The vast majority of folks will have problems with any non SDS scanner with the Simulcast sites on the system. If you are fortunate to have one strong site you receive, you will have better reception but I am confident saying that some traffic will be missed.
996P2 Question
- Thread starter N1SQB
- Start date
I plan on getting a SDS150 and mount it in the back of my truck, and then use the app with a 8" tablet to make a nice remote head scanner
That really doesn't determine much at all. The "bars" are just a basic RSSI indicator on the level of signal coming in on that RF port either at or adjacent to the frequency. The quality of reception can only be determined by other factors. (There is a measurement for this on the SDS, but I forgot off the top of my head what it's called. Digital decode or something). And just because you have reception bars maxed, doesn't mean you're not going to have simulcast distortion. CLMRN, with the sites, is notoriously bad for it, unless you are in an area where one site just simply overpowers everything and you don't get reception from any other site. The 996P2 is simply a poor simulcast receiver. This is very well documented and tested. The 536, which is a better overall receiver than the 996P2, still doesn't handle simulcast distortion well at all.
I've mentioned a few times here, in my rather frequent trips across CT, side by side, my SDS100 out performs anything else on CLMRN. Litchfield, Hartford, Middlesex, Tolland and Windham counties, I've driven just about everywhere in those counties, and seen the results.
There are no programming tricks to get around this either, as you inferred earlier. That's not how the scanners actually work. It's great you seemingly have good luck with it, but that's simply due to your location and the site you're receiving. But your idea of programming everything into a single site means nothing. The scanner stops on the next control channel, decodes it and receives based off of the decode. If you put the Troop H in one Bank and Troop D into another, or put both control channels into the same bank, it'll just hop along. None of this has anything to do with simulcast distortion.
The real way to see what happens would be to put the 3 radios on a shared antenna and run a SDS200, 996P2, and a 536HP alongside a computer running one of the software programs like DSDPlus. This would allow watching the traffic at the same time as watching and hearing the scanners react to it.
You could also go to the CALLS platform on Broadcastify (if you are premium sub) and monitor the local troop while you are sitting on it with any of the scanners in question.
You could also go to the CALLS platform on Broadcastify (if you are premium sub) and monitor the local troop while you are sitting on it with any of the scanners in question.
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