BCD396XT help setting up simulcast P25 system

[joeynshelby]

Originally Posted by scanchs

OK, being in the Moncks Corner area adds another piece to the puzzle. The Palmetto Project 25 system does not have as big a footprint as the Palmetto 800 system in the tri-county area. The P25 system currently targets mainly Charleston County. There is a P25 tower in downtown Summerville to cover the northern part of Charleston County. I don't know of any similar P25 towers in Berkeley County.

As N_Jay suggested in your other thread, you may very well be outside of the design area of the P25 system up in Moncks Corner. A high gain, directional antenna pointed at Summerville or McClellanville may work if there's enough signal to capture up there. The simulcast system towers are designed to cover a fairly limited area, and the signal drops off sharply outside of the design area.

Sorry about the double post I just saw that. I believe you are right since no one else seems to be having a problem with this system and I have double checked my settings I am fairly confident now that I am out of range. I appreciate everyone help in reference to this.
Joey

[scanmaj]

My 396XT is totally deaf on the MECA system in Indianapolis (P-25 simulcast system). I've travelled all over the southern 1/2 of Marion Co. and hear absolutely zero when in ID Search mode. Lots of signal strength on the CC but not strong/solid CC audio and no decode at all. Almost positive I have everything set right...not much to set. The XT performs very well on SAFE-T and conventional systems I monitor but can't seem to break into the simulcast system even a little bit..

[acepilot340]

I would like to put some of my personal input on my issues with the 396XT. I live in Illinois and am trying to monitor the ISP P25 system and sometimes during a transmission the scanner will just cut out. I have already checked all the CC and WX and none of that is on, but I think i have a programming issue; would anyone mind looking at my FreeScan .996 file and make sure I programmed this stuff right? I am new to this P25 stuff and want to make sure I programmed it right.

[werinshades]

Originally Posted by acepilot340

I would like to put some of my personal input on my issues with the 396XT. I live in Illinois and am trying to monitor the ISP P25 system and sometimes during a transmission the scanner will just cut out. I have already checked all the CC and WX and none of that is on, but I think i have a programming issue; would anyone mind looking at my FreeScan .996 file and make sure I programmed this stuff right? I am new to this P25 stuff and want to make sure I programmed it right.

In the Illinois forum, we have discussed this issue. This is common if you're monitoring a simulcast/multi-path site. It goes garbly transmission, then you'll hear nothing, then you'll hear a reply. I'm not sure if this issue is being worked on the first firmware upgrade or not, but was also common in the T versions. Appears to be either a decoding or modulation issue. If you search around these forums, their has been many opinions on this subject.Sounds better than before, but still not as good as it should.

[RoninJoliet]

My 396XT with the RS800 rubber duck is much better at the multipatch towers than my 996XT...Im 23 miles from most towers and in the good spots upstairs in my tri-level its very good on T101,102, and T125...T113-Dist5 is 4 miles from me and the 396XT and 996XT is really bad on this tower...I have a RS197 GRE made base attached to a RS Ground-plane with 35' of RG6U lowloss in the attic and it does Tower 102-99.9%....I think its because the antenna is tucked away in the attic and not so affected by multipath signals...Its tough as "Dave" mentions but you need to keep experimenting...My 396XT is much better keeping a CC freqy in the mobile than the GRE500...In the past week with much cooler weather for some reason my 996XT has become much better keeping the CC-dat on T101, 102 than when first received in August....

[acepilot340]

Well, after doing some searching through the forums and some random tests I feel that I have found the perfect setup for P25 Starcom21 District 5. I have been scanning for 3 hours now and I have not had a single dropped transmission, static, gargle, or any of that; just crystal clear digital. As far as equiptment goes, I just have my scanner hooked up to my 700/800 antenna I purchased from Tessco while testing.

Here are my settings...

-Attenuation (OFF)
-Hold Time (-0-)
-APCO Mode (Auto)
-P25 LP Filter (ON)***
-P25 Adjust Mode (3)***
-P25 Adjust Level (100)***
-Modulation (AUTO)
-Threshold (8)***
-P25 Wait Time (-0-)***
-Delay Time (1sec)

*** Indicates that I have no clue what these settings mean or do, but somehow it works for me.

Also, That signal strength indicator bar flashes while I am scanning and hearing audio and I only have 1/5 bars but I am getting crystal clear audio so I feel it is deceiving.