Seattle-King County Public Safety Gone Silent

[llentz]

Some time within the last several months or so the Seattle-King County Public Safety system has gone silent in my BCD396T.

This weekend I downloaded the system from RR into FreeSCAN and uploaded it to a new 396XT with no changes, and it's silent as well. My conventional ham repeater group is working properly in both. And I just downloaded/uploaded the Port of Seattle group and it's functioning properly (Same Type, Mot 2 P25).

Other than some mention of Seattle going digital at some point in the future, I've found no mention of changes either here or anywhere in Google.

What could I be missing?

 

[RBMTS]

What system site did you download and then upload into your scanner? ESCPA and VALLEYCOM sites are working fine here in Redmond. Either of those sites is what you should have. Between the two, ESCPA would probably be the best.

Also what services are you trying to listen to? You might not hear Seattle PD or FD on the ESCPA system but you should hear KCSD and Norcom (for PD AND FD).

 

[llentz]

According to FreeSCAN's import function, RR is supplying 15 sites and 43 groups. I import all 15 sites and 20 groups (max), and use ID Search (the default for downloaded system setup).

There are two EPSCA sites, Simulcast (003) and North Seattle (007). I have both. And I also have the King County/ValleyCom Simulcast (006).

I filtered the current import for control channels only. My 396T is configured with control channels only as well and had been working quite well.

Before it went silent, I could listen to everything in the system. I am getting nothing now.

 

[lowboy654]

The stuff for Seattle area in the Database works just fine I drove through that area last night on my way home from California using my Home Patrol and it worked just fine. What ever it is, is on your end with your scanner.

 

[scannerizer]

From here, I can get the King County system just fine. You could have been somewhere out of range. The system is simulcast so it works pretty well. However, I've noticed that when traveling on the freeway, reception is greatly dimminished possibly because the scanner is in a moving car and scanners aren't as powerful as actual radios. It could also be that there is no traffic to speak of at the point. When I turn my scanner on, I sometimes wait a minute or two for the first transmission but that sure doesn't mean trouble so don't worry.

 

[superfreak]

According to FreeSCAN's import function, RR is supplying 15 sites and 43 groups. I import all 15 sites and 20 groups (max), and use ID Search (the default for downloaded system setup).

There are two EPSCA sites, Simulcast (003) and North Seattle (007). I have both. And I also have the King County/ValleyCom Simulcast (006).

I filtered the current import for control channels only. My 396T is configured with control channels only as well and had been working quite well.

Before it went silent, I could listen to everything in the system. I am getting nothing now.

Not that it really matters, but the database is incorrect on some locations. There is no longer an EPSCA simulcast site on Capitol Hill. It was moved to the North Seattle Site. Additionally, the North Seattle Site was moved to the Canyon Park area of Bothell.

There is also a site missing from the database.. Coal Creek in Bellevue.

Not that any of the above helps you..

 

[llentz]

I'm in Bellevue. Was Coal Creek added in the last several months? What's the chance it's addition is the issue?

Do you know the cc freqs for that site?

 

[superfreak]

It was added about two years ago. It is the same frequencies as Ed Hill and Apple Cove. No it is probably not an issue.

It doesn't cover very much. It is at the YMCA.

 

[karldotcom]

Control Channel only scanning is the lazy way to program your scanner IMHO. I would guess a control channel is missing or locked out.

>>What could I be missing?

 

[RBMTS]

Try creating a new system manually (not using Freescan) having a CC of either 868.7750 or 868.4250 (not both, just one or the other). These are the two primary CC's for the ESCPA and VALLEYCOM main sites. Put your scanner into a TG search mode and see if the scanner functions properly. If it does, correct your Freescan programming. My guess is that there is a programming error somewhere in your Freescan file.

Remember that the Seattle/King system is a "Smartzone" system. You will not hear all subscribers/departments from every site. I would suggest using the Valleycom site only if your are primarily in Bellevue. Some Seattle PD and FD units affiliate into that system whereas they sometimes don't on the ESCPA site. Forget about the "Intellipeater" sites. They are very localized for coverage fill-in and usually only local units affiliate with them.

 

[llentz]

I will try that. Thanks.

I took the XT into Seattle today, and it worked as expected. I was even able to hear Bellevue PD. So somehow, my home has become a dead zone for that system. I'm going to spend a little time this weekend to see how big this hole is.

I have read of an issue that can arise sitting in between two simulcast sites that can cause a scanner to not properly follow a system. Is there a way to troubleshoot an issue like that?

 

[superfreak]

Try only programming EPSCA. All Bellevue traffic will be on there. Then expand after you have verified that you are receiving EPSCA OK.

 

[RBMTS]

My guess is that you have the wrong site or frequencies programmed in for the control channels. You might not be able to hear the Seattle site CC effectively from Bellevue (depending on where you are at). The two CC's I gave you to ESCPA and ValleyComm should work ok for you. I can receive them almost anywhere in Bellevue including downtown amidst all of the office and condo buildings. Let us know how it works for you.

If this does work for you, think of having each site on its own system group. Therefore you can turn each site (group) on and off as you need them. Therefore if you are at home in Bellevue and want to listen to Norcom dispatch PD and FD, you can have the local site active rather than trying to monitor the downtown Seattle site. Vice-versa if you work in downtown Seattle and want to listen to SPD/SFD.

The 396T did not allow for multi-site capability the way the XT series does. So you need to put the different sites in as individual systems.

Good luck!

 

[DickH]

Control Channel only scanning is the lazy way to program your scanner IMHO. I would guess a control channel is missing or locked out.

>>What could I be missing?

Many (most?) Motorola systems assign the maximum 4 freqs. as control channels, thus entering all 4 is sufficient. But some systems only assign one, two or three freqs. as contriol channels, so in that case you are correct, you need to put in all the system freqs. in case they assign more, in the future, as control channels.

 

[Stavro35]

Huh?

Control Channel only scanning is the lazy way to program your scanner IMHO. I would guess a control channel is missing or locked out.

>>What could I be missing?

Unless it's a small system with a handful of frequencies for the entire system. Including in those rotating control channels, say two frequencies. It's better to just program in control channel frequencies. I can't imagine having to program in ALL the frequencies for the Seattle/King county TRS in any of my radios.

 

[SCPD]

There is also a site missing from the database.. Coal Creek in Bellevue.

Are you reading the database correctly? The Newcastle location has been there for at least a year on RR. I know because I submitted it.

 

[superfreak]

Sorry I don't look at the database..I just knew it took a while for it to get there

 

[superfreak]

Are you reading the database correctly? The Newcastle location has been there for at least a year on RR. I know because I submitted it.

But the Capital Hill EPSCA simulcast was moved to North Seattle and the North Seattle IR was moved to Canyon Park/Bothell. All about the same time...