[TrunkCom] BC296 on Hamilton County

[Tom Swisher]

All;

Norm Schrein and I took a little jaunt down to Cincinnati today with a 
BC296D prototype unit to test for proper function on the Hamilton County 
trunked system. Before I get into this further, let me say that I have 
*no* information on release date for these scanners, nor any other 
details. This was a testing trip to make sure the dang thing would work.

That being said, the BC296D works on Hamilton County, and works quite 
nicely. The audio was nice and clear (such as it is; it's digital), 
although since it apparently does not do the digital AGC like the Pro-96 
the audio sometimes wasn't quite as nice as the Pro-96 when in fringe 
areas. However, I'm sure that will be corrected in the production units.

Numerous talkgroups were logged, and several were confirmed using the 
information available on the MONIX web page. Here is the list:

1	FD EAST?, Fire dispatch - patched to 33.90 (all fire traffic other 
than unit-to-unit was here)
2	FD CENT? (I'm guessing here based on the PD talkgroups, this talkgroup 
was not active)
3	FD WEST? (I'm guessing here based on the PD talkgroups, this talkgroup 
was not active)
51	LE EAST, Police Dispatch
52	LE CENT, Police Dispatch
53	LE WEST, Police Dispatch
58	Police car to car, heard Robert 8 and Robert 16
63	Police car to car
72	Police
90	Unknown
116	Police - unit "John 15"
122	Unknown
134	Unknown
137	Police
185	Delhi Twp PD local?
205	Evendale PD local, maybe dispatch? (an Evendale car was dispatched 
on this TG to an MVA at Glendale-Milford Road and I-75 at the same time 
as fire station 40 - sounded like an interesting grinder).
206	Unknown
214	Police
226	Unknown
241	Unknown
258	Heard Engine 64 - possibly Madiera/Indian Hill FD local
262	Water Department? - heard Station 4, units 500, 516 working on 
hydrants, etc (didn't sound like an FD)
263	Public works?
269	Unknown
271	Unknown
297	Encrypted
298	Encrypted
300	Unknown
315	Unknown
316	Sharonville FD local (Medic 86 & Squad 87 car to car)
352	Police
356	Unknown
365	Fire/EMS dispatch of Squad 47 (possibly Valley Fire Dispatch?)
377	Unknown
378	PD - heard 5 John 81 (Amberley Village PD)
393	Jail - sounded like admin
394	Jail primary
530	Comm Center all county broadcasts, possibly AW-6

Soapbox mode on.

I can make some pretty good guesses on what some of the other talkgroups 
might be, playing "fill-in-the-blanks" based on common sense, logic and 
the Motorola radio templates on the MONIX web page, but I'm not even 
going to try. Common Sense, Logic, and Public Safety are all too often 
mutually exclusive items.

Soapbox mode off.

Anyway, it was a very productive trip. I've got a Pro-96 in hand to 
review for National Communications, and I'm looking forward to getting a 
BC296D again for review. Very nice radio, and it being nearly identical 
to the BC250 means that the learning curve will be very easy.

Tom WA8PYR
--
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Tom Swisher, WA8PYR         wa8pyr-scan@sbcglobal.net
          "They're not going to catch us...
   we're on a mission from God" - Elwood Blues, 1979
     WA8PYR Radio - http://www.qsl.net/wa8pyr