DaneCom

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tp3244

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I have a Radio Shack Pro-651 and I am not able to pickup any Madison police channels any longer, I updated to the new Madison Area Public Safety/Project 25 (system Type P25 Auto) using the software and RR download and they sound like they are talking under water.

Unfortunately you’ve got the wrong tool for the job. Just like DaneCom, The Madison P25 system is simulcast, which means most all scanners (except the SDS-100 and the VHF Unication G5 pager) won’t pick it up reliably unless you’re in just the right spot ie right next to a tower. This is something the scanner manufacturers have done a poor job of informing the public. They might say they work on P25 phase 1/2 but if the scanner is not one of the aforementioned models, they mean NON-SIMULCAST P25, which from what I gather is not what most public safety systems use these days.
 
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ScanWI

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Unfortunately you’ve got the wrong tool for the job. Just like DaneCom, The Madison P25 system is simulcast, which means most all scanners (except the SDS-100 and the VHF Unication G5 pager) won’t pick it up reliably unless you’re in just the right spot ie right next to a tower. This is something the scanner manufacturers have done a poor job of informing the public. They might say they work on P25 phase 1/2 but if the scanner is not one of the aforementioned models, they mean NON-SIMULCAST P25, which from what I gather is not what most public safety systems use these days.

The SDS100 is meant to do better on a LSM systems(Motorola), I have had great success with many Uniden Scanners on Motorola systems including the new Madison one. However the GRE/Whistler/Radio shack scanners will pick up the system, but they can be choppy at times.

The DaneCom system being a Harris system is a totally different beast. It uses CQPSK-wide modulation which allows for a large spread delay(difference in time that signals from different towers reach the scanner). This delay on DaneCom in places is at the edge of a normal radio being able to work, this is what makes DaneCom so hard to pick up except in select locations on a scanner.

While the City of Madison system also will have spread delay, due to the smaller geographic area it will not be as bad and will be nature work better(not perfect in scanners)

Scanners working on Madison System - I have used these in multiple areas
Uniden
SDS100
BCD536HP & BCD436HP
Home Patrol-1 & 2
BCD325P2
BCD996XT

GRE/WHISTLER/Radio Shack
Digital scanners seem to work but can be choppy at times and some locations missed audio. I would suggest trying different antennas and antenna locations, sometimes moving the antenna a few feet can make a big difference.

Working on DaneCom
Basically just the Unication G5
 

ScanWI

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The G5 is almost flawless in receive, however it can only listen to one type of system at a time and you won’t be able to edit what you are listening to without a computer.

You can listen to the City or DaneCom or WISCOM or Conventional but not at the same time


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gootch

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The G5 is almost flawless in receive, however it can only listen to one type of system at a time and you won’t be able to edit what you are listening to without a computer.

You can listen to the City or DaneCom or WISCOM or Conventional but not at the same time


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Do you notice a improvement with The SDS100 VS the BCD536HP & BCD436HP. Thanks.
 

jfive38

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I have a question about the Danecom system regarding Monona PD. Are they on the Danecom system now? I was able to monitor them on the Madison system but do not hear them at all on that system anymore. Thanks.
 

tp3244

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I have a question about the Danecom system regarding Monona PD. Are they on the Danecom system now? I was able to monitor them on the Madison system but do not hear them at all on that system anymore. Thanks.

I monitor Monona PD on the new Madison P25 system frequently on my G5 and it comes through loud and clear even as of today. I have not tried the Monona PD talkgroup on DaneCom but radioreference is showing a talk group there.

I believe very recently (within the last few weeks) the old analog 800MHz SmartNet system used by Madison Public Safety for many years (and still easily monitor-able by older analog trunking scanners) was powered down ....I'm pretty sure Monona was on that (I'm guessing this is what you were monitoring? What kind of scanner do you have, jfive?)

Either way in this area it's probably time to start looking at either an SDS-100 or a Unication G5 if you want to monitor reliably and not mess around.

I did try monitoring the Madison P25 system on the HomePatrol-2 when I had it and it was unreliable. I admit that, as ScanWI noted, the HP2 seemed to work a little better on Madison P25 than DaneCom, the latter of which which was completely unusable on the HP2.

I would not waste my time with anything other than the SDS-100 (presumably, have not tried it myself) or Unication G5 on either the Madison Public Safety P25 or DaneCom systems. The G5 was night and day for me vs the HomePatrol-2 and you no longer have to worry about where the unit is, what direction it's pointing, the weather, etc. It just works on both systems, just as you'd expect it to for an EMS/Fire person using the same unit. I can drive anywhere in Dane County and unless I'm in a building behind a steel door, I get 100% copy on both systems with the G5.
 
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jfive38

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Thanks. I guess I left out some information, sorry. I do have the G5 and do hear Monona PD talkgroup on Danecom just fine. I have the Danecom system set up properly because I do hear all of the surrounding communities perfectly clear and also hear Dane County Sheriff's Dept. just fine. I must have something entered wrong for Monona on the Madison P25 system then. More research and testing, I guess. I think the G5 is great except for not being able to scan multiple systems. This is an issue for me at work as we need to be able to monitor Madison and Monona without having to switch back and forth between systems on the G5. Thanks. I'll see if I can figure out what I have entered incorrectly for Monona on the new Madison P25 P2 system.
 

tp3244

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Just checked my Unication PPS. Monona PD is P25T TGID 1503 (DEC) / 5DF (HEX) on the Madison P25 system. There was a rollover accident on the beltline last night (8/2) and a ton of traffic on that channel.
 

jfive38

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Thanks. I got it figured out from your post the other day. I had the wrong talkgroup ID entered. Gas leak in Sun Prairie tonight, again. A lot of activity on Danecom. Thanks for the info!
 

ScanWI

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I noticed the Motorola SmartNet went offline about a week ago. I programmed the Madison P25 system into my BCD325 and it is working pretty good. Better than Danecom even...



The system is still online but PD is off it completely, this information is being duplicated in the Madison P25 System Thread


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whop94

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Sounds like Dane Co Sheriff is now using split county dispatch like Madison does, not sure which way its split and which side of the county is using which channel but they are active on channel 1 and 3 (13001 and 13003).
 

tp3244

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Sounds like Dane Co Sheriff is now using split county dispatch like Madison does, not sure which way its split and which side of the county is using which channel but they are active on channel 1 and 3 (13001 and 13003).

I noticed same, the other day I was listening to 13001 (Sheriff channel 1) and they announced they were splitting the channel from just 13001 to 13001+13003, it was about 2:30pm I believe.

Listened tonight (a Saturday night) and it was split in the afternoon (13001 + 13003) but back to just 13001 later at night (after 10pm or so). When it was split, it sounded like the Sheriff's Deputies (44xx, 45xx units) were on 1 and the smaller village/town PDs (i.e. 5xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx, 8xxx units) were on 3.

These are just my initial observations, will try to pin it down further.
 

rusty_shackleford1

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Sounds like Dane Co Sheriff is now using split county dispatch like Madison does, not sure which way its split and which side of the county is using which channel but they are active on channel 1 and 3 (13001 and 13003).

Split county dispatch occurs on Friday and Saturday from 2:30p to 10:30p. Deputies stay on DALAW1, all the municipal units go to DALAW3.
 

tp3244

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Anyone know what type of radio system Middleton PD is using that is patched into DaneCom? Is it this old analog 151MHz system? https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?fccCallsign=KXZ381

It would seem to me they are the only PD around here that is still using an old system like this (correct me if I'm wrong).

The Middleton patch is rather loud - louder than all of the other DaneCom channels by far. Some of the Middleton PD units have an old-school "squawk" when they key up their mic before they speak - like something out of the 1980s. I also notice my G5 shows a number on the display starting with a "7" which is odd for DaneCom (most of the radio IDs start with a "13", I believe State Patrol units start with "8")
 

whop94

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Anyone know what type of radio system Middleton PD is using that is patched into DaneCom? Is it this old analog 151MHz system? https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?fccCallsign=KXZ381

It would seem to me they are the only PD around here that is still using an old system like this (correct me if I'm wrong).

The Middleton patch is rather loud - louder than all of the other DaneCom channels by far. Some of the Middleton PD units have an old-school "squawk" when they key up their mic before they speak - like something out of the 1980s. I also notice my G5 shows a number on the display starting with a "7" which is odd for DaneCom (most of the radio IDs start with a "13", I believe State Patrol units start with "8")

Stoughton also uses a patch from their VHF system, not entirely sure what type.

I do wonder what the timeframe is for their full cutover, I know at least Stoughton initially had a lot of reservations about the new system.
 

sgtmatt

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Just curious just got a trx-2 wondering if anyone uses this scanner in dane county, I may be moving to Stoughton within the next year and was wondering what all can be heard and how well it works on Danecom? Thanks guys.
 

whop94

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Just curious just got a trx-2 wondering if anyone uses this scanner in dane county, I may be moving to Stoughton within the next year and was wondering what all can be heard and how well it works on Danecom? Thanks guys.

Stoughton may just may be in a decent spot given your close to just one tower, otherwise its a toss-up, I wouldn't count on it though never say never. The TRX-2 will work well on all the other counties around the area including Rock which can be good listening from that area. Stoughton I believe may still simulcast their PD dispatch on conventional analog VHF if I'm not mistaken.

Edit: Stoughton PD patch looks like its active and digital, which means you're in luck if your local PD is your main interest as you won't have to rely on DaneCom reception.
 
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