Hermitage PD?

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teck73

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Hermitage PD Dispatch Frequency

Hi Scott,
I know this is a 2 year old thread, but I just wanted to get it out into the universe that the
Hermitage Police Department appears to be using 453.4875 as their Dispatch frequency.
I have been listening to them off and on for a few days now using SDR#, and DSD with pretty
good results considering that I'm over in Grove City. Obviously they're using NXDN.
They have a couple of other frequencies in the FCC database including the old 460.3000,
but I haven't heard any activity on them so far.
Most of the frequency lists still list 460.3000 as current, and since I'm new to the Forums here
I don't have a clue as to how to change that, so I figured I'd post it here.
Cheers
Dave
 
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Hello Dave

Thanks Dave. They changes over almost 2 years ago in July. If you wouldn't none could you PM me Dave? I would like to ask you a few questions about Decoding that system. I live just outside of Hermitage and miss listening to them. I can't believe you pick them up over in Grove City as I can't pick up Grove City PD at all over here and I have a outdoor antenna. Go figure....
 

teck73

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Private messaging

Hmmm. I'm not seeing any way to send a PM on here. It may be because I have too few posts?
Any suggestions?

I've been using RR passively for years, but only recently bothered to sign up and start posting.

In the meantime make sure you're using 460.23750 for Grove City PD.
I'm pretty sure they're on repeater, but at the very least, you should be able to hear the dispatch center.

As for Hermitage, I'm using one of those Realtek RTL2832U Tuner Dongles and SDR# as a receiver, which is fed into DSD through Virtual Cable. I've been using my amplified TV antenna mostly because the Coax has the right connector on it. It's a pretty common setup, but it did require a faster computer and about a week of fiddling for me to work out the bugs enough to hear real speech from the speakers. It's a real feeling of accomplishment when that happens though.

There's a lot of geeky stuff that had to be done, and what works for me may not work for others, but I'll try to answer your questions if I can, and if I can figure out the PM thing.

Dave
 

csv

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hermitage pd

beside the "geeky" stuff.....how can we hear the hear Hermitage PD........thank you
 

teck73

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Geeky

This is from the NEXEDGE (NXDN) Wiki:

"No scanner can monitor this digital format by itself but it can be monitored with DSD - Digital Speech Decoder."

So it looks like "geeky" is the only way to go for now csv.
 

teck73

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"non-geeky" way

Now that I think about it, I suppose the "non-geeky" way to do it would be to buy a commercial Icom or Kenwood NXDN radio and pick them up that way. A little too pricey for my tastes though.

At least it's not trunked, so it's still scan-able with a regular scanner. You'd just have to tap the scanner and run it through DSD.

Looks like Sharpsville switched over to NXDN, and Sharon may be headed that way, so that may end up being the only way to monitor the Valley.
 
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Now that I think about it, I suppose the "non-geeky" way to do it would be to buy a commercial Icom or Kenwood NXDN radio and pick them up that way.

Correct me if I am wrong but let's just say one was to just run out and buy themselves a Commercial Kenwood NXDN Radio, so now ya have it but wouldn't you need someone to program the system info into the radio so you could listen to who or what you want to hear? I don't think anyone using this type of system would agree to allowing this to happen. After all they made the decision to go this route so we into the scanner hobby can't listen in the first place, right?
 

teck73

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I'm pretty new to the digital stuff so I could be wrong, but since they're not using any kind of trunking
I think it's just a matter of turning the radio on, and there you are.

Digital NXDN is just a "mode" like AM or FM. There may be variations between the
Icom and the Kenwood versions, so it might be necessary to have the right brand radio though.

Also, I think I've read where some digital scanners need to be "tweaked" on certain digital formats.
(all part of the setup programming) to get the decoding just right, so something like that might be needed.

This is all off the top of my head though, so I may be way off base.
 
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I'm pretty new to the digital stuff so I could be wrong, but since they're not using any kind of trunking
I think it's just a matter of turning the radio on, and there you are.

Digital NXDN is just a "mode" like AM or FM. There may be variations between the
Icom and the Kenwood versions, so it might be necessary to have the right brand radio though.

Also, I think I've read where some digital scanners need to be "tweaked" on certain digital formats.
(all part of the setup programming) to get the decoding just right, so something like that might be needed.

This is all off the top of my head though, so I may be way off base.

In order to use a scanner to pick up NXDN you need to add a discriminator tap to the scanner. I think I spelled that correct. You then hook the scanner to the computer by way of the sound card input and run DSD software.
 

teck73

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Affirmative on the tap for a scanner listening to NXDN.
As far as the tweaking goes, I was using the scanner procedure for another digital type I read about as an example of what might need done to a comercial NXDN radio to get it to line up with an existing system. It might not even be an issue though. Sometimes I'm as clear as mud. Sorry.
DSD has something called "jitter" built into it that does this automatically as it's receiving. I've noticed the audio gets better with time.
 
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n3obl

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Now all this is assuming that they did not enable the encryption. Even the basic encryption that is in every nexedge radio would render dsd useless.

Frank
 

teck73

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This is a pretty simple system Frank. It's a standard repeater type setup using NXDN as their modulation, an not trunked.
If they have encryption available to them, they aren't using it. At least not when I've been listening. I admit I'm not monitoring constantly. I've just been experimenting around with DSD here and there to get it working. But I have heard quite a bit on their frequency, 453.4875, all in the clear and referencing their unit numbers, (301, 303, etc.) and landmarks in Hermitage.
 

w3sax

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Hermitage PD NXDN

Hi Guys,

I too am trying to monitor Hermitage and now the surrounding valley agencies. I have a VERY limited experience with this. But, I downloaded the DSD software and I've run the suggested cable from the discriminator tap on my radio. However, my DSD software does not recognize and decode anything except for some stray P25 on other frequencies.

Do you guys have any suggestions for tweaking the DSD so that I can monitor the Hermitage PD? I think I'm just missing something in the software settings. TIA!
 

teck73

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w3sax,
I've never tried the discriminator tap method, so I have limited knowledge here.
Are you getting data scrolling in DSD at all?
I'm not sure if you're having an input problem, (data not getting from the scanner to DSD), or a decoding problem, which is usually a volume input level problem. Are you getting garbled audio out, or nothing at all?
I'm curious too. You said "suggested cable", and "the discriminator tap on my radio".
Does your radio come stock with a tap?, and what do you mean by suggested cable?
Sometimes these things affect performance.
 

w3sax

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I get data in other modes...not NXDN, although I did get one data row during the day for nxdn. I wasn't home at the time, so I'm not sure what frequency it was on.

I have set the radio on the Hermitage new frequency, but DSD does absolutely nothing. Which NXDN mode is it? 48 or 96?

I made a cable with a 10k-ohm resistor in it, but a cable without seems to work better. My Pro-2006 has a discriminator tap built on the back - factory.

I have at least been getting some garbled audio in DMR/MOTOTRBO on other frequencies. I get nothing on Hermitage at all.
 

teck73

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If it were me, I'd try setting the radio to 463.88750. That's the Staley TRIConnex New Castle control channel/voice frequency. It's a pretty strong signal (at least for me), and it broadcasts continuously, even when no one is talking. That makes it easier to tweak. At that point, DSD should have something scrolling on it continuously. If it does, try adjusting your input volume (line in) in windows until the inlvl: % reading in DSD is in the upper teens to mid or upper 20's. This seems the best for me, but yours might be different. Many people tend to overdrive the audio, which leads to it not working.
If your not getting continuous data scrollig in DSD, then you're probably having an issue with the tap. These work best feeding into the line in jack on the computer, (not the mic), and that has to be set as the default recording device in Windows. The only real tweak I'm aware of is getting the inlvl% set right. The tap quality seems to vary by radio, so that's a real wildcard. I don't nave any experience with that so I can't help there, but there are MANY posts on RR about them. There also may settings on your particular radio that could be tweaked.
I had to wait and listen for a while till Hermitage keyed up to verify that DSD says they are using -NXDN96. I've never had to do anything special to lock it into that though.
When I run DSD, I usually have to run it inverted using the -xr switch. This is just because of the way mine is set up. Yours may be different, but if your getting continuous garbled audio, try switching to inverted. I do this using a batch file to launch it. The command lines being:
dsd160.exe -xr
pause
The audio is slightly garbled at first until DSD fine tunes it.
I'm still in the learning phase myself so take this all for what it's worth.
I hope it helps a little.
 

w3sax

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Thanks so much for the helpful information!

I will try your suggestions with that New Castle frequency and see if I can dial it in! I'm beginning to wonder if my computer is too slow - it's old. I might need more processor power in order to get intelligible audio.

Thanks for helping out!! I'll keep you posted!

PS - Have we ever met? I don't remember your call. Are you on the air much?
 

w3sax

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If it were me, I'd try setting the radio to 463.88750. That's the Staley TRIConnex New Castle control channel/voice frequency. It's a pretty strong signal (at least for me), and it broadcasts continuously, even when no one is talking. That makes it easier to tweak. At that point, DSD should have something scrolling on it continuously. If it does, try adjusting your input volume (line in) in windows until the inlvl: % reading in DSD is in the upper teens to mid or upper 20's. This seems the best for me, but yours might be different. Many people tend to overdrive the audio, which leads to it not working.
If your not getting continuous data scrollig in DSD, then you're probably having an issue with the tap. These work best feeding into the line in jack on the computer, (not the mic), and that has to be set as the default recording device in Windows. The only real tweak I'm aware of is getting the inlvl% set right. The tap quality seems to vary by radio, so that's a real wildcard. I don't nave any experience with that so I can't help there, but there are MANY posts on RR about them. There also may settings on your particular radio that could be tweaked.
I had to wait and listen for a while till Hermitage keyed up to verify that DSD says they are using -NXDN96. I've never had to do anything special to lock it into that though.
When I run DSD, I usually have to run it inverted using the -xr switch. This is just because of the way mine is set up. Yours may be different, but if your getting continuous garbled audio, try switching to inverted. I do this using a batch file to launch it. The command lines being:
dsd160.exe -xr
pause
The audio is slightly garbled at first until DSD fine tunes it.
I'm still in the learning phase myself so take this all for what it's worth.
I hope it helps a little.

Thanks! Tried your suggestion with the New Castle frequency and I did get good data to scroll in DSD. Still getting zero luck getting anything to come up on the screen when I hear transmission on the hermitage frequency (or any other Mercer County frequency, either). 453.4875, right? Maybe my Pro-2006 scanner does not process the audio correctly or something. Hmmm...
 

teck73

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453.4875 is the right frequency for Hermitage. I can also verify activity on 460.4000 but it must be a bit too weak for me, since all I got was semi-garbled audio. There's also some analog FM on there too but it was too weak to make out as well.
If you're getting good data on the New Castle frequency, you should stick around on it for a while. It's pretty active during the day so you should hear some audio in fairly short order. You can use that to tweak the inlvl% setting, and as proof that it's set up right. I'm not sure who all uses that system as some of the talkgroup ID numbers I've seen aren't yet listed in RR. You should eventually hear Noga Ambulance though.
If you have your radio scanning, you might try letting it just sit on the Hermitage freq. DSD might lock quicker that way. Just a thought. Other than that, I'd be looking closely at the tap.
Just for my education, what kind of radio are you using?

Edit:
Oops. I just noticed you said it was a Pro-2006 scanner. Guess I should read all the way to the end.
I found this webpage after a quick search:
http://ukradioscanning.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=179
It shows 3 different ways to tap a Pro-2006. "Version 2" mentioned something about the discriminator output having a small IF compononent that needs filtering out, so that could possibly be an issue.

Edit #2:
I guess I should read back some too. I have an older slower laptop, and it still spits out audio when DSD tells it to, but the audio is completely distorted and unintelligable. It basically cuts out when the processor goes around 100% usage (which is all the time). What I'm trying to say is it should still spit out some kind of garbled audio, even if it's too slow. I could be wrong about that though. How fast is your computer? Dual core works best, but my 1.3gHz Celeron will still spit out garble.
I went and got my HAM license a while back mostly just to prove to myself that I could do it. Unfortunately relative poverty has kept me from buying a rig and getting on the air, so I'm relegated to the listening portion of the hobby for now.
 
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