HP-2: home patrol 2 good for Detroit area ?

[Xray]

Got many channels from MPSCS loaded up, scans through them but barely any transmissions, wrong scanner for public safety in this area ?

 

[richardbritt]

What does the database say for what you would like to listen to for that area? If it says DE or TE it's full-time encrypted, De or Te for part-time encrypted. You said public safety so I am assuming police and fire, not aircraft or railroad etc. I looked at the state trunked system and quite a lot of law enforcement is part-time or full-time encrypted, but I see a lot of non encrypted talkgroups as well depending on where you are. Lot's of DMR and NXDN in the area for towns and cities in the state.

 

[richardbritt]

https://www.radioreference.com/db/sid/100

Here is the link

 

[Xray]

What does the database say for what you would like to listen to for that area? If it says DE or TE it's full-time encrypted, De or Te for part-time encrypted. You said public safety so I am assuming police and fire, not aircraft or railroad etc. I looked at the state trunked system and quite a lot of law enforcement is part-time or full-time encrypted, but I see a lot of non encrypted talkgroups as well depending on where you are. Lot's of DMR and NXDN in the area for towns and cities in the state.

I got a sds 100 & 200 and they both receive alot of LE traffic, dispatch for sure. Home patrol is nearly mute, had a couple random ems channels pop up but thats about it, while the 100 is blaring with police/fire activity. Am not much in the loop on technical terms, I generally now what you are referring to.
I got the HP2 hoping to make it a garage scanner to listen to police/ems/fire mostly.

 

[richardbritt]

I am not familiar with what site is what in your area, but I see a lot of sites that say simulcast. If you are trying to receive simulcast sites, the SDS scanners are specifically designed for that type of environment. The Home Patrol units are not, while they might work in some situations depending on site locations, antenna location etc

 

[hiegtx]

I got a sds 100 & 200 and they both receive alot of LE traffic, dispatch for sure. Home patrol is nearly mute, had a couple random ems channels pop up but thats about it, while the 100 is blaring with police/fire activity. Am not much in the loop on technical terms, I generally now what you are referring to.
I got the HP2 hoping to make it a garage scanner to listen to police/ems/fire mostly.

Advise which site you used when programming your HP-2, As Richard has noted, the HP-2 is not a great unit when dealing with simulcast sites.

However, I do use my HP-2 on the "Dallas Layer" sites, which are both simulcast:

North Texas Interoperable Radio Network (NTIRN) Trunking System, Various, Texas

North Texas Interoperable Radio Network (NTIRN) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

While not as good on simulcast as my SDS scanners, I've found the HP-2 does better on simulcast when I do a couple of things. First, I use an old OEM antenna, from one of my older scanners that I no longer use. If needed, use a 90 degree elbow, along with the SMA-to-BNC adapter. And, instead of pointing the antenna vertical, I get better 'simulcast' reception if I leave the antenna laying more or less 'flat', parallel to the desk top. You might also try the old 'paper clip antenna' as well. That "poor" of an antenna may reduce reception enough so that only the closest, stronger signal, site is usable by the scanner.

While the above suggestions don't come near making the hP-2 as reliable on simulcast as the SDS scanners, it does (at least for me) make reception more consistent enough to be useful for me. Also, don't forget trying to move the scanner around. In many cases, some have found that a move of a foot or two, in one direction or another, has made a big difference between poor (or no) reception and acceptable reception.

 

[Xray]

I had a HP1 and far as I recall, that received the digital stations around here very well, maybe they have moved to another system/mode since then.
I use the HP sentinel program to program it, at least that is easy enough to do. No signal in 5 minutes, 100 is non stop, so I dunno, I like it but doesn't seem like it going to work for me, already have enough air band scanners. Wow just received a LE signal while I was typing, strong but garbled sounding.

 

[dmfalk]

Check for any services enabled on your HP-2. Most of Wayne County is in the clear, so you should be getting plenty. Also, double-check you're receiving the local Detroit-area NOAA stations & Canadian weather services (from Windsor), to ensure the HP-2 is working fine. Also check for attenuation or avoids, and make sure squelch is set to 2. The HP-2 is pretty reliable, and you should be hearing things between both Detroit and Windsor quite well.

 

[kb8q]

I got a sds 100 & 200 and they both receive alot of LE traffic, dispatch for sure. Home patrol is nearly mute, had a couple random ems channels pop up but thats about it, while the 100 is blaring with police/fire activity. Am not much in the loop on technical terms, I generally now what you are referring to.
I got the HP2 hoping to make it a garage scanner to listen to police/ems/fire mostly.

I’m in the Detroit area and use Unication G5 receivers or SDS100 for monitoring the area simulcast systems like Detroit. I Googled the question for a better technical description of the issues using a Home Patrol receiver for the Detroit Simulcast on MPSCS. Here’s what I found - The Uniden HomePatrol 2 struggles with simulcast systems due to its inability to effectively handle the signal overlap and interference inherent in these systems. Simulcast systems transmit the same signal from multiple towers simultaneously, which can cause signal overlap and distortion, particularly for scanners not specifically designed to filter and decode these complex signals, like the HomePatrol 2.

 

[Xray]

Check for any services enabled on your HP-2. Most of Wayne County is in the clear, so you should be getting plenty. Also, double-check you're receiving the local Detroit-area NOAA stations & Canadian weather services (from Windsor), to ensure the HP-2 is working fine. Also check for attenuation or avoids, and make sure squelch is set to 2. The HP-2 is pretty reliable, and you should be hearing things between both Detroit and Windsor quite well.

All LE/Emergecy services are enabled. NOAA comes in fine. No avoids/ATT, squelch is at 2, range is more than I need. using the stock antenna, but also with the SDS100, which receives fine.

 

[Xray]

I’m in the Detroit area and use Unication G5 receivers or SDS100 for monitoring the area simulcast systems like Detroit. I Googled the question for a better technical description of the issues using a Home Patrol receiver for the Detroit Simulcast on MPSCS. Here’s what I found - The Uniden HomePatrol 2 struggles with simulcast systems due to its inability to effectively handle the signal overlap and interference inherent in these systems. Simulcast systems transmit the same signal from multiple towers simultaneously, which can cause signal overlap and distortion, particularly for scanners not specifically designed to filter and decode these complex signals, like the HomePatrol 2.

Wouldn't the signals be received then, but garbled ? Some of the few transmissions it has caught in fact were garbled, a few not.

 

[hiegtx]

Wouldn't the signals be received then, but garbled ? Some of the few transmissions it has caught in fact were garbled, a few not.

That's not always the case. When dealing with simulcast, you might get garbled transmissions, or nothing at all, depending on how many of the simulcast sites are hitting your scanner.

 

[kb8q]

Wouldn't the signals be received then, but garbled ? Some of the few transmissions it has caught in fact were garbled, a few not.

I’m not sure but I could speculate … the Detroit Simulcast has 11 towers. Mostly like you’re close to more than one of them since there are so many. It requires a clear signal from the control channel for the trunking receiver to work properly. It’s possible you hear nothing because the control channel reception is poor due to distortion caused by the multiple towers. See if it works with NO antenna. In my case, I live exactly 2.25 miles between 2 Detroit towers. One to the north and the other to the south. Sometimes I receive the Detroit system with no antenna on the SDS100.