Lost signal

[Merlesboy1973]

Is anyone else having issues broadcasting New Boston PD in Texas? Was working fine and then 2 weeks ago, it just quit. There's not any new codes listed. Can anyone help?

 

[KevinC]

I would check out the GATRRS site in New Boston and see if they are there.

Greater Austin/Travis Regional Radio System (GATRRS) Site: New Boston

Greater Austin/Travis Regional Radio System (GATRRS) Site: New Boston Details

www.radioreference.com

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I am running off that now

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I have it programmed to the GATRRS trunking system for Bowie County and am still not getting them. 2 weeks ago I was able to pick the police and fire dept on conventional system. I still can get some fire but no police.

 

[hiegtx]

I have it programmed to the GATRRS trunking system for Bowie County and am still not getting them. 2 weeks ago I was able to pick the police and fire dept on conventional system. I still can get some fire but no police.

If you think that New Boston may have recently switched to using GATRRS, try using ID Search mode instead of ID Scan. ID Scan will only monitor talkgroups that are programmed, and that are not avoided. ID Search will monitor any active talkgroup on the system, even if not programmed, as long as the TGID is not set as Avoid, and/or is not in a department that is set to Avoid.

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I have tried this also and still have not heard anything. Could it be my scanner? I am still receiving other trunked systems. I just still cant get New Boston Texas.

 

[wtp]

2 (2)	003 (3)	Texarkana	Bowie	769.08125	770.08125	770.58125a	771.53125a	771.95625a	772.95625c
2 (2)	004 (4)	New Boston	Bowie	769.90625	770.20625a	773.09375c

gotta catch them all.

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I have enterd these as well. This is not working either. I have checked the database thinking maybe there might be a recent update, but none. The conv. frequency is the same as its always been. I do appreciate all of the advice as I do not know alot about scanners and frequencies. This is really strange to me. Any other advice or ideas would be appreciated. I am using a Pro-651 Radio shack scanner. Thanks in advance.

 

[hiegtx]

I have enterd these as well. This is not working either. I have checked the database thinking maybe there might be a recent update, but none. The conv. frequency is the same as its always been. I do appreciate all of the advice as I do not know alot about scanners and frequencies. This is really strange to me. Any other advice or ideas would be appreciated. I am using a Pro-651 Radio shack scanner. Thanks in advance.

Did you add a wildcard to your GATRRS system in your Pro-651? While there are, currently, no New Boston talkgroups listed on GATRRS, that does not guarantee that New Boston is not using the system. Unless someone identifies the talkgroups in use, and submits them to the database, they will not show up under the system. If they are using GATRRS, but no talkgroups currently in the database, a wildcard will help you hear them. Once you start seeing them, you can listen and determine what each TGID appears to be used for. Be sure & submit any new information you find to the database.

There are no new FCC licenses showing for New Boston, so it's more likely they moved to the trunked system. If you are programming with software, post your programming file so that we can see if something was overlooked, or needs to be edited. Are you hearing Texarkana & Bowie County on the GATRRS system?

 

[Merlesboy1973]

Yes sir I have it programmed with the wildcard. I am hearing Bowie county / Texarkana. I have programmed the frequencies as conventional also. The control channel has static that can't be taken away with the squelch. I just tried this. Haven't heard anything on the others yet but still listening.... hopefully

 

[hiegtx]

Yes sir I have it programmed with the wildcard. I am hearing Bowie county / Texarkana. I have programmed the frequencies as conventional also. The control channel has static that can't be taken away with the squelch. I just tried this. Haven't heard anything on the others yet but still listening.... hopefully

You are, at least, hearing Bowie County, and Texarkana?

 

[Merlesboy1973]

yes sir

 

[hiegtx]

yes sir

If using software, can you post your programming file? Just in case something was overlooked. (All of us, at least the ones that will admit it, have skipped something without realizing it at one time or another.)

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I am not using any

 

[hiegtx]

I am not using any

OK
Not sure why you are hearing Texarkana & Bowie County, but not New Boston. I don't see any new licenses for the city, so no idea what happened to them. Of course, I'm well out of range to take a listen myself.

If you get a chance to take a peak at one of their squad cars or fire equipment, see what of antenna they have, especially the length (or height). That could be a clue. Are you hearing any of the fire departments, other than Texarkana?

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I still hear the vfd on the conventional channel. But I dont recall hearing fire dispatch on the conventional fire dispatch. But i will take a look at their antenna as soon as I see a patrol car. I listened to the trunked system all weekend and heard bowie county sheriff and texarkana fire but not new boston.

 

[hiegtx]

Yes sir I have it programmed with the wildcard. I am hearing Bowie county / Texarkana. I have programmed the frequencies as conventional also. The control channel has static that can't be taken away with the squelch. I just tried this. Haven't heard anything on the others yet but still listening.... hopefully

Just a thought:

Make sure the wildcard you programmed is a "group" wildcard. There is another wildcard, "private", that only would receive private calls between two users. Uniden refers to that as an "I-Call".

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I seen a patrol car today they have what looks to be maybe an 800 antenna. Its about 6 - 8 inches long mounted on the trunk. I programmed the trunking frequencies for new boston with a group wildcard. I get texarkana fire Bowie county sheriff dept. etc. But still nothing from New Boston PD. I can hear the Fire dept. on the conventional channel but no PD on the conventional channel that was working about a month ago.

 

[Merlesboy1973]

I was listening to the scanner last night and new boston came on the conventional channel I have always used. I heard the officer ask dispatch " why are you not using the other radio?" she replied " I tried but I could not reach anyone" . They were on this channel unti I went to bed. I am listening this morning and nothing. Could they have somehow moved to phase 2 that I cannot recieve with this scanner? I have searched conv. frequencies and used wildcard in trunking system for this area. nothing. Thank You in advance.

 

[hiegtx]

I was listening to the scanner last night and new boston came on the conventional channel I have always used. I heard the officer ask dispatch " why are you not using the other radio?" she replied " I tried but I could not reach anyone" . They were on this channel unti I went to bed. I am listening this morning and nothing. Could they have somehow moved to phase 2 that I cannot recieve with this scanner? I have searched conv. frequencies and used wildcard in trunking system for this area. nothing. Thank You in advance.

If you are using the group wildcard, in addition to the public safety agencies (cities, as well as county, Law enforcement, Fire, EMS, etc), you should, at times, also hear non-public safety talkgroups, such as public works, utilities, and others. You would hear these, using the wildcard, unless you have specifically locked them out, either from the beginning, or when they pop-up via the wildcard. Are you hearing any of these?

I don't think they have moved to Phase II. The system itself, GATRRS, is listed as Phase I. Normally, if a system was capable of using Phase II, it is listed that way even if all current users & talkgroups are configured as Phase I. There are no Phase II talkgroups listed for GATRRS, for any of the large areas that it covers.

There are several conventional licenses for 800MHz channels, such as this one, in Bowie County.

FCC Callsign WNDN931 (Bi State Information Center)

FCC Callsign WNDN931 (Bi State Information Center)

www.radioreference.com

While it's possible that New Boston has moved to one of these (they are not listed on the database page for the county), I would think that they would have moved to GATRRS along with the county.

Do you have the programming cable for your scanner? If so, you might install one of the software programs that cover your scanner & use it for the 30 day free trial. If you do that, then read the scanner into the software & then post the file created. I'd take a look and see if I have any other suggestions. The three programs are Win500, PSREdit500, and ARC500.

Object Oriented Scanner Software - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

The only other thing that I can think of, offhand, is that they are using a business trunked system. Looking at licenses for Bowie County, there are several probable ones, but none of them show on the database page. But again, I can't see why NB would use one of those instead of what the rest of the county was using. Wish I had a better answer for you.