Montgomery County Question

[GShock75]

I am rather new to the scanning hobby got my scanner about a month ago, with that being said, I am sure there are plenty of you that speak in lingo that is way over my head, I will learn it, but it takes time.

I spent a decent amount of time (about a month or 2) researching a decent scanner for my area (Magonlia,TX), and a decent Antenna for the set up. I also made sure that there were towers within a reasonable distance from the homestead. I had my sights on either the Uniden 536 or the Whistler 1095, since the 1095 got pushed back, and I noticed that the Uniden 436/536 series just got their firmware update, I figured that was going to be my best option to jump into this with both feet. The scanner is the Uniden 536 and the antenna is a Scantenna ST-2 mounted in the attic (my HOA frowns on antenna's visible from the street).
The first thing I did after mounting the antenna was to update the scanner to Firmware Version 1.05.01, the Wifi dongle to 7.28 and the Sentinel Database, I am currently running 03/01/2015 of the Database.
I scanned over the users manual, so I could kinda get a brief overview, and I realize there are probably going to be responses to this that say "go read your manual" but the problem I am having, I can't seem to find in the manual, so I am turning to the forums in hopes that someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.
I went into Sentinel, started creating a "favorites list". I know I have decent range with this set up, I am pulling in transmissions from Huntsville to South Houston, and Walker County to Liberty County. I have my favorites list to monitor Montgomery County area Police Departments only, all of them, MCSO, MC Constables, including the smaller departments like Magnolia, Montgomery, Oak Ridge, Shenandoah, Willis etc. on the TxWARN Project 25 band, Montgomery County MCSO VHF Backups, the Constable Pct 5 Talk around, I have Conroe and Misc enabled on EDACS, Montgomery County Project 25 Simulcast, and Walker County, Huntsville, Tamina, and Tomball on the TxWARN Motorola band. Anything that does not meet this scanning area is "set to avoid" in the software and is currently shown in red. I have gone into the scanner, and turned it to "Select Service Types" and enabled Interop, Law Dispatch, Law Tac and Law Talk while everything else is turned off.

Ok, so my question is, and I apologize for being long winded, but since I can hear everything, or pretty much everything, why can't I hear any traffic from the Constables radios, I realize their "tactical" channel is encrypted, so that's understandable, however, I have a Pct. 5 Constable that literally sits on the edge of my driveway, and pops people for speeding in my residential neighborhood, so if he is transmitting, I should be able to hear him? Right?

Give me a little time guys, I am learning, I am just hoping to find someone knows the area and can explain what I am doing wrong. Thank you very much in advance.

Gary

 

[hiegtx]

I am rather new to the scanning hobby got my scanner about a month ago, with that being said, I am sure there are plenty of you that speak in lingo that is way over my head, I will learn it, but it takes time.

I spent a decent amount of time (about a month or 2) researching a decent scanner for my area (Magonlia,TX), and a decent Antenna for the set up. I also made sure that there were towers within a reasonable distance from the homestead. I had my sights on either the Uniden 536 or the Whistler 1095, since the 1095 got pushed back, and I noticed that the Uniden 436/536 series just got their firmware update, I figured that was going to be my best option to jump into this with both feet. The scanner is the Uniden 536 and the antenna is a Scantenna ST-2 mounted in the attic (my HOA frowns on antenna's visible from the street).
The first thing I did after mounting the antenna was to update the scanner to Firmware Version 1.05.01, the Wifi dongle to 7.28 and the Sentinel Database, I am currently running 03/01/2015 of the Database.
I scanned over the users manual, so I could kinda get a brief overview, and I realize there are probably going to be responses to this that say "go read your manual" but the problem I am having, I can't seem to find in the manual, so I am turning to the forums in hopes that someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.
I went into Sentinel, started creating a "favorites list". I know I have decent range with this set up, I am pulling in transmissions from Huntsville to South Houston, and Walker County to Liberty County. I have my favorites list to monitor Montgomery County area Police Departments only, all of them, MCSO, MC Constables, including the smaller departments like Magnolia, Montgomery, Oak Ridge, Shenandoah, Willis etc. on the TxWARN Project 25 band, Montgomery County MCSO VHF Backups, the Constable Pct 5 Talk around, I have Conroe and Misc enabled on EDACS, Montgomery County Project 25 Simulcast, and Walker County, Huntsville, Tamina, and Tomball on the TxWARN Motorola band. Anything that does not meet this scanning area is "set to avoid" in the software and is currently shown in red. I have gone into the scanner, and turned it to "Select Service Types" and enabled Interop, Law Dispatch, Law Tac and Law Talk while everything else is turned off.

Ok, so my question is, and I apologize for being long winded, but since I can hear everything, or pretty much everything, why can't I hear any traffic from the Constables radios, I realize their "tactical" channel is encrypted, so that's understandable, however, I have a Pct. 5 Constable that literally sits on the edge of my driveway, and pops people for speeding in my residential neighborhood, so if he is transmitting, I should be able to hear him? Right?

Give me a little time guys, I am learning, I am just hoping to find someone knows the area and can explain what I am doing wrong. Thank you very much in advance.

Gary

Hi Gary

In regards to the constable, if he is using the "tactical" channel, which is tagged as encrypted, then, of course, you would not hear transmissions. However, there is another possibility. If the unit is equipped with an MDT (mobile data terminal), then he (or she) may be using that for the traffic stops, to run license plates and driver's license checks, instead of voice radio. In my area (DFW), for instance, traffic on the TX DPS channels has greatly decreased, since most of the routine 'traffic' is now via the MDT's. I'm not familiar with your area, of course, but it is a possibility.

It sounds like you are hearing other Montgomery County traffic, such as the Sheriff's office. If you are not hearing any of the constables' traffic, or not the one working traffic nearby, then it's likely that either an encrypted channel is being used, or traffic is mostly via the MDT's. If no one else from that area pops up with a better answer, you might drop by the HoustonScan Yahoo group & ask there. As that concentrates on your area, you may get a more complete answer.

 

[GShock75]

Steve,

Thanks for the reply, I assume you are referring to:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/HoustonScan/conversations/messages/1706

So if I am reading this correctly, its the transmission of Data over a Cellular closed network, and for safety of information I totally understand that, but can I also assume that the Voice Communications to dispatch are also over that same network as to why my 536 wont pick anything up at least for this agency?

 

[hiegtx]

Steve,

Thanks for the reply, I assume you are referring to:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/HoustonScan/conversations/messages/1706

So if I am reading this correctly, its the transmission of Data over a Cellular closed network, and for safety of information I totally understand that, but can I also assume that the Voice Communications to dispatch are also over that same network as to why my 536 wont pick anything up at least for this agency?

A lot of agencies are using the MDT's for routine dispatch of calls, cutting the voice traffic by a great deal. As I noted, the DPS units in the immediate Dallas area are rarely heard at all, except in case of a chase or an emergency.

While some agencies do use cellphones or something like Nextel (in the Dallas area, TxDOT and NTTA, the toll road authority, both do), that generally is not the case with law enforcement agencies. They likely would not be using a voice channel on the same frequencies as their MDT's.

If you are hearing at least some Montgomery County constable activity, on the channels that are not listed as encrypted, but you're not hearing the traffic stops very close by, my guess would still be that either they are using an encrypted channel (which your scanner will skip), or handling that through the MDT's.

You might try using Close Call on the scanner, and see if it grabs anything on the close by activity. If encrypted, the scanner may stop very briefly, indicating a Close Call hit, then move on once it determines encryption is in use (if it is, you may see an 'ENC' briefly appear in the display).

 

[GShock75]

Hey thanks for that, I'll give the Close Call a shot, see what it pulls in, as for the current Constable traffic, I haven't heard anything out of their channels at all, not one single transmission, I have it set up so that the indicator ring turns blue if it receives something from them, MCSO is red, and my dial is often lit up in red, got a few greens the other night (have green set up for the small communities, Magnolia, Montgomery, Shenadoah, etc. but zero Constable traffic as of yet. I'll just keep trying, and by doing this, I will learn this scanner and all its goodies (features)

 

[Harold]

In my part of DFW, a traffic detail will often call out their stops on a dedicated Traffic channel and switch to a PIC or information channel to run the offender. This keeps the main channels clear of the heavier radio traffic needed for the traffic detail.

 

[GShock75]

After doing a bit more research, I end up with yet another question, would it be worth going to 50 ohm coax instead of the coax that came with the antenna (RG-6 / 75 Ohm I believe)........ What I have found in the forums is this makes reception better, or greatly reduces the signal loss in the cable run. Your thoughts guys?


Maybe something along these lines:
http://www.amazon.com/Antenna-Times...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1425601412&sr=1-2

 

[hiegtx]

After doing a bit more research, I end up with yet another question, would it be worth going to 50 ohm coax instead of the coax that came with the antenna (RG-6 / 75 Ohm I believe)........ What I have found in the forums is this makes reception better, or greatly reduces the signal loss in the cable run. Your thoughts guys?


Maybe something along these lines:
Amazon.com: 75 ft Ham / CB Radio Antenna Coax Genuine LMR-400 Times Microwave Coaxial Cable Antenna Transmission Line PL-259 Connector MADE IN THE USA: Electronics

I have two ST-2's, one that feeds the scanners in my bedroom, the other leads to my home office and the scanners there (that's where my 536HP is). Unless you have a really long cable run (since it's in the attic, that's not likely), I doubt you'd notice a difference at all. I'm using the-6 that came with the antennas.

 

[GShock75]

One last thing, well for now anyhow, I notice in the close call, on the screen with the signal bars bouncing up and down, that the last bar, number 6, which I suspect is the monitor for the 800mhz section of the band with the scanner is looking at, is receiving very little to nothing and have minimal movement on the gauge, perhaps this is the nature of 800mhz, but according to this RR page below, all the simulcast channels are 850ish (cellular is on what? The 700 or 800 band?) so maybe I need to invest in a separate antenna that is special to 800mhz ?? Again, your thoughts gentlemen are welcome!!

The Simulcast frequencies are here: Montgomery County Simulcast Site Details (Texas Wide Area Radio Network (TxWARN) Project 25)

 

[rb999]

Gary,
I am monitoring the same systems as you pretty much from inside the City of Conroe. I am using a BCD436HP and have pretty good luck with the MC Simulcast on TXwarnP25 and with the new MC P25 Simulcast system. I do get some issues with decoding 100% depending on the location in my house and with the settings of the P25 parameters. However, the BCD436HP does a much better job on these systems than my GRE PSR-500 or my 600 which are very poor on the simulcast systems.

I think your issue with the Pct5 Const is just that they don't use the radios much. I hear a lot of activity on all the MC Sheriff talk groups but hear very little on any of the MC Constable talk groups. I am not sure if they just use the MDT more, cell phones or if they may talk to the SO on their TG.

As long are you are receiving the other traffic on the TXwarnP25 I think the rest is normal. I would think you probably have pretty good luck with it there since you are close to the tower at 1488 and 149 and far from all the other towers on this system. I don't think you have any issue with your antenna.

As for the close call I think this is normal as well. I see very little on any of the bars watching the close call screen. The close call only picks up signals that are very strong so you must be very close to the signal to get anything on CC.

Feel free to PM me if you want to compare notes on these systems or have other questions.

Russell

 

[GShock75]

Steve, Russel,

Hey guys thanks for a lot of the insight you've been kind enough to provide, and yes I still have more questions, lol, I guess they never actually stop, anyhow, one thing I do see quite often when the scanner is in "scanning" or "search" mode, is "DAT" which I assume is a DATA transmission, from what I have seen both in the manual and in the forums, so is it safe also to assume that voice is transmitted over this "data" signal sort of like a mobile VoIP? I have rarely, if ever, seen the "ENC" show up on the screen for encryption, not sure if encryption is done via transmitting as Data, but this very well could be the "MDT" yes?

 

[GShock75]

Tower Listing Within 4 miles of my scanner

Attached is my tower reference for which towers are closest, and the tower @ 1488 and 149 is approximately 8.22 miles away, not sure if this helps.

 

[hiegtx]

Steve, Russel,

Hey guys thanks for a lot of the insight you've been kind enough to provide, and yes I still have more questions, lol, I guess they never actually stop, anyhow, one thing I do see quite often when the scanner is in "scanning" or "search" mode, is "DAT" which I assume is a DATA transmission, from what I have seen both in the manual and in the forums, so is it safe also to assume that voice is transmitted over this "data" signal sort of like a mobile VoIP? I have rarely, if ever, seen the "ENC" show up on the screen for encryption, not sure if encryption is done via transmitting as Data, but this very well could be the "MDT" yes?

"Data" could be the MDT's or anything else that is non-voice. Encrypted transmissions would show up as "ENC". However, as the scanner will skip those, pausing only briefly, you would have to be quick to catch a glimpse of it before the scanner moved on to the next transmission.

 

[rb999]

Gary,
I think the DAT you see on the scanner is probably the normal data form the control channel on the system. I am pretty sure that the MDT's use an Air Card through one of the Cell networks and a VPN connection to their network. In the early days of the MDTs some actually used a private system for the data. I think these days it is cheaper and easier for them to use existing Cellular data networks with VPN secured connections.

I think what you see is normal on the system. The issue with simulcast systems is when they stop on a talk group but you hear no voice, garbled, or intermittent voice. This happens because of the multiple towers all using the same frequencies and the scanner picking up more than one at a time. I do have some issues with this at my location but It minor on the 436. I can move the location slightly and clear up the issues usually.

I have been watching the TXWarnP25 system for any MC Constable traffic over the last week or so. I have not noticed much of anything on any of their TG while I was listening. I guess they just do not use the radio much. I hear lots of traffic on the MC Sheriff TG but nothing on the Constable. It is quite different from the Harris County Consatbles which have loads of traffic on all their TG.

 

[GShock75]

I wonder if (and this may be a really dumb move) if I just went out to the end of my driveway and asked them if they still use their radios, lol

 

[hiegtx]

I wonder if (and this may be a really dumb move) if I just went out to the end of my driveway and asked them if they still use their radios, lol

Depends on whether the Constable you talk to has a sense of humor. :wink:

 

[rb999]

LOL that might be an option Gary.

I am not sure if you monitor any Harris County stuff. If you want some more action you should tune in the HC Pct 4 Constable and the HC Sheriff Disp 1 Dist 1 North. I hear most all the traffic from these on the MC Simulcast site. They are very active and you hear a lot of chases, setting up perimeters, bringing in dogs, and DPS 102 chopper. This is common on there down south of us in the I45 1960 area.

 

[GShock75]

Oh yea, If I turn on the Harris Co frequencies, my 536 never shuts up, lol.

The main reason I had only Montgomery County enabled, is I wanted to see what or where Mr Scott Engle from the Montgomery County Police Reporter was getting his feeds, and the reason I was looking at the constables was I never heard a peep out of them, even though I am picking up a lot, well more each day from Shenadoah and Oak Ridge PD's. I have the Fire channels turned off because of that damn ATTENTION TONE that seems to be in front of almost every transmission. That "warble tone" or what ever its called blares out of my external speaker enough to wake the dead, even though voices are normal, that tone is a huge killjoy.

 

[GShock75]

GOOD AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN,

Ok, so I just happened to be sitting next to my scanner at approximately 1455 CST and low and behold, the illuminated ring on the function dial lit up blue (Set to blue in in Sentinel for MCCO) and OMG there was traffic, actual voice transmissions on P25,TG1476 - NFM, lol, so I know its set up correctly, and I can now safely assume that both RUSSEL and STEVE where right about them just not using their radios much, either that or the heavy amount of traffic from the MCSO/Conroe PD just drowns them out, either way, I saw it, listened to it, smiled with a satisfaction of knowing it wasn't something I screwed up.

THANKS GUYS...... It may be time for a beer in celebration

 

[GShock75]

Russel, I tried to send this to you via a PM, but my PM's never go through, I have contacted RR about this, and it took them over a week to respond with "Everything appears to be acting correctly on your account" but when I send it as a PM, as I just did again today, it doesn't show up in the sent folder, it just says message sent, and gives me no record of the message ever being sent (SENT FOLDER)
So I will post it here as the PM system is completely unreliable.

So I was listening to my scanner today, (Saturday 3/14/2015) at approximately 1455 CST On TxWARN P25 TG1476 - NFM Montgomery County Constables Office, there was and continues to be traffic, people are talking, and I realize this may be insignificant to most people, but it means that the programming is correct.

So here's yet another question, If I wanted to set up a favorites list, so that I could effectively break down the FL by each department, how would I go about doing that?

What seems to confuse the hell out of me, is the Simulcast frequencies, in Sentinel they are nothing more than a list of frequencies, a lot like the Taminia group just frequencies. When I try to create a FL with just the MCCO radios, so that all it scans is that talk group, I get static and a message that reads NOTHING TO SCAN which means I am missing something, control channels maybe? I don't know, and is why I am not understanding what I am doing.

Any Thoughts would be appreciated.....

Gary