Best configuration for BCD325P2 for Ada fire agencies?

[ErikVanR]

A retired fire dept friend of mine has a second home near Kuna (5 mi E. of), and I dumped a quick fire/EMS program I did using FreeScan in his 325P2 before he went up there for a few months. He's receiving conventional transmissions well, but I think I missed some important things for the ICAWIN system. What's the best way to set up a Uniden -P2 scanner (non SDS) for ICAWIN fire/EMS use in Ada Co.?

 

[jtwalker]

Ok, I’ll bite. The best way is “correctly”.

What is it doing or not doing? Or even better, zip the programming file and attach here and let someone inspect it.

 

[devicelab]

A retired fire dept friend of mine has a second home near Kuna (5 mi E. of), and I dumped a quick fire/EMS program I did using FreeScan in his 325P2 before he went up there for a few months. He's receiving conventional transmissions well, but I think I missed some important things for the ICAWIN system. What's the best way to set up a Uniden -P2 scanner (non SDS) for ICAWIN fire/EMS use in Ada Co.?

Not many sites out that way. I would guess the Ada sites would likely a bit scratchy on a portable scanner. (An external antenna would help.)

For the portable, try Site 9 from Nampa. That's the closest site to Kuna and might offer the best signal. (Ideally, you'll want to scan the 770-775 band to find the strongest control channel to know for sure.)

Then just program in the limited TGIDs from the system, such as Kuna Fire and Ada EMS. The rest will be encrypted.

 

[wtp]

769 to 775

 

[devicelab]

769 to 775

Very few 769 control channels on ICAWIN.

 

[wtp]

just covering all the bases...
and even i missed that the scan should be to 776.

 

[ErikVanR]

Not many sites out that way. I would guess the Ada sites would likely a bit scratchy on a portable scanner. (An external antenna would help.)

For the portable, try Site 9 from Nampa. That's the closest site to Kuna and might offer the best signal. (Ideally, you'll want to scan the 770-775 band to find the strongest control channel to know for sure.)

Then just program in the limited TGIDs from the system, such as Kuna Fire and Ada EMS. The rest will be encrypted.

Thx. I was thinking the 009 site Nampa might be the one units in his area affiliate with. I put that site, along with 010 Caldwell and 007 Parma, as an ICAWIN system for Canyon Co. For both Ada and Canyon Counties, I only programmed fire/EMS TGs in the systems. Additionally, I reviewed the codeplug I wrote for him, and found a missing CC freq for the 003 Ada Co. Simul. site. To add: he sent me a photo of the radio display, and he was only getting 1/5 to 0/5 signal bars on the Ada 014 site from his house. We talked by phone on Friday, and discussed a small concealable external antenna for his house. He'll be back here for a few days at the end of the month before returning to ID until early Dec. I plan to reprogram his scanner and retrain him on the Quick Key operation.

 

[devicelab]

...he was only getting 1/5 to 0/5 signal bars on the Ada 014 site from his house. We talked by phone on Friday, and discussed a small concealable external antenna for his house.

If he is using the factory antenna then that could also be to blame. Get him a proper antenna. See link in next post.

An external scanner discone antenna (which can be painted just about any color) would be highly recommended.

 

[devicelab]

I use this wideband antenna with my 325P2 on occasion but it's really big. It looks a little funny on the 325P2 but it works well. (It's for VHF/UHF and 7/800 frequencies though.)

BNC VHF/UHF/800 MHz REM-842B REMTRONIX Triband antenna | Scanner Master

BNC VHF/UHF/800 MHz REM-842B REMTRONIX Triband antenna

www.scannermaster.com

 

[tvengr]

Here is a FreeSCAN file for Ada County Fire & EMS. It includes the 3 sites in Ada County and the Nampa site in Canyon County. The Nampa site will be your best alternative in Canyon County. Pressing 1 on the scanner keypad will toggle the Ada County Simulcast site on and off. Pressing 2 will toggle the Boise (Warm Springs Ave) site on and off. Pressing 3 will toggle the Boise (Hwy 55) site on and off. Pressing 4 will toggle the Nampa site on and off. A single site or any combination of sites can be selected. A better antenna may be detrimental to receiving the Ada County Simulcast site. The BCD325P2 is prone to simulcast distortion. Turning on the attenuator for the Ada County Simulcast site may help. Quick keys as follows:

SYSTEM QUICK KEYS:
1. ICAWIN Ada Simul (Site)
2. ICAWIN Boise WSA (Site)
3. ICAWIN Boise H55 (Site)
4. ICAWIN Nampa (Site)

 

[tvengr]

I accidentally posted before my previous reply was completed. If you do not see the file, refresh by clicking on Forums again. I progammed the file to minimize the effects of simulcast distortion. The digital AGC was intentionally left turned off. The AGC action can increase garbled audio problems with simulcast distortion. Also, I programmed only the 4 control channel capable frequencies for the Ada County Simulcast site. If the scanner loses the control channel, it doesn't need to search through all of the voice frequencies to find the control channel frequency again. The Ada EMS Tac talkgroup shows fully encrypted in the database, but it also shows as being on a feed. It may or may not be encrypted. If encryption noise is received, the talkgroup can easily be locked out.

 

[dachs494]

I would highly recommend programming in Shafer Butte (Site 6) into your friend's scanner. In my own experience, that site provides great coverage of the entire Treasure Valley area - up to the Oregon-Idaho state line. I would imagine it would hold up pretty well out by Kuna.

 

[tvengr]

I would highly recommend programming in Shafer Butte (Site 6) into your friend's scanner. In my own experience, that site provides great coverage of the entire Treasure Valley area - up to the Oregon-Idaho state line. I would imagine it would hold up pretty well out by Kuna.

Here is an updated FreeSCAN file including the Shafer Butte site on system quick key 5.

SYSTEM QUICK KEYS:
1. ICAWIN Ada Simul (Site)
2. ICAWIN Boise WSA (Site)
3. ICAWIN Boise H55 (Site)
4. ICAWIN Nampa (Site)
5. ICAWIN ShaferBut (Site)

 

[ErikVanR]

I use this wideband antenna with my 325P2 on occasion but it's really big. It looks a little funny on the 325P2 but it works well. (It's for VHF/UHF and 7/800 frequencies though.)

BNC VHF/UHF/800 MHz REM-842B REMTRONIX Triband antenna | Scanner Master

BNC VHF/UHF/800 MHz REM-842B REMTRONIX Triband antenna

www.scannermaster.com

I'll let him know. I might get the SMA version of that for the SDS100 I recently bought. In my area, the 42-896 MHz spectrum is heavily used.

 

[devicelab]

I'll let him know. I might get the SMA version of that for the SDS100 I recently bought. In my area, the 42-896 MHz spectrum is heavily used.

Meh I just Loc'tite a SMA to BNC adapter on my SDS100 so I can use just about any antenna. It looks like crap but it's effective.

 

[tvengr]

Meh I just Loc'tite a SMA to BNC adapter on my SDS100 so I can use just about any antenna. It looks like crap but it's effective.

Be careful not to get Loctite inside the connectors. It is electrically conductive.