Jefferson County Sheriff

[bob-the-scanner-man]

So I noticed within the past week or so I just stopped receiving Jefferson County Sheriff on my scanner at my house on the Jefferson County Public Services system.

I was using the Palmerdale site since that's the one that gave me the best reception and have been doing so for almost 2 years now. I also tried the Huffman site and had the same thing going on. Strangely though, on the Huffman site I can receive Birmingham police and fire but I hear nothing at all from JCSO. The only way I can pick up JCSO is by tuning into the simulcast but that has poor reception in this area. Any ideas what is going on here?

Also, can anyone tell me what is going on with the alternate control channels? Seems like they are usually quiet but now it sounds like they have some kind of digital data stream going as well. For example, the control channel for Huffman is 852.6125 and the alternate is 852.1375 but they both seem like they have constant data streams running.

 

[morganAL]

They are working to transition all of the users off of the old system and onto P-25.

<quote>the control channel for Huffman is 852.6125 and the alternate is 852.1375 but they both seem like they have constant data streams running. </quote> In this case one may be the CC for the Smartnet and the other the CC for P-25

 

[PapaG]

I'm receiving JCSO Center Point and Forestdale on the Jeffco Simulcast site. The talk groups are as listed.

2563 JCSO Center Point
2567 JCSO Forestdale

I have a SDS 100 and 200 and are not having LSM issues.

Hope this helps.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

They are working to transition all of the users off of the old system and onto P-25.

<quote>the control channel for Huffman is 852.6125 and the alternate is 852.1375 but they both seem like they have constant data streams running. </quote> In this case one may be the CC for the Smartnet and the other the CC for P-25

When you say P-25 are you talking about the AFRN or something else? Is JCSO on the AFRN? I don't see any talkgroups listed for them.

 

[PapaG]

Yes, it is the AFRN P25 site Jeffco Simulcast 857.5375c, 856.1875a, 856.5375a, 857.0375a. The above Tlk Grp have not been published by RR yet.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Oh, I see. Guess I better start looking for scanner replacements then since the Pro-96 won't do Phase 2.

 

[PapaG]

The AFRN is not phase 2 in the Birmingham area at this time. You should be able to get it.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

That's good news then. However, I tried those frequencies and while I can tell the control channel is there, the reception is exceptionally poor in this area. My scanner is showing between 0 and 5% decode on the control channel. Very strange.

 

[medic9351301]

Bob it's lsm.
You might be to close to the transmitter . I have the same issue

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Bob it's lsm.
You might be to close to the transmitter . I have the same issue

I'm in Clay. No idea where the transmitter might be.

Any options to prevent lsm?

 

[Jtolar]

I have noticed the same and glad I found this today. I have been hosting the JeffCo CP feed and been wracking my mind for the past 2-3 days.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

At this point I have no idea what they are doing on this system right now, maybe someone with some inside info can chime in.

It definitely sounds like the alternate control channel for the Huffman and Palmerdale sites are carrying the AFRN now while the main control channel is carrying the old system. If I monitor the alternate control channel on the Huffman site on 852.1375 I can hear Birmingham Fire and what sounds like Irondale or Trussville PD (2089 and 2099 id's) on the AFRN. Still can't pick up JCSO on either Palmerdale or Huffman like I used to be able to, but I am hearing AFRN traffic from those sites on the alternate control channels.

The simulcast for the old system still seems to be working and picks up JCSO, the only problem is that the signal is not that great here. But it is leaps and bounds better than the signal from the AFRN simulcast. At this point I think my best option is going to be to throw a quick antenna up outside so I can get better reception from the old simulcast because that one at least works. No idea how long that will be a solution but hopefully long enough for everything else to get sorted.

I have noticed the same and glad I found this today. I have been hosting the JeffCo CP feed and been wracking my mind for the past 2-3 days.

I noticed that! When my scanner in the house seemed awfully quiet I figured I'd check the feed to compare traffic and then saw that it was down as well.

EDIT: Success! I am picking up JCSO Center Point if I use 852.1375 as the control channel. I'm still not sure if I am picking up all of their traffic though.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Looks like I spoke too soon. I picked up JCSO on 2563 very briefly on 852.1375 but now it's gone.

Guessing the only way to get them on the AFRN is the simulcast which sounds like absolute garbage out here.

 

[medic9351301]

I am hearing them on the old mixed mode system. Off the simulcast site .
855.6875. keep in mind on the regular sites unless a radio affiliates to it u will not hear it. As for the lsm . Get a yagi antenna and point it towards a tower . As far as I know the only new Jeff co p 25 site up is telvue .

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

I know that I won't hear them on the regular site unless the radio affiliates, but I used to always be able to hear them on both the Huffman site and the simulcast with the old system. I've been tuning into the old Huffman site for years with no problems because it had better decode here than the old simulcast did.

I also have a Pro-96 in my car that I would use on the old system's Simulcast site and I had no trouble receiving anything(JCSO, BPD, BFD) on my drive between Clay and Homewood. That's still the case now if I'm monitoring the old system.

I tried that with the new simulcast today and it's another story. The AFRN simulcast doesn't start coming in clearly until I get near the airport on I-59. Even then the decode is pretty poor. It comes in better once I get over Red Mountain into Homewood but it's still nowhere near as clear for me as the old simulcast is/was.

I think I may start looking into Raspberry pi, sdr solution for this instead of shelling out $700 for a new scanner.

 

[Jtolar]

I have been using a single SDR and Unitrunker to pickup the Huffman tower for a while. Good strong signal as I am only about 3-4 miles as the crow flies from the mountain. I have this on the same box as my security cameras to record the feed in sync with my cameras. I had a deputy that lived behind me that I could ask but he recently moved about 3 weeks ago.

I can pick up the simulcast pretty well but the frequency is too wide to monitor with one SDR. I have 3 SDRs but I have never been able to figure out exactly how to setup UT to use multiple SDRs.

 

[Jtolar]

I'm receiving JCSO Center Point and Forestdale on the Jeffco Simulcast site. The talk groups are as listed.

2563 JCSO Center Point
2567 JCSO Forestdale

I have been monitoring the AFRN JeffCo Simulcast site and haven't seen these talkgoups.

I can hear Birmingham Fire and what sounds like Irondale or Trussville PD (2089 and 2099 id's) on the AFRN.

2099 sounds like Fire Dispatch.

 

[Jtolar]

I have been monitoring the AFRN JeffCo Simulcast site and haven't seen these talkgoups.

Strike that... Just heard TG 2567 and it is Forestdale (there was a runner on Minor Parkway... Go Purple Tigers!).

Also , I am getting TG 2637 that varies in signal strength but was also showing up on 852.1375. I sounds like a police channel but haven't heard any addresses to determine where it is.

TG 2489 - The dispatchers voice sounds like one of the JCSO Centerpoint dispatchers but that just means it is coming from the Jeff Co 911 Center over at the Centerpoint Substation.

TG 1655 - Appears to be Gardendale Fire Dispatch (heard a call out to Gardendale Address.

 

[PapaG]

2489 is Fultondale PD
1655 is Fultondale FD
2067 is Gardendale PD
2077 is Gardendale FD
2637 is Tarrant PD and FD
3077 is Bham FD Tac 1
1573 is Mtn. Brook FD
1587 is Pleasant Grove PD
So far these are all the Tlk Groups I have been able to determine on the AFRN Jeffco Simulcast Site

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

I have been using a single SDR and Unitrunker to pickup the Huffman tower for a while. Good strong signal as I am only about 3-4 miles as the crow flies from the mountain. I have this on the same box as my security cameras to record the feed in sync with my cameras. I had a deputy that lived behind me that I could ask but he recently moved about 3 weeks ago.

I can pick up the simulcast pretty well but the frequency is too wide to monitor with one SDR. I have 3 SDRs but I have never been able to figure out exactly how to setup UT to use multiple SDRs.

What are you hearing from the Huffman site? I used to be able to tune into that one on the old system and would always pick up JCSO Center Point reliably.

The main thing for me that seems strange is that on the old system JCSO would come across the old simulcast and the Huffman site at the same time, but on the AFRN it seems like they only come across the simulcast reliably.