BT885 in Oregon with garbled channels

[OR002]

I travel between Salem and Portland often and I've noticed at least 4 Police channels that are garbled in the Wilsonville area (97070). I literally have to lock them out every time I pass through the area. I contacted Uniden and they said to check with RadioReference as that's where they pull there data from.

I don't have another scanner to compare it too, so I can't even identify which channels are causing the problem.
Does anyone know why these channels are garbled? Is there anything I can do about it? Other than this problem, that 885 is great!

 

[tvengr]

I believe that you are dealing with 2 problems. Clackamas County has switched to a new WCN P25 Phase 2 system: WCN (P25) Network Trunking System, Varies, Oregon (radioreference.com) All law enforcement is fully encrypted which no scanner can decode. You are probably hearing the encrypted audio which is not understandable. Also, the sites on the new system are simulcast. That can result in missed transmissions, dropouts, and garbled audio. The only scanners specifically designed to receive simulcast systems are the Uniden SDS100 and SDS200. The problem with simulcast is that a site actually consists of multiple towers all transmitting on the same frequency at the same time. The signals arrive at your scanner at slightly different times which degrades the scanner's ability to properly decode the control channel.

 

[OR002]

I believe that you are dealing with 2 problems. Clackamas County has switched to a new WCN P25 Phase 2 system: WCN (P25) Network Trunking System, Varies, Oregon (radioreference.com) All law enforcement is fully encrypted which no scanner can decode. You are probably hearing the encrypted audio which is not understandable. Also, the sites on the new system are simulcast. That can result in missed transmissions, dropouts, and garbled audio. The only scanners specifically designed to receive simulcast systems are the Uniden SDS100 and SDS200. The problem with simulcast is that a site actually consists of multiple towers all transmitting on the same frequency at the same time. The signals arrive at your scanner at slightly different times which degrades the scanner's ability to properly decode the control channel.

That makes sense. So, ideally, if I used the editing method listed in another thread, I could remove all of these frequencies from the database?
Any idea is RadioReference is open to updating the file that Uniden downloads for the database?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm new to scanners and I've only had the 885 for about a month.

Thanks

 

[doctordialtone]

So, ideally, if I used the editing method listed in another thread, I could remove all of these frequencies from the database?

Review the information here:

RR Database Submission Guidelines - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

 

[JethrowJohnson]

That makes sense. So, ideally, if I used the editing method listed in another thread, I could remove all of these frequencies from the database?
Any idea is RadioReference is open to updating the file that Uniden downloads for the database?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm new to scanners and I've only had the 885 for about a month.

Thanks

They won't take those channels off the database. The encrypted channels are marked with a DE or a TE depending on if it's P25 Phase I or II. If there's no E, than all normal traffic is in the clear unless they manually switch their radio to secure mode. A lower case e means that some radios are encrypted and some aren't, and a capital E means the channel itself is fully encrypted and you won't hear anything except that garbly noise.

 

[Trucker700]

The 885 CB/Scanner hybrid will not work well with Simulcast systems. It does work with P25 Phase 2 and 1. But, if it's a Simulcast system it will struggle and sound bad. I have that radio and finally got tired of temporarily locking out things I really wanted to hear. So, I installed a regular CB I had and a Uniden SDS100. Best setup I could find. Worked great in a 2004 Peterbilt till I retired two years ago.
James