Scanner for San Diego

[shadow925]

First time post. Been reading quite a bit on the forums but looking for some direct opinions on SD.

I'm currently using an old Pro-93 analog trunking scanner to monitor SD City Police. I'm aware that at some point they'll change to the 700MHz P25 system at which time I'll need to upgrade.

My question is whether there's any reason to upgrade now to be prepared and maybe find some other interesting digital traffic to monitor in the interim? I've seen the Unication pagers which I like for their size, performance and battery life (from what I've read), but they apparently aren't compatible with much in SD at this time. Also took a look at the Uniden SD100 but reviews on P25 systems seem mixed in terms of performance.

For general monitoring in SD am I better of waiting until the 700MHz system is ironed out?

Thanks for comments.

 

[K6CDO]

I would sit tight for a few months. The City will be moving to their 700 system, yes; t will take tie for this to happen, so I expect both the 800 and 700 systems will be carrying the same audio during the transition. Also, the RCS will be going P25 later next year. Holding off allows the firmware bugs in the SDS100, etc., new radios to be worked out.

 

[shadow925]

Thanks for the response. That's pretty much what I as thinking. After reading of the audio issues with some of the simulcast P25 systems, even with the new SD100 I"d like to wait to know what works well on the new SD system.

Speaking of simulcast P25, will the new SD system fall into that category? The database doesn't call it simulcast but I noted 5 radio towers in the region.

Thanks again.

 

[K6CDO]

Yes, the City's 700 MHz system is simulcast.

 

[scannermike11]

or you sould wait for thr new Whistler

or you should see what the new Whistler has later this year

 

[shadow925]

Based on that I might pick up a Unication G4. That seems to be the winner for simulcast P25 from what I've read.

 

[Anderegg]

The Unications will not do digital or even the current RCS system, only the newer Phase I and II systems.

I can tell you that for SD City 700Mhz, I have terrible simulcast decoding issues on the 996XT and TRX2...the Whistler WS1098 and 1088 decode much clearer, but unknown how they will work on the NextGen RCS Phase II LSM.

Paul

 

[shadow925]

Thanks for the info Anderegg. Do you know of anyone whose used a G4/G5 on the SD City 700Mhz system to see if it solves the simulcast issues? Reading around the forums I haven't seen any reports from SD.

I'm thinking of picking one up to play around with other systems and to prepare for the pending move to 700Mhz.

 

[K6CDO]

I think that, until we get a few Phase II users on the Next Gen system in a couple of years, we all won't know. That is why I suggested holding off for a bit to see what firmware updates are released (based on other user experiences around the country).

 

[shadow925]

Yeah, the more I read about the Unication's the more limitations I see. The things are like are the compact size and long battery life but they may achieve that by being less flexible in modes, bands and scanner-like features.

The Uniden SDS100 is what got me thinking about upgrading my gear, but I've read that the battery only lasts around 2.5 hours and the future extended version maybe 5 or so. I wish there were better and more options beside Uniden and Whister to push the technology but I guess the market isn't big enough.

 

[Anderegg]

I think that, until we get a few Phase II users on the Next Gen system in a couple of years, we all won't know.

A couple of years...eek.

Could always put some garbage trucks on the system for testing...although they might run the repeaters to 120% duty cycle...they somehow are able to talk for 64 seconds every minute, it's scary. :-D

Paul

 

[K6CDO]

That's the beauty of the City's 700 MHz system We're going to be using essentially the same channels and migrating users after we test and accept the new infrastructure (with minimal disruption to the current network).

In other words, we're going to change the transmission and the tires while the vehicle is in motion.

 

[Anderegg]

Thanks for the info Anderegg. Do you know of anyone whose used a G4/G5 on the SD City 700Mhz system to see if it solves the simulcast issues? Reading around the forums I haven't seen any reports from SD.

I'm thinking of picking one up to play around with other systems and to prepare for the pending move to 700Mhz.

I don't know of anyone with a G4/5 in SD...I can't see someone buying one to just listen to the garbage truck drivers sing over the radio. And my previous comment about not doing digital, I meant they will not do analog trunking.

If you buy one used at a good price for testing on the 700MHz system, you could probably flip it back onto eBay for what you paid for it, or hang onto it further for the NextGen.

Paul

 

[shadow925]

OK. So I purchased a BCD436HP with an open-box discount from Amazon Just to check out what I've been missing on digital.

So far it seems pretty good but I do notice some garbled transmissions on the San Diego County system. Sometimes they sound great and others are completely unintelligible.

Coming from a simple direct entry scanner this one has a bit of a learning curve.

Thanks for all your input.

 

[Anderegg]

Are you monitoring your local site or a distant one? You can turn on the data display (MFK push VOL push FUN push VOL?) to see the ERROR rate...my 436 decoded pretty darn well.

Paul

 

[shadow925]

I have the radio currently set for all County sites and the threshold still on Auto. I'm trying to pay attention to whether the poor audio is site-specific or wide spread. When the audio is bad the ERR is 60 to over 100. Seems anything below 40 sounds OK.

I've been reading about how to manually set the threshold per system but not sure if that relates to each site or not.

 

[K6CDO]

Something to keep in mind: The simulcast sites have 2 or 3 transmit antennas, combining the 12, 19 or 20 channels in the cell. These antennas are located at different places on the tower at each site. So the signal level levels and clarity of the individual channel signal will vary at your location. This is why some channels will come in clear as a bell, while others from the same site may be received weak and/or garbled.

 

[Anderegg]

When you say you have it set up for all county sites...does that mean it is scanning all sites in that center portion of the screen? It is entirely possible that you are receiving a distant site when you are seeing the ERR 60 rate, as weak reception of the RCS will result in this amount of err on decode, simply because the scanner is not receiving all the bits at edge of range. Try copying the RCS system using the favorites menu on the scanner, and locking out all but the local site to you, and see how the performance is. ERR 60 is Uniden x96XT territory.

Paul