Pro-668 not Receiving RWC much

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mswells

WB6JLB
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I recently bought the Radio Shack Pro-668, and am trying to here Phoenix Police on Simulcast A.
It seems as though I am hardly getting any broadcasts on it, whereas my other 2 radios...Pro-197, and
Uniden Homepatrol 1 receive a lot more action with Phoenix Police. All radios are using the same type RS 800 MHz rubber duck. Why am I not hearing much on the Pro-668 for Simulcast A ?
I should mention, that this seems to be the only Agency / Simulcast site, not picking up much on this particular radio. All I did was import the settings from the database function, haven't really fussed with
any other settings yet.
 

Triangulum

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I'd be interested in reading the troubleshooting in this thread while I run some scanning searches. If not troubleshooting, then maybe the reasoning for why there seems to be an issue.
 

JD21960

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I had a similar problem with my WS1080 when I first got it. Cook Co IL. Starcom21 trunked 800mhz was a problem due to simulcast issues. It's the system I need for local fire/amb. My old Pro96 was superior in reception of the control channel even with no antenna but I needed a Phase II TDMA scanner since Starcom21 changed to that in Cook Co. I tried everything at my location and found attenuating the SITE itself **yellow marker on photo* in the EZScan software made things better. I'm not talking about pushing the GLOBAL attn on the front of the scanner, that only deadens everything, we don't want all channels attenuated, just the problem site* see photo* It's like attenuating the control channel on my old Pro96 itself. I selected attenuate "per site" above in the Starcom21 system itself. Also locking out all other SITES nearby so nothing could sneak through to cause problems. I have my Multi-site thresholds set to 90-99 too. I've fine tuned things at home where the trouble is with a small Yagi 700/800mhz antenna and it locked in the signal perfectly. Having that SITE attenuated while in the car also seems to have fixed things. A Yagi is great for simulcast problems. Now I hear all sides of transmissions with the Phase II TDMA talk-groups, here's my youtube videos of the WS1080 for examples. You can see the little "A" for site attenuated in the videos on the screen. One final thing that helped was making sure the SQUELCH was set as low as possible. I always turn it way up, then down till the noise comes on and set it.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9tA1n1NRXLGUTINWXX1v_w
 
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AA6IO

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I visit my daughter and grandson quite often in Phoenix (near 22nd E and Camelback). I have used both my 1080 and 436HP. I consistently have problems monitoring RWC A, B, F, and Sky Harbor on the 1080. The 436HP performs almost flawlessly, That is my same experience on the LAPD P25 here in Los Angeles, and on the P25 Phase 2 LVMPD system in Las Vegas.

Steve AA6IO
 

trixwagen

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I have similar "can't always hear Phase 2 problems" with my Pro668 in Tucson...tomorrow is the last day I can return the scanner to Radio Shack (assuming they are still open) for a full refund. Do you think I should return it and use the money to pick up a 436HP instead? I do have a Yagi antenna coming in the mail, for what its worth.
 

AZScanner

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Somewhere in this room. Right now, you're very col
I have similar "can't always hear Phase 2 problems" with my Pro668 in Tucson...tomorrow is the last day I can return the scanner to Radio Shack (assuming they are still open) for a full refund. Do you think I should return it and use the money to pick up a 436HP instead? I do have a Yagi antenna coming in the mail, for what its worth.

I use the 436HP in Tucson and it works well. Not flawlessly, mind you... but well. The one thing you will notice is that the keypad is not very responsive while the scanner is busy decoding a Phase II signal. Other than that, I don't have much to complain about. It gets the job done. ;)

-AZ
 
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