Neighbors....

[retdetsgt]

See, that's why I live 53 miles from the city.

It's a trade off. I grew up out in the country growing up and don't miss it. I rather enjoy being 5 minutes from a grocery, auto parts, etc. store. I'm just careful not only about what town I live in, but where in that town.

[S-99]

Why not?

Just curious. Is it that it's entertaining, like TV, or is it that it gives you a little window into what's happening in your town? You live in a rural area, I'm guessing.

[sparrow803]

Just curious. Is it that it's entertaining, like TV, or is it that it gives you a little window into what's happening in your town? You live in a rural area, I'm guessing.

In my area we have a trunked system, that makes purchasing a scanner kinda pricey. However, there is a website I go to that has free police/fire/ems scanning. Problem is, there has to be a feed provider for your area and if their computer goes down, no scanning. I listen to see what's goin on. I live downtown and its nice to know sometimes where NOT to be.

[retdetsgt]

When looking for the news article I posted, I found this. Apparently the newspaper website has a built in scanner for people to listen to.

Portland Police Scanner | Portland, Oregon Crime & Emergency Dispatcher Calls | – OregonLive.com

[sparrow803]

When looking for the news article I posted, I found this. Apparently the newspaper website has a built in scanner for people to listen to.

Portland Police Scanner | Portland, Oregon Crime & Emergency Dispatcher Calls | – OregonLive.com

I wish our newspaper had that. I hear alot of calls from the water co. across the street from me LOL. And, I don't hear alot of what is going on due to the LEO's using cell phones (which is fine with me) because I figure if I'm listening so are the criminal types. But, it can be entertaining too...I woke up one a.m. about 4 couldn't sleep and heard two officers discussing their dates from the previous weekend - laughed my butt off.

[MikeG]

When looking for the news article I posted, I found this. Apparently the newspaper website has a built in scanner for people to listen to.

Portland Police Scanner | Portland, Oregon Crime & Emergency Dispatcher Calls | – OregonLive.com

Live Police, Fire, EMS, Aircraft, and Rail Scanners on RadioReference.com

Theres lots of them. Neatly organized.

And here is a list of freqs for portland. Scroll to bottom. They have older system.
http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=2230

[retdetsgt]

And here is a list of freqs for portland. Scroll to bottom. They have older system.
Multnomah County, Oregon (OR) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

As I posted earlier, they just put in a new system. It's brand new and is full of glitches.

[MikeG]

As I posted earlier, they just put in a new system. It's brand new and is full of glitches.

I thought that was just the Computer Aided Dispatch. I think the radio is still motorola smartzone II. The next updgrade would be the actual radio system to an APCO Project-25 digital system (current system that the scanner is monitoring is an analog trunking system). I hope they didn't upgrade both at the same time. That would be a nightmare.

What would be funny is if the CAD system they bought isn't compatible with the new radio they will be buying .

It doesn't say how the car computer connects to central dispatch. Ideally it should be an encrypted digital channel using a digital radio. The analog radios can do digital but it's slow.

[retdetsgt]

It could be. The last time they changed radio systems, my union had to make a formal complaint to OSHA before they would put in enough repeaters. There were half a dozen dead spots in the city. Portland has a lot of hills (including an extinct volcano) in the city limits so they require lots of repeaters throughout. It took us sic'ing the feds on them to make them fix it.

They put in a new computer system for the water bureau and it was also a disaster. People didn't get their water bills for months and then got ones for hundreds of dollars demanding immediate payment.

Fortunately, after I retired they installed a new payroll computer program. I read in my union newspaper that for months peoples' paychecks were screwed up. It's scary to think about the people who have the kind of responsibility.

The state has been trying to put in a new state wide emergency dispatch system. They just learned the administrators in charge have been lying to the governor and legislature about the cost and status for months. Of course, all will keep their jobs.......

[MikeG]

The state has been trying to put in a new state wide emergency dispatch system. They just learned the administrators in charge have been lying to the governor and legislature about the cost and status for months. Of course, all will keep their jobs.......

This is engineering in a nutshell:

[retdetsgt]

This is engineering in a nutshell:

Unfortunately, price is never a problem (it's not like it's real money, ya know) and they don't care about fast. And since the people buying it never use it, being right isn't a top priority either.

Mostly it's turf protection that has nothing to do with the three. Someone wants to be the one making the decisions and whether or not they know anything about it is immaterial.