PRO-96 Digitizing and cuting out APCO-25

[NipplesTheCat]

I can hardly listen to any APCO-25 digital signals here in Michigan without them digitizing very frequently and cutting out. It makes it difficult if not impossible to follow whats being said. Its pretty bad sometimes. I am using the cheapie $25 radio shack outdoor radial antenna mounted in my attic fed with rg-213. The signal soesnt appear to be weak, the radio appears to not decode it properly. CPU: 1.4 DSP App: 1.2 DSP Voc: 1.0. Any thoughts?

 

[fmon]

I can hardly listen to any APCO-25 digital signals here in Michigan without them digitizing very frequently and cutting out. It makes it difficult if not impossible to follow whats being said. Its pretty bad sometimes. I am using the cheapie $25 radio shack outdoor radial antenna mounted in my attic fed with rg-213. The signal soesnt appear to be weak, the radio appears to not decode it properly. CPU: 1.4 DSP App: 1.2 DSP Voc: 1.0. Any thoughts?

I think DSP-App 1.4 is suspost to help fix most of that problem.

 

[jehm1212]

It's also possible that the scanner is being overloaded. Have you tried using the attenuator or just a regular handheld antenna?

 

[DaveIN]

You can download the DSP upgrade 1.3 or 1.4 and install it. It may work better for you:
http://tinyurl.com/35mmly

 

[boatbod]

My own experiences with a PRO-96 on Maryland's eastern shore consortium (Motorola multicast) system is that DSP v1.2 gave the least occurrences of undecoded audio ("motoring") while DSP v1.4 gave much clearer audio at the expense of significantly more motoring. At times it seems like 1 in 10 transmissions fails to decode.... its getting increasingly annoying as it always seems to happen when you're dying to know the outcome of some miscreant's encounter with the local PD.

 

[N8ECN]

Upgrade will help.

I can hardly listen to any APCO-25 digital signals here in Michigan without them digitizing very frequently and cutting out. It makes it difficult if not impossible to follow whats being said. Its pretty bad sometimes. I am using the cheapie $25 radio shack outdoor radial antenna mounted in my attic fed with rg-213. The signal soesnt appear to be weak, the radio appears to not decode it properly. CPU: 1.4 DSP App: 1.2 DSP Voc: 1.0. Any thoughts?

I've had the same problem with my pro-96 with DSP App:1.2. When I upgraded to 1.3, (now to 1.4), its made an approvement. I still have the CPU:1.1, DSP App:1.4, DSP Voc:1.0. And also recommand RS 800 MHz antenna too, (#20-283).

 

[DewAddict]

Hi guys just a thought here,

I was having a similiar problem with my scanner "motorboating" or going "digital" all the time. After watching the scanner for a while I realized what my problem was. I had four towers programmed in, three of which I could receive in my home. I listen to the Michigan MPSCS and can recieve Howell (the best) Northville and Dexter towers on my scanner.

What was happening was the transmissions were coming in on the Dexter and Northville towers which had a very weak signals in my house rather than the closest (Howell) tower that I receive very well. I locked out the distant tower locations leaving just the closest one active and the problem stopped.

This might not apply to you if you can only receive one tower but for those of you who can receive more than one, the scanner does not always receive on the tower with the best signal as I have found out.

Hope that helps a bit.

Rob

 

[kc8zdf]

Ditto to dewaddict. I was having the same problem. Does the scanner decode the signal outside with just the rubber duck antenna? I don't know how much reception loss you get by having a antenna in the addic. But you might try the scanner outside with the rubber duck antenna to see if it decodes. Also is there any cellphone tower around? I know sometimes cellphones can overload the front end of the scanners. Try a few different antenna setups and see if you can improve some.

73, kc8zdf Brian

 

[DiGiTaLD]

Intermod

Also is there any cellphone tower around? I know sometimes cellphones can overload the front end of the scanners. Try a few different antenna setups and see if you can improve some.

Exactly. I can be right across the street from the local (Indiana) SAFE-T site with the PRO-96, and more often then not, the digital voice (and also analog voice) turns to crap, I'm sure partly because of the cell site that is on the same tower. Also, there's a Nextel site up the street about a mile away which does not help things at all. I can drive up there and be about a mile away from the site I'm listening to, but the Nextel completely blows it out.

Like MPSCS, SAFE-T is a multi-site system that will often have the same talkgroup on multiple sites. However, I find that the site that's about 3 miles away from the house normally carries all the talkgroups I'm interested in. So, unless there's something happening on a talkgroup on another site that I'm interested in hearing, I usually just monitor the closest site to me.

 

[boatbod]

Unfortunately in my case, there are multiple towers all configured to transmit the same TGs on the same frequencies (multicast). What's probably happening is the signals from more distant towers are arriving at the scanner with a slight propagation delay (towers approx 10miles apart) and interfering with the decode of the signal from the closer tower.

Whatever it is, its really annoying, almost to the point that I'd consider trying a BCD396T.

 

[garikfox]

Sounds like my Pro-96 here in Mesa,az

"kshhhhhhhhhhh....Kshhhhhhhh...." 10-4 LoL !

 

[mancow]

This is exactly what mine started doing recently. No matter how good the signal was it still sounded as if it was on the fringe. I found that if I held it on the control channel and watched the decode rate it was about half of what the 2096 base was seeing. Then, at times it would drop to 0% and stop decoding until I cycled the power. I tried all the DSP flashes that exist and nothing helped.

I compared the audio against the 2096 with the same antennas sitting side by side. The 2096 was perfect and the 96 wasn't even tracking at times. It didn't seem like it was an overall RF sensitivity issue since the actual signal seemed to come in nice and strong and analog 800 stuff was great.

I ended up dropping it off at RadioShack for a warranty repair the other day.

 

[rdale]

Don't get a 396 if you are having CQPSK issues -- the Pro96 is clearly better.

 

[mancow]

It's back from the service center and still the same thing. :roll:

I kind of think that they turned it on and it seemed to work okay so they just sent it back.

 

[InlandAZ]

Sounds like my Pro-96 here in Mesa,az

"kshhhhhhhhhhh....Kshhhhhhhh...." 10-4 LoL !

Mesa is a difficult system to monitor – at least for me. When it comes in, it comes in - when it doesn't (which is most of the time) it doesn't.

Phoenix never gives me issues, so I guess I'm just in an odd spot for Mesa.

 

[N_Jay]

If you are listening to a simulcast system

AND

You are not inside the area DESIGNED for proper reception

THEN

You are OUTSIDE the area DESIGNED for proper reception.

The best fix is to try to get capture from one of the sites.
It does not have to be the best site.
Sometimes an antenna with lower gain and better front to back is better than one with higher gain but a "messy" pattern with lots of side lobes.

 

[K8PBX]

If you are listening to a simulcast system... The best fix is to try to get capture from one of the sites... Sometimes an antenna with lower gain and better front to back is better than one with higher gain but a "messy" pattern with lots of side lobes.

I agree 100%.

The simulcast system in Macomb County Michigan initially proved tough for me to monitor using an outdoor omni-directional antenna. So I put up a Yagi antenna pointed at just one of the towers (Armada) and now receive it perfectly.

 

[InlandAZ]

If you are listening to a simulcast system

AND

You are not inside the area DESIGNED for proper reception

THEN

You are OUTSIDE the area DESIGNED for proper reception.

The best fix is to try to get capture from one of the sites.
It does not have to be the best site.
Sometimes an antenna with lower gain and better front to back is better than one with higher gain but a "messy" pattern with lots of side lobes.

It one of the perks of a Digital system - never had a single issue when they were Analog. It's also part of the fun in scanning - been doing it for 40 years.

 

[N_Jay]

It one of the perks of a Digital system - never had a single issue when they were Analog. It's also part of the fun in scanning - been doing it for 40 years.

Yes, analog simulcast is a bit more forgiving,

BUT, the real question is "Where you listening to an analog SIMULCAST system or just a single site?"

 

[InlandAZ]

Yes, analog simulcast is a bit more forgiving,

BUT, the real question is "Where you listening to an analog SIMULCAST system or just a single site?"

Mesa is part of the PRWIN system (multiple sites) - Phoenix comes in loud and clear (so does MCSO for that matter, although they're on a separate system).

Mesa is just a bugger for some - I've seen several posts by folks that work just a few blocks north of my location... they report receiving Mesa just fine. For me it's hit and miss...