Can (MARC) be monitored with 396XT?

[Moosemedic]

Greetings,

I'm sorry, if this has been asked, but I didn't find anything for the MARC under "search this forum" in Colorado.

Can the Metro Area Radio Cooperative (MARC) be monitored with a BCD396XT?
I noticed that MARC is a Phase II system, will the BCD396XT monitor this or do I need to buy the 436 that I can't program with FreeScan? (Grrrr)

I did find this in yellow:
Some talkgroups on this system are using Project 25 Phase II TDMA modulation which can ONLY be monitored using a P25 Phase II compatible scanner. Please visit the RR Wiki Project 25 page for additional information.

Does anyone know WHICH talkgroups are Phase II? Will there be an icon (can there be) in the notes or otherwise indicating which are Phase II?
I can hear WMFR dispatches, the automated dispatch, but not units en route.
I also seem to hear most LPD traffic.
I have yet to hear Arvada, Police or Fire.

Thanks

 

[lazierfan]

IMHO and my opinion only, I have been feeding West Metro Fire for over 6 years with a PRO-106 and GRE psr-500 with no complaints. But I do experience the issues you report; I would estimate 35-40% of the two way conversation is clipped when the answer comes back from dispatch and on TAC-2.

These scanners are listed as not capable of receiving Phase-II. See link:
GRE/RS Object Oriented Scanners FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki


I say give it a try for a while. Also switch back and forth from Green Mountain and Mt Morrison and back again as your mileage may vary.

 

[ka3jjz]

Re how to read the database - if you float your mouse near the "MODE" column, a bubble should pop up that gives you a brief explanation of the abbreviations used there.

That being said it appears there are only a few 'T' talkgroups in this system, so you should be good to go - for now. The caveat is that if this system goes entirely P2, the 396XT won't hear it. I'll leave it to the good folks that know more about this system whether that is likely to happen...Mike

 

[Spitfire8520]

Can the Metro Area Radio Cooperative (MARC) be monitored with a BCD396XT?
I noticed that MARC is a Phase II system, will the BCD396XT monitor this or do I need to buy the 436 that I can't program with FreeScan? (Grrrr)

MARC (as it stands now) can be monitored with the BCD396XT easily. The system is marked Phase II because the system is capable of using Phase II voice technology, but only uses Phase I for 99.9% of the traffic on the system. As I understand (I don't use FreeSCAN), it should give you some type of warning about importing some type of Phase II system, but you can safely ignore those warnings.

I did find this in yellow:
Some talkgroups on this system are using Project 25 Phase II TDMA modulation which can ONLY be monitored using a P25 Phase II compatible scanner. Please visit the RR Wiki Project 25 page for additional information.

Does anyone know WHICH talkgroups are Phase II? Will there be an icon (can there be) in the notes or otherwise indicating which are Phase II?

The RadioReference Database as a very limited ability to fully identify which talkgroups are Phase II TDMA and which ones are still Phase I. It's noted by looking at the Mode column in the database for talkgroups and will show either D (Digital) or T (TDMA). The information is very dependent on user submitted information and may be inaccurate from time to time, but I don't think anyone on MARC is 100% on Phase II at this time.

I can hear WMFR dispatches, the automated dispatch, but not units en route.
I also seem to hear most LPD traffic.
I have yet to hear Arvada, Police or Fire.

West Metro units mark their response on their Tac channels I believe (I don't monitor them much). They generally dispatch it out and then say something along the lines of "Respond on Tac-2" if I recall correctly.

Arvada traffic is basically restricted to the Arvada site. If you don't have the Arvada site programmed in, you won't hear anything out of Arvada. While the system is displayed in the RadioReference Database as a single system, it is basically operating as if it is 3 separate radio systems right now. Current radio users are not allowed to switch between the separately owned sites. If you only have Green Mountain/Mt. Morrison sites programmed, you will only hear West Metro/Lakewood. They have only recently begun to the process of networking the sites together, so the roaming between sites might become a reality in the future depending on how the system administrators decide they want to load their system(s).

 

[dougjgray]

I think I heard (maybe a rumor) that on phase 2 systems all units have to be phase 2 or none at all, so they may eventually switch, but not till all units are phase 2 compatable, at that time you will need a newer radio

 

[Steve2003]

You are correct. Phase-2 is also designed to be backwards compatible. Talkgroups can be programmed at the system level so they revert back to phase-1 whenever a radio that isn't phase-2 affiliates with the talkgroup.

I think I heard (maybe a rumor) that on phase 2 systems all units have to be phase 2 or none at all, so they may eventually switch, but not till all units are phase 2 compatable, at that time you will need a newer radio