MSP 39.52 "G"

[doctordave]

Anyone else notice that MSP G's lowband simulcast is much weaker in recent days? I can barely copy it... -vs- previously having a great signal. Other area barracks are still coming in fine.

 

[TinEar]

Dave, I can only speak for Glen Burnie, Annapolis, College Park, Waterloo and Golden Ring -- all of which are fine and sound normal.

 

[skipshark773]

i havent noticed anything different about westminster's freq recently...ill take a listen tonight and report back.

 

[TinEar]

Disregard my answer which was obviously from left field above. It was G you were concerned with - not the rest of the MSP world.

 

[skipshark773]

hmm, i havent heard any activity on it. Usually i can pick them up in my basement but so far i havnt heard a thing.

 

[skipshark773]

yep, ive monitored 39.52 for a couple of days now and it definately is weaker than it ever has been before. I dont know why though...

 

[doctordave]

Glad it's not just me w/ weaker reception....normally it is booming.....now quite weak.....more distant barracks, such as "J" are still coming in clearly. Thought maybe something in my immediate environment had changed, but since you've noted it too, maybe it's on the MSP end.

 

[ka3jjz]

Perhaps they're using the Carroll county trunk a lot more now? It would make sense to turn the power down if that was the case....73s Mike

 

[doctordave]

Good thought, Mike....but they've been using 800 heavily for quite some time, with simulcasting on 39.52. I suppose they might have turned down the wattage for some reason. Not so long ago, they reportedly added one additional tower for 39.52, resulting in an improvement in reception for many of us in Balt Co....could be that they have again redistributed their VHF-Low tower layout. Too bad Nextel zaps out my Carroll 800 reception, or I'd just punch up the TG.

 

[w9ofa]

One explanation might be that they moved in frequency.

I noticed that all of the references list the Waterloo baracks as 39.42, but when I examine the signal on the spectrogram output of my radio (I have an sdr-1000 from flex-radio.com) I see that the signal is actually at 39.41925

Can anyone confirm this? It is possible that my radio is off frequency, but I calibrated it with WWV and it seems alright.

It is possible that this is always where the signal has been. Such a small move would be most likely be un noticable in signal strength reduction unless you are using a very tight filter on your radio.

W9OFA

 

[mlevin]

It's coming in 5 by 5 here in Pikesville using the RS mag-mount, a clothes hanger propt up horizontally off of the mag-mount, and a Pro-96.

Gotta love home brewed antenna setups. But what works, works!

 

[doctordave]

Pretty creative, Mo....sounds like a home-brew approach off the "McGuyver" TV show. How do you copy Bel Air 39.34 from there....if you even monitor it? I get a great signal....and maybe it is my imagination, but it seems to have improved in the last year. Perhaps when all the 800 upgrades were ongoing, the low band towers (for simulcasting) were changed in some way?

 

[doctordave]

Suddenly, in the 8 pm hour tonight, "G" is booming again....guess they had some transient tower and/or radio issues on their end.

 

[mlevin]

Dave, since moving to the trunk, Belair comes in about 3 by 5 with the same setup. Before that I never picked up anything.

I also get Waterloo 5 by 5 and the Glen Burnie Dispatcher 5 by 5. It's also not uncommon for me to get the trooper side of the conversation on the Glen Burnie freq. It's scratchy but it comes in. Of course the Golden Ring and the HQ freqs just about blow me out of the chair.

On a side note, I was getting the Centerville (Barrack S) dispatcher 5 by 5 today, when I've not heard a peep out of them in the past.

 

[doctordave]

Yep, Centreville has been coming in better for me, as well, lately. Their Centreville tower (behind the barrack) is not very tall at all....much like Golden Ring or Glen Burnie, so range is usually a bit limited. No doubt, you will hear them better whenever they key up the transmitter on the very tall Chestertown tower.

 

[doctordave]

Hmmm....isolated poor reception of 39.52 is back tonight. Anyone else experiencing this again?

 

[ka3jjz]

Time to check the coax and connectors; water leakage can do strange things to RF and nasty stuff to coax...73s Mike

 

[doctordave]

It's actually a stable, in-attic antenna system. Problem is specific to 39.52 - other & more distant barracks are still booming.