Cassia County, new to scanning and need help.

Butchmo

Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2025
Messages
3
Location
Burley, Idaho
Greetings all.
After much internet searching and saving I finally pulled the trigger on a SDS100. I used Sentinel and setup my favorites lists with Cassia, Minidoka and some ISP LE channels. Minidoka seems to come across ok. The Cassia channels only stop (while scanning) on two channels, one sounds like a diesel engine at fast idle and the other sounds like a morse code transmission. Both only last for a few seconds. I found a post on here (somewhere) that said to edit the channel to digital only. Tried that, no joy. Any ideas or assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 

Whiskey3JMC

Just another lowly hobbyist
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
8,226
Location
Philly burbs 🇺🇸
The Cassia channels only stop (while scanning) on two channels, one sounds like a diesel engine at fast idle and the other sounds like a morse code transmission.
Which two channels? The "diesel engine" idling wouldn't happen to be this one would it?
453.200458.200WPNS427RM001 RANCassia PubSaPublic SafetyNXDN48Multi-Talk

In that case you'd need the NXDN paid upgrade to bring it in (50.00 if you register your scanner & buy direct from Uniden).

Secondly you'll need to turn on the "Law Talk" service type to bring "Sheriff 2 thru Sheriff 9" during a scan. Refer to the "Tag" column in the RRDB for applicable service types to enable. By default only EMS Dispatch, Fire Dispatch, Law Dispatch, Custom 1, and Multi-Dispatch are enabled

Welcome to the forums!
 
Last edited:

Butchmo

Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2025
Messages
3
Location
Burley, Idaho
JMC,
Thanks for getting back to me and for the link to the online manual. I've done some listening and digging into my settings. Below is a list of the Cassia channels that I am getting any hits on with the scanner along with a column listing the sound I hear when it stops on the channel. Scanner settings for each channel show the Modulation mode is NFM, Service Type is same as listed in Tag column, all have Attenuation set to OFF, all list "ALL" as Audio Type except the bottom one (Sherriff 2) that is set to Analog Only.
I don't believe it is a hardware issue since I hear voice comms when I enable Minidoka county next door. Hopefully it's some type of a configuration issue. Thanks

FrequencyLicenseTypeToneAlpha TagDescriptionModeTagSound I hear
453.1WPAX233RMCassia SO 1Sheriff - DispatchFMNLaw DispatchMorse code like
460.1625WQAU491RMCassia SO 5Sheriff 5FMNLaw TalkMorse code like
460.325KUG619RMSO/Burley PDSheriff - Burley PD DispatchFMNLaw DispatchDiesel engine like
453.0625WPBK879MCassia JailSheriff - JailFMNCorrectionsStatic
453.425WNCE406RM103.5 PLCassia SO 2Sheriff 2FMNLaw TalkHeard voices yesterday a couple of times
 

thewenk

Idaho DB Admin
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
733
Location
Eastern Idaho
The frequencies listed in the RR database may not be correct. No input has been submitted to update the database for several years.

You may need to use your scanner in the search mode and see if you can hear anything. Try 450-470 MHz for law enforcement. As far as I know, Cassia Cnty/Burley don't use the ICAWIN System.

Good luck, Dave
 

Butchmo

Newbie
Joined
Jan 30, 2025
Messages
3
Location
Burley, Idaho
Dave,
I will try that, Thanks!
An update to my last post: I read on here (somewhere in the forum) that experimenting with the filter settings may help. I tried each filter setting and the only notable change was that using filter "Wide Invert" the diesel like sound (some seem to call it a jack hammer sound) did not show up. It never stopped on the dispatch channel that had it often. I did get a morse code sound on one channel but infrequently.
Any other ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks
Butch
 

devicelab

Whacker Extraordinaire
Joined
Jul 18, 2016
Messages
1,701
Location
Nowhere in WA
Butch, it sounds like the county has shifted to digital. Another user reported them using NXDN. It's hard to tell for sure because the county FCC licenses show multiple modes. This could mean they're also encrypted.

Your best bet is setting up your SDS100 to scan from 451-455 and 460-465 mhz. You'll want to jot down everything you hear at first and then go from there. Keep looking at the screen to know whether it's NXDN, P25, DMR or NFM (analog) comms.

If it's NXDN then keep track of the RAN code. This is similar to the PL tone for analog radio. (They might use the same RAN but a different code could be different channels on the same frequency.)
 
Last edited:

MountainMoose

All Things radio
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 23, 2014
Messages
187
Location
Ada County, Idaho
Dave,
I will try that, Thanks!
An update to my last post: I read on here (somewhere in the forum) that experimenting with the filter settings may help. I tried each filter setting and the only notable change was that using filter "Wide Invert" the diesel like sound (some seem to call it a jack hammer sound) did not show up. It never stopped on the dispatch channel that had it often. I did get a morse code sound on one channel but infrequently.
Any other ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks
Butch
you shouldn't need to mess with any filters.
 

MountainMoose

All Things radio
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 23, 2014
Messages
187
Location
Ada County, Idaho
It's highly probable that the agencies switched to the ICAWIN system and it was never updated here. I do believe that this RR database for Idaho is highly outdated. Just be careful of those listed frequencies as they could be years old and used only as "fallback" channels or not at all. It's likely the case given your description of those channels and the sound.
 
Top