dkk1987
Member
Has anyone in this area been able to listen to Corinth PD, Hickory Creek PD, and Lake Dallas PD? I have imported all the frequencies from Radio Reference and never get anything from these towns. I have a Uniden SDS 200.
Denton County TX
- Thread starter dkk1987
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I'm not sure about Lake Dallas, but Corinth and Hickory Creek should be on Patrol 2 on the trunked system at the first link below. The 2nd link has some other information you may find helpful.
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=8438
https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Denton_County_(TX)
Happy Scanning,
Ben
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=8438
https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Denton_County_(TX)
Happy Scanning,
Ben
dkk1987
Member
Thank you very much for the response. I finally had them pop up and it was just like you said, patrol 2. I just got the sd200 a couple of days ago and all the p25 was coming in great except those. Thought they went encrypted. I guess there is not alot happening in Corinth and Lake Dallas. Thanks again. Very helpful.
You're welcome. Please let us know if you know what unit numbers the Lake Dallas PD use.
dkk1987
Member
Does anyone else live in this area and receive transmissions from Corinth,Lake Dallas, and Hickery Creek on a consistent basis? I purchased Proscan and have been recording for 5 days and have a whopping 3 seconds of audio from these towns. When Proscan logs it it does say Corinth PD, Lake Cities Fire, EcT so i know they are using the frequencies but they never say anything so I know something is wrong with the setup. I have checked the strength of the Phase 25 Denton Simulcast and it is strong and i here other towns all day on the same system. If somebody can confirm they hear these towns it would be greatly appreciated. I am using the SDS 200.
billpritjr
Member
https://wiki.radioreference.com/ind...y_Police_Unit_Numbers_on_trunked_radio_system
Patrol-2 and check your antenna/etc settings. The Denton County S.O. is not the easiest to receive on a scanner due to the system. Try to monitor Patrol-2 only.
1. What kind of antenna do you have ?
2. Where is the radio/antenna ? Corinth ? Arlington ?
"If it were me" I would try mounting
This antenna:
https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/laird-technologies-exc-806-bnx-2077
onto this right angle adapter attached to the back of your scanner
PearstoneBNC Female to BNC Male Right-Angle Adapter
Again, Denton County S.O. is problematic to hear on a scanner. Other systems, aka Parker County or Fort Worth Fire, are much easier (if you are close).
dkk1987
Member
I bought a Diamond D-130j 25-1300mgz Continuous Coverage wideband Antenna from my local ham shop. I know nothing about antennas but they said this was a good one for scanners. Its about 15 feet off the ground. I bought a pole extension and am gonna put it up Monday. I think i will take your advice and order a different antenna. I thought outside on the roof would pick up Oklahoma. The antenna was not cheap but i thought it would be worth it for the coverage. Google maps says im about 20 miles from the Denton Simulcast Antenna. I live in Corinth. Im gonna go to amazon and buy the antenna and adapter to see if it works. Thank you for your help! Hope it works.
dkk1987
Member
Also the back of my house is facing Dallas and the front facing Denton. Only half the antenna clears the back roof line so only half is exposed to the Denton side. Should this make that much of a difference?
There's more than one site for the Denton Simulcast.
If the map below is what you are looking at, that's not complete and correct.
To get the actual locations, click on that small icon on the same line as the text "Site FCC Licenses". I've highlighted it.
Here's the site map that you'd get for the Denton County Simulcast.
This is the site map for the Lewisville layer:
The site with the blue circle drawn around it is a control point, not one of the simulcast sites. The other three marked on the map are transmit sites for the Lewisville Simulcast.
billpritjr
Member
That antenna is very high quality but it needs to be up in the air at rooftop level or higher. Try that before ordering the other antenna, although the antenna and adapter I recommended will only set you back $30 or so anyway. If you live in Corinth you should be receiving things with no issue. I am not familiar with your scanner but I think some settings may need adjustment. Try to open up the squelch completely. I recommend you program Frisco PD system in a different bank/scan list (or whatever Uniden calls it) and see if you can receive that. That system is pretty easy to hear from Flower Mound area.
dkk1987
Member
Thanks guys for the responses. I raised the antenna about 4 feet above the roof line and still no Lake Cities or Corinth. I think i might be missing some frequencies or something. I pull them straight down from radio reference so I would think i would be good. Makes no since to me. But thanks for the advice, i will keep plugging away and see what happens. One other question. Does it matter what the order of the frequencies are in before you upload? Do the main control channels need to be first in line because they are not but i wouldn't think that would matter. If anyone wants to send the frequencies they are using for Denton County Simulcast i would appreciate it. Thanks Again!
To be honest if you live in Denton County, and are using an SDS200 you should be hearing those cities with the stock antenna. There should be no simulcast issues and as you mentioned a strong signal. First check your squelch. But I suspect you are scanning too many other agencies, and the activity is limiting what you are hearing on the selected cities you mentioned. Those are not high crime areas, and with the use of MDCs they may not be using their radios as much as you think they would. So while the scanner is stopping on the more frequent activity on the other talkgroups, you are just missing the transmissions on the talkgroups you are wanting to hear. Lockout or avoid all the other channels and just scan the select few you want to hear. Or create a separate Favorites List with only those cities talkgroups in it.
While we're talking about receiving this system, I have been trying to receive this system at home since I started scanning a few years ago. I have heard this system as far south as probably Arlington, as far west as Weatherford and as far east as Dallas around 75 & Mockingbird. I am located in Hurst near 820 and HWY 10 and have not been able to hear this system from the house with a discone, well north of areas where I have heard this system before. Any ideas to possibly reach this system from the house? Don't even catch a bar of signal.
Which scanner, chase? Are you using an external antenna?
Last week, I took a trip up to Decatur with a friend who lives in Grapevine. Was getting Denton P25 most of the way on my SDS100. But I'm too far south to hear it at home in Dallas. I plan on putting a directional antenna up, aimed roughly northwest. That would help with Irving, and probably the Coppell site for Metrocrest. Outside chance that I could hear Denton P25, as both the Denton & Lewisville simulcasts have sites just north of Grapevine.
I have both a 436 and an SDS100. I have an attic mounted discone (would love it on the roof, but HOA won't allow). Haven't tried a directional yet, but not sure where I'd mount it since I use the discone to receive the FWRRS. I can just barely receive RF on Irving and GP sites, but rarely hear them.
Double check your site settings.
Make sure your listening to the Denton Co sites RFSS 1 Site 1 and not Lewisville RFSS 1 Site 2
If your scanner is picking up Site 2 it wont pass audio for the Denton CO system. At least when i worked up there a year or so ago i always had my Lewisville programmed in with Site 2 and the rest of Den Co with Site 1. I am not close enough to monitor now but i was under the impression that it was set up this way. Sort of like how FWRSS set up their system. To listen to Irving you had to monitor RFSS2 Site 1.
Make sure your listening to the Denton Co sites RFSS 1 Site 1 and not Lewisville RFSS 1 Site 2
If your scanner is picking up Site 2 it wont pass audio for the Denton CO system. At least when i worked up there a year or so ago i always had my Lewisville programmed in with Site 2 and the rest of Den Co with Site 1. I am not close enough to monitor now but i was under the impression that it was set up this way. Sort of like how FWRSS set up their system. To listen to Irving you had to monitor RFSS2 Site 1.
Do you have one or more cell towers close to you? Or a transmit site for a different system? If so, that may be overloading the scanner. The SDS series is better than other series, but not immune. A directional, in the attic, may be your best bet.
I am not sure about cell towers, but I do know that I have a FWRRS site probably 3-4 miles to my east. I also do have a hill in my neighborhood directly to my north (in the direction of Denton Co.), but since my radio signal from Hurst (same direction as Denton Co. from me) isn't effected I'm not sure if that's effecting me or not. Went up into the attic with a magnet mount antenna connected to my scanner (Wilson 800/1200 MHz +6.1 dB gain antenna thats for my cellular WiFi hotspot) and pointed in the direction to see if it caught any RF or not, but I'm really not sure if thats actually a fair way to test if a directional would help or not.
Three to four miles away should not be a problem. To see what else may be near you, use this site.
If you are south of Hurst, you may be on the fringe of receiving the system. The newer systems are being set up so that the antenna pattern concentrates the signal on their jurisdiction area. I'm in Dallas, southwest of downtown. The Grand Prairie city limits are 5 to 6 miles west of me, but after they moved to P25 Phase II, they also lowered the antennas on the towers, and also tilted them down to focus on their own area. I can hear GP when in that city, but traveling east on Main St., which turns into Davis in Dallas, I lose Grand Prairie when I'm a couple miles east of the city limits. The Metrocrest system, used by Carrollton, Addison, Farmers Branch, and Coppell, is also one that I usually cannot hear once they reconfigured to a Phase II system.
A directional antenna, aimed at the Denton system site with the least obstructions in the way (hills and/or taller buildings) is probably your best choice to try and get Denton.
Thank you for sharing that website, I am shocked to see hoe many towers and antennas are near me that I never knew about. Wondering if that is contributing to why I have so many issues receiving distant systems. It's odd that I'd be just on the fringe, I've received Denton County loud and clear as far south as Arlington. So much about radios that I don't yet understand.
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