Trunking/NC VIPER on BCT15

TheRangerRick302 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009, 02:36 AM

I've read countless threads here on this site, searched this site over and over, and read web pages elsewhere, but nothing seems to answer my questions.

I'm having trouble getting Wake County (NC) Sheriff's Department and NCSHP to work on my BCT15. I've set up a MOT II system and called it "VIPER." Inside that I've set up a site for Wake Sheriff's Dept. and another site for NCSHP, but I'm not getting anything on either of them. I assume anything on the VIPER system is trunked, right? I have no problems getting any of my conventional channels to work, but I'm not sure where I went wrong with VIPER. Also, I've only found nine 800 MHz NCSHP frequencies and I'm not sure if there are more or not.

Any help (constructive) is appreciated. Thanks.

kirka127 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009, 03:15 AM

Wake county sheriff is mostly digital and your scanner in analog only.

KE4ZNR · #3 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009, 03:27 AM

Rick,
Welcome To RR.com! Being the "VIPER Guru" I can tell you that kirka127 is correct: Wake County Sheriff is digital on VIPER. And the BCT15 is an analog only scanner. The 3rd column of the VIPER database listing (Mode) will tell you if the Talkgroup is A (Analog) or D (Digital).
You should be able to pick up NCSHP as they are still operating most of their talkgroups in an Analog format.
Don't hesitate to email me if you have further questions and join us in the NC Forum!
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRangerRick302

I've read countless threads here on this site, searched this site over and over, and read web pages elsewhere, but nothing seems to answer my questions.

I'm having trouble getting Wake County (NC) Sheriff's Department and NCSHP to work on my BCT15. I've set up a MOT II system and called it "VIPER." Inside that I've set up a site for Wake Sheriff's Dept. and another site for NCSHP, but I'm not getting anything on either of them. I assume anything on the VIPER system is trunked, right? I have no problems getting any of my conventional channels to work, but I'm not sure where I went wrong with VIPER. Also, I've only found nine 800 MHz NCSHP frequencies and I'm not sure if there are more or not.

Any help (constructive) is appreciated. Thanks.

burner50 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009, 03:32 AM

Moved to North Carolina...

You should have MUCH better answers in a local forum.

KE4ZNR · #5 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burner50

Moved to North Carolina...

You should have MUCH better answers in a local forum.

Thanks Jason!
Marshall KE4ZNR

TheRangerRick302 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burner50

Moved to North Carolina...

You should have MUCH better answers in a local forum.

I almost posted this here first but I read a thread in this section where the OP wanted to know how to do something with their scanner and the other members said they should've posted in their scanner's manufacturer's section to get better answers, so I wasn't sure which would be better, but thanks.

Thanks, kirka127 and KE4ZNR. I hate to hear that about Wake being digital. That's unfortunate, as Wake County's the neighboring county I visit the most. Anyway, I looked at this VIPER page and saw down the line all the NCSHP listings and other local municipalities, but no frequencies. I don't guess there's a way I can use any of that information in my scanner without the appropriate accompanying frequencies, right? I also saw that Apex PD (town next door) is analog but there weren't any frequencies, and the only Apex PD frequency I saw in the database was an outdated VHF frequency.

KE4ZNR · #7 (**permalink**) 10-02-2009, 04:01 AM

Rick,
Wake County operates on the State of NC VIPER system which is a Motorola Trunked Radio system. To be able to monitor the Analog talkgroups on VIPER you need to program things: System sites/frequencies then the Talkgroups of the agency you want to monitor.
I recommend starting at the "Easier to read BCT15 Manual". I also recommend the following 2 sites that give a definition of Trunking:
What is Trunking?
Understanding Trunking
Once you can wrap your brain around the basics of trunking then you can program your BCT15 to monitor analog activity in the Central NC area.
Hope this gets you started in the right direction!
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRangerRick302

I almost posted this here first but I read a thread in this section where the OP wanted to know how to do something with their scanner and the other members said they should've posted in their scanner's manufacturer's section to get better answers, so I wasn't sure which would be better, but thanks.

Thanks, kirka127 and KE4ZNR. I hate to hear that about Wake being digital. That's unfortunate, as Wake County's the neighboring county I visit the most. Anyway, I looked at this VIPER page and saw down the line all the NCSHP listings and other local municipalities, but no frequencies. I don't guess there's a way I can use any of that information in my scanner without the appropriate accompanying frequencies, right? I also saw that Apex PD (town next door) is analog but there weren't any frequencies, and the only Apex PD frequency I saw in the database was an outdated VHF frequency.

TheRangerRick302 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 12:04 PM

So does anybody else hear NCSHP's trunked system? I programmed Cary's trunked system in and I can hear it well but I never hear NCSHP except on low band. The only 800 mhz frequencies I could find (from this NCSHP page) are as follows:

855.71250
855.48750
855.21250
855.23750
855.46250
855.48750
855.73750
856.73750
858.73750
859.73750

Are those the frequencies required to get NCSHP on 800 mhz? They are analog, right?

jthorpe · #9 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 03:51 PM

If you're in wake county, you need to program the VIPER system frequencies into your scanner from the Wake County site. The Wake County site is simulcast which means that multiple sites are transmitting the same information. While NCSHP is analog, it is also trunked so you need to program the Wake County VIPER system in just like you would the Cary system and then use the VIPER database here to add the NCSHP talkgroups.

Also keep in mind that for most counties, you will only hear one side of the conversation (dispatch) unless the Trooper is out of the car using their portable. The reason for this is that the majority of troopers have low band radios in the car, but 800mhz portables. Wake, Buncombe and half of Johnston have 800 in the car as well now, so both sides of those conversations can be heard.

KE4ZNR · #10 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 05:03 PM

To add to Jthorpe's post the 800Mhz frequencies you list above are licensed to the NCSHP for MDT (Mobile Data Terminal/Car Computers)...you would not hear any radio traffic over those...
If you are anywhere near Wake County feel free to come to the Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Radio club meeting Monday night (Oct 12th)...look for the announcement thread at the top of this forum for more info or email me. If you come to the meeting there is a good chance I can help you get that radio programmed correctly.
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

TheRangerRick302 · #11 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthorpe

If you're in wake county, you need to program the VIPER system frequencies into your scanner from the Wake County site. The Wake County site is simulcast which means that multiple sites are transmitting the same information. While NCSHP is analog, it is also trunked so you need to program the Wake County VIPER system in just like you would the Cary system and then use the VIPER database here to add the NCSHP talkgroups.

Also keep in mind that for most counties, you will only hear one side of the conversation (dispatch) unless the Trooper is out of the car using their portable. The reason for this is that the majority of troopers have low band radios in the car, but 800mhz portables. Wake, Buncombe and half of Johnston have 800 in the car as well now, so both sides of those conversations can be heard.

Unfortunately, my scanner (BCT15) is analog only and Wake County Sheriff's Department is digital, so I can't get them. You mentioned that Wake County is simulcast; on what type system and on what frequencies are they simulcast on? And do you mean that in order to hear NCSHP I need to program Wake in, even though it's digital?

Also, about talkgroups, from what I understand, talkgroups are like "channels," assigned to certain agencies like frequencies used to be. Now, the VIPER database listed names of talkgroups, but I didn't see frequencies. I saw columns labeled things like DEC and HEX. I don't know what those mean or how to use them. I did, however, understand Mode, Alpha Tag, and so on. Can I apply this information to my BCT15? Also, as the database only lists DEC/HEX information instead of frequencies, what frequencies do the NCSHP use in the VIPER system?

Quote:

Originally Posted by KE4ZNR

To add to Jthorpe's post the 800Mhz frequencies you list above are licensed to the NCSHP for MDT (Mobile Data Terminal/Car Computers)...you would not hear any radio traffic over those...
If you are anywhere near Wake County feel free to come to the Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Radio club meeting Monday night (Oct 12th)...look for the announcement thread at the top of this forum for more info or email me. If you come to the meeting there is a good chance I can help you get that radio programmed correctly.
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

I appreciate the invite. Unfortunately, I missed it. I saw this too late. Do y'all meet regularly? If so, on what days/nights? I'm in Chatham County (next door to Wake) so it only takes me 25-30 minutes to get to Raleigh.

KE4ZNR · #12 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 05:55 PM

Rick,
The Tarheel Scanner/Shortwave Group usually meets on the 3rd Monday of each Month at the Red, Hot & Blue Restaurant on Falls of Neuse Rd in Raleigh. Next meeting should be November 16th, 2009 at 6:30pm for dinner and 7:30pm for meeting. I will post a meeting announcement thread before the data as to give everyone advanced notice. Hope you can make it!

As to your programming issues: Wake County operates a countywide system that is a part of the larger statewide "VIPER" system.
Being that you are new to trunking I would recommend reading over this good trunking tutorial that Paul "UPMan" Opitz at Uniden made.
With the BC15 you are right: you will only hear the analog radio activity.
What do the Dec, Hex, etc mean?
Let's take a look at the first listing for the NCSHP on VIPER in the database:

Lets go through the columns one by one:
Dec= Talkgroup ID in Decimal format. This is what you would enter into your scanner (528).
Hex= Talkgroup ID in Hex format. You can disregard for the most part. Radio Tech guys and extreme radio geeks like myself find this info interesting.
Mode= A for Analog. D for Digital. E for Encrypted. There are a few more but those are the basics. With the BC15 you will be able to hear the talkgroups listed with A in the mode column.
Alphatag= You can use this to help you label the TGID. This way when your radio stops on Talkgroup 528 you will see "SHPTRPAMUTAID".
This is a simple primer but read the beginner guide I linked above and if you still have questions email me at KE4ZNR@radioreference.com and we will help you further.
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR

TheRangerRick302 · #13 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 11:15 PM

Marshall, I actually came across that page a while back and I understand the basic principles of trunking, I just had some trouble applying it to my scanner.

About DEC, would that number be entered in the place of frequencies? And if I have a talk group with the "decimal" codes, do I also need frequencies, or will the scanner somehow know what frequencies to listen to by the DEC codes? I'm curious because I've started entering in decimal codes for NCSHP but I still don't have any 800 mhz frequencies. Will I need them or will the DEC codes suffice? Thanks.