ISANTI COUNTY

[sloped39]

Hi all, I am new to the forums and looking for a little help. I have a Whistler 1040 and am looking to scan counties in my area. I have programmed using win500 and have lots of chatter from Sherburne, Wright, and Anoka counties but I get zero/nothing from Isanti county. I am centrally located in this area and am trying to figure out why I get nothing from Isanti.
I have ALL talk groups for each county entered.
Thanks for any help.

 

[ScanWI]

You will want to make sure you have the Isanti/Chisago Site in the scanner, this is the main site you will hear Isanti County on. Also I have found that the Whistler/GRE scanners struggle with the Isanti County Simulcast depending on where you are.

In addition the Isanti Sheriff Main talkgroup isn’t as busy as Anoka and Sherburn. They do a lot of dispatching through MDCs.

One thing I did with my scanner was create a system just for Isanti County so it would be sure to scan the local site.


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[sloped39]

Thanks for the info. I have actually done both, (DL Chisago/Isanti and put it on its own system.
Do you think its a reception issue with the whistler/gree? How about adding a fixed antenna? Any idea?

 

[ScanWI]

It is hard to say without knowing how the scanner is reacting to the the system. One thing to do is hit the MAN button when you are scanning the system, then TSYS that shows up at the bottom. Then press analyze and scroll through the channels until you find the control channel. You should get a decode percentage.

Also the last time I looked the only tower in Isanti County on that site is in Cambridge


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[ScanWI]

So I just looked and if you are in the southwest part of the county there is not much near you. On the Isanti/chisago site. Here are the site locations

Cambridge
North Branch
St Croix Falls
Rush City
Day
Stacy


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[sloped39]

That is exactly where I am, Bradford Twp. I thought I would be able to pull in SO dispatch and C2C in the area, especialley when there were near by squads. I have much to learn. Thanks for your help!! Its great to have a resources.

 

[n0xvz]

I have family in that area and I picked up the SO the last time I was there. I programmed my scanner (not a Whistler) using the RR database.

 

[sloped39]

Hey ScanWI, I am still trying to figure out what I need to be able to receive Isanti County Simulcast
Per your suggestion I went to CC and hit analyze I get the following: 75%-98% (average 86%) N402 W:BEE07 Sy:40F R001 S002
I am not sure if this tells you anything. I am also about 17 to 18 Miles by way the crow Flies from tower. Elevation is same tree coverage mostly.
Any further help or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Dave.

 

[sloped39]

Hey ScanWI, I am still trying to figure out what I need to be able to receive Isanti County Simulcast
Per your suggestion I went to CC and hit analyze I get the following: 75%-98% (average 86%) N402 W:BEE07 Sy:40F R001 S002
I am not sure if this tells you anything. I am also about 17 to 18 Miles by way the crow Flies from tower. Elevation is same tree coverage mostly.
Any further help or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Dave.

Okay so actual is --% N--- W:BEE07 Sy:40F R001 S006
I am assuming the percentage is signal strength, is this correct? If so given described conditions can you make antenna recommendation?

 

[Jennifer_rose]

After reading your inital post I drove up 47. I have a uniden 396xt with the factory antenna. Driving up from the south I pulled over near the Bradford city limit sign. It was at the top of a hill but I had pretty good signal from isanti co there. Once I continued north it was a bit hilly, the signal mostly dropped until I turned onto 325th toward Cambridge. I would presume the type of home you are in and if you are on a hill or valley would be the difference where you are. I would think a simple outdoor antenna would make a big difference.

The Sheriff patrols most of Isanti County. (Braham, Cambridge and Isanti city have a police dept). They dispatch as 24xx cars so you need to know the roads to know what part of the county the call is in.

I do not know anything about Shurburn but Anoka and Isanti counties are completely different in the dispatch operations, mostly because of the volume of calls. Chisago county also uses the same control chanel as Isanti so you can listen in on them too if you want.

 

[sloped39]

After reading your inital post I drove up 47. I have a uniden 396xt with the factory antenna. Driving up from the south I pulled over near the Bradford city limit sign. It was at the top of a hill but I had pretty good signal from isanti co there. Once I continued north it was a bit hilly, the signal mostly dropped until I turned onto 325th toward Cambridge. I would presume the type of home you are in and if you are on a hill or valley would be the difference where you are. I would think a simple outdoor antenna would make a big difference.

The Sheriff patrols most of Isanti County. (Braham, Cambridge and Isanti city have a police dept). They dispatch as 24xx cars so you need to know the roads to know what part of the county the call is in.

I do not know anything about Shurburn but Anoka and Isanti counties are completely different in the dispatch operations, mostly because of the volume of calls. Chisago county also uses the same control chanel as Isanti so you can listen in on them too if you want.

Hey thanks for taking the time to do a little research on my behalf. I am still experimenting and have started another forum in the antenna forums. Its very frusterating because I get great signal from south of me but north I get little even though the distance about the same. I am starting to think my only hope is getting an antenna up high.

 

[Jennifer_rose]

No problem. My best advice from personal experiance is to move around the house/property to see how that effects the signal. If you cant get anything even out on the driveway then searching antenna options is good. I dont know how far you are from where I was but I was getting ok signal from the factory antenna. That would lead me to believe you shouldnt need anything elaborate to get a signal. I lived in an apartment a while back and put a $20 vehicle mount antenna on my patio, that greatly boosted my reception there.

Feel free to let me know if I can help.