programming San Bernardino County System 8 P25 Phase 2

[HappilyRetired]

I'm having a little trouble here I'm having a little trouble here with my 996 P2. On the new Phase 2 system for San Bernardino County they have Bertha Peak and Onyx Summit but then they also have Mountain wide simulcast. I want to receive the entire Mountain but I I'm usually closer to Big Bear. Which system should I program because I actually hike all over the mountains. The mountain wide simulcast?

Thank you in advance.

 

[monitor142]

Two options, create one system with some or all the sites that you want to monitor. The other option, which I do, is because these receivers have significant capacity, I would program each simulcast and standalone (ASR) site as a different system. The trade off is less button pushes, option one requires you to go into the menu, edit system, enable or disable sites. Option two is you turn on the simulcast or individual sites you want to monitor. Keep in mind on the ASR sites, unless the communications division forces a talkgroup to be broadcast, the talkgroups you want to monitor will not be heard unless a radio is affiliated to that specific site at the time.

Mountain simulcast will carry a lot of what you want to hear while Bertha and Onyx may be silent. Food for thought...

 

[markclark]

If you are located in Big Bear, Bertha Peak is your local radio site for the Big Bear Valley. Onyx covers along HWY 38 southeast of Big Bear and down into the Angelus Oaks area.

 

[f40ph]

I don't believe SBCo is phase 2, though.

 

[Ravenfalls]

I'm having a little trouble here I'm having a little trouble here with my 996 P2. On the new Phase 2 system for San Bernardino County they have Bertha Peak and Onyx Summit but then they also have Mountain wide simulcast. I want to receive the entire Mountain but I I'm usually closer to Big Bear. Which system should I program because I actually hike all over the mountains. The mountain wide simulcast?

Thank you in advance.

Experiment & try all the sites you hear.

Program all talkgroups & turn search on. Not all groups have been ID.

While hiking, you will hear some valley sites & north county Barstow.

SB System, you will mainly hear only fire. For mountain rescue, that is what you want.

Also add some Los Angeles / Kern & maybe Vegas, as it will work in various locations.

 

[tkenny53]

Dont use Mountain Pass, thats at the Nev/Ca border
Use Mountain Sim, Valley Sim, East Valley Sim
You can also look at the site location by clicking on the call letters
Also there are VHF channels as well In Regional section as well as 800 fill in

 

[HappilyRetired]

Dont use Mountain Pass, thats at the Nev/Ca border
Use Mountain Sim, Valley Sim, East Valley Sim
You can also look at the site location by clicking on the call letters
Also there are VHF channels as well In Regional section as well as 800 fill in

I have mostly been using the VHF channels while hiking because they seem to cover better except that I don't usually hear the initial dispatches of a fire. When I'm hiking it's usually search-and-rescue I'm listening to as well as the national forest guys. this time of year search and rescue isn't really active down in Forest Falls because even as crazy as some of the people are they don't try to hike up to the big Falls area during the the winter. LOL. I know they're on VHF as well. I bought what's called I guess a bush antenna that is a gosh two and a half feet long? And it does a really good job when I put the scanner on the frame of my backpack. I can really pick up the VHF stuff well. But now I'm realizing I'm not hearing the initial dispatches and as I'm hiking in snow and then when summer comes I kind of want to hear everything. That brings me to my point.

I noticed what I think is called a sticky post here that has the San Bernardino County VHF channels and they're not at all what I have. I downloaded an application for my Android that was written by a San Bernardino County Firefighter. It says for example that V7 covers the mountain area but the sticky said V2 I think it was? V2 seem to be more Valley traffic then Mountain on V7. I'd be happy to confirm these when I get back up there maybe this weekend. But now I want to get the phase 2 P25 system in completely and I thought it was best since I'm not just hiking in the Big Bear area to put the mountain simulcast in. I'm not sure really what that is. I mean I know what simulcast is and I know that Bertha Peak is above Stanfield cutoff in Big Bear. And of course Onyx Summit is at the crest of Highway 38. I do a lot of hiking over there so I guess what I'm over there that's what I should listen to. When I'm near Big Bear I should listen to Bertha. But anywhere else I guess I should listen to Mountain simulcast?

Here's what I have for the VHF channels now:

V1 151.145 Aerojet Chino Hills and Flash II Barstow
V2 159.120 San Sevine Lytle Creek Donnell Hill 29 Palms El Paso Ridgecrest
V3 151.1525 Quartzite Victorville Rodman Man Lucerne Trona Sheriff Tower
V4 151.0325 Onyx Big Bear SR38
V5 155.1075 Big Bear Sheriff Tower Paxton Hill Yucca Valley Spirit Mountain AKA Christmas tree
V6 154.385 Little Mtn San Bernardino Rodman Mtn Lucerne
V7 154.190 Heaps Peak Lake Arrowhead

When I'm down near Forest Falls I hear them talking about going to "their channel" but I don't see it listed on the new system. Is this an unlisted repeater that is linked? I know that area is difficult with communications in general.

Last question since you seem to know the system well and I appreciate your help, do they still use the old analog 800 system that I see listed? I know with the 996 P2 I can program them all. My Uniden P25 handheld has plenty of channels available as well so when I get out of the truck I can still hear. But I can't use the bush antenna that really only benefits VHF. They only switch to that when Cal Fire and or Forest Service join in. Fire service in the mountains is kind of confusing in general. They seem to have overlapping boundaries and everything. It's a shame can't hear the sheriff anymore.

Thank you for your help.

 

[f40ph]

Dispatching occurs on P25 only.

159.120 is normally patched to the valley P25 channel used by Chino, Rancho, Redlands, Colton. The patch gets reconfigured to the County Fire channel for the Cajon Pass when there's a response headed there.

Best bets for "Mountain" radio traffic:
V7 in Crestline/Arrowhead, V5 for Big Bear, V4 for everywhere East of BB down the 38.

 

[f40ph]

"Fire service in the mountains is kind of confusing in general"

Yes I understand what you mean.
Hopefully this helps...

They're patching the mountains to the deserts. There's one "channel/patch" for Big Bear and Running Springs patched to Victorville and Apple Valley. There's another "channel/patch" for County Fire mountains patched to County Fire deserts.
Each patch consists of multiple repeaters in some cases.

 

[HappilyRetired]

Thank you for your help understanding the system. I understand patching because we used to do it where I worked. It was common and then it was also based on incidents. Our Center could patch us as needed but usually we had either the County Mutual Aid channels or direct agency access.

I understand that Big Bear and Running Springs to Crestline are all supposed to be patched together. I know from reading these forums and from a guide that they should all be on V7. I have that Big Bear is on a repeater located at the sheriff station on what is it? A 150 foot maybe 200 foot tower? It's pretty tall. Running Springs is off of Heaps Peak. That's where it changes taking place. The Big Bear units are no longer being patched with the Running Springs and west mountain County units. That would be Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, and Running Springs. I could also hear units out at Havasu and Needles. I can hear Heaps Peak direct but I can't hear Big Bear. But yet I can hear the Victorville units as well as those over in the Wrightwood area. I can also hear the Forest Falls units. I'm assuming they took Big Bear the patch. I live too far away to hear Big Bear directly. Even when I was up there in Lake Arrowhead over the weekend visiting friends I couldn't hear Big Bear and I'm wondering if they are on another channel now. I hadn't programmed to my handheld scanner yet. I need to program the mountains system and that's why I asked if I should program the mountain wide simulcast. I'm not sure what mountain top that's on. I think that's on Strawberry which is where I went over the weekend and probably should have programmed the radio. LOL. I don't know if Strawberry makes it into Big Bear Valley which is why they're on this Sheriff Station tower or Bertha and Onyx. So much to learn.

And that's another thing. I was under the impression that the new P25 digital system was Phase 2 but yet in the database here it now says it's Phase 1. My radios can pick up either one, I just hadn't programmed it yet but have they rolled back to Phase 1? I don't understand radio enough to know why they would do that.

 

[tvengr]

You can set up a system with as many sites as you need and assign a system quick key number to each site. You can easily toggle sites on and off by pressing the system quick key number of each site on the keypad to select which site or sites you want to use.

 

[f40ph]

"have they rolled back to Phase 1? I don't understand radio enough to know why they would do that."

Nothing to understand. They didn't roll anything back. It was always up til now phase I.

 

[f40ph]

To help you program the P25 system, look here.

San Bernardino County Site: Mountain Simulcast

San Bernardino County Site: Mountain Simulcast Details

www.radioreference.com

This is the information about the "mountain" simulcast you need.

As for the VHF system, you won't hear Big Bear normally except in Big Bear via the V5 repeater.

 

[HappilyRetired]

You're absolutely correct. I can't hear Big Bear on V5 at all. But then again I'm down at the bottom of the 215 in Murrieta. Not quite that far south but I'm up on a hill that's 2,300 feet high. I have a yagi pointed at the mountain and I can hear the front country. Somebody told me that you can sometimes hear Big Bear coming out over the dam. Well I'm not here in Big Bear. I'll have to check it out when I go hiking next. I had to cancel this weekend so it'll have to be another time. They're expecting snow next weekend so I guess that one's out too.

 

[f40ph]

Whenever Running Springs has anything big with USFS or CalFire responding, the patch will get moved so V7 is patched with the Big Bear/Running Springs P25 talkgroup.

 

[tkenny53]

Also West Central Valley would be a good one as it spreads down the 15/215

 

[HappilyRetired]

Whenever Running Springs has anything big with USFS or CalFire responding, the patch will get moved so V7 is patched with the Big Bear/Running Springs P25 talkgroup.

I guess that explains why I haven't heard Big Bear in a while. I can't hear them at all now. I decided to come up here and do some stomping around and I still can't hear them even on V5. I have that as 155.1075 and it's supposed to be on the Sheriff Station tower. I've seen that tower and it's pretty damn tall. I should be able to hear them from Heaps Peak Arboretum. Is that the right frequency? I can hear them on 800 just fine.

 

[f40ph]

Yes 155.1075 is correct for V5. That's odd, I would think you'd hear them near Heaps.

 

[HappilyRetired]

Yes 155.1075 is correct for V5. That's odd, I would think you'd hear them near Heaps.

I'm not hearing anything. I'm not on the handheld either. I'm in the truck using a PCTEL ASP7455 Mosaic 138-174 that I tuned for 160 because I was told that's like the center of the band between Cal Fire and the Forest Service. It's 3 dbd gain. Ham radio operators I know told me it's what most of fire departments use because it's so broadband. To the point I agree that I should be hearing Big Bear. There seems to be overlap between Cal Fire and the what's is it called Big Bear Fire Authority ? as well as the Forest Service and they often respond in tandem and that's why they use the VHF Channel.

Then there's V5 154.0325 on Onyx that is supposed to cover Highway 38 and be linked to V5. But then there's supposed to be another VHF Channel down in the Forest Falls area that I can't find listed anywhere. I did find an 800 channel on the old analog system that was supposed to be a patch for Forest Falls and I wonder if that's what they're talking about. It was an local area repeater and not part of the trunking system. But then they wouldn't be able to talk to the Forest Service that comes the system on rescues.

For the longest time I can listen to the V7 and here Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear units just fine. But now V7 seems to be a little bit of Lake Arrowhead and a lot of Wrightwood and Hesperia. I give up.

I have a headache now. I'm learning as fast as I can!

 

[f40ph]

I can barely hear V5 in the Victorville/Hesperia area, so I can say it's working at least.
Onyx V4 is not linked to V5 but is linked to V7.

Forest Falls has no VHF that I'm aware of. They used to have a conventional 800 linked to the trunking system but that site has been converted to full trunking and the conventional was removed.

In BB, Big Bear Fire Auth is responsible for Medical, Traffic collisions, and fires in buildings. USFS and CalFire are responsible for brush fires. All 3 work together on "every" fire since any fire is a threat to the other responsibility. You're correct on the VHF use: if there's a fire in the forest, BB Fire switches to the USFS channel. If there's a structure fire, USFS units switch to V5 which is patched to P25.