BTW, when you extend the antenna on the downstairs radio, you are actually detuning its electrical length wrt the UHF band. That is probably helping to attenuate signal received from further away sites.
Erie County P25 System
- Thread starter MarkPalmer
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I'm not talking about the Countywide site. I'm talking about being well within the Urban Cell where sf is clearly experiencing C4FM or CQPSK (I think EFJ uses C4FM) multipath.
What is the final chart then? Do we have one that shows which towers are urban and which are county?
I gave you a chart relevant to the discussion wrt SF's issues. The mapping I did was based on the last county logical design that I saw, and informed by FCC licensing data that I added. Note that all Cell A (Urban Simulcast) sites are LICENSED for all frequencies used by the system including frequencies used by Cell B (Countywide Simulcast) - except for Presque Is. which only uses Cell A freqs. That means that Cell A is technically an overlay network. Whether it actually functions in that way is another matter, and I don't think it does based on what people have reported. At any rate, it doesn't matter. SF says he cannot receive Cell B (Countywide) at all from his location, which suggests the system is not transmitting Countywide channels from Cell A (Urban) tower sites - even though they are licensed to do so. It doesn't change anything I stated about his reception or the solutions I recommended. What would be *nice* is if someone on the ground in Erie would *visit* the Cell A sites with a frequency counter / Close Call radio, and determine if the Cell A sites are also transmitting on the Countywide freqs.
I'm testing my scanners on the 2nd floor to see if I get any reception on County alone.
So, it appears I'm not receiving the County site on any of my scanners. I seem to be getting all channels county-wide on the Urban site, but possibly not the County TAC channels. Not sure about that.
This is news to me after all this time. I assumed I was getting all TG's from both sites. I'll continue to test and see if I do get County TAC channels on the Urban site.
You will not get the Rural TAC talk groups on the Urban site.
I went for a ride in the rain this morning while monitoring the Rural site in analyze mode. Found a spot with very poor Rural reception, even my G3 was fluctuating between 3 and 4 of 4 bars, but still receiving fine. The Asbury woods nature center parking lot on the east side of Asbury road. My 436 with the duck was deaf, my HP2 being feed by a Tram 1185 2m/70cm antenna was showing only 20% signal strength. Going south on Asbury from 26th I watched the signal decrease rapidly. If you look at the FCC license for each tower and plot the radiation pattern (azimuth and beamwidth) from the information on the license you will see why.
I went for a ride in the rain this morning while monitoring the Rural site in analyze mode. Found a spot with very poor Rural reception, even my G3 was fluctuating between 3 and 4 of 4 bars, but still receiving fine. The Asbury woods nature center parking lot on the east side of Asbury road. My 436 with the duck was deaf, my HP2 being feed by a Tram 1185 2m/70cm antenna was showing only 20% signal strength. Going south on Asbury from 26th I watched the signal decrease rapidly. If you look at the FCC license for each tower and plot the radiation pattern (azimuth and beamwidth) from the information on the license you will see why.
Just curious...what are you using to do this?
The actual FCC licenses. Example; https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/licenseLocSum.jsp?licKey=3981685
Under location in the left column click on the desired transmitter site.
Are those to be used on an interim basis while awaiting construction of permanent sites?
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Don’t know for sure...was told they will be fenced in on locations.
Yes. They were working on the North East tower yesterday. There was supposed to be a tower on the North East campus of Mercyhurst University, but they closed that campus and the property is for sale. Don't know if the transmitter was ever on the air. I havn't been out there since last fall.
TV report on system issues. Attached is a report from John Grappy.
Coverage Concerns With New Erie County Public Safety Radio System
There have been concerns over lack of coverage in 4 areas of Erie County. Officials have been addressing those concerns.www.erienewsnow.com
What radios are you seeing used with TG125? The one hit this morning was with radio 8200000, which is associated with west county fire.
Not sure if the SDS200 or 536 shows which radio is transmitting? West County makes sense, since that TG is close to the ones they use.
I got that info from PRO96Com. I already had it programmed so it has been around for awhile. It is probably an interop. Both the SDS200 & X36 will show the radio as Unit ID (UID).
If anyone is considering an SDS200, I found this on Walmart's site. $599.99 is the best price I've seen.
They do if you set them up to do so..
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