DIY

Intro

The Salina area emergency services (Fire, EMS, Sheriff, Police) have migrated to a new digital trunking radio system, the Kansas Statewide Interoperable Communication System (KSICS). This new system provides both public channels (unencrypted / in the clear) and private channels (encrypted / scrambled). Local officials decided to keep primary routine emergency service radio traffic open to the public, but in the interest of tactical advantage and privacy, emergency staff will use private channels when prudent. There is no legal way to listen to the private channels.

There are many online services dedicated to streaming emergency service radio traffic, but they can vary in quality. For the best listening experience, you may wish to procure your own radio. The world of digital trunking radio is a bit more complex than legacy analog systems, but these tips should help you get things working.

You can spend time searching the web for help and YouTube for instructional videos. Some example search terms to look For are "digital trunking" "P25 phase II scanner" "Programming a digital trunking scanner". You can also contact this site to purchase a scanner and for programming help: Scanner Master

Prerequisite

To listen at home on your own radio, you will need a radio of course. There are many models to choose from, but the key points are these:

  • It must be digital
  • It must support digital trunking
  • It must support BOTH the APCO Project 25 (P25) Phase I & Phase II standards

The radio can be hand-held or desktop, battery powered or wall powered. As of this writing, new compatible radios are being found in the $300 - $500 range. Used radios can sometimes be found on eBay or buy-sell-trade groups in the $150-$250 range.

I no longer provide a list of scanner models because the features cannot always be verified and because models can change over time. Best advice for finding a scanner I can give is to make sure that the scanner supports P25 Phase II digital trunks. That will probably narrow it down enough.

Frequencies

The process for programming every radio is a bit different, but the first step is to store frequencies in memory. Digital trunking systems use multiple frequencies at the same time and ALL of the frequencies may have to be put in for the radio to successfully follow the radio trafic. Some radios only require the control channels to be put in and the radio finds the restore_error_handler automatically.

The frequencies used by the Salina/Saline County area are:

  • 857.4375 (Control Channel)
  • 858.2125 (Secondary Control Channel)
  • 854.9875
  • 858.4375
  • 858.9375
  • 859.4875

Talk Groups

Digital trunking systems split radio traffic into "Talk Groups" that can be thought of like channels or chat rooms. Most radios have a "wildcard" option that will let you listen to all talk groups at once, but while this option may work, using a wildcard may tune in encrypted / scrambled talk groups that will sound like digital noise or choppy audio and can detract from an enjoyable listening experience.

Most radios can be programmed to listen to several selected talk groups at once, but it might be a good idea to start with only one or two talk groups at first and add more as you get more familiar with your radio and the traffic in our area.

Known talk groups in our area are below. If you have any suggestions for updating this list, please send them to info@wilsonit.net.

  • TOP local Salina Talk Groups
    • 4976 (Salina PD/SO legacy "Channel 1")
    • 5100 (Salina Fire / EMS Dispatch)
    • 5101 (Salina Fire / EMS OPS)
    • 1294 (Region 1 Ch 11 Weather Alerts)
  • Others
    • 1237 (KHP Troop C-1)
    • 1238 (KHP Troop C-2)
    • 1379 (Salina Fire/EMS 800)
    • 5091 (Saline County Fire Page)
    • 5092 (Saline County Fire District)
    • 5093 (Saline County Fire District 1)
    • 5094 (Saline County Fire District 2)
    • 5095 (Saline County Fire District 3)
    • 5096 (Saline County Fire Tactical)
    • 5097 (Saline County Fire District)
    • 5098 (Saline County Fire District 6)
    • 5099 (Saline County Fire District 7)
    • 1520 (CityGo Dispatch)
    • 1521 (CityGo Admin)
    • 1522 (CityGo Regional)
    • 5129 (Salina Amimal Services)