diff --git a/drb-c2-core/app/routers/upload.py b/drb-c2-core/app/routers/upload.py
index fc183b3..2b02657 100644
--- a/drb-c2-core/app/routers/upload.py
+++ b/drb-c2-core/app/routers/upload.py
@@ -118,14 +118,25 @@ def _recent_incident_on_same_talkgroup(ctx: dict) -> bool:
     case: the ack carries no substance of its own but plainly belongs to the
     job just opened.
 
-    The window mirrors whatever the fast/thin path would use for this same
-    channel — `tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes` (5 min) on a dispatch backbone,
-    `tg_thin_idle_minutes` (15 min) on a tactical/working channel, selected via
-    the same `_is_dispatch_channel` test incident_correlator.py uses at its own
-    fast/thin idle-window selection (~:1005-1007). Using the dispatch constant
-    unconditionally would be wrong off dispatch — a retune of one for fast/thin
-    reasons would then silently widen or narrow this gate too, on channels
-    window #3 never measured.
+    Always uses `settings.tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes` (5 min), regardless
+    of what the talkgroup is named. An earlier version of this branched on
+    `_is_dispatch_channel` (mirroring incident_correlator.py's fast/thin idle-
+    window selection) to use a longer 15-minute window on anything not
+    literally named "dispatch"/"patched"/"primary" — owner correction,
+    2026-09-13, from direct scanning experience: a talkgroup named "tac"/
+    "tactical" genuinely does see materially different traffic only during a
+    real incident, and that's rare; the overwhelming majority of traffic on
+    ANY monitored channel — including high-risk stops and pursuits — runs on
+    the main channel regardless of what it's named. `_is_dispatch_channel`'s
+    string-match is a naming-convention guess, not a detector of actual
+    channel behavior, and trusting it here meant a busy single-channel
+    department not literally named "dispatch" would silently get the more
+    permissive window and reproduce #115's original bug. One constant,
+    applied uniformly, is the safer default; a real low-volume channel is the
+    rare case, not the norm, so erring toward the tighter window costs little.
+    NOT applied to incident_correlator.py's own fast/thin selection (out of
+    scope for this pass — a bigger, decision-changing surface, worth its own
+    review rather than changing under this fix).
 
     This used to be a plain "does any recent incident exist on this
     talkgroup" check against a 2-hour window (`correlation_window_hours`).
@@ -160,7 +171,7 @@ def _recent_incident_on_same_talkgroup(ctx: dict) -> bool:
     # status, no capacity filter) if a future measurement window pins a real
     # gate miss on a resolved/capped same-talkgroup incident.
     """
-    from app.internal.incident_correlator import _idle_gate_minutes, _is_dispatch_channel
+    from app.internal.incident_correlator import _idle_gate_minutes
 
     tg_id = ctx.get("talkgroup_id")
     system_id = ctx.get("system_id")
@@ -168,11 +179,7 @@ def _recent_incident_on_same_talkgroup(ctx: dict) -> bool:
         return False
     tg_str = str(tg_id)
     now = ctx.get("now") or datetime.now(timezone.utc)
-    idle_limit = (
-        settings.tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes
-        if _is_dispatch_channel(ctx.get("talkgroup_name"))
-        else settings.tg_thin_idle_minutes
-    )
+    idle_limit = settings.tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes
     for inc in ctx.get("recent") or []:
         if system_id not in (inc.get("system_ids") or []):
             continue
diff --git a/drb-c2-core/tests/test_consensus_gate.py b/drb-c2-core/tests/test_consensus_gate.py
index 7227d85..1eeab8e 100644
--- a/drb-c2-core/tests/test_consensus_gate.py
+++ b/drb-c2-core/tests/test_consensus_gate.py
@@ -176,11 +176,11 @@ async def test_recent_incident_on_same_talkgroup_is_not_gated():
 # as "recent", which on a busy dispatch channel (3-13 incidents/2h) was
 # satisfied almost unconditionally — the gate fired 0/24 times against its own
 # target shape. It now only counts an incident as recent within
-# settings.tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes (5 min) on a dispatch channel, or
-# tg_thin_idle_minutes (15 min) on a tactical channel — the same split
-# incident_correlator's own fast/thin path uses, selected by the same
-# _is_dispatch_channel test, so a retune of one for fast/thin reasons doesn't
-# silently move this escape hatch on channels never re-measured for it.
+# settings.tg_dispatch_thin_idle_minutes (5 min), applied uniformly regardless
+# of the talkgroup's name (owner correction, 2026-09-13 — see
+# test_channel_name_does_not_affect_the_window below for why the dichotomy
+# this originally had with incident_correlator's fast/thin idle selection was
+# removed here).
 
 async def test_recent_same_tg_incident_inside_new_short_window_still_escapes_gate():
     ctx = {
@@ -203,13 +203,9 @@ async def test_recent_same_tg_incident_inside_new_short_window_still_escapes_gat
 
 
 async def test_recent_same_tg_incident_older_than_short_window_now_gates():
-    # Regression test for the fix: 8 minutes is past the 5-minute DISPATCH
-    # bound but still inside the 15-minute TACTICAL bound and the OLD 2-hour
-    # correlation_window_hours lookback — this specifically proves the
-    # dispatch-channel number is being used here, not just "some window
-    # shorter than 2h". Before the fix this escaped the gate on any channel;
-    # after the fix a dispatch channel gates at this age (a tactical channel
-    # would not — see test_tactical_channel_uses_the_longer_window below).
+    # Regression test for the fix: 8 minutes is past the 5-minute bound but
+    # still inside the OLD 2-hour correlation_window_hours lookback. Before
+    # the fix this escaped the gate on any channel; after the fix it gates.
     ctx = {
         "system_id": "sys-1",
         "talkgroup_id": 9048,
@@ -229,11 +225,19 @@ async def test_recent_same_tg_incident_older_than_short_window_now_gates():
     assert m_apply.call_args[0][0]["decision"]["action"] == "orphan"
 
 
-async def test_tactical_channel_uses_the_longer_window():
-    # Same 8-minute age as the dispatch test above, but on a channel name that
-    # does not match _DISPATCH_TG_RE — this must fall back to the 15-minute
-    # tg_thin_idle_minutes bound, same as incident_correlator's own fast/thin
-    # selection, and 8 min is still "recent" under that bound.
+async def test_channel_name_does_not_affect_the_window():
+    # Owner correction, 2026-09-13 (direct scanning experience): a talkgroup
+    # named "tac"/"tactical" only sees materially different traffic during a
+    # real incident, and that's rare -- the bulk of traffic on any monitored
+    # channel, including high-risk stops and pursuits, runs on the main
+    # channel regardless of what it's named. An earlier version of this used
+    # a longer 15-minute window on anything not literally named "dispatch"/
+    # "patched"/"primary" (mirroring incident_correlator's fast/thin idle
+    # selection); that meant a busy single-channel department not literally
+    # named "dispatch" silently got the more permissive window and could
+    # reproduce #115's original bug. Same 8-minute age as the dispatch-named
+    # test above, but on a channel named "Tac 3" -- must gate identically,
+    # not escape into a longer window just because of the name.
     ctx = {
         "system_id": "sys-1",
         "talkgroup_id": 383,
@@ -249,7 +253,8 @@ async def test_tactical_channel_uses_the_longer_window():
     m_apply, m_tiebreak = await _run_consensus(
         _preview("new", {}, ctx=ctx), _llm("orphan"),
     )
-    m_tiebreak.assert_called_once()
+    m_tiebreak.assert_not_called()
+    assert m_apply.call_args[0][0]["decision"]["action"] == "orphan"
 
 
 async def test_gate_veto_reason_is_recorded_on_the_escalation_path():