Third time's the charm... I hope.

[jdanielm1974]

I live in the DFW area, and I can't hear anything!
I've used, and programmed trunking scanners before, it's been about 12yrs
but now nothing works.
I bought a Whistler TRX1 and... silence.
Returned it and got a Uniden BCD436HP, and... crickets.
Returned it and ordered the Uniden SDS100.
To remove the possibility that I'm screwing it up, I paid for pre-programming.
When it arrives, should I get out the bottle of 21yo Macallan, or
just turn on some cartoons and accept that I must be braindead?

 

[hiegtx]

I live in the DFW area, and I can't hear anything!
I've used, and programmed trunking scanners before, it's been about 12yrs
but now nothing works.
I bought a Whistler TRX1 and... silence.
Returned it and got a Uniden BCD436HP, and... crickets.
Returned it and ordered the Uniden SDS100.
To remove the possibility that I'm screwing it up, I paid for pre-programming.
When it arrives, should I get out the bottle of 21yo Macallan, or
just turn on some cartoons and accept that I must be braindead?

Paying an out of the area dealer to program your scanner is often a waste of money, or at least an unnecessary added expense. All they are going to do is append systems based on your county, with no real thought as to what you might be able to hear.

Depending on your location, you easily could hear certain systems in 3 to 4 counties, if not more. I'm in Dallas, yet can hear certain systems in Collin, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, and Tarrant County, in addition to Dallas.

Most all of the area cities and counties (except for Dallas itself, & Dallas County) are on trunked systems that use simulcast sites. That's likely why you did not have success with the TRX-1. While the 436HP is somewhat better, severe simulcast issues hampler it as well. The SDS100 was designed with simulcast in mind, so if programmed correctly, with the proper antenna, it should solve your reception issues.

Where in the DFW area are you located? If you want to focus on systems in the North Texas area, you might request that your thread be moved to the Texas Forum, where it's more likely to be seen by members in the area. To do that, do not create a new thread. Instead, click on the Report in the lower left corner of one of your posts, and request that a moderator move your thread to the state forum.

 

[jdanielm1974]

Thank you very much for the info. I'm in Arlington, so when I load my zipcode it goes straight to the Fort Worth trunked system. I see "DAT" on the screen almost constantly but both scanners failed to stop on any single broadcast. Would the simulcast thing not be an issue if I set everything to ignore, EXCEPT the specific handful of things i want to hear?

 

[wrockjm]

Thank you very much for the info. I'm in Arlington, so when I load my zipcode it goes straight to the Fort Worth trunked system. I see "DAT" on the screen almost constantly but both scanners failed to stop on any single broadcast. Would the simulcast thing not be an issue if I set everything to ignore, EXCEPT the specific handful of things i want to hear?

Unfortunately simulcast would still cause an issue regardless of what you set to ignore. With simulcast when say police dispatch transmits your radio gets the signal from multiple towers at just slightly different times. Since it is digital the radio doesn’t know how to decode the signal. Hope that helps. Trying not to get to technical. The SDS 100 / 200 have software that helps with that very issue.

 

[buddrousa]

The OP is using a SDS100 after failed attempts with a TRX-1 and BCD436HP.

 

[hamstang]

The OP is using a SDS100 after failed attempts with a TRX-1 and BCD436HP.

As of OP's post yesterday I don't think he had received SDS 100 yet

 

[iMONITOR]

Thank you very much for the info. I'm in Arlington, so when I load my zipcode it goes straight to the Fort Worth trunked system. I see "DAT" on the screen almost constantly but both scanners failed to stop on any single broadcast. Would the simulcast thing not be an issue if I set everything to ignore, EXCEPT the specific handful of things i want to hear?

Did you check to see what services are enabled or disabled? This is a common cause.

 

[buddrousa]

My have missed that the way it was posted

 

[iMONITOR]

My have missed that the way it was posted

Hey it's early, it's Saturday, drink more coffee!

 

[jdanielm1974]

Unfortunately simulcast would still cause an issue regardless of what you set to ignore. With simulcast when say police dispatch transmits your radio gets the signal from multiple towers at just slightly different times. Since it is digital the radio doesn’t know how to decode the signal. Hope that helps. Trying not to get to technical. The SDS 100 / 200 have software that helps with that very issue.

I purchased an SDS100 from scannermaster and it arrived yesterday afternoon. It picks up police car-to-car transmissions from towns 20 miles away, with the stock antenna! What a huge difference. Thanks for the advice, it was well worth the money!

 

[jdanielm1974]

Did you check to see what services are enabled or disabled? This is a common cause.

I did, and I tried disabling the ones that I didn't want, and that got it to pickup a couple of signals. I decided for an early Christmas and got an SDS100 and I absolutely LOVE it! Thank you for the help!

 

[jdanielm1974]

Thank you to everyone for the help and advice! I received my SDS100 and it did work much better with the simulcast issue than my previous two scanners. I'm still playing with it, but I see now that I live in a bowl shaped depression in Arlington, and now I need an antenna. Heck, that could have been my problem all along. Can't see the forest for the trees right? lol...

 

[hiegtx]

Thank you to everyone for the help and advice! I received my SDS100 and it did work much better with the simulcast issue than my previous two scanners. I'm still playing with it, but I see now that I live in a bowl shaped depression in Arlington, and now I need an antenna. Heck, that could have been my problem all along. Can't see the forest for the trees right? lol...

No, a "better antenna" would not have helped you with simulcast problems. If anything, a stronger signal (from a better antenna) would have been worse for the simulcast systems.

What are you trying to hear that makes you think more antenna would help? I know you said you are in a "bowl shaped depression" in Arlington, but maybe a little more specific details? Not your actual address of course, but say a reasonably close major intersection or shopping/business district. With the exception, for now, of Dallas (both city & county), just about all of the cities in Dallas and Tarrant County, as well as most of the adjacent counties, are on some sort of system with simulcast sites. There's a small handful of really small towns that are still conventional, but those are the exception.

Don't overlook the fact that using the filters that are available on the SDS series scanners can help with reception on some of the problematic systems.

 

[jdanielm1974]

I live by Lake Arlington, and I'm trying to pickup the tiny town of Pantego, which is less than 2 miles from my house, but there's a substantial hill between us.
I still don't know if I'm receiving all, most or just some of Arlington either. The screen displays DATA a lot, but it doesn't lock onto anything specific. An ideal setup would be to receive Arlington, Pantego, Dalworthington Gardens and Fort Worth.

 

[hiegtx]

I live by Lake Arlington, and I'm trying to pickup the tiny town of Pantego, which is less than 2 miles from my house, but there's a substantial hill between us.
I still don't know if I'm receiving all, most or just some of Arlington either. The screen displays DATA a lot, but it doesn't lock onto anything specific. An ideal setup would be to receive Arlington, Pantego, Dalworthington Gardens and Fort Worth.


View attachment 111633

Pantego as well as Dalworthington Gardens have talkgroups on FWRRS, which is the same trunked system that Arlington, Fort Worth, and most other Tarrant County cities use. Make sure that you have the Arlington layer programmed as well as Layers 1 & 2.

However, both Arlington and Fort Worth police departments use full time encryption, other than a handful of support or auxiliary talkgroups. Dalworthington Gardens also is indicated as using full time encryption, so no scanner and or antenna system will receive encrypted transmissions. Pantego is flagged as part time encryption. If that is still correct then you might occasionally hear their PD. Pantego Fire does not show encryption.

From your location, you should be able to hear Mansfield PD & FD, plus Tarrant County SO, as well as most of the cities in the county that use Layers 1 & 2. Mansfield has their own layer. Unlike Arlington and Fort Worth, they are not heavily encrypted.

 

[jdanielm1974]

Wow, I didn't realize those agencies were encrypted. Now I have a $700 paperweight. And you are correct, I am picking up a lot from Mansfield, Colleyville and North Richland Hills. Now I'm bummed out... Hopefully I can find another use for this thing to keep me interested. I really do appreciate all your help, thank you for taking the time!

 

[hiegtx]

Wow, I didn't realize those agencies were encrypted. Now I have a $700 paperweight. And you are correct, I am picking up a lot from Mansfield, Colleyville and North Richland Hills. Now I'm bummed out... Hopefully I can find another use for this thing to keep me interested. I really do appreciate all your help, thank you for taking the time!

From your location, you should be able to hear the NETCO cities (Euless, Bedford, Grapevine, as well as several more) if you include their layer.

if you are just using the main database and location as opposed to Favorite lists, be sure to install Sentinel and update its database then write that to the scanner. while you might not get the PDs close to home due to encryption, many of the other area cities are mostly, if not completely, in the clear.
If you went ahead and got the DMR upgrade, load the Megahertz trunked system. Careflite, which has ground ambulance service in a number of areas in this region, also has a half dozen air-medical helos (nedevac copters) based around North Texas. You’ll hear those dispatched in the Hillsboro area as well as Gainesville, with other units based in Granbury and McKinney. Plus the Dallas & Fort Worth birds.

There’s still a lot you can monitor in this area.

 

[jdanielm1974]

That sounds interesting. I'll do the DMR upgrade and see how that works out. I'm still learning how to setup my favorites lists with the Sentinel software. Totally different than what I remember with my old radio shack scanner from 15 years ago using that starsoft or whatever its called. I'll give it another shot with the DMR today. Thank you sir!