Official "Charlotte-Meck" Radio Thread

[gr8rcall]

Thanks Trumpetman,
Gr8rcall

[trumpetman]

Just made an update in the Mecklenburg Wiki page. At the top of the page is a list of who is using which system.

Mecklenburg County (NC) - The RadioReference Wiki

[W4DXL]

No joy with digital scanning. I am borrowing a friend's BCD-396T (not XT) I must say it's horrible. Very choppy and hard to understand, there is also chirping every so often. The display on the scanner has gone blank so I have to use the computer and software to have any kind of display.

Reception wise is this what we have to deal with now? If this is what it sounds like, I don't think I want to buy one for the premium prices they are charging. Any tips? Thanks in advance!

[kg4pbd]

Originally Posted by W4DXL

No joy with digital scanning. I am borrowing a friend's BCD-396T (not XT) I must say it's horrible. Very choppy and hard to understand, there is also chirping every so often. The display on the scanner has gone blank so I have to use the computer and software to have any kind of display.

Reception wise is this what we have to deal with now? If this is what it sounds like, I don't think I want to buy one for the premium prices they are charging. Any tips? Thanks in advance!

With the simulcast distortion location and antenna are the keys to monitoring this system. I'm using a 396T and it actually works very well depending on where I am. At home I have it on a small yagi and I get good decode 75% of the time. I'm in the process of replacing my current antenna with a new higher gain yagi and replacing the coax with lmr-400, hoping to improve on that. I haven't heard the chirps that you describe, but the simulcast distortiion is very annoying.

I was about to pull the trigger on a new radio, but I've decided to hold-off. Until someone solves the simulcast issue I don't see any reason to upgrade the radio.

[Bill28227]

Originally Posted by kg4pbd

but the simulcast distortiion is very annoying.

I agree that the simulcast distortion is bad but don't get that confused with the encryption that is used on many of the talk groups. With the distortion you can sometimes pull out a word or two. With the encrypted talk groups you will not understand a thing.
Bill

[mailman64]

Hi everyone. I have a problem finding the individual ops channels for Charlotte Fire. I have uploaded all of the database talkgroups via Win500 and my CMPD groups are good to go but all I get for Charlotte Fire is the alarm/dispatch channel and even that only shows up every now and then. Would appreciate some insight . I am still a noobie . Am I missing something that wasnt in the database? Thanks for any help

[W4DXL]

Originally Posted by kg4pbd

With the simulcast distortion location and antenna are the keys to monitoring this system. I'm using a 396T and it actually works very well depending on where I am. At home I have it on a small yagi and I get good decode 75% of the time. I'm in the process of replacing my current antenna with a new higher gain yagi and replacing the coax with lmr-400, hoping to improve on that. I haven't heard the chirps that you describe, but the simulcast distortiion is very annoying.

I was about to pull the trigger on a new radio, but I've decided to hold-off. Until someone solves the simulcast issue I don't see any reason to upgrade the radio.

Thanks for the reply. I did a bit more checking and found the scanner needs a firmware upgrade. I believe it's back at 1.17 and there have been several upgrades since then, some even enhance the signal, so maybe there is some hope. I'm just hesitant to do this to someone else's scanner when the display is not working. I might be missing out on some info as I upgraded the firmware. Another friend with a 396XT will be coming by in a few days, I'll evaluate his and let you know what I discover.

I would not want to and shouldn't have to put a yagi on a portable scanner. That would limit it's portability.

[hamstang]

I would not want to and shouldn't have to put a yagi on a portable scanner. That would limit it's portability.[/QUOTE]

Here's something you need to know. Depending on your location in the Charlotte area, you MAY find it difficult to monitor the Char-Meck P25 simulcast system without some type of yagi antenna pointed, or zeroed in on a "sweet-spot". I am not sure of all the technicalities involved, but that has been my experience using 3 different P25 capable scanners from my south Charlotte location. Unfortunately we are not dealing with a point and click, right out of the box situation as was true back in the day with analog scanning.

[trumpetman]

Lots of updates going in for both Charlotte systems.

Cabarrus is now on the 7.x switch with 4 channels in use, no affiliations logged as of yet.
Lots of 7.x only talkgroups have been added to the Project 25 database.
Lots of 4.1 talkgroups no-longer in use have been removed to prevent confusion.
SmartX is slowly disappearing for most city agencies, only the bare minimum talkgroups for CFD, CMPD, & MEDIC will remain active on the analog system. These will not be around for much longer, start asking santa for a digital scanner now.

Some smaller agencies are using the 7.x system more regularly now:
CMS Police
Char-Meck Gov Center Security has several radios
Matthews & Mint Hill have a small amount of radios in use
Huntersville & Cornelius are occasionally showing up during large events where digital radios are affiliated.
UNCC Police (specifically 2 or 3 library radios)
Meck Alcohol Beverage Control is on regularly now.
All hospitals have digital consolettes now and are no longer affiliated on the analog side.
Among other agencies that have yet to be identified.

Gastonia and other small towns are on their own zones now full time (Gaston Simulcast & Cherryville IR)

Thanks to all those who have contributed information and assisted in keeping things up to date and accurate.

[mailman64]

Hickory Grove talkgroup has gone away or at least I cant pull it in...do they change talkgroups in p25 periodically.? Have no prob with all other CMPD divisions...but my Hickory Grove channels are quiet

[trumpetman]

The analog <-> digital link for the Charlotte system is fast disappearing. Not sure of any deadlines, but the digital only transmissions are fast approaching. The only thing that will stay linked occasionally will be the Central Division & North Division.

[fireman2]

I normally read and keep quiet but need to ask question.
Live in Huntersville area near Cabarrus Co. Line. Not receiving Char/MeckP25 system very well at home or in the North End of Mecklenburg Co. Will this get better with improvements to the P-25 system in the future and is this why North District and North end Police and Fire are still on 3600 Type II system .

[trumpetman]

Things are pretty much tweaked as much as they're gonna get for right now. Multi-path distortion is wreaking havoc on almost all the scanners in the area, your best bet is to start experimenting with antennas. Start small and work your way up, or start with a directional yagi pointed at a tower.

CMPD North is on 9600, Huntersville is being dispatched off CMPD North, but most still have analog only radios, so you'll hear it on both sides. Small towns are at the bottom of the list as far as funding and programming go.

I believe the radio shop is still finishing things up as far as templates go for the small departments.

[kg4pbd]

Originally Posted by fireman2

I normally read and keep quiet but need to ask question.
Live in Huntersville area near Cabarrus Co. Line. Not receiving Char/MeckP25 system very well at home or in the North End of Mecklenburg Co. Will this get better with improvements to the P-25 system in the future and is this why North District and North end Police and Fire are still on 3600 Type II system .

I feel your pain! I'm in south Charlotte, midway between the Matthews and Park Rd sites. The multicast distortion is terrible. I recently picked up an HP-1 hoping the radio would offer improvement, which it did over an old 396. I also upgraded my older yagi to a new, higher gain yagi. I just received it from Scanner Master tonight, and it's set-up temporarily. My first impression is it is an improvement. The distortion is still there but less often. I've played with the attentuation and that improves some of the tx's but others it wipes out.

It appears that some frequencies in the system are more prone to distortion than others. That's just my observation, not fact. I wish the attenuation was variable, as that might make it more useful.

I've spent some time driving around with the HP1, and it's amazing how other locations in town are rock solid. Obviously your location in relation to the sites makes a huge difference. Weather conditions also seem to affect reception.

So I'll keep playing with antennas, coax, and location. I hope eventually I'll find a sweet spot here at home.

[fireman2]

Thanks To Trumpetman and kg4pbd for the info. I will continue to test different set ups and wait for system improvements. Will let all know if I find any answers.

[kg4pbd]

I think I finally have a solution that works. A 14 element yagi pointed at the Matthews tower, and 50' of LMR400 coax. It's in place, finishing the coax run this morning. I tested it with the 50' of coax attached to the antenna, and reception on the Charlotte P25 system is about as perfect as it can be. No distortion.

[hamstang]

Scott, I had to use almost the same antenna/coax setup from the Carmel/Johnston Rd area.

[kg4pbd]

Coax run is finished. That LMR400 is a pain compared to RG6.

Everything is in and it's still working great. Well worth the effort.

[W4TZM]

I've searched through the forum and can't find concrete information on this.

Does anyone know if the Davidson (town) PD has transitioned to the P25 Char/Meck system or if they're still analog? There are some suggestions that the smaller towns are laggards in moving to digital, but no specifics. What about Davidson College PD?

I just dug out my old BCT8 and set it up on the workbench in preparation for the Elecraft K2 build that Santa is bringing (and because of Santa's gift, I don't really want to spring for a digital scanner now).

Thanks,

Tommy
W4TZM

[kd8x]

Davidson College is still active on Charlotte 800 system. Davidson PD is also active but are usually patched into the Charlotte North and/or University divisions talkgroups...The North division is still active on the old system and once in a while University also but they are also on the new P25 systems...Hope this helps.