BCD325P2/BCD996P2: BCD996P2 reception issues

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medic2039

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Ok I need some help, I have a 996p2 as well and I'm trying to scan Washtenaw county. I have a yagi at 30+ feet directed at a tower less than 4 miles away. My reception is pretty intermintent, I get some traffic very clear and other times its very garbled. I'm new to this, so can some one help me please.
 

scannerjunkie

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I assume your listening to a digital and or trunked digital system. check to see if the system your listening to is encrypted. if it is encrypted theirs nothing you can do to resolve this. if not encrypted is the system your listening to a simulcast system? if so you maybe getting distortion making it sound like donald duck. sometimes being too close to a tower will overload the radio. also the signal that's breaking up may be too far away. check your programming such as frequencies to be sure you have the correct frequencies entered. sometimes you have to try various tweaks and adjustments till you get it to sound like it should.
 

medic2039

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Sorry, I am in Washtenaw county Michigan and trying to listen to the trunked digital state system, I only have a couple talk groups programmed in and downloaded direct from here. I have great signal on the control channel but it seams to intermintently drop out. Is it supposed to stay locked on? occasionally nfm comes up. I have a pretuned yagi for 806-860. I get mixed reception from the same dispatch center for instance if I am listening to HVA. I get great sound quality and occasionally it is horrible or non existent. I have all the channels programmed in, not just the primary and back ups. Should I stop using the yagi since the tower is so close, IE 6 km and just put a rubber duck up that high? I know I am high enough for clean line of sight. Is there just something I'm missing?? I appreciate the help from everyone!
 

phask

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THIS ?

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?siteId=15031

I'm guessing it's all simulcast issues. You may... or not do better with the yagi pointed away from the closest tower.. or not. You just have to find the optimum. Same way with attenuation, it may help... or not.

No setting in the scanner that really helps.

Can search the forum for simulcast issues also.
 

RoninJoliet

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I noticed on P25 simulcast trunked systems on my Uniden 996xt and 996P2 when I have a tower site active the "S" meter will go from "5" bars to "1" bar and back and forth which results in loss modulation, wonder if the scanner is re-checking for the CC or what...The err----- rate stays at "0".....On my RS/GRE 197 the signal stays solid using the same antenna....
 

medic2039

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Thanks for all the replies, As mentioned above my signal meter constantly fluctuates and flashes. The control channel doesn't stay locked and nfm pops up. I get good mostly clear reception 85% of the time but it seems to come in late in the transmission sometimes or sometimes it is extremely broken. I tried the put the base antenna back on and it did not help. I'm new to this so if I only have one site programmed shouldn't it lock onto the control channel?
 

SCPD

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Yes but with multiple tower locations you may be receiving many sites all at once and this overload condition is causing the scanner Not to lock.Errors and data are not coming through so you will hear blips and blops.I fixed my issue with a Wire coat hanger with the hook cut off (as an antenna),a twin lead to F connector and an F connector.A 75 ohm coax into a F to BNC connector and aimed the hanger at the tower.It is trial and error.LSM is your problem.

Try using Control channel search and turn it on using the 996P2 ,look for the control channel and let the scanner find the system,see if that works.If that bombs its definately LSM

another idea to look at :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unT3VWifjJ0
 
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a29zuk

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As mentioned above, even the newest scanners have trouble with simulcast systems. Other things to try are turning the attenuator on, moving the location of your scanner, or setting the P25 threshold setting to a manual setting.
On the Genesee Co. simulcast a threshold setting of 7 works best at my location.


Jim
 

SCPD

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Try using attenuator on that site/system..
4 miles away and using a Yagi 30 FT high the signal from that tower can be overloading the front end depending on Line of Sight to the tower..
My BCD996p2 is on a yagi 12 miles from a p25 system and it gets close/call hits every transmission..
Also search offending frequencies that may be desensing your 996p2's reception

Also check the vhf high band for pager frequencies between 152mhz to 158mhz..
I had 3 that were interfering before I bought 2 filters at Par and bam that issue went away as soon as filters were installed...
Also a PAR VHF-FM is another great filter to have as just about everywhere NPR is popping up with new relay stations especially near schools and hospitals..
Any closecall hits in the FM Band? it will literally desense the receive of just about all newer scanners... and in my case a strong fm station 96.3 @ 100 watts 1/4 mile from my antenna whiped vhf uhf and 800+ mhz out ...
These filters fixed my garble sounding 996p2 and 536hp that would intermittently lose signal and i thought it was a defect... i learned `my lesson now to search for high power transmitters in the area before sending radios to uniden for repair and getting charged for a repair they made on my bcd436hp that is now a ongoing reception issue and is all over the forums..

Good luck
 

medic2039

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Thank you everyone!!!! I unplugged the yagi and hooked up a rubber ducky to a coax and placed it outside. My signal is pretty solid now and 95% of the time traffic is super clear. 5% of the time it is extremely broken. But overall it is a ton better. When I do a hold and scroll through I have solid signal on the control channel and the signal meter on the one talkgroup channel im trying to listen to is solid. My question now is im still not getting the first few seconds of a transmission, Sometimes I do but most of the time I do not. I dropped the delay down to 0ms and left the hold time. This is a true p25 system and like i said before I am only interested in a couple channels/ids in the same talk group. What can I change to make the scanner lock on those?? When its in scan ID the signal meter still flashes, I assume that means its checking all 4 control freqs which is all I have programmed in. Again THANK YOU everyone!
 
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