996P2 lousy performance on P25.

[Justintime1989]

Anybody having issues with 996P2 and 325P2 on P25 systems? Mine only detrunk about half the traffic on San Diego County RCS and City of San Diego 700Mhz systems. And half the time the audio is so garbled can't understand anything. Sorry I bought the scanners.

 

[buddrousa]

I see you are trying to listen to a SIMULCAST SYSTEM these scanners are not designed to work on these type systems the only scanners that are designed are the Uniden SDS100 SDS200 series Scanners. You need to learn about SIMULCAST RADIO SYSTEMS.

 

[Ronaldski]

Make sure you have the latest firmware in them, Menu, Settings, See scanner info, Firmware Version.
1.08.01 is the latest for them and they made improvements. Out of the box I generally see 1.06 firmware.

ScannerManuals < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

info.uniden.com

Another is on P25 Threshold setting.

 

[buddrousa]

The OP is trying to hear 2 Different type systems a BEAM, Paper Clip ect may only work for 1 system so you can end up with a 1 system scanner buy a second scanner do the same thing now you have spent more money buying 2 scanners that only do 1 system each and you could have a SDS scanner that does both systems plus everything else in the area. It is like moving a very large dirt pile with a pickup several trips or buy a dump truck and make one trip.

 

[maus92]

Anybody having issues with 996P2 and 325P2 on P25 systems? Mine only detrunk about half the traffic on San Diego County RCS and City of San Diego 700Mhz systems. And half the time the audio is so garbled can't understand anything. Sorry I bought the scanners.

Using scanners not specifically designed to receive P25 simulcast radio systems is a crapshoot. You *could* be one of the lucky individuals that live very close to a tower transmit site that will overwhelm the signals from all the other simulcast tower sites. In this case, your radio(s) will perform satisfactorily. If you live more or less equal-distant from two or more tower sites, you will likely experience what you have described. There are only two scanners currently on the market that can perform the necessary signal processing to receive P25 simulcast, and they are the Uniden SDS100 and SDS200. Unication G4/G5 pagers are also good choices, but are somewhat limited in other capabilities compared to a scanning receiver. Finally, you can buy good quality USB RTL-SDR receivers that can receive P25 simulcast systems, however they require a computer to run the software, thus are not particularly portable. I own all these solutions, and they do work. Note that I sold my 996P2 and 436 because they performed poorly on our statewide P25P2 simulcast system.

 

[K4EET]

Justintime1989, please don't give up just yet. First, did you read about the Splinter Systems that San Diego County RCS and City of San Diego are on this webpage:

San Diego County, California (CA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for San Diego County, California (CA)

www.radioreference.com

Then there are some encrypted talkgroups and if you scan them, they will not be inteligible. You will want to Permanently Avoid the "DE" talkgroups under San Diego County Sheriff's Department Talkgroups on this page if you have them programmed:

San Diego-Imperial County RCS NextGen Trunking System, Various, California

San Diego-Imperial County RCS NextGen Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Finally, while it is easy to say that your woes are solely caused by listening to a Simulcast System where the ones and zeros wind up at your scanner a little out of sync and your scanners cannot "fix" that whereas the SDS100/SDS200 can handle that a little better (but still will not be 100% perfect), here is what I would suggest that you do. Take your scanners with you in your car and drive to some widely varying locations. Make some of those locations near the edge of the coverage area where you hopefully will only be receiving from one transmitter site. Do you or do you not still have garbled transmissions? Theoretically, if it is Simulcast Distortion causing this, you should be able to find some locations that everything works as it should. You just have to be in a coverage area that is being covered by ONLY one transmitter site. If you have distortion occurring in an area where only a single transmitter site is being received, something else is at play here.

Sooooooo... I hope that makes a little sense. I also hope that you can find the time to do some real testing. Spend a day driving around and document where you were and how the transmissions sounded. Was it all talkgroups or just a few? Was it one particular agency? Did going to the fringe make the reception any better? And try a bunch of fringe areas so that you hopefully are only receiving one transmitter site. Only then can you really determine whether or not the high-end scanners are going to make a difference.

Hope this helps... Dave K4EET

 

[maus92]

The SDS100 / 200 are far superior in receiving P25 digital simulcast radio systems than the 996P2 in my direct experience. Hands down. No question.

 

[Robertolson]

I Use a Uniden SDS 200 in my Big Rig with a mag mount Larson tri band Antenna, when I make my Deliveries in The San Diego area......... I'm getting excellent performance......... all Next Gen / San Diego City..... P25 .....crystal Clear.

only issue i'm having is on the North Comm System...... some (Ground Units) come in a little over Modulated, no Big deal very minor.

The Uniden 536 - 436 - 996p2 - 325P2 all are (fantastic Scanners)..... on Analog trunking / Conventional..... They do Digital P25....... but.............unfortunately....... Not that Good.

The Uniden 200 is expensive........ you are not paying all that money on the Eye candy Display ......... the SDS 200/100 use a special Digital decoding (unlike The 996p2) on the P25 Systems........ in my experience is night & Day difference on P25 Systems .......... San Diego turned into the State of Ohio overnight ........Good Luck

 

[Robertolson]

Also I like to point out...... some times I bring my 996P2 with me instead of the SDS 200..... The 996p2 does pretty good (not perfect) on the small single site P25 systems, like South Bay Fire - Culver city - Santa Monica - verdugo Fire P25 - camp pendleton fire P25 ......as long as I'm in there town.

When you start to get into multi sites systems / Simulcast (sites are far apart) like San Bernardino P25 - OC p25 - San Diego P25....The SDS 200 is King.

 

[maus92]

Also I like to point out...... some times I bring my 996P2 with me instead of the SDS 200..... The 996p2 does pretty good (not perfect) on the small single site P25 systems, like South Bay Fire - Culver city - Santa Monica - verdugo Fire P25 - camp pendleton fire P25 ......as long as I'm in there town.

When you start to get into multi sites systems / Simulcast (sites are far apart) like San Bernardino P25 - OC p25 - San Diego P25....The SDS 200 is King.

And thank you for pointing out that the P25 systems that performed satisfactorily were single site, and not simulcast.

 

[ka3aaa]

I'll take a 996p2 over the sds scanner anytime.

 

[maus92]

Glad it works for you. But it didn't work for me, nor does it work for the OP.

 

[jonwienke]

I'll take a 996p2 over the sds scanner anytime.

LOL, try it in Chambersburg head-to-head vs a SDS. 40% or more of the traffic will be garbled or missing compared to what you get with the SDS.

 

[Justintime1989]

The ONLY reason I bought a 996P2 and a 325P2 last year was to be ready for San Diego's switchover to P25. Already had a 996T and a 395T and they work better on P25 than the P2s, but not much better. Why do they work fine on Type II simulcast and crummy on P25 simulcast? And if they are incompatible with simulcast why is there no disclaimer in the owner's manual?! I been ripped off and I'm pissed!

 

[buddrousa]

Does the tires for your car say what they work better for? No they do not you are mad because you did not do your homework?

 

[werinshades]

The ONLY reason I bought a 996P2 and a 325P2 last year was to be ready for San Diego's switchover to P25. Already had a 996T and a 395T and they work better on P25 than the P2s, but not much better. Why do they work fine on Type II simulcast and crummy on P25 simulcast? And if they are incompatible with simulcast why is there no disclaimer in the owner's manual?! I been ripped off and I'm pissed!

Lesson learned...sell them on EBay, spend the money on the right scanner (SDS100 or SDS200) and you'll be living in happy land again. Numerous posts here on performance of simulcast systems what scanners work best but you didn't pay attention or decided to go the cheaper route. Either way, nothing else we can do for you..buyer beware moment.

 

[radio3353]

Does the tires for your car say what they work better for? No they do not you are mad because you did not do your homework?

Actually they do. There is a lot of information printed on the tire's sidewall about what the tire is capable of - M&S for mud and snow, speed rating, severe snow service symbol, load rating, UTQG rating.

I think the OP's complaint is that no manufacturer says their product may not work on a simulcast system so a buyer who is not as technically inclined as some of us may get burned. They just see P25 P1 and P2 capable in the specs. So, I can understand his frustration.

 

[buddrousa]

I know that but it is not in plain ENGLISH for the regular world.

 

[N9JCQ]

The ONLY reason I bought a 996P2 and a 325P2 last year was to be ready for San Diego's switchover to P25. Already had a 996T and a 395T and they work better on P25 than the P2s, but not much better. Why do they work fine on Type II simulcast and crummy on P25 simulcast? And if they are incompatible with simulcast why is there no disclaimer in the owner's manual?! I been ripped off and I'm pissed!

How the heck were you ripped off? Sell the scanners you have and find a new damn hobby, one that doesn't require you to do any research. Sheesh. I love the 325P2 and it works just fine for me on the Starcom21 Simulcast system here in the Chicago area.

 

[radio3353]

I know that but it is not in plain ENGLISH for the regular world.

One simply needs to ask, as the OP did. But, it is more fun to jump all over a person. I understand. This is the Uniden forum.