[ScanIndiana] Talk Groups for Ind Dept of Highways

[Andrew Everhart]

I don't have a problem with people asking for help every once in a while...
There are a LOT of new systems coming on-line thanks to the Safe-T project &
I hope we have a lot of people listening to these new systems.  

If everyone only asks for the info & never tries to listen & figure things
out, you're going to have a lot of people wanting info & no one providing
it...

If people take the time to listen to these new talk groups they may be able
to figure out the users & the channel names.  I don't think knowing the
EXACT name of the channel as it's listed in the radio is going to make the
scanning any better.  

In the last 15 minutes I've heard several examples of how to identify a talk
group.

Example:
	313 to 315, go to Tac2
	Pause 10 seconds
	315 on Tac2, go ahead...

Now, the conversation started on Tac1 (let's just assume we already knew
what Tac1 was)...  The first unit asked the second unit to go to Tac2.  10
seconds later unit 2 announced he was on Tac2...  Bingo, Tac2 identified.

So in this case we can say 3xx units are County Sheriff units.  We can
safely assume that we have identified Sheriff Tac1 & Tac2...  It might be
SD-T1 & SD-T2 on the radio, but it really doesn't make that much difference
how you list it.

These conversations take place ALL THE TIME on EVERY system I've ever
listened to! 

A lot of these systems have been on-line for less than a month.  It's going
to take time to get them figured out.  I'm willing to bet that the new talk
groups are going to be the SAME NAME as the old ones.  A lot of the users
could care less about the new system.  All they know is:

Channel A = Dispatch
Channel B = Garage
Channel C = Chit-Chat

Maybe I just don't understand the hobby anymore.  When I started, it was fun
to not only listen to the scanner/radio, it was also fun to try & figure out
how things worked...

As the IndyScan webmaster, I'm grateful when people submit info for us to
put on the page for all to benefit from.  Any more it seems like I get 15
questions for one info submission...  It sure isn't as much "fun" as it used
to be...

Andrew
webmaster@indyscan.com