First Richmond....Now Henrico with BCD 436.

[Eugene]

Last May I went to Richmond and noted that Richmond Fire/EMS was silent despite having 4-5 bars signal strength, but there was no "DAT/LNK" at the bottom indicating data reception. I still received Henrico Fire/EMS fine. Have made two trips since in 2020 with NO change. I went last weekend and now Henrico is silent with same symptoms, 4-5 bars and no "DAT/LNK" at bottom. Still receiving Hanover fine. I have all the correct talk groups/service groups enabled (and as explained was receiving Henrico until last weekend). What gives?? Is anyone in the area having the same problems or am I just the lucky one?? Any ideas?? Thanks in advance.

(PS...I know this was in a prior post but that is now closed).

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[BoxAlarm187]

I'm told that all Henrico radios received an OTAR recently, I'm not sure what it included however. This could potentially be one of the issues.

 

[Eugene]

Would OTAR show up as "ENC" during a transmission vs simply no "DAT/LNK" as observed. If it would not that would explain it as I did not notice "ENC" showing up. It would make sense as Richmond/Henrico/Chesterfield are for all intents and purpose are co-joined so that once one does something, the others soon follow..

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[BoxAlarm187]

OTAR is Over The Air Rekeying - essentially a firmware update for the subscriber radios. There COULD be something in the system that was updated with the OTAR that may have changed things for monitoring, but I don't know if that's actually the case in your situation.

 

[fredva]

Could it be simulcast causing you to receive one system or the other based on your location relative to their sites on the system? If you are getting a strong signal but no decode, that could be a symptom of simulcast distortion.

This assumes that each jurisdiction primarily transmits on their own sites within the system. I can't confirm if that is the case.

 

[Enjoi19]

All 3 sites are simulcast. Sure sounds like that may be the problem.

 

[Eugene]

I don't know about simulcast. The sites have not changed, just my reception of them. I was receiving Richmond fine, then one day....nothing. Same with Henrico. I would think with simulcast problems it would have been an issue from day 1. The OTAR may be the problem. Is anyone else in the area with a 436 having the same problem?

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[jonwienke]

If simulcast is involved, any adjustment to antennas, transmitter power, or phasing can change your decode rate from 100% to 0%, or anywhere in between, unless you're using a receiver specifically designed for simulcast like the Uniden SDS scanners or Unication G pagers.

 

[Jimru]

Hey, I'm in western Henrico and have no issues receiving the Henrico/Chesterfield/Richmond system on my BCD396T as usual.

 

[Eugene]

Then it must be my scanner if you are receiving on a 396T.....Thanks. And if simulcast is the problem......you must be in a sweet spot.

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[1dougsk]

I’m in Chesterfield, in the general area of Woodlake. I’m getting Chesterfield, Richmond, and Henrico fire departments OK on my Uniden 436. Don’t have much simulcast distortion here. Once in a while, but not much. I have the Chesterfield and Richmond sites enabled and get everything OK. I’m probably a little too far away from the Henrico site, which is why I don’t have it enabled.

 

[maus92]

I'm receiving the Henrico simulcast at 360 and 30 - no issues with a SDS200.

 

[Eugene]

Well that's just strange. Wonder what's up with my radio. Especially since I was receiving them fine and then .....nothing.

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[jonwienke]

Well that's just strange. Wonder what's up with my radio. Especially since I was receiving them fine and then .....nothing.

Eugene KG4AVE

Signal bars but no audio is a classic symptom of simulcast trouble. There's likely nothing wrong with your radio; all it takes is a minor adjustment to a transmitter and your simulcast reception can go from hero to zero. Or vice versa. My suggestion would be start saving your nickels for a SDS.

 

[K6CDO]

OTAR is Over The Air Rekeying - essentially a firmware update for the subscriber radios. There COULD be something in the system that was updated with the OTAR that may have changed things for monitoring, but I don't know if that's actually the case in your situation.

OTAR (Over The Air Rekeying) is an Encryption Key update. OTAP (Over The Air Reprogramming) changes the fleet map, etc.

 

[Eugene]

I see in the RR database that they are now listed as simulcast........I overlooked that. So this explains a great many things. Thanks all for the replies. I don't know that I get there enough to make an SDS worthwhile. Maybe when I feel comfortable that all the bugs have been ironed out.

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[Randy_Vick]

I see in the RR database that they are now listed as simulcast........I overlooked that. So this explains a great many things. Thanks all for the replies. I don't know that I get there enough to make an SDS worthwhile. Maybe when I feel comfortable that all the bugs have been ironed out.

Eugene KG4AVE

I didn’t realize I was missing some Suffolk traffic, until I got my SDS100.

 

[LeSueurC]

I didn’t realize I was missing some Suffolk traffic, until I got my SDS100.

Same here, got mine after Christmas and I was missing so much with my 436

 

[Eugene]

You all are killin me........I want an SDS but every time I go to pull the trigger, I read of another problem on the Uniden Tech Forum ("cold solder joint", bad screen, "white noise", "popping"....etc.). I know that there are people who have no problems with them and love them but my luck is such that if drawing the 1 black marble out of 1000 marbles had to stay with a sinking ship, well............you get my point.

Eugene KG4AVE

 

[Jimru]

Then it must be my scanner if you are receiving on a 396T.....Thanks. And if simulcast is the problem......you must be in a sweet spot.

Eugene KG4AVE

I should have mentioned, Eugene, that I have only been monitoring Henrico and Richmond, so I have almost no experience with the Chesterfield part of the system (although it is programmed in). However, I have no problem receiving both Richmond and Henrico with my BC396T.