WS1080: Put WS1080 Back in the Box

[hth999]

Bought this WS1080 off of Amazon about 2 months ago. It has wonderful audio, but is a very poor performer, in my opinion for multi sites using P25 phase 1. All I hear is Donald Duck. Most times I will turn on the scanner and I will get several " hits " sometimes with good copy, and then nothing! Screen looks like it's actively scanning, but I get nothing. It will run that way for a hour, still nothing. If I press the menu button then start the scan again, bingo!!, I get several "hits " again.....then nothing. I have tried changing the DAC gain, ADC gain, and DSPLevelAdapt so many times, I can't count that high. I have put in a good 20 plus hrs trying to figure this out. The wife is annoyed, so it went back in the box. I pull out my 436, and Viola! instant satisfaction. Good copy on P25 ( not as good audio ) nothing garbled, no Donald Duck. I am now a Happy Man. I even tried to L/0 certain sites and frequencies, again no luck....also I even tried each site individually, again, no luck. Has anyone had this experience before?
I still don't want to give up on it, but I am kinda irritated with this scanner.
Have WS1040 WS1065, GRE 500. All work okay, except this 1080.

Anything I might have missed? Pinellas County, Florida. Sorry for some negative comments, but can someone suggest something? Hal

 

[TAbirdman]

have you tried turning on attenuation?

 

[InlandAZ]

I had a similar experience with my PRO-668 - very frustrating. If the Whistler radio behaves anything like the RS version, you can change the ADC gain all you want in the software, but it never makes it to the radio when you upload the configuration. It has to be manually set in the scanner itself.

Setting the gain to any value other than zero (-1 to +2) has greatly improved my audio.

 

[baayers]

Bought this WS1080 off of Amazon about 2 months ago. It has wonderful audio, but is a very poor performer, in my opinion for multi sites using P25 phase 1. All I hear is Donald Duck. Most times I will turn on the scanner and I will get several " hits " sometimes with good copy, and then nothing! Screen looks like it's actively scanning, but I get nothing. It will run that way for a hour, still nothing. If I press the menu button then start the scan again, bingo!!, I get several "hits " again.....then nothing. I have tried changing the DAC gain, ADC gain, and DSPLevelAdapt so many times, I can't count that high. I have put in a good 20 plus hrs trying to figure this out. The wife is annoyed, so it went back in the box. I pull out my 436, and Viola! instant satisfaction. Good copy on P25 ( not as good audio ) nothing garbled, no Donald Duck. I am now a Happy Man. I even tried to L/0 certain sites and frequencies, again no luck....also I even tried each site individually, again, no luck. Has anyone had this experience before?
I still don't want to give up on it, but I am kinda irritated with this scanner.
Have WS1040 WS1065, GRE 500. All work okay, except this 1080.

Anything I might have missed? Pinellas County, Florida. Sorry for some negative comments, but can someone suggest something? Hal

Unfortunately I experienced the same results that you have when I was there a couple of months ago. I made numerous adjustments to all settings with no resolution. I have to second what you said about the 436s reception as about 90% of what it received was clear. I found a couple of places throughout the county where the 1080 did OK but in the majority of areas the simulcast did it in. I actually ended up with two different problems where I was staying. If the attenuator was off the scanner was being severely overloaded by cell phone towers If I turned it on I received more traffic but just like you a big majority sounded like Donald duck due to simulcast. Using a stubby race antenna and adjusting the settings I was able to get a full copy about 50% of the time but that was as good as I could get it. Based on your original post the only things I can think to recommend is to make sure you've tried the attenuator and to see if a stubby antenna might assist.

Just curious but what part of the county are you in? When I was there I was staying with a friend in Largo near the corner of E. Bay Dr. and Belcher.

 

[hth999]

Yes, I have. I have attenuated the site and or the trunked site. Makes no difference. Did this in EZ Scan software. Thanks for your reply.

 

[hth999]

InlandAZ.....Did not know that. Thanks for the suggestion. My 1080 was at 0, which I think is the default. I just changed the ADC gain to -2. I figured I would start at that point. i think in my area, I need to reduce the gain. We will see what happens, but thank you.

 

[baayers]

Yes, I have. I have attenuated the site and or the trunked site. Makes no difference. Did this in EZ Scan software. Thanks for your reply.

Have you tried engaging the global attenuator directly from the scanner by pressing the ATT button until GA appears at the top of the screen?

 

[hth999]

Yes, I tried engaging the GA. It did not seem to help. I just get the old Donald Duck sounds. Sometimes I can find a " sweet spot " in the condo. I never did try the " rubber duckie " antenna that came with the scanner. It's only about 5 inches, but I put it on, and the scanner is actually working better. It's still not great, but maybe I am recovering about 60 % of the transmissions. In my case, I think less antenna is better. I suspect strong FMBCB.......there are 2 stations that put out +60 in my area. I may need an FM trap. The 1080 may be overloaded. One last comment, I actually took off the antenna, and put a paper clip in the slot where the BNC fits. It actually worked!, so again, I think the P25 transmissions are very strong. I'm sure overloading is the issue. I think Whistler produces a radio with basically no front end, and is extremely sensitive. Good in a rural are, bad in an urban environment. If you stayed in Largo, I am the next town south, which is Seminole, just a few miles away. hth999

 

[baayers]

Yes, I tried engaging the GA. It did not seem to help. I just get the old Donald Duck sounds. Sometimes I can find a " sweet spot " in the condo. I never did try the " rubber duckie " antenna that came with the scanner. It's only about 5 inches, but I put it on, and the scanner is actually working better. It's still not great, but maybe I am recovering about 60 % of the transmissions. In my case, I think less antenna is better. I suspect strong FMBCB.......there are 2 stations that put out +60 in my area. I may need an FM trap. The 1080 may be overloaded. One last comment, I actually took off the antenna, and put a paper clip in the slot where the BNC fits. It actually worked!, so again, I think the P25 transmissions are very strong. I'm sure overloading is the issue. I think Whistler produces a radio with basically no front end, and is extremely sensitive. Good in a rural are, bad in an urban environment. If you stayed in Largo, I am the next town south, which is Seminole, just a few miles away. hth999

I'm very familiar with the Seminole area. I lived in the area for about six years before I made the move westward to California. I do agree with your less is better thoughts on the antenna. The RS 800 because of all the simulcast ends up being worse than the stock antenna. The stubby race antenna I was mentioning before when it comes to reception is probably about the same level as a paperclip and about 1-2 inches long. Quite often I find the RS ones on eBay for about 3–4 dollars. I have been quite a few places where this was the only antenna that would work. To say simulcast distortion is a pain would be a major understatement. It really makes me miss the old Motorola analog system and how easy it was to monitor. Lastly on the subject of FM signals 98.7 has a 50,000 Watt transmitter near the intersection of Park BLVD and 128th so FM issues in your area would not be a surprise.

 

[hth999]

98.7 is I believe is the strongest FM station. I know where your talking about. I live less than 2 miles from there. Another FM station is 92.5, Spanish. I looked it up on radio-locator, and the transmitter was the same one. I think they use that tower for both 50K stations. At least that's what the map grid showed.
Anyway your idea of a Race antenna is a good one. I'll check out Ebay. Perhaps a 3 inch antenna will do a decent job. Thanks for your comments, it's appreciated. hth999