CHP trouble

[humboldtMUD]

live in humboldt (garberville area) county and cant get anything from CHP. i have a bct15x and programed 42.5400 CTCSS tone 107.2. every one in a blue moon i get a chunk of info but never a full conversation. im quite certain they dont have a digital or a trunked system...does anyone have any thoughts?

by the way i do get sheriff base which is about the same distance away. thanks

 

[markclark]

If you don't have a good outside antenna, you'll need one for CHP. A multi-band antenna that covers 30-50Mhz is your best bet. If you do have an outside antenna, and it is no designed to receive low band, you will suffer significant signal loss, and, it is likely you will almost never hear any mobile traffic at 42Mhz.

 

[avtarsingh]

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You will probably only hear the closest rptr which is on cahto peak near laytonville unless you have a good outside antenna with good feedline. There are lots of canyons up and down 101 and unless you have a decent antenna you won't hear much
From ukiah up they use the white - up to what point I don't know where they switch over to the green. Some grade-I forget the name - abt halfway between ukiah and laytonville I think it was
Up in garberville you should get cahto or the next northern peak the name escapes me I haven't been up there in a year or so

 

[gmclam]

Chp

I was just up in your area before Labor Day and the reception was WILD. I was picking up stuff from much farther than expected. The key points to good reception are:
- Elevation
- Elevation
- Elevation

OK, a good antenna designed for the band(s) you want to monitor is crucial too. And if you're monitoring UHF, quality of coax is critical. But the CHP is in VHF low band, which I personally happen to love, so coax is not usually a critical factor.

- Are you using a scanner with good sensitivity? Is it a newer model or something quite old? Any of my PRO-9x scanners (or PSR-300) do a great job for CHP, although I don't use the PRO-95 due to lack of CT decoding.

- If you are only scanning CHP (or low band), you might try NOT using CT values. The receiver must first have a good signal, and then decode a correct CT code before your squelch will open. If the signal is marginal, or the CT decoder not working ideally, you won't hear a thing.

- I set my squelch as tight as I can get it. As you loosen the squelch, you effectively reduce your sensitivity. Unless you are confident the signals you want are strong; pay attention to the squelch.

- The Northern district for the CHP has not yet changed to the new frequencies. This means you need to scan one frequency for the base (dispatcher) and another frequency for the cars. Don't expect to hear the cars (or the base) if your antenna can not "see" the transmitting antenna. Refer to what I wrote above. If you are on a hill - great reception. If you are surrounded by buildings, trees, etc and your antenna is not up high - poor reception.

 

[northzone]

CHP for Gaberville area uses Pratt Mountain. It is the highest mountain in southern humboldt and only a few miles away. You should get a full signal with not much antenna at all. I have never had any problems receiving CHP Green in that area on a portable with a "rubber duck" antenna. You must have another issue.

You are also right in that the Sheriff uses the same mountain top (Pratt) to talk to the Gaberville area. Where are you located exactly?

 

[cousinkix1953]

OK, a good antenna designed for the band(s) you want to monitor is crucial too. And if you're monitoring UHF, quality of coax is critical. But the CHP is in VHF low band, which I personally happen to love, so coax is not usually a critical factor.

- If you are only scanning CHP (or low band), you might try NOT using CT values. The receiver must first have a good signal, and then decode a correct CT code before your squelch will open. If the signal is marginal, or the CT decoder not working ideally, you won't hear a thing.

- I set my squelch as tight as I can get it. As you loosen the squelch, you effectively reduce your sensitivity. Unless you are confident the signals you want are strong; pay attention to the squelch.

- The Northern district for the CHP has not yet changed to the new frequencies. This means you need to scan one frequency for the base (dispatcher) and another frequency for the cars. Don't expect to hear the cars (or the base) if your antenna can not "see" the transmitting antenna. Refer to what I wrote above. If you are on a hill - great reception. If you are surrounded by buildings, trees, etc and your antenna is not up high - poor reception.

RG-8 coax is good enough for VHF. Switching to RG-213 on UHF makes all the difference in the world; but it costs more $$$. Putting PL-259 connectors on yourself can be a PITA. Some of those ham radio outlets sell pre-cut lengths of "ready to use cables".

I don't use CT codes in some cases, for the reason stated above. You won't hear them unless the signal is strong. Distance is not the only factor, as I hear the Salinas PD''s VHF simulcasts at a distance of thirty miles, better than some other cities at half the distance...

 

[avtarsingh]

pratt is 1 of the xmtrs used - they use many

Cahto Peak KCX953 GRN BLU
Crescent City Area Office KME385 GRN
Camp Six KME385 GRN 75.76/72.22
Hazelview Summit KME385 GRN 75.96/72.26
Mt. Pierce KME383 GRN BLU
Pratt Mountain KMG428 GRN BLU
Red Mountain KME386 GRN BLU

 

[WA1ATA]

live in humboldt (garberville area) county and cant get anything from CHP. i have a bct15x and programed 42.5400 CTCSS tone 107.2. every one in a blue moon i get a chunk of info but never a full conversation. im quite certain they dont have a digital or a trunked system...does anyone have any thoughts?

Two things are probably causing your reception difficulties.

One is that dispatchers often choose not to have the mobiles be repeated. In other words, you need to listen to the mobile freq to hear the officer and only the dispatcher will be heard on the repeater.

The other is that the CHP system does not simultaneously transmit on all of the mountaintop repeaters associated with a particular color channel. The system will just transmit on one repeater site for a given transmission. So even though there is a repeater near you, it will only have some of the traffic on it (and perhaps only the dispatch side of that traffic).

Charlie

 

[avtarsingh]

thats why i said he needs a good antenna

it doesnt matter what or where the xmit rptr is

IF you want to hear the cars you need a good antenna and good feedline - he should still be able to hear the dispatcher from the smit side

i can hear chp on my 396xt when i am up there in laytonville and garberville

check around on the weather freqs and see what the farthest weather station you can hear is ..

a good way to see how effective your antenna is - yeah its at 160 mhz but if you have an antenna that covers all bands discone etc - its a good indicator that its working

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/stations.php?State=CA

mt pierce and cold springs and laughlin are blasting 300 watts

that area hasnt moved freqs yet so you can still probably hear a mobile pretty well since they are talking on an antenna resonant for their xmit freq

once they move to 44-45 the majority of antennas are cut for 42.3 and only have 800khz of bandwidth - so when they park on talkaround (channel 2) and talk their antenna is way out of whack and their xmit pwr and xmit pattern folds up like a crepe in a french restaurant

very few areas have the wider 2-3 mhz wide antenna

 

[WA1ATA]

Avtarsingh -- you assume that everyone knows that most of the time the mobiles don't show up on the repeaters.

I was just pointing that out, in case the original poster (with a post count of 1) is unaware of that; and also pointing out that it is not a simulcast system where all repeater sites transmit all messages. The CHP system is rather unique in some respects.

I've appreciated your many detailed technical posts on the CHP installations.

 

[gmclam]

Receiving CHP

Avtarsingh -- you assume that everyone knows that most of the time the mobiles don't show up on the repeaters.

I was just pointing that out, in case the original poster (with a post count of 1) is unaware of that; and also pointing out that it is not a simulcast system where all repeater sites transmit all messages. The CHP system is rather unique in some respects.

1. This district has not yet been updated for repeated mobile traffic.
2. Even if it had been updated, it is not uncommon for dispatchers to have the repeat function turned off.
3. As pointed out by others, any given transmission can come from a number of different repeater sites, so it does not really matter how close one specific site is.

Get a GOOD antenna, put it HIGH, scan both the BASE and MOBILE frequencies. Also note some scanners are more sensitive than others.

 

[humboldtMUD]

ok thanks for all the input everyone. i am new to scanners WA1ATA but all info helps..just trying to get base for now. avtarsingh, so i only get local wx, i had the stock antenna(telescope style) but hooked up a gain controlled tv antenna (accepts uhf/vhf/fm) and actually works pretty good for what i do get. is that stupid of me? i appreciate all info, im trying to self teach but alot to learn eh?

 

[humboldtMUD]

im in miranda, but have used up on salmon creek which looks at pratt(more or less) and still nothn. i feel like there is somthing im missing on programming...again have the bct15x. thanks for any ideas-

 

[avtarsingh]

i highly recommend getting .... aesham.com///whereever

Diamond D130NJ 50-1300mhz 200W Nconnector DISCONE $99.99

feed it with lmr-400

TMS LMR400 TIMES STANDARD 3/8"COAX PER FT $0.93

soft jumper from antenna to the feedline - rg-214 n male - n male

female n connector on ant end of feedline - female n connector on house side of coax

softjumper from feedline to radio n male to n male (or bnc ..whatever)

you can get a 20 or 30 ft push up tv mast quite cheaply

in an area that meets up with the highest eave point of your house
dig down about 3-4 feet put 6ft rebar piece into quikrete concrete keep concrete about 3-4 inches under dirt level

use brackets to attach (i prefer 46 clamps Andrew Solutions BB-S10-10 ANDREW Welded Pipe to Pipe Clamp,Hv Dty | TESSCO ) mast to highest peak of eave put discone antenna at top of mast - push up top mast part to top of pushup section tighten - then raise next section you can easily get 20-30 feet masts for usually 50 bucks or less

if you ever wanna move or dont want it any more - you remove mast and putty the holes in eave and dig down a little and sawzall off the rebar and its flush again

this is assuming its a 1 story house if you have a 2 story try to find a spot thats the highest and accessible for mounting clamps

assuming you follow something like this you should be able to hear ALL and any chp and will be very happy with the amount of stuff you can hear

then you stick an audio cable to the scanner audio jack and plug it into your computer mic in or audio in and use skype or whatever and you can walk around listening to chp on your iphone - itouch - whatever (or be a feed provider..i am working on getting one going )

i walk around listening to chp in my shirt pocket itouch

i use a 2.4 ghz antenna to listen to chp


if you are a ham these antennas also transmit well on 2m and 440 i assume they would work on 900 also but i havent actually swept the antenna there to see if thats resonant
i have been using offbrand discone tram. workman etc and those do work there but each animal is different

 

[avtarsingh]

humm weird humboldt i cant pm you

maybe ur 2 new - pm me i can send u a good scanner file -or u send me your's just to make sure your's is working right

i recommend freescan its free and it works better than the uniden software

only thing i like the uniden software for .. is the remote control part of the software looks pretty on the remote desktop window - looks like a real scanner and is easy to control

http://scannow.org/files/fssetup-9o.exe

 

[humboldtMUD]

yes i presume im too new to pm, i think now i have more than 3 posts now tho. thats excellent info on antennas, id really like to get somthing. looking thru the aes catalog and doesnt show the d130nj discone.

help w/ antenna purchase would be appreciated, there are a ton of them and am alittle confused. u said that diamond ant is 50-1300mhz but chp is 42.54. is that a prob? would like a bit of a discrete one (know not as good reception) but dont know where to start..

as far as the ground goes i can use my sat ground..? freescan is a tool to program the scanner? i need to get the usb cable (came w/ serial cable, dont have serial conn). thanks again

 

[humboldtMUD]

ok i found d-130j range is 25-1300. quite the antenna, a bit much for me i think.. scanmaster desktop discone looked a bit more movable. bout $100, worth it or no?

 

[humboldtMUD]

oops, just found a thread on this antenna-

 

[avtarsingh]

the diamond is only 95 aesham.com

 

[cousinkix1953]

AES is also a good place to get coax.

Ask Bob at C CRANE CO in Fortuna what he uses to hear the local CHP while you're at it...