North Carolina State 700 MHz Interop Frequencies

Welcome to the Digital Age and Paranoia

As of noon today both the Clay County and Cherokee County, North Carolina, Sheriff Departments are using now NXDN encryption on their primary dispatch repeaters.

In Clay County only the mobile units are encrypted, but the dispatcher remains in the clear.

In Cherokee over the last two hours on both their 158.970 MHz dispatch repeater and their 159.105 MHz tactical repeater all day yesterday appear to be encrypted. Until a few minutes ago, nothing was heard in the clear on the Cherokee dispatch repeater. They have again flipped the switch back to analog. Given that they appear to be testing the system using full encryption, one can only assume that will be the state of things when the go operational.

This reminds me of New Orleans when they implemented an unmonitorable EDCAS system that could NOT interface with anyone else. That all blew up in their face when Hurricane Katrina hit and they couldn't communicate with outside agencies.

I asked then of the NOPD and I will ask now directly to both SO departments, "what do you folks have to hide in order that you need encryption on you dispatch stream?"

I can understand a sensitive situation involving a SWAT or detectives surveillance ops, but your main dispatch stream? Do you realize how many eyes and ears you have cut out by shutting down the information stream to the public you serve?

Bottom line, if you own a scanner on Clay and Cherokee Co NC and want to monitor the sheriff  departments, you will have to find another activity to pass the time away. I guess Honey Boo Boo is only a channel change away!

BTW as I post this the Cherokee Co SO dispatch stream is encrypted again.

North Carolina VIPER 800 MHz Statewide TRS

Here are some updated facts regarding the NC statewide 800 MHz TRS according to the September 2010 VIPER Newsletter.

• 239 total sites planned for statewide coverage: 153 sites constructed and on-the-air; 61 sites are fully funded and under construction; and 25 sites UNFUNDED.
• VIPER is 64% complete (number of sites) with 153 sites on-the-air
• VIPER infrastructure is 64% funded
• VIPER infrastructure remains to be 36% funded
• 49,800 Users are currently on the VIPER Network
• 214 Emergency Responding agencies makeup the 49,800 users
• SC has the same type Interoperable System; NC/SC can talk to each other using the same type user device.

Sites that have been activated to date:

Site County Site
1 Alamance Altamahaw
2 Alamance Cane Mtn
3 Alleghany Green Mt
4 Anson Wadesboro
5 Avery Linville
6 Beaufort Bath
7 Beaufort Chocowinity
8 Bertie Windsor
9 Bladen Elizabethtown
10 Brunswick Pea Landing
11 Brunswick Supply
12 Buncombe High Windy
13 Buncombe Meadows
14 Burke High Peak Mtn
15 Cabarrus Concord
16 Caldwell Butte Mountain
17 Caldwell Hi Britten Mtn
18 Camden South Mills
19 Carteret Newport
20 Carteret Laurel Road
21 Carteret Stacy
22 Carteret Kuhns PE
23 Caswell Yanceyville
24 Catawba Baker Mt Twr
25 Catawba River Bend
26 Chatham Chatham
27 Chatham Siler City
28 Cherokee Wine Springs
29 Cherokee Joanna Bald
30 Chowan Valhalla
31 Cleveland Shelby
32 Cleveland Boiling Springs
33 Cleveland Bens Knob
34 Cleveland Kings Mtn
35 Columbus Delco
36 Columbus Whiteville - TWC
37 Craven New Bern PE
38 Cumberland Cedar Creek
39 Cumberland Slocomb
40 Cumberland Fayetteville-TWC
41 Currituck Barco
42 Dare East Lake
43 Dare Bodie Island
44 Dare Rodanthe
45 Dare Kitty Hawk
46 Dare Buxton (US Cellular)
47 Davie Mocksville
48 Duplin Kenansville
49 Duplin Kornegay PE
50 Duplin Wallace PE
51 Duplin Chinquapin
52 Durham Camden Ave
53 Durham Cole Mill Rd
54 Edgecombe Tarboro
55 Edgecombe Dodge City
56 Franklin Margaret
57 Franklin Youngsville
58 Franklin Hosley Forest
59 Gaston Cherryville
60 Gaston Belmont
61 Gates Gatesville
62 Granville Butner
63 Granville Oxford BiCom
64 Granville Bullock
65 Granville Oak Hill
66 Granville Berea
67 Granville Oxford Water Tank
68 Greene Farmville
69 Greensboro A&T Univ.
70 Halifax Brinkleyville
71 Halifax Halifax
72 Harnett Cokesbury
73 Harnett Erwin PE
74 Harnett Spout Springs
75 Hertford Ahoskie
76 Hoke McCain
77 Hyde Ponzor
78 Hyde Rose Bay
79 Hyde Engelhard
80 Hyde Ocracoke
81 Iredell Mooresville
82 Iredell Barium Springs
83 Johnston Archers Lodge
84 Johnston Smithfield
85 Lee Tramway
86 Lenoir Seven Springs
87 Lenoir Kinston
88 Lincoln Anderson Mt
89 Macon Cowee Bald
90 Madison Big Knob
91 Martin Williamston
92 McDowell Grants Mtn
93 Mecklenburg Pineville
94 Mecklenburg - UASI Heathway
95 Mecklenburg - UASI Huntersville
96 Montgomery Buck Mountain
97 Montgomery Mt. Gilead
98 Moore Carthage
99 Nash Rocky Mount
100 New Hanover Wilmington
101 New Hanover Carolina Beach
102 Northampton Odom
103 Onslow Jacksonville
104 Onslow Holly Ridge
105 Orange Hillsborough
106 Orange Chapel Hill
107 Orange Laws
108 Pamlico Bayboro
109 Pasquotank Elizabeth City
110 Pender Penderlea
111 Pender Burgaw (NC53 East)
112 Perquimans Winfall
113 Pitt Greenville
114 Randolph Shepherd
115 Randolph Cole Ridge AAA
116 Richmond Ellerbe
117 Richmond Rockingham NCDOT
118 Robeson St Pauls
119 Robeson Proctorville
120 Rockingham Reidsville
121 Rockingham Wentworth
122 Rockingham Eden
123 Rockingham Mayodan
124 Rowan Faith
125 Rowan Salisbury
126 Sampson Newton Grove
127 Sampson Salemburg
128 Sampson Taylor's Bridge
129 Scotland Laurinburg
130 Stanly Albemarle
131 Stokes Sauratown
132 Stokes Booth Mt
133 Stokes Sandy Ridge
134 Surry Turner Mt
135 Surry Chestnut Ridge
136 Surry Elkin DOT
137 Surry Fisher's Peak
138 Transylvania Brevard
139 Tyrell Columbia
140 Union Monroe
141 Union Waxhaw
142 Union Wingate
143 Wake Wake County Simulcast
144 Wake Wake Forest
145 Wake Fuquay
146 Warren Manson
147 Washington Plymouth
148 Wayne Lee Plant PE
149 Wayne Goldsboro
150 Wilkes Pores Knob
151 Wilson Bailey
152 Wilson Wilson
153 Yancey Clingmans Peak

Up-Coming Site Activations through Q4:
• McFarland – Anson Co. Early 4th Quarter 2010 (October)
• Clemmons – Forsyth Co. 4th Quarter 2010
• Comfort – Jones Co. 4th Quarter 2010
• Riverdale – Guilford Co. 4th Quarter 2010
• Longarm Mountain – Haywood Co. 1st Quarter 2011
• Louisburg – Franklin Co. 1st Quarter 2011
• Margaretsville – Northampton Co. Changed to Old Mill 1st Quarter 2011
• Fain Mountain – Cherokee Co. 1st Quarter 2011
• Pisgah – Haywood Co. 2nd Quarter 2011

I will have more upcoming soon on this blog regarding the VIPER System.

NC Emergency Management Comms Manual 2008

Here is a link to the electronic version of the latest North Carolina Emergency Management Communications Manual 2008. Check out http://www.nccrimecontrol.org/div/em/2008EMDirectory.pdf

For instance, the guide has information on the talk groups used by the state EM folks on the statewide VIPER trunk radio system. I have taken that information and married it up with the talk groups monitored on the system and produced the list below.

VIPER NC Emergency Management Talkgroups

11248 NCEM Emergency Management Raleigh NC Staff Day to Day Channel 1
It will be used for non-event, day-to-day administrative conversations not requiring interaction by users outside of the Division.

11280 NCEM EBO Emergency Management Eastern Branch Staff Day to Day Channel 2
It is designated as the primary talk group for all State and County EM personnel in EBO counties to conduct day-to-day, and routine conversations

11312 NCEM CBO Emergency Management Central Staff Day to Day Channel 3
It is designated as the primary talk group for all State and County EM personnel in CBO counties to conduct day-to-day, and routine conversations

11344 NCEM WBO Emergency Management Western Styaff Day to Day Channel 4
It is designated as the primary talk group for all State and County EM personnel in WBO counties to conduct day-to-day, and routine conversations

11376 NCEM EOC Emergency Management EOC Channel 5
This group is designated as the primary talk group for the State EOC and is monitorted 24/7 by the State EOC. Any agency having access to the VIPER System should use this talk group to contact the State EOC

11408 NCEM RRT Emergency Management RRT Administrative Channel 6
It is designated as the primary talk group for all NCEM RRTs Teams to conduct day-to-day, and routine conversations.

11440 NCEM USAR Emergency Management USAR - State USAR Administrative Channel 7
It is designated as the primary talk group for all NCEM USAR Teams to conduct day-to-day, and routine conversations.

11504 NC SMAT NC SMAT (State Medical Assistance Teams)

VIPER Event Talkgroups for Working an Incident or Event
Alpha 1 through Alpha 4, Bravo 1 through Bravo 4, Charley 1 through Charley 4, and Delta 1 Through Delta 4. These event talk groups are available to all system users statewide. These talk groups should be used to work a large scale event or incident.

784 EVENTSALPHA1 Events ALPHA 1
816 EVENTSALPHA2 Events ALPHA 2
848 EVENTSALPHA3 Events ALPHA 3
880 EVENTSALPHA4 Events ALPHA 4
912 EVENTSBRAVO1 Events Bravo 1
944 EVENTSBRAVO2 Events Bravo 2
976 EVENTSBRAVO3 Events Bravo 3
1008 EVENTSBRAVO4 Events Bravo 4
1040 EVENTSCHR1 Events Charlie 1
1072 EVENTSCHR2 Events Charlie 2
1104 EVENTSCHR3 Events Charlie 3
1136 EVENTSCHR4 Events Charlie 4
1168 EVENTSDELTA1 Events Delta 1
1200 EVENTSDELTA2 Events Delta 2
1232 EVENTSDELTA3 Events Delta 3
1264 EVENTSDELTA4 Events Delta 4

NC Emergency Management Callsigns

1950 Emergency Management Director
1951 Education/Emergency Infomation Coordinator
1952 Logistics Section Chief
1953 Operations Section Chief
1954 Reserved
1955 Reserved
1956 Reserved
1957 Reserved
1958 Reserved
1959 Reserved
1960 Eastern Branch Manager
1961 Area 1 Coordinator
1962 Area 2 Coordinator
1963 Area 4 Coordinator
1964 Area 3 Coordinator
1965 Area 5 Coordinator
1966 Reserved
1967 Reserved
1968 Reserved
1969 Reserved
1970 Central Branch Manager
1971 Area 6 Coordinator
1972 Area 7 Coordinator
1973 Area 8 Coordinator
1974 Area 9 Coordinator
1975 Area 10 Coordinator
1976 Reserved
1977 Reserved
1978 Reserved
1979 Reserved
1980 Western Branch Manager
1981 Area 11 Coordinator
1982 Area 12 Coordinator
1983 Area 13 Coordinator
1984 Area 14 Coordinator
1985 Area 15 Coordinator
1986 IFLOWS Technician
1987 NFIP Engineer
1988 Reserved
1989 Earthquake Planner
1990 Reserved
1991 Reserved
1992 Logistics Suppt. Manager
1993 Communications Coordinator
1994 Reserved
1995 Reserved
1996 Reserved
1997 Reserved
1998 Reserved
1999 Reserved

All division staff vehicles have been assigned vehicle-specific call signs i.e., DEM 2150, DEM 2151, etc. Staff members who do not have personal assigned call signs should use the vehicle’s call sign whenever they need to use the emergency management radios in those vehicles. The vehicle call signs, however, are NOT PERMITTED on the Highway Patrol frequencies other than in the case of a dire emergency.

The NC Division of Emergency Management Radio Communications System

The “StateNet” system is an aging VHF low band radio system used to communicate from NCEM Branch Offices to mobile field staff units and some counties that still have low band base stations. The State EOC no longer monitors this system and it has been replaced by the VIPER system which is a Motorola 800 MHz smartzone trunked radio system which is being deployed statewide and overseen by the Department of CCPS, State Highway Patrol radio communications personnel. NCEM field staff have been issued 800 MHz portable radios, and will use the VIPER system using the talkgroups outlined above, as a primary means of communicating with the state EOC and other field staff. As the VIPER infrastructure is expanded, so will the coverage of these portable radios.

Frequency CTCSS
47.4600 MHz 173.8 Channel 1
47.5000 MHz 173.8 Channel 2
47.5400 MHz 173.8 Channel 3
47.5800 MHz 173.8 Channel 4
47.6200 MHz 173.8 Channel 5

NC Viper Newsletter Released

The NC Department of Crime Control and Public Safety has released a new VIPER newsletter dated 27 March 2007. You can find that newsletter at
http://www.nccrimecontrol.org/cit/VIPERnewsletterMarch2007.pdf.


VIPER stands for Voice Interoperability Plan for First Responders. This statewide system is a Motorola ASTRO, 800 MHz. v4.1 SmartZone Type II, 3600 Baud Trunked Radio System operating in simulcast Mode. This system supports both Analog and Digital Talkgroups.

We are expecting our VIPER node at Joanna Bald to be on the air any day now. More to follow shortly.

Cherokee Casino Licensed for Trunk System

My good friend Matthew Sadler over CHA way dropped me a note late last week with the following:

"Was snooping around on the FCC website and noticed that apparently Harrah's (Cherokee NC) is getting a trunked system.

Licensed as WQFC354 for these fequencies: 461.4125 461.7375 461.9875 462.1625 463.2125 463.9625 464.8625.

License was issued June 16, 2006. Don't know if the system is operational or not at this point.

When we make our next trip to pull a handle I will drag the BCD396T to check it out.