TRX-1 Weird Behavior

[hagensieker]

This is a long story I'll try to keep short.

I live in an area with two P25 Phase 1 systems. One is LSM and one is C4FM

The C4FM system works perfect and always has. The LSM system is broken up and robotic. I sent it in to Whistler and they said it was within spec but they tweaked it and when I received it back it still wasn't working. Then they told me "Try this and then send it back again". While I appreciated that they didn't give up on me, I was not happy with the flow of the diagnostics and got mad and just put the TRX-1 on the shelf. I have maybe 6 other scanners so it wasn't that big a deal and I go camping in different areas the the TRX-1 seems to work perfect everywhere else.

A year ago I moved to a new house outside town. About a week ago I got the bug again for all things RTL-SDR, Ham Radio, and Police Scanners.

Last night I pulled out the TRX-1 for the first time in a couple years probably and turned it on and from last night to this morning the P25 LSM system has been working fine.

I don't know if moving helped as I'm further from the tower. I did all the "No antenna and paper clip for antenna" tests and I drove all over town with the scanner and it never worked. So being somewhere new doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Or possibly somebody did something maintenance wise on the system in question (tower work, new repeater, etc.).

I'm absolutely stumped, but stumped in a good way. Curious if anyone else has ever had anything similar happen.

 

[tvengr]

Nothing mystifying about it. Typical simulcast distortion behavior. You were probably surrounded by towers at your old location. At your new location, you are probably close to or primarily receiving a single tower. Most likely, you will experience the same problems if you drive into town again.

 

[hagensieker]

Nothing mystifying about it. Typical simulcast distortion behavior. You were probably surrounded by towers at your old location. At your new location, you are probably close to or primarily receiving a single tower.

I considered that but it isn't a Simulcast system. One tower. One control channel. Oddly enough the other system (C4FM P25 Phase 1) does have lots of towers but that one always worked perfectly.

I just remembered I know a COMMS guy here and emailed him and asked if they installed a new radio or did tower work or something in the last year or two.

 

[jtwalker]

You are the one who called it a simulcast (LSM) system, and since we don’t know what system you are referencing we are only guessing. It sounds like either simulcast distortion or RF interference that you changed when you moved.

 

[tvengr]

I considered that but it isn't a Simulcast system. One tower. One control channel.

What is your city, county, and state, and which system was giving you trouble?

 

[hagensieker]

What is your city, county, and state, and which system was giving you trouble?

New Bern, Craven County, NC, New Bern Public Safety

 

[tvengr]

The New Bern Public Safety site uses 2 towers both transmitting on the same frequencies at the same time (Simulcast). FCC Callsign WNNB505 (NEW BERN, CITY OF) (radioreference.com)

 

[hagensieker]

The New Bern Public Safety site uses 2 towers both transmitting on the same frequencies at the same time (Simulcast). FCC Callsign WNNB505 (NEW BERN, CITY OF) (radioreference.com)

That was probably it. Thanks. Back when I was having the problem I drove all over town although to be honest I didn't drive to the area I live in now.

Learned something new today and didn't even want to!