Spotsylvania County SDS100

spotsyrick · Jun 13, 2018

Having issues with the Harris system in Spotsylvania on the Uniden SDS100. I'm picking up the control channel for Fire and Rescue but it seems that it's not switching to the talk groups. I've tried a few things to improve reception to see if it's just a bad unit. Does anyone have a .hpe file that they can send me so I can import it in Sentinel to I can eliminate that as being a problem. It doesn't matter if STARS is included or not. Thanks for any help provided.

dhmann1811 · Jun 13, 2018

spotsyrick said:
Having issues with the Harris system in Spotsylvania on the Uniden SDS100. I'm picking up the control channel for Fire and Rescue but it seems that it's not switching to the talk groups. I've tried a few things to improve reception to see if it's just a bad unit. Does anyone have a .hpe file that they can send me so I can import it in Sentinel to I can eliminate that as being a problem. It doesn't matter if STARS is included or not. Thanks for any help provided.

I have not had any issues monitoring the Spotsy system with my SDS100. It has certainly been better than my 436. I'm having issues downloading my .hpe file to RR. If you PM me your email address I will try to send it to you that way.

spotsyrick · Jun 13, 2018

PM sent, thanks

spotsyrick · Jun 13, 2018

Thanks Dave for sending the file. I've been monitoring just that file you sent of the Spotsy P25 and the past 45 minutes I've only received the Fire Dispatch which is TG 6001. When you monitor that system do you get a lot of traffic or are you just getting the dispatch channel? I will try it again tomorrow while I drive too. Thanks again Dave, much appreciate your assistance.

dhmann1811 · Jun 13, 2018

spotsyrick said:
Thanks Dave for sending the file. I've been monitoring just that file you sent of the Spotsy P25 and the past 45 minutes I've only received the Fire Dispatch which is TG 6001. When you monitor that system do you get a lot of traffic or are you just getting the dispatch channel? I will try it again tomorrow while I drive too. Thanks again Dave, much appreciate your assistance.

It is not necessarily a lot of traffic but you do hear dispatch and arrivals, enroute to the hospital etc. If it’s an active scene they will go to an alternate fireground/tac channel and you can hear that as well. You might want to try to pull from the full database and check all your other settings. Are you able to hear STARS without any issues?

spotsyrick · Jun 13, 2018

dhmann1811 said:
It is not necessarily a lot of traffic but you do hear dispatch and arrivals, enroute to the hospital etc. If it’s an active scene they will go to an alternate fireground/tac channel and you can hear that as well. You might want to try to pull from the full database and check all your other settings. Are you able to hear STARS without any issues?

I haven't tried that yet. There are so many sites so I need to look them up so that I only install area state police and not Richmond or Northern Va so I'm not scanning a bunch of unnecessary sites. Thanks again, and I will keep you posted on the Spotsy P25.

jonwienke · Jun 14, 2018

spotsyrick said:
I haven't tried that yet. There are so many sites so I need to look them up so that I only install area state police and not Richmond or Northern Va so I'm not scanning a bunch of unnecessary sites. Thanks again, and I will keep you posted on the Spotsy P25.

State police are not sites, they are departments. You can have unlimited departments and talkgroups programmed without affecting scan speed, because talkgroups are not scanned in trunked systems, only sites. Enable location control in your favorite list, and set your location and range appropriately, and the scanner will only scan nearby sites. Use a GPS when traveling, and the scanner will update what sites and channels it scans automatically as you go.

spotsyrick · Jun 14, 2018

jonwienke said:
State police are not sites, they are departments. You can have unlimited departments and talkgroups programmed without affecting scan speed, because talkgroups are not scanned in trunked systems, only sites. Enable location control in your favorite list, and set your location and range appropriately, and the scanner will only scan nearby sites. Use a GPS when traveling, and the scanner will update what sites and channels it scans automatically as you go.

Thanks Jon

fredva · Jun 14, 2018

It would not be too unusual for 45 minutes to pass with all of the fire/EMS traffic on talkgroup 6001, if all that is happening during that 45 minutes are medical calls. But when there is an accident, a fire alarm, or a structure fire, other talkgroups will be used.

spotsyrick · Jun 14, 2018

fredva said:
It would not be too unusual for 45 minutes to pass with all of the fire/EMS traffic on talkgroup 6001, if all that is happening during that 45 minutes are medical calls. But when there is an accident, a fire alarm, or a structure fire, other talkgroups will be used.

Thanks fredva, I think over the weekend is when I should hear more. That's when all the crazies are out, lol.

fredva · Jun 14, 2018

Service Types

Assuming that your version of Sentinel is similar to mine for my 436, go into your Service Types and make sure you have Fire Tac and Fire Talk checked as service types you want to monitor, and not just Fire Dispatch.

jonwienke · Jun 14, 2018

Check the Multi types as well. If fire and EMS share dispatch, then the channel will be tagged Multi-Dispatch.

spotsyrick · Jun 14, 2018

Thank you both for your suggestions. I will double check them.

spotsyrick · Jun 17, 2018

dhmann1811 said:
It is not necessarily a lot of traffic but you do hear dispatch and arrivals, enroute to the hospital etc. If it’s an active scene they will go to an alternate fireground/tac channel and you can hear that as well. You might want to try to pull from the full database and check all your other settings. Are you able to hear STARS without any issues?

Thanks Dave I still use the file you sent me and with the beta firmware that Upman sent my reception and communications have greatly improved. I;m now receiving talkgroups that I wasn't getting before.

dhmann1811 · Jun 18, 2018

spotsyrick said:
Thanks Dave I still use the file you sent me and with the beta firmware that Upman sent my reception and communications have greatly improved. I;m now receiving talkgroups that I wasn't getting before.

Rick,

That is excellent news! Glad it is working better so now you will have to try STARS out. Stay in touch and let me know if I can help further.

Dave

spotsyrick · Jun 18, 2018

dhmann1811 said:
Rick,

That is excellent news! Glad it is working better so now you will have to try STARS out. Stay in touch and let me know if I can help further.

Dave

Much appreciated, will do!

fredva · Jun 20, 2018

Spotsyrick, how clear is the audio you are receiving from Spotsylvania's system on your new radio? I know you are receiving more now than at first, but I was just wondering about the quality of the audio - whether there is any garbling or if it is pretty clear.

dhmann1811 · Jun 20, 2018

fredva said:
Spotsyrick, how clear is the audio you are receiving from Spotsylvania's system on your new radio? I know you are receiving more now than at first, but I was just wondering about the quality of the audio - whether there is any garbling or if it is pretty clear.

I can’t speak for Rick, but I will offer my 2 cents on the SDS100 in Spotsylvania. My audio is crystal clear and much better than my 436 was. However, I am only about a half mile from a tower in the western part of the county. It has also been very clear while operating mobile. Also, monitoring STARS is very clear and better than previously on the 436.

I’m also interested in hearing Rick’s feedback.

fredva · Jun 20, 2018

dhmann1811 said:
I can’t speak for Rick, but I will offer my 2 cents on the SDS100 in Spotsylvania. My audio is crystal clear and much better than my 436 was. However, I am only about a half mile from a tower in the western part of the county. It has also been very clear while operating mobile. Also, monitoring STARS is very clear and better than previously on the 436.

I’m also interested in hearing Rick’s feedback.

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad it is working well for you.

spotsyrick · Jun 20, 2018

fredva said:
Spotsyrick, how clear is the audio you are receiving from Spotsylvania's system on your new radio? I know you are receiving more now than at first, but I was just wondering about the quality of the audio - whether there is any garbling or if it is pretty clear.

The system is crystal clear. I don't receive any garble communications on the Spotsy P25. I'm to far out to get the Stafford/Fred system but when I'm driving that system is as clear as well. I did add STARS to my favorites and that picks up just as well. I usually don't scan that too much right now because it does take a few seconds to scan. I need to research that system more and only load the ones around me. Overall I'm very happy with the scanner, Uniden has a winner.

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