TRX-1 not receiving the 800 mhz P25 Phase II trunked systems I programmed into it.

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bbo14

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Hello to the forum and well, sorry, but I have a new (to me) TRX-1 and all the accessories (panels, booklet, two USB cables, rubber case, etc). I first got the F/W upgrade as recommended by Whistler tech support, d/l it and installed it per his instructions. Then got the db and loaded it. I noticed the info for my city's and county's 800 mhz P25, Phase II trunked systems has incorrect frequency data. I manually edited it all, using the FCC's ULS system to obtain the accurate frequencies and saved the file and loaded it into the scanner (I think I did. I am not sure as to the terminology to u/l to scanner).

I am not new to programming or radios. I wonder if I am perhaps missing a step somewhere? The scanner does receive WX, (preprogrammed I know), and VHF conventional FM as well as AM aircraft frequencies so I know it is not deaf. It just won't receive the 800 frequencies I entered.

I'm stumped. Any ideas?

73, Bob
 

tvengr

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It appears that Lea Co and Hobbs are still using the EDACS system. There is no P25 talkgroup information in the Radio Reference database yet.
 

bbo14

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It appears that Lea Co and Hobbs are still using the EDACS system. There is no P25 talkgroup information in the Radio Reference database yet.

That info (EDACS) is old and incorrect. Lea County went P25 and they have since upgraded to Phase II and encrypted all the law enforcement TG's. FIre, EMS, utilities and everything not LE is not encrypted but they are all (or almost all) Phase II TDMA now.

I worked for the two way shop that maintains the Lea County system after retiring from my second career job six years ago so I am familiar with the system here. I used the FCC's ULS database and verified the trunked site locations because the RR Db is old and incorrect. Since it relies on user input for updates, I will send those after getting this TRX-1 working on the county's systems.

I have programmed Motorola, Kenwood, ICOM, GE (yep, GE made two way radios), Baofeng, and various scanners: Uniden, RS, etc. I am simply having "new user issues" with the programming conventions and nomenclature used in the EZScanner software. I don't think the trunked systems and their associated frequencies are being uploaded to the TRX-1 by the EZScanner software and it may be because I am not u/l correctly.

I will call Whistler TS today to see if they will walk me thru saving and u/l my manually entered trunked site info.

In the meantime, does anyone have any other suggestions? I think this thread belongs here instead of the NM forum because it's a programming issue and not a unique state/site issue.

Thanks for reading.

73, Bob
 

eyes00only

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Keep reading forums. If your new system is SIMULCAST the TRX1 is not the greatest scanner but it will work.
Use only one site and only it's control channel. Do not use conventional frequencies and keep the squelch full
counterclockwise. Experiment with the AGC, ATT & Global settings. Get an upgraded antenna and try different
locations. Good luck.
 

bbo14

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UPDATE: After talking with Trey at Whistler TS this AM, I redid the frequencies associated with one of the seven sites in my county and properly saved the config.

I loaded it into the scanner and now I only see that one scanlist, number 1, in the scanner.

I sent Trey the saved config file to play with to see what I might have that is wrong.

I loaded only the site listed as simulcast.

I am going to program the other six into the next six scanlists and see if I hear anything.

So far I still hear nothing, even though I hear fire sirens so I know either fire or ambulances were dispatched somewhere.

Thanks to all who have put up with my long-winded descriptions of the problem/s and who replied. Once P25 800 systems are working, it's on to the Mototrbo (DMR) systems. Then the NXDN. No end of "fun" awaits, I'm sure.:)

All the best to all of you.

73, Bob
 

gmclam

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What you might try is to first program the control channels as conventional just to see if you are receiving them. If that works, create a "test system" with the active control channel and just a wildcard for talkgroups. Does that work. It should point you to what's next.

I spent much of the recent holiday week monitoring a couple of Phase II systems simultaneously with each a BCD996P2 and TRX-1. The TRX-1 missed more than 50% of the calls that the BCD picked up. What I found is when it locked onto a specific site, it got lost when receiving the voice channel. When it locked onto "site B", then it would pick up more stuff. The signal strength on both sites was max on the display. And since there is no Analyze feature in the TRX-1, I couldn't use it directly to diagnose. Also, you just program a list of sites into the TRX-1, whereas in the BCD they can be each assigned to quick keys.
 

RRR

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DMR and NXDN is where the TRX-1 really shines. P25 trunking systems, -zero luck.
 

Wackyracer

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DMR and NXDN is where the TRX-1 really shines. P25 trunking systems, -zero luck.
P25 trunking are fine...SIMULCAST systems are its weakness as it doesn't have the built in hardware and it takes a lot of tweaking to just attempt to get simulcast systems to work for some, for others it works fine, location of the scanner in relationship top the Sites is a huge factor. YMMV
 

bbo14

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Well, after Whistler TS (thanks Trey) analyzed my config he suggested I increase the DWELL TIME to 2.0 seconds. SUCCESS!!! So, now I am moving on to programming other trunked systems in my area from lists I gathered from the FCC's ULS Db. RR for my county is way out of date; and that may apply to other areas of the country as well (unfortunately). I am now trying to figure out how to PAUSE or HOLD on a TG in order to isolate and follow traffic on it and also how to lock out certain, numerically identified encrypted TG's. More fun and another challenge.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions here. Nice group. Glad I joined.

73, Bob
 
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krokus

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Well, after Whistler TS (thanks Trey) analyzed my config he suggested I increase the DWELL TIME to 2.0 seconds. SUCCESS!!! So, now I am moving on to programming other trunked systems in my area from lists I gathered from the FCC's ULS Db. RR for my county is way out of date; and that may apply to other areas of the country as well (unfortunately). I am now trying to figure out how to PAUSE or HOLD on a TG in order to isolate and follow traffic on it and also how to lock out certain, numerically identified encrypted TG's. More fun and another challenge.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions here. Nice group. Glad I joined.

73, Bob

Glad to hear that you got it working. To follow a specific TG, press the pause button, while there is traffic on that TG.
 
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