Lisyening to Round Rock from Austin 78757

[jeremytrent]

I have all the information downloaded from the database, and can't hear Round Rock. I started out with just the wil co site, then after no luck I added the simulcast 1 & 2 sites in. I though, maybe since it was the same system different talkgroups that I'd have better luck. I have nothing. I haven't made my way up that direction, so I can't say that I get anything anyway, but thought with all the experience here, maybe you guys can shed some light.

I am using the Uniden 396, however I remember from when I had the 996 I don't think I had any luck then, but that was when they were first starting to integrate the system up there. I'm also trying to hear Leander, Cedar Park and Wil Co.... no luck there either.

Please help with your suggestions. Tell me I'm insane or something. There has got to be some traffic here on a Saturday night. I guess it is worth mentioning, that using simulcast 1 I can hear Pfluggervile. I don't think that distance is the thing, but maybe.

 

[W5TWX]

I live on the southeast side of RR and I can barely get them. I'm also in a hole here as far as terrain goes. I listen to RRPD and RRFD on my 396 full time and when I make trips into Austin, I always lose them about halfway when I use I-35 or the tollway. You might try installing an external antenna and see if that helps.

 

[jeremytrent]

Ok. Knowing I'm not alone in my problem helps. I travel to Burnet every day for work, so maybe I'll catch them on my commute.

Anything else worth hearing up 183A then out Hwy 29?

 

[W5TWX]

You should be able to hear all of WILCO from around 620/183 all the way to Bertram I would say. Haven't tried it myself.

 

[cbritton]

Is Round Rock PD actually on the Austin/Travis/Williamson/Middle Rio Grande system? I've listened for months and never received a single hit. I can hear all the other agencies on this system fine from "Simulcast 1". (I live near Parmer and McNeil.) I can hear them on "Simulcast 2" also.

Am I correct in assuming I should be able to hear Round Rock PD and FD talk groups on "Simulcast 1"?

I've tried "Williamson County Simulcast", but it is dead to me. I've put that system in ID Search mode for hours and never hear anything. Initially, I thought maybe I entered the control frequencies incorrectly, so I've repeated this experiment several times. I should be well within range, but maybe I'm in a dead spot for reception from that site. Anyone receiving traffic on "Williamson County Simulcast"?

Thanks.

 

[alottabull]

Is Round Rock PD actually on the Austin/Travis/Williamson/Middle Rio Grande system? I've listened for months and never received a single hit. I can hear all the other agencies on this system fine from "Simulcast 1". (I live near Parmer and McNeil.) I can hear them on "Simulcast 2" also.

Am I correct in assuming I should be able to hear Round Rock PD and FD talk groups on "Simulcast 1"?

I've tried "Williamson County Simulcast", but it is dead to me. I've put that system in ID Search mode for hours and never hear anything. Initially, I thought maybe I entered the control frequencies incorrectly, so I've repeated this experiment several times. I should be well within range, but maybe I'm in a dead spot for reception from that site. Anyone receiving traffic on "Williamson County Simulcast"?

Thanks.

I definitely hear traffic on the Williamson County Simulcast Site. I am sure I am picking up the WILCO tower that is in Thrall being I am just East of the WILCO line. I haven't listened for RRPD though but I am pretty sure I programmed RRFD once and it was fine. I am definitely a noob on this stuff though so I can only tell you what I hear out this way.

 

[cws]

...I've tried "Williamson County Simulcast", but it is dead to me. I've put that system in ID Search mode for hours and never hear anything. Initially, I thought maybe I entered the control frequencies incorrectly, so I've repeated this experiment several times. I should be well within range, but maybe I'm in a dead spot for reception from that site. Anyone receiving traffic on "Williamson County Simulcast"?

Thanks.

I'm in Temple, and can't hear it up here (36 miles from Gtown). According to the maps, the range is 25 miles (from the xmitter between Georgetown and RR), so you should be well within range. Please post again, if you figure it out.

 

[FlashSWT]

The issue of hearing Round Rock while monitoring "Simulcast 1" or (for example) hearing TCSO Jail operations while monitoring the "Williamson County Simulcast" comes down to the basic operation of how a SmartZone system works. The part in this article about "Dynamic Site assignment" touches on it:
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Motorola_Type_II_SmartZone

Basically, this means that a TalkGroup will only be broadcast on a site (or group of simulcast sites in this case) if it really needs to be. We can assume that "users" of the Round Rock talkgroups are for the most part mainly within range of the Williamson County Simulcast and as such NOT affiliated with any other sites. This means their TGs will only be broadcast on the Williamson County Simulcast and no where else. However if for example an RRPD officer heads to downtown Austin for some reason, when they leave range of the Williamson County Simulcast their radio will automatically affiliate with (switch to) Simulcast 1 or 2 and as such whatever TG they are on will begin broadcasting on Simulcast 1 or 2. Once they return north their radio will switch back and the system will intelligently stop broadcasting the RRPD TalkGroup on Simulcast 1 to free-up the frequency.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Basically, and keep in mind that it has been two years since I lived up there, you will need to have your scanner monitor the Williamson County Simulcast in order to hear radio traffic from Round Rock, Georgetown, etc. While their radios and TalkGroups are capable of working on Simulcast 1 and 2 for the most part they won't be heard there.

And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, Williamson County Simulcast refers to Site 120 of this system:
http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=2

It is my understanding that the only things left on this system is station alerting, no voice traffic:
http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=78

.

 

[cbritton]

Great information. Thank you very much for passing it along.

 

[jeremytrent]

Thanks for the input! It's great having these forums and getting all the experience of others!