DMR Systems,Talkgroups,Northwest IN,?

[MarkBradley]

Hello I live in Northwest Indiana,and am having problems picking up my locals,like Cedar Lake,St. John,Dyer,the local area towns. I use Centinel,but still seem not to receive any of these towns. Don't think I am doing anything wrong. The question is,are any of these Systems like ( Lake County Public Safety ),and the surrounding other Systems,are these a DRM Systems or Talkgroups for the Police and Fire in my area?
I seem to be having issues and not hearing anything from my area at all,some State and County,but no locals.Just wondering if anyone knows about DMR in Northwest Indian,Lake County,30 Miles from Chicago.
If any questions that may help,PLEASE ask,I am lost,spending the big bucks on a BCD536HP scanner,and not working.
Had it to Uniden 2 times and they tell me it is OK,besides replacing some kind of battery modification and replaced some kind of wire tape,I assume it is a wire connector that looks like tape.
Anyone with any ideas,THANK YOU SO MUCH in advance.Mark,Cedar Lake,IN....KB9GTB,,

 

[MarkBradley]

Bill,Thank you so much for helping me with the scanner,but I have to let you know,it has been a week,and when I have the time to mess with the scanner,I still cannot pick up Cedar Lake,Crown Point,St. John,Lake Hills,Merriville,Scherriville,any local departments.It has the Control channels,and all the Talk group ID's. I pick up your area,some Hammond,some East Chicago,but nothing in my area??? I think I am going to give up,as I tried everything I can think of. I pick up the State Police in Lowell,but I also pick it up on my Uniden BCD996XT,which tells me it is a Trunking IV system,I believe,as the 996XT is not a Trunk Tracker V. I do not know,I think I may sell this and give up,and try a different brand and see if that may work,just lost and unhappy with the BC536HP performance and receive. Do I need a GPS? To I need the Uniden $60.00 software for DMA,I think that is what it is called???But THANKS Bill,and all,just don't know what to do.Have a great day,enjoy your scanners,not sure what is up with these area Systems and departments I cannot receive.Thanks again all,Mark,

 

[IAmSixNine]

I did a quick search and it looks like Cedar Lake, Dyer, Saint John and a few others are still using VHF conventional channels. However i also see on the Lake County Public Safety System that Cedar Lake, Dyer and Saint John also have talk groups assigned to them.
Lake County, Indiana (IN) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
Unfortunately i am not there but it looks like very little DMR in your area. I see under Gary that some public transportation may be DMR.
The Lake County Public Safety system is a Project 25 Phase 2 system. Not DMR.
So the good news is your BCD536HP should pick up that system and decode those talk groups just fine. BUT with that system being P25 Phase 2 your BCD996XT will not.
How far are you from the nearest tower for that system?
This link shows tower locations. WQVX462 (LAKE, COUNTY OF) FCC Callsign Details
Because its a simulcast system you may experience some interference if your in between towers. If your close to one it wont be as bad. What type of antenna are you using?
Also make sure in sentinel software or on your scanner you have selected the correct Service Type, example Law Dispatch, Law Tac, Fire Dispatch, Fire Tac.

 

[N4GIX]

Mark, since I know that everything is programmed correctly now, the only possible reason for poor reception has to be an inadequate antenna system. If you are only using the telescoping antenna with the 536, from your location it apparently isn't good enough.

I note from examining the tower map, that you are approximately equidistant from both the #5 Crown Point and #6 Cedar Lake towers, so any signal you will receive will be from either or both of those towers.

It is quite possible that an external antenna such as a discone mounted up on a 20' mast will be necessary to receive well.

As for the $50 DMR upgrade, it would be essentially worthless since to my knowledge there are only a handful of DMR repeaters in northwest Indiana, and they are all amateur owned. In fact, just last week the VHF 146.910 repeater was switched over to become a VHF-DMR repeater!