Sedgwick Country P25 threshold settings

[shocker81]

If you are like me I have been working for the last several months trying to find the perfect threshold settings for the Sedgwick County digital radio system provided by Cassidian communications. Of course we have all tried the default settings of Hi 95 Lo75 and we still had the dropouts and garbled communications. It has been very frustrating to say the least as I have put many hours into trying to find the right settings. I tried all different number settings trying to find the right combination of numbers that worked well together but I wasn't having much luck. I thought I had found it Saturday when I tried Hi 85 Lo 73 as it worked pretty well. Well I read on a post on here where somebody said that in the Wichita area the Lo number should be higher than 85 or 87 because of all the towers in the area. That was to help keep the signals from bouncing from one tower to another and causing the dropouts. So I took the writers advice and tried it. I had never put my Lo number on my RS Pro 106 or my RS Pro 197's that high. So I thought this weekend I would try it. So Sunday I put my threshold settings on Hi 99 Lo 99 just to see what would happen. I could not believe what was happening. After listening continuously for over 9 hours I had only 2 dropouts. So after having continuous dropouts this was a miracle. I would never have thought to put the settings at 99 but boy it works great. Now there is a little buzzing sound sometimes that sounds like it is trying to dropout but the settings are holding it tight and it will not let go of the transmission. I live in Haysville and I don't know where the closest tower is but I solved my problem. I have my settings at Hi 99 Lo 99 stat and check all control channels on my RS Pro 197's. I went driving around with my RS Pro 106 with the same settings and I had no dropouts at all. Now to find the perfect settings for Butler County and Reno County and the KSICS. Scanning has been a part of my life since I bought my very first scanner in 1970 which was the Regency 8 channel scanner with the 8 red lights on the front of it and you had to buy the crystals for what you wanted to listen to. Scanning will once again be enjoyable now that I have figured out the perfect threshold settings. I hope they work for everybody that tries them in their RS or Whistler or Gre radios. Good luck and have a good day.

 

[teufler]

good trick, good advice.

 

[JD21960]

Sedgwick County P25 Threshold Settings

Very good advice. I just got a Whistler WS1080 and have been wondering about those Multi-Site Threshold levels. I have videos on You Tube of the "new" WS1080 under my Johnny Dollar channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9tA1n1NRXLGUTINWXX1v_w

I wanted people to see what the scanner was capable of with the D2 TDMA talkgroup transmissions. The levels I had for the videos were the default of 64 DSP Level adapt and whatever the EZScan default settings are for MSthreshold, I hadn't changed those in the video. It makes sense that the simulcast would be less harmful with a higher threshold and many towers. Outside in my car *like the videos, I get almost no D2 TDMA dropouts. At home here is a different story. Besides many towers, simulcast for the StarCom21 IL statewide site, I also have a Cell tower barely 300yrds away and a fire department 2 doors south of them with a huge tower and many antennas on it. It took 2 weeks to get the optimal placement of the antenna, but room for improvement is always there. I'll have to give even higher threshold a try. I'm at 60 DSP level adapt and 80 lo and 99 high and don't have to attenuate the signals like before. Thanks for the advice. Btw... I listen to AM1330 KNSS on line a lot up here in Chicago when bad weather is in OK/KS areas, they have good coverage for storms. I'll be pulling for the Royals to go all the way too, even though I'm a White Sox fan. I miss the old scanner days too, changing crystals on the fly listening to an ISPERN Chase on my Radio Shack 4 channel hand-held in 1974 got me started.

 

[dgruver911]

shocker81...no joy up in Newton even with the threshold that high. Just get a rare syllable or 2 usually only on SO Patrol, but no readable traffic. Same as before. Do you have the TTables set on custom; if so what are those settings?

 

[shocker81]

TT Tables

The TT tables are on default. I did not expect everybody to have as good of luck as I have had with the settings if you are to far out of the area. I figure if you are in Sedgwick County it should work pretty good. I had my RS Pro 106 with me today as I was in Wichita and I went from Haysville to the Central and Woodlawn area and all of the way across town to Central and Ridge and back to Haysville and I had 0 dropouts. Normally I would have had probably 10 to 20 dropouts on some of the other threshold settings I have used in the past. It has done a complete 180 for my monitoring pleasure. When I mentioned the Whistler radios I was referring to the new radio's for RS from Whistler. I guess you will have to keep trying to find the right combination of Hi/Lo numbers for Harvey County. Good luck everybody.

 

[joeuser]

Glad you got it sorted. Up here in the sticks the default settings work for me on KSICS which is all I get. However, when I travel South I'll know what to do! Thanks for the info!

 

[shocker81]

Sedgwick County threshold settings

After doing some more testing with my mobile RS Pro 106 I have found some better settings for the mobile system. They are Hi 95 Lo 87. They seem to work really good but I think in a mobile environment there will never be a perfect pair of settings. But as far as at home the Hi 99 Lo 99 is working out great. I have my two RS Pro 2097's sitting by my recliner with the standard telescoping antenna's pushed all the way down and everything is working flawlessly. In the bedroom I have the two 2097's with the same settings only they are hooked up to my discone antenna that extends to about nine feet above my A frame house. Last night was the first night I had a chance to listen to them with these new settings and wow what a difference. I just hope that everybody just don't get frustrated and give up on their hobby because of this receiving problem. Just keep working on it and checking out new pairs of numbers until you find the right set that works for you. I know it is frustrating because I have been testing this out ever since Sedgwick County's system went online and I spent a lot of hours working on it and I almost gave up on it myself several times. But it turned into a challenge I decided I was not going to lose. But it was the post that I read on here that set me on the right direction and then I just did my own testing from there to find the right setting. Good luck everybody and I hope everybody finds the right settings for their listening enjoyment.

 

[fp5930]

Threshold Settings-Pro 106

I have tried different threshold settings as suggested in the earlier post, but where I live in northwest part of Wichita I am still not successful at receiving any of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Sheriff, Police, Fire or EMS communications, yet when I take my Pro 106 with me in my car it does quite well. I am looking for a fellow scanner buff who has a Pro 106 or a BCD436/536 who would be willing to come to my location and see if the problem is with my radio or if their radio has the same problem. I have been in the scanning hobby since 1975 and have always been able to listen to all local frequencies but it's been quiet at my residence since the system change in the last year.

Anybody willing to help?

 

[joeuser]

I have tried different threshold settings as suggested in the earlier post, but where I live in northwest part of Wichita I am still not successful at receiving any of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Sheriff, Police, Fire or EMS communications, yet when I take my Pro 106 with me in my car it does quite well. I am looking for a fellow scanner buff who has a Pro 106 or a BCD436/536 who would be willing to come to my location and see if the problem is with my radio or if their radio has the same problem. I have been in the scanning hobby since 1975 and have always been able to listen to all local frequencies but it's been quiet at my residence since the system change in the last year.

Anybody willing to help?

If you are using the same radio in the auto & at home - but you don't have problems in the car but you do at home. The radio isn't the issue, the home is. Not sure if you hook it up to another antenna or what, need more info...

 

[fp5930]

Threshold Settings-Pro 106

I failed to mention that my Pro 106 starts working about 2-3 miles from the house when I take it in the car. At home I have tried numerous antennas such as the stock antenna that came with the radio, stubby, telescopic, Radio Shack 800MHz, and other BNC antennas I have collected over the years. None make any difference where I live. I have two Pro 106 radios but I experience the same results with both. Very frustrating.

 

[joeuser]

I failed to mention that my Pro 106 starts working about 2-3 miles from the house when I take it in the car. At home I have tried numerous antennas such as the stock antenna that came with the radio, stubby, telescopic, Radio Shack 800MHz, and other BNC antennas I have collected over the years. None make any difference where I live. I have two Pro 106 radios but I experience the same results with both. Very frustrating.

Sounds like you're in a dead spot. Might want to erect an antenna, if you can't get it confirmed

 

[I_am_Alpha1]

fp5930:

Pro-106, handheld scanner--let me guess, you put in on the seat next to you when it's in the car? Inside of a vehicle reduces reception severely--that's why it is working. Simulcast is the issue and when in the car the signal is blocked from distant towers allowing only 1 or 2 in and thus your radio receives. You are definitely not in a dead zone and DO NOT need a bigger antenna. You have to try different places in the house--not by a window. You want a line of sight to 1 tower only and the house blocking the rest. The stock antenna should work--or even a VHF antenna or no antenna could be tried. This is opposite of what most people think, but you are getting too many signals and attenuation is not going to fix it--poor signal reception may help though.

And yes, it is very frustrating and, like many many others in Wichita, you may be stuck with what you got.

 

[dgruver911]

While I'm burning up some unused vacation time this week, I am determined to try to figure out how to pick up the Sedgwick County system from Newton. I am using a Pro-197 with ARC500 software; an HG base antenna up 30 feet on the east side of Newton. Right now I have threshold settings at 97 and 87, TT tables at default, and am not hearing a thing, even though it shows 5 bars on signal. Going to keep tweaking and see where it gets me. Y'all send some good karma my way, please!

 

[dgruver911]

So far, it's not looking promising...I'm just about through my final pass of threshold and multi-site combinations, But thus far I've not heard a single transmission from Sedgwick County. I did discover that when I manually step through the frequencies, you can hear traffic, so I KNOW the scanner is picking up the system, but at a loss to understand why it refuses to decode talkgroups. Works just fine on the KSICS system...

 

[dgruver911]

Well, I guess I'm conceding defeat. No amount of tweaking would pick up anything in Newton. Had to go to Wichita today so I threw the same Pro-197 with factory telescoping antenna (fully retracted) in the car and headed south. Was all over Wichita north of Kellogg from one side to the other and with thresholds at 99/90, the signal in the city was nearly perfect. Started back north and it remained loud, clear and consistent up to 85th St N, which is about 3 miles further north than I usually hear them. But then it was like flipping a switch. Heard tiny bits and pieces up to the County Line, pulled over and tweaked the threshold settings a bit, without luck. Once I continued north into Harvey County, the silence ruled. FWIW...

 

[joeuser]

That's weird...

 

[Redneck0410]

Well, I guess I'm conceding defeat. No amount of tweaking would pick up anything in Newton. Had to go to Wichita today so I threw the same Pro-197 with factory telescoping antenna (fully retracted) in the car and headed south. Was all over Wichita north of Kellogg from one side to the other and with thresholds at 99/90, the signal in the city was nearly perfect. Started back north and it remained loud, clear and consistent up to 85th St N, which is about 3 miles further north than I usually hear them. But then it was like flipping a switch. Heard tiny bits and pieces up to the County Line, pulled over and tweaked the threshold settings a bit, without luck. Once I continued north into Harvey County, the silence ruled. FWIW...

Not to drag up an old thread, but I have been doing some setting tweaks for the Sedgwick Co system, as well as KSICS and McPherson Co. So far I have had some limited success with the threshold settings at 1 low and 99 high. Now, I am at least getting traffic here in Hutch where I wasn't before. That might change the closer to Wichita I get (if I get over that way). Don, those settings may work for you if you're still trying to nab them on your 197. I realize the settings may not be perfect but that is what has worked for me.

-Shawn

 

[teufler]

Exactly what do the numbers do. I'm using a 396xt, settings p25 adjust mode, I have played with setting from 3 to 99, changes are slight if any. p25 adjust level from 50 -199, changes maybe but hard to tell. Just what do the changes attempt to do, or what would I hear with changes. Besides it might sound better, what am I trying to improve with the adjust mode and adjust level.

 

[Redneck0410]

I'm not sure how that would work on the Uniden line. The front-end receive on those are a little more sensitive than with the RS line. I had my 652 sitting side-by-side with my 106, both with stock BOS antennae when I performed this impromptu experiment. Adjusted the settings on the 652 to the levels mentioned before, left the 106 alone at 70 and 95. 652 started squawking, 106 was silent. Switched settings to the 106 and put the 652 on 70 and 95. Now both are on 1 and 99 and they both get traffic from Wichita. I used to only be able to just start getting them once I got to around Haven. I think it makes the scanner a little more sensitive to fringe P25 signals. Your mileage may vary, this is what has (so far anyway) worked for me.

-Shawn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[teufler]

The Wichita antennas are probably a fan design and aimed towards the city, rather than omni directional. That might explain the rapid drop off as we come out of the city.