396t Mobile p25 trunking (Sydney)

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astro_boy

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Joined
Aug 7, 2008
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35
Location
Sydney, Aust
Hi All,
I have a 396t setup in my car with a small external antenna scanning the p25 trunking network here in Sydney but I'm seeing a few issues with this.
The only way i could see to programing the scanner was to make a new system for each tower which works well outside of the city where only a few towers cover a larger area.

But when i enter into the city itself where there are many transmission towers i start seeing issues where the radio is locking onto the first tower it picks up and more then often has minimal (0 - 1 bars) of signal.
I'm constantly manually forcing the radio to continue to scan where it will then find a tower in range with great signal and i can continue to monitor.


What i want to know, is there any way to set to squelch on trunking networks ?
The standard way of adjusting this doesn't appear to make any difference.

I've considered upgrading to a model that supports a GPS and setup each site the same but with the GPS information entered, but im not convinced this will help.
I often notice some areas that are built up can receive signal better from a tower further away then the actual closest.

Any comments on this would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.
 

n4yek

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Joined
Apr 20, 2004
Messages
2,506
Location
Newport, Tennessee
As you have described and already are doing, making a system for each tower site and turning them on or off will be the only way you will be able to control which towers the 396T will scan.
The squelch setting is for the radio and not capable of being set for each system so that won't help you there.

You best bet would be to get a GPS supported scanner, like you have said.
 

astro_boy

Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
35
Location
Sydney, Aust
I'm using a 2dbi glass mount antenna tuned to the center frequency of the trunking network with about 1.5m coax.
The antenna isn't the issue, it works great when i manually select a tower or if i'm scanning a uhf PMR network.

Thanks N4yek, after doing some research I've run into my next problem if i do go to upgrade.
Running the GPS and remote head that's on the dash (radio in boot) of the car at the same time cannot be done with the 396xt which is very unfortunate !
Possibly i'll have to go for a 996 and lose my portability.

There must be a way to get the two accessories working at the same time, I'm going to have to do some more searching around.

At the moment i might just have to live with how its currently setup.
 
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