Cowlitz Co. crosspatch and WSP Vancouver

[sparklehorse]

This will be sort of two posts in one. I’m posting in the Oregon Forum because I assume most scanner folk in the Vancouver area check this forum. I’ll have the thread moved to the Washington Forum after a time.

So first off, today I’ve been hearing Cowlitz County Sheriff Dispatch (154.815) crosspatched to the CRESA 911 p25 system on talkgroup 15200. I’ve been monitoring CRESA in ID Search mode for a couple months but this is the first I’ve heard this talkgroup. It’s been active for well over an hour now. Unknown if it will remain active indefinitely. The audio isn’t great as is often the case with analog crosspatches on p25. I have submitted the info for a database update.

The other thing of note is that a couple weeks ago I tried programming WSP Vancouver into my SDS200 as a One Frequency trunk system and it really improved my reception. WSP has been problematic for me ever since they switched to p25 conventional several years back. It’s always been intermittently choppy with occasional dropped or clipped transmissions. I had chalked it up to likely being due to simulcast distortion, even though it’s never been clear to me whether their signal is even actually simulcast. The crosspatch for WSP on JIWN hasn’t been exactly stellar either, even on the SDS. Same with the crosspatch on CRESA 911 p25. But for some reason as a One Frequency trunk on the SDS it sounds really good. I got the idea after seeing UPMan suggest this to solve a similar problem on p25 conventional a while back. I’ve also tried this on my BCD436HP and it’s working pretty well there too. Might be worth a shot if you’ve also been having problems with the WSP signal.
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[gmclam]

I've really had no complaints in receiving any of the WA SP channels. But I do scan conventional, whatever county's trunk site I am in, Justice Net and the WASP P25 system. Funny how sometimes I'll hear something that's "distant" better than something that's "local". I distinctly remember being in Pierce County and hearing King County WA SP better (because it came in one of those P25 trunks). I'm used to picking up CHP on low band VHF (I realize WA SP legacy is on VHF hi band) which requires a great antenna (system).

 

[icom1020]

The word is multicast and JWIN is affiliated with WSP on an intermittent basis, outside of the WSP 700 MHz trunk system. In the Portland area you shouldn’t have a problem receiving their p25 conventional repeater, but it drops out of going towards Kelso. I don’t rely on listening to them on JWIN outside the Puget sound corridor

It’s my understanding their radios connect to whatever system based on location

 

[vansigint98661]

I get them on the IWN system all day/every day, and they sound great, sometimes better than on the local conventional repeater.

I live in Vancouver and have made a separate file of the IWN sites from about Baw Faw into Oregon and from Naselle to Defiance. Like I said, I get them all the time. The local repeater picks up everything on the local area (154.68) frequency. Which means I'm getting from Roosevelt to here with all sites in between. My suspicion is that they repeat it all here so that the mobiles know when they are talking to one out of this area. (like the LA area LE channels do with the infamous "beep"). So at any given time you can listen to WSP on their conventional P25; the IWN; or CRESA 911. Since the Green Mt. site is not a repeater, I do not get the simplex "Kelso" Area Freq like I did when they were analog. I do get them on the IWN sometimes. Someone had once indicated that they tested a xmtr site on Rainier Hill in Oregon but I don't know what they did with that, but reception has not improved for me here.

 

[sparklehorse]

I get them on the IWN system all day/every day, and they sound great, sometimes better than on the local conventional repeater.

Are you always hearing them on the same site? My experience with IWN and WSP has been hit and miss. Sometimes I'll hear them for a while on one site, then nothing for a long period, then I'll hear them on a different site for a while. So I've given up monitoring that system.
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[doovenator]

Sometimes I'll hear them for a while on one site, then nothing for a long period, then I'll hear them on a different site for a while. So I've given up monitoring that system.

Its like that here in central Washington as well... sometimes its only conventional, sometimes its on the IWN... between two sites that I'm in range of. Conventional is the only consistent one, but I still like hearing the digital traffic so I continue to monitor it. My understanding is they're in the process of changing everything around anyways, was supposed to be completed end of this month but they ran into some delays. https://waocio.secure.force.com/ProjectDetail?id=a060P00000mX3q3QAC

 

[vansigint98661]

Are you always hearing them on the same site? My experience with IWN and WSP has been hit and miss. Sometimes I'll hear them for a while on one site, then nothing for a long period, then I'll hear them on a different site for a while. So I've given up monitoring that system.
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I hear them on any of maybe 10 or so sites I can hear in my area. There are several in Portland area alone. I strongly suspect they are repeated at several sites simultaneously. I've never understood how it works here since they come up on the conventional system as well as IWN at the same time. I created a file with local sites so the radio would not need to scan the entire system because clearly I'm not going to receive the sound area or eastern WA from Vancouver.

 

[cinsu]

I hear them on any of maybe 10 or so sites I can hear in my area. There are several in Portland area alone. I strongly suspect they are repeated at several sites simultaneously. I've never understood how it works here since they come up on the conventional system as well as IWN at the same time. I created a file with local sites so the radio would not need to scan the entire system because clearly I'm not going to receive the sound area or eastern WA from Vancouver.

They're crosspatched, in Vancouver they're patched from Conventional P25 to IWN and to CRESA 911. You'll always hear them on the conventional P25. On trunked systems you will only hear the traffic if a radio user is affiliated with that talkgroup on that tower.