AEP system problems

[SCPD]

Ok, so im monitoring the AEP EDACS system during this ice storm and im running into an interesting problem.
Its kinda hard to describe but the best way to describe it is that im only getting one side of the repeater audio wise.
The talkgroup will come up but like its active but i will get no audio. Ive heard several one sided conversations so i don't think this is a fluke.
Im not sure what (if anything) im doing wrong here. Im useing a Uniden BC246T with all the frequencies thats listed in the database are in the scanner. im not that familiar with EDACS systems, although i do have a basic understanding of how they work.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[WX5JCH]

I've been picking up 04-081 tg, here in Elk city on AEP system, they give locations that sound like Shreveport...

 

[mam1081]

That sounds like a bad LCN allocation. The controll channel only broadcast what "channel number" to goto instead of what frequency to goto (like most Motorola systems). If your LCN programmed in your scanner is different than the actual LCN, it will do as you described. Try scanning the trunked freqs with a different scanner in "conventional" mode (lock out the data channel) to see if the users really are talking (or if it's a reception problem).

Ok, so im monitoring the AEP EDACS system during this ice storm and im running into an interesting problem.
Its kinda hard to describe but the best way to describe it is that im only getting one side of the repeater audio wise.
The talkgroup will come up but like its active but i will get no audio. Ive heard several one sided conversations so i don't think this is a fluke.
Im not sure what (if anything) im doing wrong here. Im useing a Uniden BC246T with all the frequencies thats listed in the database are in the scanner. im not that familiar with EDACS systems, although i do have a basic understanding of how they work.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SCPD]

You are correct mam1081.
I do have bad LCN numbers. Now the question is is there a way to get the correct numbers without having to use the "trial and error" method. there are a lot of different combinations with these frequencies and i really don't have the time to sit here and try each frequency in each LCN slot.
Thanks in advance.

 

[mam1081]

Well, that's a fun issue (I think - but I like figuring out the systems) to have.

How many scanners do you have? How busy is the system? I assume you programmed the system as listed in the database...

Method one:
Use a discriminator-tapped radio and run Unitrunker/etrunk on the system to see what channels are active and use a second radio to match frequency with LCN.

Method two:
Program all frequencies licensed to that site in "conventional" mode. Listen to the site at a time when there is not a lot of traffic. Write down the order of frequencies the conversations follow. This will give you the order, but won't tell you which channel is was LCN. If you have some freqs that work currently (ie: the correct LCN), write those in their respective place in the order.

Some systems skip LCNs, like the TXU EDACS system in TX - so keep that in mind too. Apparently AEP licenses all system freqs for an area even though they might not use them all for that site.

Let us know which freqs you hear traffic on while trunking the system - and what freqs are active (actually get voice/data traffic in conventional mode). I'll try to help more if you need it...

This is a large system - I'd like to see more info on it!

 

[SCPD]

How many scanners do you have? How busy is the system? I assume you programmed the system as listed in the database...

I have two scanners a RS Pro 2006 and a Uniden BCT246T.
The system does have frequent traffic on it. But it seems to be rather quiet for a weekday.
The first time i programmed the AEP system into the 246 i didnt get anything. no voice, not even a control channel. So then i looked here to and inputed all of those into the 246. Yes this is probably where i screwed up but i wasn't getting any kind of traffic via this set.

 

[mam1081]

I have two scanners a RS Pro 2006 and a Uniden BCT246T.
The system does have frequent traffic on it. But it seems to be rather quiet for a weekday.
The first time i programmed the AEP system into the 246 i didnt get anything. no voice, not even a control channel. So then i looked here to and inputed all of those into the 246. Yes this is probably where i screwed up but i wasn't getting any kind of traffic via this set.

So, even though you programmed it with the "correct" LCN (listed on the second link), there is no control channel or no trunked voice?

 

[SCPD]

So, even though you programmed it with the "correct" LCN (listed on the second link), there is no control channel or no trunked voice?

At the time yes.