BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Digital Transmissions

[teebee]

I am trying to monitor the Orange County Texas which is listed in the DB as a Motorola Type II Smartnet Analog system. They are linked to the Jefferson county (Beaumont) Southeast Texas Regional Radio System which is a Motorola Type II SmartZone Analog and APCO-25.

I programmed my 436hp using Sentinel software from the DB. I have no issues monitoring the Jefferson county system, however the Orange county system is the issue. The analogs id's work fine, as for as the digital id's that is linked from the Jefferson System is the problem I am having. I can hear transmissions most of the time then all of a sudden they start going digital. Sometimes you hear one side of the transmission clearly then the second side goes digital and at times both are clear. When the transmissions appear the screen display does show P25.

I have checked all settings on the scanner that should allow the digital transmission. Is there anything I can do to set this to be able to hear them without the digital sound.

I can hear the same id on the Jefferson APCO-25 system without any issues

 

[jonwienke]

Something isn't programmed right. You cannot mix P25 and analog Motorola in a single system. If you add frequencies from the digital system to the analog system, the scanner will interpret any signals on those frequencies as analog, and you will hear the digital static.

The systems must be programmed separately, regardless of the fact that they have talkgroups patched between them.

 

[troymail]

Something isn't programmed right. You cannot mix P25 and analog Motorola in a single system. If you add frequencies from the digital system to the analog system, the scanner will interpret any signals on those frequencies as analog, and you will hear the digital static.

The systems must be programmed separately, regardless of the fact that they have talkgroups patched between them.

Actually, on the old Motorola (non P25) systems, you DO / can have mixed analog and P25 voice ...

Example:

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=187

 

[jonwienke]

I misread the OP, and thought the problem was with the Smartnet system (which is analog only) and a separate P25-only system.

On a hybrid analog/P25 SmartZone system, there's not much you can do. The scanner can't assume the signal is digital or analog, and has to look at each transmission on a case-by-case basis. You can try tweaking the Digital Waiting Time setting to cut down on the digital noise, but at the cost of cutting off part of the beginning of each transmission. For example, if you set it to 400 milliseconds, the first 400 milliseconds of every transmission will be cut off, but you're less likely to hear digital noise at the beginning of transmissions.

It sounds like your reception is marginal, and the scanner is struggling to determine whether the transmission is digital or analog in a timely manner. What antenna are you using?

 

[phask]

If I'm reading the correct system - it looks like it maybe a Simulcast site as well /(depending on your location).

What that means - reception/decoding may/or may not be a crapshoot - especially if your reception is marginal.

Question - how did you program it? Enter it all manually or append from the Sentinel database?

 

[teebee]

I did append it. Reception is pretty good. I did program it as two different systems. It is set at 400 ms.

Whats odd is the Motorola Type II SmartZone Analog and APCO-25 for Jefferson County is further away than the Analog Orange County system. Keep in mind the APCO-25 system id's are always in the clear.

Its the Analog system using the same digital id's thats having issues. Here is another twist to it. Not all of the digital ID's are doing this only certain ones and there are some that happen more than others. The orange county system does not appear to be simulcasted to Jefferson. Two separate systems in two different counties in the DB. Actually the id's are tagged in the Jefferson County system DB. They are not listed and tagged in the orange County system DB. I can simply monitor them from both systems. I can only hear Jefferson at night. Orange all day and night