oldtimeradio

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2003
Messages
100
Location
Stafford Springs, CT
Good News.... I found Troop C... They are using Troop D's Control Channel.
So this is what I have. I took the RadioReference database for the 700 MHz system and just added the 852.2000 to the frequency list.
Troop C never uses the radio that much so it takes time to find data. Knowing that some of the Troops haven't converted (all) of their radios yet they had to be using 800 MHz control channel and Troop D is close by and has a strong signal into Stafford.
Now that was fun...
 

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darkness975

Latrodectus
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2016
Messages
858
Anyone know how to add the control channel that @WoodburyMan provided to FreeSCAN so I can upload to my BCD325P2? For whatever reason I can't figure it out ..
Capture.JPG
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 4, 2016
Messages
858
You are on the wrong tab.

Go to the tab that has the other frequencies listed - click the "plus" sign and add it.

Alright. I did add it somewhere else but it must not have been right.

I will look for the correct tab with the actual frequencies listed later on when I get home from work.

Thanks.
 

cg

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 13, 2000
Messages
4,827
Location
Connecticut
There seems to be some confusion with hearing a certain Troop's talkgroup vs monitoring the simulcast that is physically in the specific Troop's area. If you hear it on another Simulcast Cell, it is because of affiliations. If you want to monitor Troop D, you may not need to be in Troop D's Simulcast coverage area but you are not guaranteed of hearing it.

For example, if a trooper is heading to work at Troop D and he lives in Windsor, he cannot reach a tower in Troop D's area. So the radio system is designed to allow coverage outside the area.
For ease of explanation, lets just use the 3 Cells involved as he drives to work. I am not including the Secondary Control Channels to avoid confusion.
774.53125 is Troop H CC
774.05625 is Troop C CC
852.20000 is Troop D CC
The radio guys have programmed in these frequencies as well as a signal strength level for good reception. Below this level, the radio scans the other programmed frequencies looking for a stronger signal.
Trooper starts his car and the radio comes on. It is set to Troop D as he wants to know what is happening there. The D Simulcast towers are too far away and 852.20000 is quiet in Windsor, so the radio scans the programmed channels. It gets to 774.05625 but the strength is below the preset limit. It hits 774.53125 and gets a strong signal. It then keys up and tells the master controller "Radio 1801234 monitoring talkgroup 151". The controller can then allow that TG to be carried on the Troop H Simulcast or deny access. If access is denied, the radio will scan again and may settle on the weaker signal or signal "out of range".
So for sake of this scenario, lets say it is allowed and the excitement of Troop D's activity is being broadcast from all the sites in Troop H's Simulcast. As he gets to Ellington, the signal fades and the radio again scans. It now affiliates on 774.05625. Since he was the only Trooper monitoring Troop D in the Hartford area, as he leaves there, the Troop D talkgroup is no longer broadcast on the Troop H sites. The same thing happens as he gets into an area where 774.05625 gets weak and 852.20000 becomes the dominant signal.

chris
 

oneadam-12

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
71
Location
Connecticut
Great work!! Matches up with my Peer data for B I got from L.
Site 23 Troop B is totally mapped now. Awesome!

So Sites to Verify:
Site 37 on 859.9375 - Stand Alone Site, Something in Troop F Area (Although someone else posted they thought this mike be Sharon or Waramaug)
Site 38 on 774.51875 - Stand Alone Site, Something Troop B's area maybe also Sharon or Waramaug
Site X on 852.2000 - Troop D Simulcast
Site X on 853.9125 - Troop K Simulcast




Also a general question - When are alternate control channels used? I set my SDS100/SDS200 to scan just the control channel and it will follow to the voice channel it points to if broadcasts TalkGroups I enter. I do this so it doesn't waste time scanning the other say 3 to 5 channels, giving my a shortened scan duration until it loops around and starts scanning the frequencies in my list again so I get less clipping of the start of a transmission. Normally it skips over the frequencies fast, but if say a TG i dont follow is talking on it, then the scanner has to scan=n it, go NOPE, and go to the next channel, adding like 0.2 seconds to my scan loop time.
Great work!! Matches up with my Peer data for B I got from L.
Site 23 Troop B is totally mapped now. Awesome!

So Sites to Verify:
Site 37 on 859.9375 - Stand Alone Site, Something in Troop F Area (Although someone else posted they thought this mike be Sharon or Waramaug)
Site 38 on 774.51875 - Stand Alone Site, Something Troop B's area maybe also Sharon or Waramaug
Site X on 852.2000 - Troop D Simulcast
Site X on 853.9125 - Troop K Simulcast




Also a general question - When are alternate control channels used? I set my SDS100/SDS200 to scan just the control channel and it will follow to the voice channel it points to if broadcasts TalkGroups I enter. I do this so it doesn't waste time scanning the other say 3 to 5 channels, giving my a shortened scan duration until it loops around and starts scanning the frequencies in my list again so I get less clipping of the start of a transmission. Normally it skips over the frequencies fast, but if say a TG i dont follow is talking on it, then the scanner has to scan=n it, go NOPE, and go to the next channel, adding like 0.2 seconds to my scan loop time.
I can confirm that 853.9125 is the cc for site 30.
 

WoodburyMan

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
Messages
378
Location
Southington, CT
I can confirm that 853.9125 is the cc for site 30.

Awesome so Site 30 Troop K Simulcast CC 853.9125

I have also found site 31 cc is 859.7625.

Cool! More confirmation. I already have Site 31 (Troop L Simulcast) mapped out entirely.

So in addition to what is currently on RadioReference Database Summary:

Troop L Simulcast Site 30 Update
Control Channel
859.76250MHz ("859.76250c" in red)
Alternative Control Channels:
856.4875MHz ("856.4875a" in blue)
857.4875MHz ("857.4875a" in blue)
858.4875MHz ("858.4875a" in blue)
Additional Frequency:
852.3250MHz
Site Neighbors / Peers Include
Site 022 773.95625MHz (Troop A Simulcast)
Site 023 853.6125MHz (Unknown!! You may see an update on this from me later)
Site 028 774.53125MHz (Troop H Simulcast)



Troop B Simulcast Site 23 Update
Control Channel
853.61250MHz ("853.61250c" in red)
Alternative Control Channels:
851.61250MHz ("851.61250a" in blue)
851.86250MHz ("851.86250a" in blue)
852.22500MHz ("852.22500a" in blue)
Additional Frequency:
851.13750MHz
853.03750MHz

Unknowns/Partials:
These sites need to be mapped with DSDPlus or Unitrunker to anyone in range with a SDR. Then we can get the full frequency and alternate control channel listings.
Looking at "Peers" or "Neighbors" is crucial to finding new sites as well. Compare any peers against RR database, and this list to see if you found a new site!

Site XX, Troop D Simulcast, CC 852.2000
Site 30, Troop K Simulcast, CC 853.9125
Site 37, Standalone (Troop F Area, or maybe Waramaug or Sharon), CC 859.9375
Site 38, Standalone (Troop B Area), CC 774.51875


I have these 4 loaded on my SDS100 and enabled. If I stumble upon them I can pull out my SDR and Laptop and get it running and map them to get info on all their channels and such.
 

oldtimeradio

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2003
Messages
100
Location
Stafford Springs, CT
There seems to be some confusion with hearing a certain Troop's talkgroup vs monitoring the simulcast that is physically in the specific Troop's area. If you hear it on another Simulcast Cell, it is because of affiliations. If you want to monitor Troop D, you may not need to be in Troop D's Simulcast coverage area but you are not guaranteed of hearing it.

For example, if a trooper is heading to work at Troop D and he lives in Windsor, he cannot reach a tower in Troop D's area. So the radio system is designed to allow coverage outside the area.
For ease of explanation, lets just use the 3 Cells involved as he drives to work. I am not including the Secondary Control Channels to avoid confusion.
774.53125 is Troop H CC
774.05625 is Troop C CC
852.20000 is Troop D CC
The radio guys have programmed in these frequencies as well as a signal strength level for good reception. Below this level, the radio scans the other programmed frequencies looking for a stronger signal.
Trooper starts his car and the radio comes on. It is set to Troop D as he wants to know what is happening there. The D Simulcast towers are too far away and 852.20000 is quiet in Windsor, so the radio scans the programmed channels. It gets to 774.05625 but the strength is below the preset limit. It hits 774.53125 and gets a strong signal. It then keys up and tells the master controller "Radio 1801234 monitoring talkgroup 151". The controller can then allow that TG to be carried on the Troop H Simulcast or deny access. If access is denied, the radio will scan again and may settle on the weaker signal or signal "out of range".
So for sake of this scenario, lets say it is allowed and the excitement of Troop D's activity is being broadcast from all the sites in Troop H's Simulcast. As he gets to Ellington, the signal fades and the radio again scans. It now affiliates on 774.05625. Since he was the only Trooper monitoring Troop D in the Hartford area, as he leaves there, the Troop D talkgroup is no longer broadcast on the Troop H sites. The same thing happens as he gets into an area where 774.05625 gets weak and 852.20000 becomes the dominant signal.

chris

I just want to make sure that you know that if you were looking for Troop C over the air conversations through 700 MHz,
there WAS NO TROOP C TRAFFIC on Troop C simulcast. Just Troop H, K and D were coming through. I have 100's of pages to prove it,
It's not there.......
OTR
 

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oneadam-12

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
71
Location
Connecticut
Awesome so Site 30 Troop K Simulcast CC 853.9125



Cool! More confirmation. I already have Site 31 (Troop L Simulcast) mapped out entirely.

So in addition to what is currently on RadioReference Database Summary:

Troop L Simulcast Site 30 Update
Control Channel
859.76250MHz ("859.76250c" in red)
Alternative Control Channels:
856.4875MHz ("856.4875a" in blue)
857.4875MHz ("857.4875a" in blue)
858.4875MHz ("858.4875a" in blue)
Additional Frequency:
852.3250MHz
Site Neighbors / Peers Include
Site 022 773.95625MHz (Troop A Simulcast)
Site 023 853.6125MHz (Unknown!! You may see an update on this from me later)
Site 028 774.53125MHz (Troop H Simulcast)



Troop B Simulcast Site 23 Update
Control Channel
853.61250MHz ("853.61250c" in red)
Alternative Control Channels:
851.61250MHz ("851.61250a" in blue)
851.86250MHz ("851.86250a" in blue)
852.22500MHz ("852.22500a" in blue)
Additional Frequency:
851.13750MHz
853.03750MHz

Unknowns/Partials:
These sites need to be mapped with DSDPlus or Unitrunker to anyone in range with a SDR. Then we can get the full frequency and alternate control channel listings.
Looking at "Peers" or "Neighbors" is crucial to finding new sites as well. Compare any peers against RR database, and this list to see if you found a new site!

Site XX, Troop D Simulcast, CC 852.2000
Site 30, Troop K Simulcast, CC 853.9125
Site 37, Standalone (Troop F Area, or maybe Waramaug or Sharon), CC 859.9375
Site 38, Standalone (Troop B Area), CC 774.51875


I have these 4 loaded on my SDS100 and enabled. If I stumble upon them I can pull out my SDR and Laptop and get it running and map them to get info on all their channels and such.[/QU

I believe you meant site 31 not 30.
 

coolrich55

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
687
Location
connecticut
I am back from my 470 mile pain shortened backpacking trip to California so I can wade in with what I now see. I have only been monitoring the changes for a few hours so something may have snuck by but I will try to catch those varmints.

Troop B:
Troop B is alive and well, living on the old Moto 4.1 frequencies.

Site: 1.23 NAC=3A3 ; Troop B

Channel 0-21: 851.13750 VOICE
Channel 0-97: 851.61250 SCC VOICE DATA
Channel 0-137: 851.86250 SCC
Channel 0-195: 852.22500 SCC
Channel 0-325: 853.03750 VOICE DATA
Channel 0-417: 853.61250 CC
(Info generated by DSDPlus)

Troop D:
DSDPlus showing D is using 852.2000 (info from Neighbor list for Troop C Simulcast)

Troop K:
DSDPlus showing K is using 853.9125 (info from Neighbor list for Troop H Simulcast)

I can no longer directly monitor Troop K Simulcast. I suspect it has to do with the separation of C & K into two cells. The site I was monitoring (probably Soapstone) is now a C site. I probably cannot get Glastonbury (closest K site).

Troop H (Moto 4.1) 853.2625
As others have mentioned, the Moto 4.1 legacy system seems to be carrying only DOC as a primary system.

Logged a couple Standalone sites
Site 37, 859.9375, is a SA Site in Troop F's area
Site 38, 774.51875, is a SA Site in Troop B's area

chris
I understand what you're saying. On the old system from my location, E area, I could listen to E C D F and K 24/7 from one site. Now with the new system I'm only getting D E and K from the E site. Bottom line is the new system is set up differently.
 

garys

Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,211
Location
Texas
The new systems are set up more like cell systems than the old Smartzone systems. When my son lived in the Mobile area, Baldwin County converted to a P25 system. In addition to most PDs encrypting their traffic, you could only hear traffic from one town if a unit from that town was affiliated with the site that your scanner was listening to.

The only real exception was the county wide ambulance service. Since they had units all over the place, someone was affiliated with just about every tower in the system.

Not nearly as much fun as either the (old) CSP or MSP systems, but then again they didn't design them for us!

I understand what you're saying. On the old system from my location, E area, I could listen to E C D F and K 24/7 from one site. Now with the new system I'm only getting D E and K from the E site. Bottom line is the new system is set up differently.
 
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