Digital listening

[uneek156]

Hello, I have multiple digital scanners and have had an issue picking up our local state patrol since yesterday. What I have been told by our local PIO is that they did some work on towers yesterday to stop some traffic bleeding over. I no longer can pick most of the dispatches and if I do they are unreadable. Does anyone have any idea what might have happened and how to resolve it on my end? This is happening on both brands of digital scanners that I have. I have to add that I have limited knowledge of how this all works. It's a miracle I even was able to program these scanners in the first place. I appreciate any help I can get.

 

[danesgs]

You did not say what sort of antenna setup you have. Am guessing a directional yagi pointed in the direction of the nearest tower will solve your problem.

 

[uneek156]

You did not say what sort of antenna setup you have. Am guessing a directional yagi pointed in the direction of the nearest tower will solve your problem.

I don't know much about antennas but it is just a magnetic antenna that I have used for a few years now. Up until yesterday I had no problems. I'm wondering if there is something in the setting of the frequency that I need to adjust.

 

[danesgs]

Unless they changed something on the transmitting end, no. I think you need an outside antenna at best, or check the one you have for shorts, wet coax etc. Use the wx channel for a test. Is it still strong on the current setup? etc.

 

[ka3jjz]

If they are now using directional antennas to 'point' the energy and isolate the areas they don't want to cover, then you must do the same. This is not uncommon - several systems are now doing this.

You just may be no longer in range of a tower or towers that used to cover your area. A crude analogy would be a flashlight in a darkened room

Mike

 

[uneek156]

Unless they changed something on the transmitting end, no. I think you need an outside antenna at best, or check the one you have for shorts, wet coax etc. Use the wx channel for a test. Is it still strong on the current setup? etc.

Oh my. I have no idea what wx is. Most of this is greek to me. Sorry.

 

[uneek156]

If they are now using directional antennas to 'point' the energy and isolate the areas they don't want to cover, then you must do the same. This is not uncommon - several systems are now doing this.

You just may be no longer in range of a tower or towers that used to cover your area. A crude analogy would be a flashlight in a darkened room

Mike

This kinda makes sense. I don't have an outside antenna so not sure how to fix this.

 

[belvdr]

Oh my. I have no idea what wx is. Most of this is greek to me. Sorry.

wx is short for weather. See these Nation Weather Service frequencies:

NWR Station Listing

 

[RaleighGuy]

Oh my. I have no idea what wx is. Most of this is greek to me. Sorry.

WX is weather, he's telling you to listen to the NOAA weather frequencies in the 162.4-162.6 range

Sorry @belvdr we posted at the same time

 

[RaleighGuy]

This kinda makes sense. I don't have an outside antenna so not sure how to fix this.

search directional yagi on google or on the Scanner Masters website.

 

[uneek156]

All this is so confusing. I'm guessing it is the antenna but I use my scanners in the car quite often. I seriously think I'm over my head with this one.

 

[RaleighGuy]

I'm guessing it is the antenna but I use my scanners in the car quite often.

The thing with antennas, like property values, is location, location, location. Try moving the scanner to a different location in the house or even take a drive around town and see where it is having issues or does good. It may not be the antenna, control channels may have changed, try searching the band and see if you can find new control channels. It is difficult to give you better suggestions as we do not know your location or the system you are listening too.

 

[uneek156]

The thing with antennas, like property values, is location, location, location. Try moving the scanner to a different location in the house or even take a drive around town and see where it is having issues or does good. It may not be the antenna, control channels may have changed, try searching the band and see if you can find new control channels. It is difficult to give you better suggestions as we do not know your location or the system you are listening too.

Thank you. I'm going to do that. I'm listening to WSP P25 in Olympia WA. The frequency is 154.9200. I did talk to the WSP PIO who said they did not change the frequency but they did work on the towers. I apologize for not being to educated on this kind of stuff. I do appreciate all the help. What is weird is just after I typed my last message, I heard one trooper which I could hear. We shall see how it goes in the next few days

 

[natedawg1604]

Thank you. I'm going to do that. I'm listening to WSP P25 in Olympia WA. The frequency is 154.9200. I did talk to the WSP PIO who said they did not change the frequency but they did work on the towers. I apologize for not being to educated on this kind of stuff. I do appreciate all the help. What is weird is just after I typed my last message, I heard one trooper which I could hear. We shall see how it goes in the next few days

It looks like WSP has a 700 P-25 trunked system, is it being used in your area? Have you been monitoring that system as well?

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

WSP operates on a P25 Phase-II system here. Most of the sites are simulcast. OP, you never mentioned what scanner you are using but optimally the system would be best monitored with a Uniden SDS100 or SDS200 to overcome the effects of simulcast distortion which is one of the most discussed topics/issues on these forums

 

[hill]

Looking at both the conventional frequencies and the Trunked Radio System it looks like the Trunked System only covers part of the state. Going forward the conventional frequencies are most likely in use in areas without TRS coverage until it is built out.

Maybe they reduced the output power of the repeaters to only cover a smaller area. If that is case you may not be able to receive them, but you could try to get your antenna outside or higher to see if it helps.

With us not being in the area we can only guess what's going on and it would best to ask this question of someone local to you.

 

[uneek156]

WSP operates on a P25 Phase-II system here. Most of the sites are simulcast. OP, you never mentioned what scanner you are using but optimally the system would be best monitored with a Uniden SDS100 or SDS200 to overcome the effects of simulcast distortion which is one of the most discussed topics/issues on these forums

I am so uneducated on all these terms. I need to find someone local to help me figure it out. I'm not sure where to even look though.

These are the digital scanners I have. I wasn't having any real problems until they worked on the towers yesterday
Uniden BCD325P2 Handheld TrunkTracker V Scanner
Whistler TRX-1 Handheld Digital Scanner
Whistler WS1098 Desktop Digital Scanner
Uniden BCD436HP HomePatrol Series Digital Handheld

 

[devicelab]

WSP operates on a P25 Phase-II system here. Most of the sites are simulcast. OP, you never mentioned what scanner you are using but optimally the system would be best monitored with a Uniden SDS100 or SDS200 to overcome the effects of simulcast distortion which is one of the most discussed topics/issues on these forums.

Not precisely. WSP still has conventional frequencies and they can also use IWN sites.

 

[devicelab]

I am so uneducated on all these terms. I need to find someone local to help me figure it out. I'm not sure where to even look though. These are the digital scanners I have. I wasn't having any real problems until they worked on the towers yesterday.

This may or may not help but it's worth a try. In the past, WSP has done some tweaking on their 700 Mhz system that could cause some users to suddenly lose voice traffic from their system.

Start with one of your scanners -- perhaps the one you're most familiar with -- and use its programming software to program the scanner from your saved file. You said you were able to program the scanners so you're not as limited as you think.

Give it a try and see what happens. But just work on ONE scanner.

 

[uneek156]

This may or may not help but it's worth a try. In the past, WSP has done some tweaking on their 700 Mhz system that could cause some users to suddenly lose voice traffic from their system.

Start with one of your scanners -- perhaps the one you're most familiar with -- and use its programming software to program the scanner from your saved file. You said you were able to program the scanners so you're not as limited as you think.

Give it a try and see what happens. But just work on ONE scanner.

Thank you. This makes sense from what I was told. Youtube had a serious hand in helping me program the digital scanners. I noticed that some chatter is coming through this morning. I will give your suggestion a try and see if that helps. Now I just have to figure out what the programming software is and how to use it.