CHP monitoring questions??

[HBdigital1]

Hi all, I just switched over from a PRO 2096 to a GRE PSR 600 scanner, and it turns out that my reception of neighboring CHP offices has gone to nearly blank!! I live in Huntington Beach, and with the Pro 2096, I could receive S LA, Central LA, even Fort Tejon, etc, and now, with the PSR 600,only receive the local OC offices. I have changed nothing, still using outdoor discone, and even tried using a indoor whip, in case some signal overload, and last night, had on the S LA frequency of 42.56, and not a single signal came thru for about 1 hour..... unusual. Is the PSR sensitivity to low band VHF that bad? or did the CHP somehow decrease power output to lessen bleed over to other jurisdictions, etc?? any thoughts would be helpful to solve this question. thanks for your all input!

 

[DPD1]

With the recent changes, I'd say the coverage is better, if anything. Sounds like that radio is poor on low for some reason.

 

[scanfan22]

Are you sure you have the new 44 & 45 MHz frequencies programmed in for all those CHP channels? Check your scanner and the database. Some if not all of those channels should be booming in to you. The 42.560 freq you mentioned is no longer correct. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[KMA367]

Wrong frequencies???

Hi all, I just switched over from a PRO 2096 to a GRE PSR 600 scanner, and it turns out that my reception of neighboring CHP offices has gone to nearly blank!! I live in Huntington Beach, and with the Pro 2096, I could receive S LA, Central LA, even Fort Tejon, etc, and now, with the PSR 600,only receive the local OC offices. I have changed nothing, still using outdoor discone, and even tried using a indoor whip, in case some signal overload, and last night, had on the S LA frequency of 42.56, and not a single signal came thru for about 1 hour..... unusual.

Judging by your last sentence "had on the S LA frequency of 42.56"... you might have the old frequencies for Southern Division programmed in. South LA is now 39.22, Central LA is 44.94, etc. Scroll down to Southern Division at Department of the Highway Patrol (CHP) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference and give those freqs a try - they should all be in repeater mode to boot.

 

[JoeyC]

Didn't the PL for southern division used to be 192.8? The db now shows 186.2. Is that correct?

 

[KMA367]

Didn't the PL for southern division used to be 192.8? The db now shows 186.2. Is that correct?

Yep, as the Divisions change frequencies they're also changing PL tones. If you scroll down to the very bottom of that CHP Frequencies page you can see the "deprecated" list - the former frequencies and tones for the divisions and areas that have been changed to date.

Note also that CHP's color names for the frequencies no longer remain constant across the state. The Southern White pair is completely different from Northern White pair, etc. Also, each division is getting its own unique "Blue" freq pair. I don't know if there will be a universal statewide "Blue" type secondary frequency or not.

 

[HBdigital1]

Hey guys(and maybe girls), THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!! The scanner is fine(whew!), it was fact that I had old frequencies!!! Now, S LA, Central LA, Newhall, etc, are coming in fine....... when did the frequencies change?? I must be like a Rumpelstilskin, who has slept all this time!!!! thanks again!!! GRE, you did not fail me!!!

 

[KMA367]

It's only just begun...

Hey guys(and maybe girls), THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!! The scanner is fine(whew!), it was fact that I had old frequencies!!! Now, S LA, Central LA, Newhall, etc, are coming in fine....... when did the frequencies change?? I must be like a Rumpelstilskin, who has slept all this time!!!! thanks again!!! GRE, you did not fail me!!!

Well "Rumpel," Southern Division got converted last March and April, except for East L.A. I believe it was, who had co-channel interference issues with someone, which took a while to finally resolve. Before them it was Valley Div: the Stockton-Sacto - Chico - Truckee areas. Next up is apparently Inland and/or Border, but there have been many delays and nothing much has changed in nearly a year. Issues seem to involve technical, licensing and money. Low band's ever-popular "skip" characteristics have given a lot of headaches.

There's a lengthy (296 posts and counting) ongoing thread about the whole thing at New CHP frequency assignments? Cutover date? and it should give you a pretty good overview of what's happened... and likely to continue happening as they reinvent the largest "state police" radio system in the country.