PRO-95 Progamming Help - San Diego County South

[Devo1255]

Hello all,

I'm not exactly a newbie, but I'm not an expert yet with my scanner either.

I have a RS PRO-95 and usually program with WIN95.

I've successfully programmed trunked frequencies in the past and I'm trying to program the frequencies for San Diedo county South Zone using the following page:
San Diego County - Imperial County Regional Communications System (RCS) Trunking System, Various, California - Scanner Frequencies

I've programmed in the Chula Vista Police and Fire talk groups and all I get is static on the Police Dispatch group. No other talk groups seem to be active.

I've also found another set of frequencies for the same region at the following website:
San Diego County, California Scanner Frequencies & Info

But the result is the same.

If I open up the talk groups, I get mostly ambulance chatter, but it seems to be all over the county, not necessarily just the city of Chula Vista.

Any help troubleshooting would be appreciated.

 

[Spitfire8520]

I have some bad news for you in troubleshooting your issue. The "static" you are hearing (if it sounds similar to this or this) is not actually static, but Digital (APCO-25/P25) voice. That's what the 'D' under 'Mode' means in the database. The Pro-95 that you have now will not decode these transmissions, leaving you with only really two options here.

One is to buy a newer (and somewhat expensive) digital scanner that can decode the signals, or perform a rather advanced modification called a discriminator tap and involved a lot of handy work. The latter option will also require a Windows computer hooked up to the scanner, running a program called Digital Speech Decoder (DSD) to decode the signals for you, but will not allow for much (if any) mobility.

There is a list of digital scanners that exist below if you're interested, please make sure that they will actually work for your needs before buying one. A good place to start with your search would be the California Radio Discussion Forum as they know a lot more about the area then I do from halfway across the country.

As for the fire talkgroups, if you are hearing PD "static", then you should be able to hear the fire traffic. Unlike PD, it looks like fire is still analog, which means the Pro-95 should be able to monitor those talkgroups. It might be that there is nothing actively happening in the area. Then again, it might not be the case. I hope I was able to help clear up some confusions.

Current Model:
GRE PSR-500 (Handheld)
GRE PSR-600 (Base/Mobile)
GRE PSR-800 (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-106 (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-197 (Base/Mobile)
RadioShack Pro-18 (Handheld)
Uniden BCD396XT (Handheld)
Uniden BCD996XT (Base/Mobile)
Uniden HomePatrol-1 (Base/Mobile)

Slightly Older Model:
Uniden BCD396T (Handheld)
Uniden BCD996T (Base/Mobile)

Older Model (no 700 MHz, less features):
RadioShack Pro-96 (Handheld)
RadioShack Pro-2096 (Base/Mobile)
Uniden BC296D (Handheld)
Uniden BC796D (Base/Mobile)

 

[Devo1255]

Yep that is exactly the sound I'm hearing from the talk groups. Soo looks like I'm outta luck with my current setup.

One thing I don't understand is why I'm able to pick up chatter when I open up the talk groups. When I search for a talk group that pops up, it is also listed as "D" under the modes as you've pointed out. And some of them are police chatter. Any idea on that?

 

[Spitfire8520]

It's possible that they use digital voice on and off or something like that. The database is updated based on what other users have seen on the system, and the situation can often change many times and go unreported. If it is a case of switching on and off, then I think the database will be marked with a D just to tell people that you should have a digital scanner to hear all of the traffic, not just some bits and pieces. If you can personally hear it, then the better it is for you!

Also, I want to comment on how refreshing it is to see a user take initiative in solving their own problems and providing necessary information for troubleshooting, even if you aren't a newbie .