun and learning of it. 
 
I couldn't hit a GMRS Repeater about 15 miles away with a 25 watt base unit with an antenna about 8 foot up, but when I got Ed Fong's antenna, I put that up in a tree about the same height as the other antenna, and with 4 watts, I could hit it and receive it clear as day.. And nothing was wrong with the base or antennas, I tried 2 different radios and 3 different antennas, and 3 different locations, Ed's antenna worked great, and I appreciate the hours he spent with me on the phone talking about repeaters and the process of building his and everything. 

I love his antennas! I've ordered lots. I'm looking into making my own for the fun and learning of it. 
 
I couldn't hit a GMRS Repeater about 15 miles away with a 25 watt base unit with an antenna about 8 foot up, but when I got Ed Fong's antenna, I put that up in a tree about the same height as the other antenna, and with 4 watts, I could hit it and receive it clear as day.. And nothing was wrong with the base or antennas, I tried 2 different radios and 3 different antennas, and 3 different locations, Ed's antenna worked great, and I appreciate the hours he spent with me on the phone talking about repeaters and the process of building his and everything. 

That's because the State Forestry Division is trying to conceal all the Bigfoot sightings!

They use a somewhat legitimate concern to hide the fact they just want to "hide" all traffic. Most sensible agencies use a secondary talkgroup, which can be encrypted when needed. 
 
Where I am, there is a large P25 Digital system, works great, and not that much is encrypted...and if they need to sometimes, that's fine. However, what cracks me up is that the State Police, Local agencies that are on it, and other much more secure-oriented agencies don't use encryption much at all....but the State Forestry Division does - full time! That is stupid...are they trying to protect the identities of innocent trees and animals? Give me a break.