WINNEMUCCA - Over the next few weeks, two-way radio channels used by local law enforcement agencies, EMS, and fire departments in Humboldt County will be changing from FM to digital in response to a federal mandate, according to a press release from communication center director Paul Burkholder.
According to the Federal Communication Commission's website, the bands currently being used have become highly congested and there is not room for expansion. Switching to digital will free up space for licensing by parties that need more channels.
FM radios or scanners will no longer be able to monitor local dispatch radio traffic; however, digital scanners can be purchased to receive the new channels.
But Burkholder cautions those considering this purchase that law enforcement may decide to encrypt some, or all, of their channels, making it so that the general public cannot receive those channels even with a digital scanner.
According to Undersheriff Curtiss Kull, that is what the Sheriff's office intends to do at some point in the near future.
Winnnemucca Police Captain Bill Dalley said that after discussions with other local law enforcement agencies, however, it was determined that the main channels will remain receivable with a digital channel and only certain channels will be encrypted.
According to Burkholder, those channels would be encrypted "to protect individual safety and for the safety of officers and the public."
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