Fort Lauderdale PD no longer available on BCD436HP Scanner

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twizgoat

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I recently purchased a Uniden BCD436HP. When I plugged in my zip code right out of the box I was able to monitor Fort Lauderdale PD through Broward County Public Services. I took my scanner on vacation and upon returning home and resetting my location, I no longer receive Fort Lauderdale PD traffic on the scanner. The scanner shows that it scans Fort Lauderdale PD but it no longer receives anything. I do seem to receive traffic from Broward County sheriff and all other agencies. Any help in how I can receive Fort Lauderdale PD radio traffic would be GREATLY appreciated
 

Bote

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The Fort Lauderdale P25 trunked system is, for all practical purposes as a scanner hobbyist, its own separate system, regardless of how RadRef lists it and regardless of the fact that it's slaved off the Broward core controller. I programmed my ancient, antiquated BCD996P2 that way and I'm hearing them just fine. That should take care of the pedants who will soon comment.

I don't know how the HP/Sentinel scanners work, but see if there's an entry in your Favorites list or whatever they call that setting specific to the Fort Lauderdale system. It's probably buried under the Broward top-level system.

It might be disabled or locked out because the location change. I thought you could disable that and just turn on the systems and groups you want to monitor regardless of the location setting?
 

jonwienke

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I recently purchased a Uniden BCD436HP. When I plugged in my zip code right out of the box I was able to monitor Fort Lauderdale PD through Broward County Public Services.
Update the database in Sentinel, then write to the radio. The database that comes with the radio may be years out of date.
 

Whiskey3JMC

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Hi & welcome to the RR forums:
If this is a system you monitor regularly, I'd strongly recommend programming it as a favorites list via Sentinel. Make sure you update the Master database first so you're getting the most up-to-date version reported to the RR database:
89313

Then...
89312
 

Gmork

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I have never used any of the Radio Reference databases. They can be incorrect. I made my own programming database to suit my needs.

Like Bote said. They are in fact 3 separate systems...
 

jonwienke

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I have never used any of the Radio Reference databases. They can be incorrect. I made my own programming database to suit my needs.
RR is correct most of the time. And if it isn't, it would be courteous of you to submit a correction so that the error can be corrected for everyone else.
 

Bote

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It's not inaccurate data, it's the insistence of RadRef that Fort Lauderdale and the other systems MUST be listed under Broward County simply because they share the core controller. I suppose you could program your scanner that way, but I never have and I have acceptable results.

Same situation as Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, and Delray under Palm Beach County.

For the novice scanner user it can be confusing, as we see in this thread. If there's some shortcut that can get them listening to what they want, it would behoove RadRef to publish those tips because this isn't the first time I've encountered somebody who's puzzled by this layout.
 

jonwienke

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It's not inaccurate data, it's the insistence of RadRef that Fort Lauderdale and the other systems MUST be listed under Broward County simply because they share the core controller.
Wrong. They are listed under the Broward County geographic region (not a Broward county radio system) because that's where they are physically located.
 

fredva

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It's not inaccurate data, it's the insistence of RadRef that Fort Lauderdale and the other systems MUST be listed under Broward County simply because they share the core controller. I suppose you could program your scanner that way, but I never have and I have acceptable results.

Same situation as Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, and Delray under Palm Beach County.

For the novice scanner user it can be confusing, as we see in this thread. If there's some shortcut that can get them listening to what they want, it would behoove RadRef to publish those tips because this isn't the first time I've encountered somebody who's puzzled by this layout.

The RadioReference database shows Ft. Lauderdale police as being on the Ft. Lauderdale/Plantation/Coral Springs radio system. There's no information about that system sharing anything with the Broward County radio system. Even if it does share some equipment with another system, that's a don't care for the database.

The OP might want to check the distance set in the zip code programming, just in case Ft. Lauderdale is now "out of range". Was the distance changed for the vacation trip?
 

Bote

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The RadioReference database shows Ft. Lauderdale police as being on the Ft. Lauderdale/Plantation/Coral Springs radio system. There's no information about that system sharing anything with the Broward County radio system.

I was thinking back to the analog P16 days when Fort Lauderdale was listed as site 4 of Broward County.

OK, I guess the RadRef database groups together the individual sites sharing a common System ID, which is shown at the top of each trunked system page, so that must be the key. I don't know the relationship of Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, and Coral Springs there.

Those systems are grouped together as sites 7, 8, and 9 on their own page as system 544 (with the same WACN BEE00 that seems so common as to be meaningless). Kind of makes you wonder what will be sites 1 through 6?

The Broward County P25 database currently shows sites 1 and 2 of system 997 with the same WACN. I guess that's how Home Patrol and the new Uniden line differentiate?
 

Skyforce

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Monitoring Fort Lauderdale PD and Fire Rescue from North Perry Airport, Pembroke Pines Florida. System working on BCD436HP, Home Patrol II, SDS100 and SDS200 both on the ground at the hangar and in the Chopper.
 

Gmork

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OK, I guess the RadRef database groups together the individual sites sharing a common System ID, which is shown at the top of each trunked system page, so that must be the key. I don't know the relationship of Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, and Coral Springs there.

Those systems are grouped together as sites 7, 8, and 9 on their own page as system 544 (with the same WACN BEE00 that seems so common as to be meaningless).

This is correct. I say the listing is incorrect because they are 3 separate systems that share a common WACN. However none of them are linked or SmartZoned. They are truly separate. With Broward testing their new P25 system, I am not sure what will happen with Fort Lauderdale as they are dispatched by Broward County. They may Smartzone that system or keep it independent with dispatching still done by Broward.

Plantation & Coral Springs will always be independent. They have their on PSAPs, they get it...

However in an interesting twist, Coconut Creek just signed a contact with Coral Springs for police & fire dispatching. They will also be severing their relationship with Margate as Margate-Coconut Creek Fire-Rescue. So I don't know if an additional site will be added to the Coral Springs system for better eastern coverage.
 

JANFINE

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If my memory is correct Coral Springs, Plantation, and Fort Lauderdale are listed together. Look under Coral Springs. When you are scanning you might want to HOLD on the Fort Lauderdale Site. That way you will only hear Fort Lauderdale.
 

APX8000

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Coral Springs, Plantation and Fort Lauderdale are all one SYSTEM....they share the same System ID and Core (owned by Motorola). Each Agency has it's own SITE...Coral Springs as 007, Fort Lauderdale as 008 and Plantation as 009. Plantation is TDMA, the others are FDMA. You can easily program Fort Lauderdale (and the others) as its own "system" by simply programming ONLY the Control and Alternate Control Channels for that particular site and the talkgroups that correspond to that City. That's actually how they are programmed in the subscribers as well.

Broward County's new P25 is slowly coming alive. Switchover is alleged to be happening in the end of September. The new Broward P25 System 997 is actually broadcasting CS/FTL/PLA system ID 544 as Site 006.

And as far as the New Broward P25....Site 001 is the County Primary Simulcast, Site 002 is the County Backup Simulcast (4 sites) and Site 100 is a standalone on I-75 at the BCFR Station 106 tower.
 
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