On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 17:59:41 +0000, Brian wrote:

Cheshire already had encryption for years, it was the MASC system from
Marconi and it worked VERY well. It was a repeater system covering the
entire area so everyone was on "talkthrough". No silly pips all the time,
people could hear every other person. Last time I looked it was on
£2.9billion for Airwave.
Cheshire never suffered the same as Merseyside - they were never blocked out
on channels, even 22VHF that the patrols used as a chat channel between them
when they should have been monitoring CH2. No one could listen in either,
so why spend all that money on a system that is reinventing old ideas - was
not fully tested and doesn't work correctly.
Has your control room also mentioned that the radios have GPS built in, so
they can see EXACTLY where each patrol is on a map on the PC? That's why
pushing the emergency button shows them which patrol is calling and where
they are! So each PC is being watched.

If it works ... according to the OP (whom I presume is a copper), it
doesn't work. What use is an emergency system if you can't call for help.....