Brown/Waupaca county members question

[1268]

Looking at the database and also listening to the Brown county feed has me puzzled ? The pager tones in the database don't match up with any of my tone charts, some seem to be GE 99, some seem to be Moto 1, others could be quick call 2... anybody at all know the type of tones these are. I plan on using my two-tone software on the brown county tones but it is some of the funkiest stuff I have every heard.

 

[RevGary]

NO idea as to tone protocol, but if it is of any significance, the dispatch center contract has been with Motorola for many years and the tones have not been changed, as I understand it, since the mid 1970's on 154.040 and 154.370.

And if you think THESE are bad in Brown County - listen to the page out tones coming from the Oconto County dispatch center. There is a distortion in the final signal and it is amazing that they work at all. By comparison, listen to the south tower signal and tone for County Rescue from Oconto County Dispatch on 154.040 and then listen to the SAME tone as dispatched from Brown County for the common county-line area resposnes. You should be able to pick up the distortion in the Oconto dispatch signal as compared to Brown.
Oconto County used to use a UHF link from the dispatch center to the towers, where it was re-transmitted out on the old VHF 155.805 frequency. Since they changed over to the new system on the alternate frequencies, the tone distortion issue has been present. The tones seem to work, but the distortion in the clarity of the tones is noticable, almost as if the percentage of modulation is a bit too high ????

 

[1268]

The Oconto tones I am hearing online sound OK on the South tower but not so hot on north, they are quick call 2 tones. Brown county is clear but there .. well strange that's the only word I know. It's playing games with my decode software like never before, anyone who has any tones they need decoded if you record them on a wav file I will decode for NO charge, just send me a PM.
Hey Rev just heard that issue you where taking about that's a tower issue I believe they must have that baby cranked up !. We need a Waupaca county feed online !!!

 

[wirr]

The distortion on the Oconto signal may be due to it being simulcast.

 

[RevGary]

It's not an FM capture effect noise where two towers are hammering each other on the same frequency - it is a definite audio distortion of the tone modulation.

If I remember correctly, there is a max mod limit allowable for paging tones. I'll have to check the FCC Part 90 technical standards when I have some time to see what that is and use my service monitor connected to the Cushcraft VHF beam, to see what the deviation on the 155.580 system actually is... the distortion from the Oconto system is pretty pronounced.

P/S for Stateboy: Even with Homeland Security mandated 'plain language' (elimination of 10-codes) in the works, I know that the District 3 dispatchers are still using the modified APCO 10-code. Do you have a web link to exactly what the current WSP 10 code is by any chance? THANKS!

 

[triryche]

Simulcast distortion does not always only occur in the form of audio cancelling or multiple audio overloads like you mention. These newer simulcast system like Oconto & Marinette have had installed recently operate much like a multi-site Motorola trunking system in which the sites are "phased" by the controller so that the modulation and delays are equal at each site during transmission. Complete cancellation doesn't happen as often on either of these systems as it does in say the State Patrol "overlap" zones for instance (when you hear 2-3 towers drowning eachother out completely at times).

The occasional distortion you hear from Oconto is the same as one will hear from Marinette on the fire & ems channels and severity depends on your location. From what I am told, frequency deviation and variation in the sub audlible tones are a couple of factors which make it impossible to 100% eliminate the distortion in a simulcast system. It's noticeable on both Marinette & Oconto's systems that the paging tones are extremely loud and over-powering while dispatcher audio and quality leaves something to be desired. Increasing the audio more than likely further distorts. With the benefits always comes the downfalls..

 

[rescue7043]

The tones seem to work, but the distortion in the clarity of the tones is noticable

Working for Mountain Ambulance and being in Northern Oconto Co. I have heard this distortion, but only on older radios. While in the building if I am listening to the South Tower, my Kenwood Portable Radio picks up the tones just fine. However, the Realistic 25w base radio that we have with an antenna on the roof will always cuts off the second tone. You hear the first tone fine, but the second you hear maybe a second of it. I have also not expierenced any issues with the Kenwood TK-790's in the squads or while using my TK-730/830 radio in my personal vehicle while listening to the South Tower. I think the equipment that is being used has every bit to do with the clarity and distortion that some of you are hearing.

**Hopefully this spring/summer a discone antenna will be mounted to the tv tower outside the MAS building to improve signal on all freqs. on the Oconto Co. Feed**