Waxahachie PD & FD

[ve52001]

Anyone know what is going on with Waxahachie? I thought they were supposed to eventually go to a P25 system. They aren't on ETMC system as of yesterday that I noticed. So far I have them on 800 conv.

Waxahachie PD 854.1625 DC 311
Waxahachie FD 854.2375 DC 516


And they filed for five frequencies while back with the FCC. 854.1625, 854.1875, 854.2375, 854.4625, 854.4875.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by ve52001

Anyone know what is going on with Waxahachie? I thought they were supposed to eventually go to a P25 system. They aren't on ETMC system as of yesterday that I noticed. So far I have them on 800 conv.

Waxahachie PD 854.1625 DC 311
Waxahachie FD 854.2375 DC 516


And they filed for five frequencies while back with the FCC. 854.1625, 854.1875, 854.2375, 854.4625, 854.4875.

On a whim, I decided to add TxWarn Waxahachie to my scan lists, but I only discovered they were not migrating to this system. Over a year ago, I actually heard radio technicians talking about installing said system. I don't really know what has delayed their migration.

But, Waco has only recently started to use some of their TxWarn police channels. But, these are limited to special operations. East Texas Medical has been using these for quite some time.

So, you might want to load East Texas Medical for some of the hospitals near you and their main channels.

Somebody in the know might chime in and enlighten the both of us.

[ve52001]

I still have ETMC on my scanner and they are still on the analog system there in Ellis county as of now. Just wondering if Waxahachie is fixing to transition to a digital system or just going on their own. I just think its strange they are on those freq's I posted and seem to be conv.


Thanks,

Vance

[nd5y]

I was over in Waxahachie several weeks ago for a short time. I didn't hear anything on the ETMC system or their conventional VHF or 800 MHz channels. The database is probably out of date. There are also several frequencies licensed that aren't listed in the database. Maybe that is what they are using now.

[ve52001]

ETMC analog 800mhz system is still live in Ellis Co., listening to East Texas Med ambulance on it right now. They have rebanded so you might want to update that. But as for Waxahachie PD and FD they were on the ETMC system last week and last night I noticed they werent and now they are on those new 800mhz freq.

[John_M]

Huge chemical plant fire in Waxahachie still going strong as of 10/3/2011 2:55 EST.

Massive chemical plant fire near Dallas - US news - Life - msnbc.com

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by ve52001

ETMC analog 800mhz system is still live in Ellis Co., listening to East Texas Med ambulance on it right now. They have rebanded so you might want to update that. But as for Waxahachie PD and FD they were on the ETMC system last week and last night I noticed they werent and now they are on those new 800mhz freq.

No wonder I've not been hearing analog transmissions from ETMC. In Waco, they are quite active on the TxWarn system. However, I have not monitored their analog transmissions thinking they had migrated to TxWarn. I will start listening. Thanks for the update.

DWW

[hiegtx]

Originally Posted by ve52001

ETMC analog 800mhz system is still live in Ellis Co., listening to East Texas Med ambulance on it right now. They have rebanded so you might want to update that. But as for Waxahachie PD and FD they were on the ETMC system last week and last night I noticed they werent and now they are on those new 800mhz freq.

I had heard several times that Waxahachie was going to drop off of the ETMC system, and use their own frequencies. This has been mentioned several times over the last year and a half or so. Looks like they finally pulled the trigger. Perhaps their usage contract for ETMC expired & they went forward with the move.

Unless another user jumps on the system in Ellis County, I would not be real surprised to see ETMC eventually shut down the analog site. The digital Kaufman TxWARN site covers the county pretty well. If the only remaining user for the Ellis County site is the ETMC medic units, That'd be a might expensive to run a full blown digital site for that little traffic. The same thing goes for continuing current operations, with so few users,

[ve52001]

Oh ok well that explains why they left the ETMC system. I was under the impression that they were going to join the TxWARN system. I guess we should monitor this a while before updating to see if this is a permanent move. Thanks for the info.


Vance

[Russell]

Freq info added to DB in the meantime. Please let us know if anything changes.

Thanks,
Russell

[hiegtx]

I suspect a couple of those other frequencies listed above either are, or soon will be, in use as well. I'd guess at least one of them for a secondary PD, and one for a secondary FD/Foreground. I can heat the two new ones at home either on an external antenna, or on my HP-1. The 396XT does not get them, but it has an antenna connector issue. (It's going in for repair; so's the PSR-500.)

If I get a chance this next weekend, I'll take a drive down there & see if I get any hits. I've had all five of these ( 854.1625, 854.1875, 854.2375, 854.4625, 854.4875) programmed for quite a while; just now seeing activity. Not nearly as strong as the old ETMC signal. Last night, they were still simulcasting PD & FD on Vhf. Too bad I wasn't off yesterday! Would have been a great time to check those extras for usage.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by hiegtx

I suspect a couple of those other frequencies listed above either are, or soon will be, in use as well. I'd guess at least one of them for a secondary PD, and one for a secondary FD/Foreground. I can heat the two new ones at home either on an external antenna, or on my HP-1. The 396XT does not get them, but it has an antenna connector issue. (It's going in for repair; so's the PSR-500.)

If I get a chance this next weekend, I'll take a drive down there & see if I get any hits. I've had all five of these ( 854.1625, 854.1875, 854.2375, 854.4625, 854.4875) programmed for quite a while; just now seeing activity. Not nearly as strong as the old ETMC signal. Last night, they were still simulcasting PD & FD on Vhf. Too bad I wasn't off yesterday! Would have been a great time to check those extras for usage.

Am I correct in assuming you have a loose BNC? If so, I have several threads about this subject. Some people have figured out how to remedy this issue. But, for me, I send my PSR 500 to GRE for repair. If I am not mistaken, I once had to send in my Uniden 245 for the same type of repair.

In Waco, I am hearing TxWarn for the more obscure police operations if you get my drift. Waco PD is still using analog trunking for most operations. I will reprogram my scanner for this area.

DWW

[hiegtx]

Originally Posted by Ensnared

Am I correct in assuming you have a loose BNC? If so, I have several threads about this subject. Some people have figured out how to remedy this issue. But, for me, I send my PSR 500 to GRE for repair. If I am not mistaken, I once had to send in my Uniden 245 for the same type of repair.

DWW

No, the problem with my PSR-500 is not a loose BNC. If that's all it was, I'm perfectly capable of fixing that.

What it is does is weird, and I've already contacted GRE tech support for suggestions, short of sending it in. Those did not work, so we're down to getting an RA for repair. Basically, the scanner sounds as if the squelch is not set correctly- open static 'hiss" all the time. Yet it still scans. In the background, you can hear "blips" of sound as it scans through systems, much like spinning the dial on an old manual tume AM radio, where you briefly hear snatches of audio as you tune past stations without stopping.

I've already popped the case, and checked for loose components (chips backing out of their sockets), and loose cable connectors. Reseated everything. I've also found that this will randomly go away, if I don't use the scanner for a few days, and it will work for one or two days, but then suddenly the static comes back. If I let the scanner rest for a few days, then I can coax another day or two use out of it once more, before static city reappears. Which leads me to suspect a component failure on the board itself. No physical damage to the unit.

[Ensnared]

Originally Posted by hiegtx

No, the problem with my PSR-500 is not a loose BNC. If that's all it was, I'm perfectly capable of fixing that.

What it is does is weird, and I've already contacted GRE tech support for suggestions, short of sending it in. Those did not work, so we're down to getting an RA for repair. Basically, the scanner sounds as if the squelch is not set correctly- open static 'hiss" all the time. Yet it still scans. In the background, you can hear "blips" of sound as it scans through systems, much like spinning the dial on an old manual tume AM radio, where you briefly hear snatches of audio as you tune past stations without stopping.

I've already popped the case, and checked for loose components (chips backing out of their sockets), and loose cable connectors. Reseated everything. I've also found that this will randomly go away, if I don't use the scanner for a few days, and it will work for one or two days, but then suddenly the static comes back. If I let the scanner rest for a few days, then I can coax another day or two use out of it once more, before static city reappears. Which leads me to suspect a component failure on the board itself. No physical damage to the unit.

Well, I thought I had problems, but you win on atypical PSR problems. I have always been pleased with their service. Hope things work out.

[justin180199]

854.4875 is public works and 854.4625 is PD channel 2

[Russell]

Originally Posted by hiegtx

No, the problem with my PSR-500 is not a loose BNC. If that's all it was, I'm perfectly capable of fixing that.

What it is does is weird, and I've already contacted GRE tech support for suggestions, short of sending it in. Those did not work, so we're down to getting an RA for repair. Basically, the scanner sounds as if the squelch is not set correctly- open static 'hiss" all the time. Yet it still scans. In the background, you can hear "blips" of sound as it scans through systems, much like spinning the dial on an old manual tume AM radio, where you briefly hear snatches of audio as you tune past stations without stopping.

I've already popped the case, and checked for loose components (chips backing out of their sockets), and loose cable connectors. Reseated everything. I've also found that this will randomly go away, if I don't use the scanner for a few days, and it will work for one or two days, but then suddenly the static comes back. If I let the scanner rest for a few days, then I can coax another day or two use out of it once more, before static city reappears. Which leads me to suspect a component failure on the board itself. No physical damage to the unit.

Steve,

I thought the same thing. I've fixed the loose BNC thing probably a dozen times.It was a bit more complicated on the PSR500 due to the metal shielding but I got in there, checked everything, resoldered the BNC connections and still no dice. I sent it back to GRE, paid the $72 (for out of warranty). When I got the thing back it was like night and day. I still don't know what they did but the operates fantastic now. It was worth the trip.

Russell

[hiegtx]

Originally Posted by Russell

Steve,

I thought the same thing. I've fixed the loose BNC thing probably a dozen times.It was a bit more complicated on the PSR500 due to the metal shielding but I got in there, checked everything, resoldered the BNC connections and still no dice. I sent it back to GRE, paid the $72 (for out of warranty). When I got the thing back it was like night and day. I still don't know what they did but the operates fantastic now. It was worth the trip.

Russell

Russell,
I know what you mean. I've had so many other things going on, at work & elsewhere, I haven't sent my 500 back yet. I need to get that done. The 500 comes in handy when I'm out west, searching some of the rural counties west of P-K. However, with the HP1 now, and with two 396XT's, plus other scanners, I'm not missing anything, really. The 996T is pretty much unused.

I have noticed that the HP-1 is more sensitive than I realized. Specifically, my point of reference is the Rockwall (city) EDACS system. From over here south of downtown, reception of that system has pretty much been non-existent, even on scanners on external antennas. However, the HP-1, using the R/S 800Mhz antenna, sitting on a table next to me, it's getting that system. A little scratchy, but readable. I was surprised.

Back to Waxahachie-
These two were previously identified:
Waxahachie PD 854.1625 DC 311
Waxahachie FD 854.2375 DC 516

Now two more of the five 800Mhz conventionals:
854.4875 Public works
854.4625 PD Channel 2
Still need the PLs or DCS codes, but I have not heard any traffic on them (I've had them programmed for a long time before the changeover).

The one remaining 800 frequency, 854.1875, I'd hazard a guess, will likely be FD 2, but won't know for sure until we hear something on it.

I'm still hearing ETMC analog EMS traffic on the analog site, but I'm wondering if that is patched from (or to) the P25 Kaufman site. I need to find time for a drive down there, within range of both, and figure that part out.