TRX-1: Having trouble hearing Connecticut State Police

[Justin203]

I have a whistler trx-1 brand new pretty much I've owned it for 2 weeks with an upgraded antenna and I'm having problems not receiving our Connecticut State Police where I live they run on a p25 phase 2 system also been having a little bit of difficulty listening to The Phase 1 System can somebody point me in the right direction I'm about to sell this unit and go buy a Uniden

 

[doctordialtone]

I'm about to sell this unit and go buy a Uniden

All of my Unidens work great on the State Police system. I am in the Cromwell area.

Good luck!

 

[pro106import]

I have a whistler trx-1 brand new pretty much I've owned it for 2 weeks with an upgraded antenna and I'm having problems not receiving our Connecticut State Police where I live they run on a p25 phase 2 system also been having a little bit of difficulty listening to The Phase 1 System can somebody point me in the right direction I'm about to sell this unit and go buy a Uniden View attachment 124041

Yes you are experiencing " simulcast distortion ". The CT SP system is a simulcast sysytem which most "normal" scanners have trouble with, depending on your location and many other factors. You can search the forum here for more info on it. You will have the best sucess using an SDS-100 or a Unication G4 / G5 or Blue Tail P25RX-II. I own two TRX-1's and have the same experience as you. Some have OK results using non-SDR type radios, but not many.

Search results for query: simulcast distortion

forums.radioreference.com

 

[ems55]

I have a whistler trx-1 brand new pretty much I've owned it for 2 weeks with an upgraded antenna and I'm having problems not receiving our Connecticut State Police where I live they run on a p25 phase 2 system also been having a little bit of difficulty listening to The Phase 1 System can somebody point me in the right direction I'm about to sell this unit and go buy a Uniden View attachment 124041

I have great reception using my Uniden BCD436HP. I'm in New Milford.

 

[6079smithw]

I have a 536. My brother lives in Plainville off RT 10 a stone throw from the Southington line. When I
visit him I find my reception improves fantastically if I remove any antennas and simply use the BNC
to 259 adapter... Troops H, I and Bradley DFQ; drops to almost nothing if I attach an antenna.
Gotta be location. (Solution # four hundred fifty-leven; YMMV)

 

[cg]

If you buy anything other than the SDS100 or 200, be sure you can return it. Reception with any other scanner is dependent on your location in relation to the multiple towers in each simulcast cell. Some locations work and some don't. The SDS100 & 200 aren't perfect but they are more consistent in more locations than any of the other P25 Phase 2 capable scanners.

 

[tvengr]

I have a 536. My brother lives in Plainville off RT 10 a stone throw from the Southington line. When I
visit him I find my reception improves fantastically if I remove any antennas and simply use the BNC
to 259 adapter... Troops H, I and Bradley DFQ; drops to almost nothing if I attach an antenna.
Gotta be location. (Solution # four hundred fifty-leven; YMMV)

Typical symptom of simulcast distortion! By removing the antenna, you are receiving only a single nearby tower which improves control channel decoding. That eliminates the interference with delayed signals from the other towers transmitting on the same frequency at the same time. The SDS100 and SDS200 are the only scanners specifically designed to receive simulcast systems.

 

[Justin203]

I bought it second hand from a gentleman that had it only a few months I got a good deal on it I noticed I can hear there radio Transmissions better down in the North Haven area I'm in Meriden and I don't hear him too well unless I'm outside and even then it's

 

[hagensieker]

I have a TRX-1 and had issues with a Simulcast system. Robot voice, breaking up, etc. I sent the scanner to Whistler and they told me everything was within specs but tracking my Phase 1 system was still not working well. I used my TRX-1 on road trips and in the camper after that which is to say I didn't use it hardly at all. My SDS100, SDS200 and HomePatrol 2 all worked perfectly on the same system.

A year ago I retired, got married, bought a new house out in the country. I found my TRX-1 the other day and angrily turned it on. Darn thing is working fine on the Phase 1 system it couldn't track before. Just to confirm that I was having Simulcast issues and that moving further away from town fixed the problem I threw the TRX-1 in the truck next time I went to town.

Robot voice started within a few miles.

Conclusion: TRX-1 is just not good in some locations. To be fair when I travelled I never experienced that problem anywhere else with anything else I tried to track.

Conclusion 2: To fix your problem .........move Or buy an SDS100

 

[hagensieker]

Lastly take the antenna off and stick a paper clip in the connector and see if having a super weak, minimalist antenna improves the simulcast distortion.

 

[tvengr]

Conclusion 2: To fix your problem .........move Or buy an SDS100

Cheaper to buy the scanner! When you move into the country, you are most likely receiving fewer of the towers. If you live close to a tower, it can overcome the interference from other towers. The problem is usually worse in a city where you are surrounded by towers.

 

[6079smithw]

CT has some interesting terrain which no doubt adds to the fun when it comes to simulcast...