Philly 800mhz System Status

[fourthhorseman]

I started a 2nd thread for those seeking to get their 106s,500s,96s,and unidens back up..
here..
Upgraded philadelphia trs reprogramming q&a here

Please keep this thread on track as far as status and the new TGs coming up..Makes it easier for both sides,,

[W2GLD]

That's not entirely true... The subscribers radios (handhelds/mobile) received significant firmware upgrades and many were replaced with XTS5000/XTL5000 series. As for the infrastructure, the transmitted and zone controllers, etc. are all brand new. While it's true that everything is from the same tower locations, antenna patterns and amplifiers were also modified to provide 100% in-building coverage within the city limits and efforts were taken to make sure the maximum amount of the signal was directional towards the center of Philadelphia instead of complete omni-directional patterns. With all of these changes, audio characteristics would have changes as would signal reception in areas where the system may have been received in the past. Also, bear in mind, all subscriber radios were realigned on service monitors for maximum sensitivity in the new rebanded 800MHz. section of frequencies; many of your scanners, specifically the Pro-96/2096 have not and most likely without firmware changes won't be...

That said, scanners like the GRE PSR-500/600 (And Radio Shack equivalents), PSR-800 and Uniden BCD396T/996T/396XT/996XT/Homepatrol HP-1 should all work fine as they've all been realigned through firmware upgrades to be more sensitive in the 851-866 spectrum. Those with anything else will have to make changes in order to receive the system effectively; unless of course you're really close to one of the cities tower locations.

Originally Posted by SuperPuma

They switched from 3600 baud to 9600 baud.

Same towers and infrastructure, rebanded frequencies, FD got new portable radios, PD has mix of XTS3000 and new XTS5000. Basically an upgrade.

[soberbyker]

Originally Posted by SuperPuma

M Band won't be on line until 1-19-13 or so.

Mobile reception is extremely poor, very choppy with a RS Pro106 smack in the middle of the city.

3:06 PM 1-18-2012, just heard an M band transmission on the new system.

That's all the PD districts, J, T, M bands I've heard on the new system, other than the airport PD, who I haven't heard, that's everyone I have programmed in.

I've been hearing an inverted voice on ID 121.

ETA, I have not heard anything on Special Events 1 or 2, or TAC 1 or 2 either.

[phillydjdan]

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121 is Strike Force 2.

Isnt airport pd on zone 1 with the other airport talk groups?

[soberbyker]

Originally Posted by phillydjdan

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121 is Strike Force 2.

Isnt airport pd on zone 1 with the other airport talk groups?

Not sure how to tell which zone the APD is in, the airport a separate listing here on RR and I don't see a zone category on WIN500 not sure what zone, the ID is 281. I only have the zone 2 site loaded.

[soberbyker]

Would it mess anything up if I loaded the zone 1 site, no wildcard, and nothing other than the airport PD into the TSYS for the PPD (00993) I have?

Just wanted to add a big thanks to all who have contributed to this (and others) thread. I'm learning, albeit slowly.

[W2GLD]

All talkgroups have the ABILITY to be on either zone depending on the system(s) zone controller status; however, more often than not, city services, including the airport operations will likely be on zone 1 along with fire and EMS; however, this setup is subject to change and the system is further broken down into individual zones such as North, South, East, and West. It is likely in the future that both zones will become combined into one large city-wide simulcast system, with talkgroups only affiliating with their respective zone. Therefore, in the future, it's likely that if you are in the Far-Northeast area (say Southampton & the Blvd.) that you will no longer hear the traffic from SWEST Police, unless a radio in the North zone is on that channel (thus causing it to affiliate in the North zone). This is a bit off in the future so I would necessarily concern myself with it at this point.

What I'd suggest is, on the Uniden's, program this as one system with two sites (Zone 1 & Zone 2); then program in all the talkgroups and let it scan both systems. Then if a zone controller fails and move the talkgroups around the system; you'll never miss out on the action. On PSR-500/600 (and Radio Shack equivalents), I'd program these as two separate systems assigned to one scan list, and for the PSR-800, just program one system with two sites and all the talkgroups. The PSR-800 will always scan ALL sites just like the Uniden's, so there's no need to duplicate the programming efforts. In all instances, you ONLY need to program the control channels and talkgroups. Bandplan tables should be set to "Auto"...

Originally Posted by soberbyker

Not sure how to tell which zone the APD is in, the airport a separate listing here on RR and I don't see a zone category on WIN500 not sure what zone, the ID is 281. I only have the zone 2 site loaded.

[DASFlies]

Just FYI, PHL airport PD (77th district) operates on Zone 1, and all airport units (PD, Fire, Ops) with the exception of maintenance operate on the PHL EMER 1 talkgroup. Few of the other talkgroups are regularly used.

[phillydjdan]

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Byker, since airport pd i believe affiliates with zone 1, you wont hear them on the police zone (zone 2). You would have to monitor the fire/municipal zone (zone 1) for them. If you programmed your zones seperately, just enable the fire scan list and you should hear them.

[rjm022222]

I have several unidentified Talk Groups picked up by Wildcard. 809, 701, 313, 805, 559, 817, 815, 461, 341, 547, 119, 379, 87, 1001, 37, 267, 99, 807, 363, 351, 471, 349. Talk Group 361 sounds like the Water Department. Talk Group 105, 245 are scrambled. If anyone can identify these unknown talk groups it will be much appreciated. I live less than 1 mile from a Philly Transmitting tower. It seems like the audio is not as good as the old system.

[phillydjdan]

809 is PGW 3
701 is Family Court Security
313 is Water Dept Dispatch
805 is PGW 1
559 is Riverview Home
817 is unknown (possibly University City District)
815 is unknown (possibly University City District)
461 is Sheriff Warrant Unit
341 is DA Narcotics
547 is unknown
119 is PPD Strike Force 1
379 is Fleet Ops 1
87 is PPD Vice 1
1001 is unknown
37 is PPD Civil Affairs
267 is PFD Hazmat Ops
99 is PPD NFU South 1
807 is PGW 2
363 is Water Dept "Pump"
351 is Water Dept Inlet Cleaning
471 is 1st Judicial District Warrant Unit
349 is Water Dept Sewer Maint
361 is Water Dept Distribution ESS
105 is PPD NFU East 1
245 is PFD South Tac 1

[rjm022222]

Thanks a lot for that info. I figured out 1001. It's 96 cars which are the Phila Housing Police.

[phillydjdan]

Oh, awesome! I heard they were supposed to come aboard the new system...

[fourthhorseman]

you saying the call sign is 96-xx?..

if yes,i caught a unit on JBand a few days back with that call sign,,even threw the J Dispatcher for a sec as i heard him do a double take..was 96-36 if i recall..

can anyone say if they are on the PD side system or the municipal/fire side..

[rjm022222]

Originally Posted by fourthhorseman

you saying the call sign is 96-xx?..

if yes,i caught a unit on JBand a few days back with that call sign,,even threw the J Dispatcher for a sec as i heard him do a double take..was 96-36 if i recall..

can anyone say if they are on the PD side system or the municipal/fire side..

I don't know which side they are on. But I do know cars starting with "96" are the Phila Housing Police.

[rjm022222]

I only have three left unidentified. 815, 817, and 547. If anyone can solve the mystery, it will be much appreciated. Thanks a lot for the info phillydjdan. Add one more just popped up 903.

I also have a silly question. Is the old system dead now? Is it safe to delete it from my scanner?

[SuperPuma]

Originally Posted by rjm022222

....

I also have a silly question. Is the old system dead now? Is it safe to delete it from my scanner?

Seems to be. Nothing on the old control channels at all.

[SuperPuma]

Originally Posted by phillydjdan

.....
119 is PPD Strike Force 1....

I am showing this as PHL Police. AKA 77th District, Airport District

[rjm022222]

Originally Posted by SuperPuma

I am showing this as PHL Police. AKA 77th District, Airport District

I've got PHL-Police as Talk Group 281. I do believe 119 is Narcs Strike Force because most broadcasts are scrambled.

[phillydjdan]

Originally Posted by rjm022222

I only have three left unidentified. 815, 817, and 547. If anyone can solve the mystery, it will be much appreciated. Thanks a lot for the info phillydjdan. Add one more just popped up 903.

I also have a silly question. Is the old system dead now? Is it safe to delete it from my scanner?

Those are all unknown to me. They must be newly added agencies, as they do not match up to my original channel mapping from the old system. I do know that either Center City District or University District as well as Housing Police and Parking Authority are supposed to be joining the new system, and were not on the old system.