Scanning in ohio

Ok, so I have a homepatrol 1, seems useless in ohio now. Seeing everyone and everything is switching to new P25 systems... so to use a scanner in ohio, I drive a truck and it's a very useful tool, along with being a firefighter I would like to know if...
A, I can do a major update to my HP-1
B, what is a good scanner I can purchase to be able to hear everything
Or C, just get a 800 mhz two way and have B&C program it to the state basically...
Lil help for a traveling public servant

The HP1 works on P25 systems out of the box. The only thing you would have to worry about is Phase II and that's probably years away at best for most systems.

It is my understanding that Uniden's HP1 will receive P25 Phase 1 systems. A solution to your problem is to become a premium subscriber to RR.com, download and install FreeScan on your computer and use the RR database and FreeScan to program the needed systems into your scanner. It's also the easiest way to program your Uniden scanners.

How will you get Freescan to work with a HomePatrol? It does not work with a HP. He could get ARC, but it is not needed.

All the OP need to do is use the tools it came with. HP uses Sentinel to create it's own version of data from RR.

He needs to update Sentinel - at this point weekly and update the radio.

jackj said:

It is my understanding that Uniden's HP1 will receive P25 Phase 1 systems. A solution to your problem is to become a premium subscriber to RR.com, download and install FreeScan on your computer and use the RR database and FreeScan to program the needed systems into your scanner. It's also the easiest way to program your Uniden scanners.

Click to expand...

Firecat, on radioference.com, click the database button, click on Ohio, then Athens county, what you want
Is the 2 Ohio marcs systems at the bottom of the page. Search google for easier to read home patrol manual
On marks scanners.com.

You may want to hit the range button on the scanner, the hit plus or minus.also press menu on the scanner, then select service types.

In the marks scanners manual read the section called creating favorites lists. Press the menu button,
Manage favorites lists, then create new list. In the manual find the section programming systems from the database, in the
Sentinel software click the systems tab to create a new system, twice for each of those Ohio marcs systems

Good advice , but need to add:

FIRST update the database. There is a new update every Monday.

After you create a favorite list, for the IP version of MARCS, you will need to re-create it almost every week as new systems come online. It will not update your favorite list automatically.

Untill whenever the Highway Patrol is online and rollout is complete and added to RR there will be plenty of changes.

Even if you use the entire database #1 update the database

bailly2 said:

Firecat, on radioference.com, click the database button, click on Ohio, then Athens county, what you want
Is the 2 Ohio marcs systems at the bottom of the page. Search google for easier to read home patrol manual
On marks scanners.com.

You may want to hit the range button on the scanner, the hit plus or minus.also press menu on the scanner, then select service types.

In the marks scanners manual read the section called creating favorites lists. Press the menu button,
Manage favorites lists, then create new list. In the manual find the section programming systems from the database, in the
Sentinel software click the systems tab to create a new system, twice for each of those Ohio marcs systems

Click to expand...

firecatohio said:

Ok, so I have a homepatrol 1, seems useless in ohio now. Seeing everyone and everything is switching to new P25 systems... so to use a scanner in ohio, I drive a truck and it's a very useful tool, along with being a firefighter I would like to know if...
A, I can do a major update to my HP-1

Click to expand...

Yes, just use the Sentinel software that came with the radio; connect the radio to the computer, select "mass storage" and go to the update menu on Sentinel. Select "HPDB update" and you should be good to go. It's also a good idea to periodically select the "firmware update" option to see if there is an available firmware update for the radio.

B, what is a good scanner I can purchase to be able to hear everything

Click to expand...

Your HomePatrol 1 is a darn good radio when traveling, especially if you've got a GPS box plugged into it; the radio will automatically jump from county to county as you drive, leaving you free to watch the road.

Either of the HomePatrol 2 models (436 or 536) would be even better; they do an excellent job with P25 simulcast sites, and are Phase II capable.

Or C, just get a 800 mhz two way and have B&C program it to the state basically...

Click to expand...

Good luck on this one; you have to be employed by a government agency or allied NGO, and there has to be a policy in place to allow you to have a personal radio. Then you have to have a letter from each and every entity you want to monitor for permission to have their talkgroups in the radio. If allowed to have a radio you might have some success getting permission for local talkgroups, but for stuff all over the state, it's highly unlikely. You would be better off with a scanner; no restrictions on what you can program in it.

Ok.. outside of homepatrol, what is the right scanner to purchase that'll allow me to listen to all the systems in ohio...

firecatohio said:

Ok.. outside of homepatrol, what is the right scanner to purchase that'll allow me to listen to all the systems in ohio...

Click to expand...

Your existing Home Patrol 1 will work well. No need to buy a new scanner.

However, if you're determined to spend the money, the BCD436HP (portable) or BCD536HP (mobile/base) are your best options at this point in time.

Whistler has some scanners which are basically GRE scanners under a new name; they'll work well also.

Just make sure whatever you buy can monitor P25 trunking.

wa8pyr said:

Your existing Home Patrol 1 will work well. No need to buy a new scanner.

However, if you're determined to spend the money, the BCD436HP (portable) or BCD536HP (mobile/base) are your best options at this point in time.

Whistler has some scanners which are basically GRE scanners under a new name; they'll work well also.

Just make sure whatever you buy can monitor P25 trunking.

Click to expand...

Tom, I must disagree about the Home Patrol 1. It really doesn't work that well with P25 Simulcast Systems (e.g., Greene Co Simulcast, etc.) There are several Simulcast Systems around the State of Ohio, and I believe there are more come in the next couple of years.

I can also say that the PSR-800 doesn't do well with Simulcast Systems.

Besides the Uniden x36 series, the just released BCD995P2 and BCD325P2 may handle P25 Simulcast Systems, but that is yet to be confirmed. I've been told that the Home Patrol 2 does ok with Simulcast, but I can't personally confirm it.

I have been in the Greene County area many times since I got my HP-2 and it works perfectly. It also worked well on the Cincinnati / Hamilton County Simulcast systems and the Warren and Butler County MARCS-IP simulcast systems as well.

W8RMH said:

I have been in the Greene County area many times since I got my HP-2 and it works perfectly. It also worked well on the Cincinnati / Hamilton County Simulcast systems and the Warren and Butler County MARCS-IP simulcast systems as well.

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Ditto, although I have to add in response to Ted's comment that I haven't had much trouble with my HP-1 and simulcast sites. Occasionally I get some garble, but not often.

So I should just get a new scanner

firecatohio said:

So I should just get a new scanner

Click to expand...

I don't think anyone said you need a new scanner.

#1 - learn to use the one you have.

Currently - no Simulcast in the Nelsonville area - if that would even be a problem.

I'm wanting marcs.. we use it too

I travel aleo

HP will get MARCS and MARCS IP .

Best way if you travel is get a GPS.

firecatohio said:

I'm wanting marcs.. we use it too

Click to expand...

wa8pyr said:

Ditto, although I have to add in response to Ted's comment that I haven't had much trouble with my HP-1 and simulcast sites. Occasionally I get some garble, but not often.

Click to expand...

My biggest issue with the HomePatrol 1 and P25 Simulcast is not garbled decoded, but just flat missing a lot of transmissions. Have compared the HP1 with other radios with a variety of antennas including mobile (e.g., side-by-side with the 436) and in my experience, the HP1 just misses a significant number of transmissions (i.e., didn't open a channel). To me it shows that the CC decoding rates on Simulcast systems on the HP1 just isn't that good in some circumstances.

In my experience, issues with Simulcast can be very location dependent. The closer you are to a single transmitter site (less than about a mile or so), the better the performance. If you are between multiple transmitter sites with more than one tower providing reasonably strong signals, the harder it is to get good decode. If you are outside the Simulcast area you will often get better decode rates even if you have a relatively weak signal because you are only receiving a signal from a single tower (e.g., I found I had better decode rates from the Greene Co Simulcast when I was travelling around Montgomery County then when I was at home in Beavercreek).

I'm not saying the HP1 is a bad scanner, I still use it. I've had to use a directional antenna ( Wilson Yagi Directional Antenna, Wide Band, 50ohm, N-Connector - 314411 - WilsonAmplifiers.com ) to get anything close to reasonable decode rates on the Ohio MARCS-IP (Greene Co Simulcast Site) with the HP1. Ironically, I've found the best performance is when I aim it directly West (approximately 90 deg offset from the tower at the WSU Library to my North and from the Sugarcreek Tower to my South); this has the added benefit of improving my signal from the Dayton Site of the MARCS-IP (and MARCS). (Note: I'm using this indoors from a 2nd floor bedroom.)

Again, just my 2 cents.

Ted

My HP-1 does just OK on the Ohio Marc's IP here in the Cleveland area. I did notice that the firmware version 2.03 seems to work best for me. I do have a quick programing question. On my radio that stays at home should I only program the tower site that is closest to my location. In my case the Cuyahoga Co. site. Right now I have 2 other sites Lake and Geauga Counties programed.

tonya said:

My HP-1 does just OK on the Ohio Marc's IP here in the Cleveland area. I did notice that the firmware version 2.03 seems to work best for me. I do have a quick programing question. On my radio that stays at home should I only program the tower site that is closest to my location. In my case the Cuyahoga Co. site. Right now I have 2 other sites Lake and Geauga Counties programed.

Click to expand...

It depends on what you are interested in listening to. For me, I can get away with just having the Geauga Simulcast if I was just interested in receiving the Geauga folks (and adjacent Cuyahoga & Lake that affiliates with the Geauga Simulcast). ...but I want to hear all of the Cuyahoga folks, too, so I have to also have the Cuyahoga Simulcast for the other folks that do not affiliate with the Geauga Simulcast.

Hope that helps