Franklin County/Columbus P25 System Discussion

[W8RMH]

I have been getting CBus &Franklin S.O. On Licking County frequency 774.231250 two TGs I saw were 57272 zone 4 CBus & 61033 county East...my location E.Broad & Rosehill Rd.

That is the Pataskala MARCSIP site. You may receive RPD regularly from that site due to it's proximity. Columbus units may affiliate with that site occasionally but not consistently, so you won't hear every transmission.

There are Columbus officers who live in adjacent counties who take their issued portables home with them, so if their radio is on Zone 4 you will hear Zone 4 traffic.

 

[copper434]

Makes sense .

 

[Robert43055]

I went to Universal Radio on Tussing yesterday ...They were sold out of antennas for handheld I was looking for with all the folks looking for a solution to the Cbus Marcs problems... The man I talked to thinks it will get a lot better when they completely stop the simulcast after Fire is fixed ...Apparently they have had issues with Marcs when firemen tried to activate their emergency banners.

Stop simulcast ?

 

[W8RMH]

I think he has confused Simulcast with Multicast which is the duplication/broadcasts of the MARCS system to the old analog system on certain talkgroups, 10 FIRE and the sheriff channels. I don't think this will have anything to do with the reception though. Simulcast is here to stay.

 

[copper434]

Could be he used the wrong term .He wasn't the regular scanner man that programs radios there.

 

[mmartinfan]

10 Fire and the FCSO Disp channels are no longer on the old Analog system, well as of last night they were off of it.

 

[Ghostwars]

I ended up grabbing a BCD325P2 and got a Yagi antenna plugged in and stationed on a second floor desk, the Columbus sites still have horrible reception and choppy audio if and when the scanner receives a transmission. I live around Hines and Tussing on the Pickerington/Columbus border so I figure I should be in decent signal range. I have been fiddling with the threshold and wait times but so far nothing seems to improve listening in on the Columbus sites. As others have stated, the county sites work fine for intermittent CPD transmissions but you will miss a lot due to their roaming nature. Also I appreciate the help being provided in this thread, I learned alot about how digital works.

 

[W8RMH]

I ended up grabbing a BCD325P2 and got a Yagi antenna plugged in and stationed on a second floor desk, the Columbus sites still have horrible reception and choppy audio if and when the scanner receives a transmission. I live around Hines and Tussing on the Pickerington/Columbus border so I figure I should be in decent signal range. I have been fiddling with the threshold and wait times but so far nothing seems to improve listening in on the Columbus sites. As others have stated, the county sites work fine for intermittent CPD transmissions but you will miss a lot due to their roaming nature. Also I appreciate the help being provided in this thread, I learned alot about how digital works.

Which site is your antenna aimed at? If it is aimed toward a site which has another site in that direction you may still suffer from distortion. Try aiming it toward Scioto Downs.

 

[mmartinfan]

So my Yagi and cable arrived however it would appear I need an adapter to connect the cable to a BCD325P2, can I get some advice as to what sort of adapter I should purchase to connect the cable to the scanner? The cable connects to the antennae perfectly and I linked them below.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L3ZRF9A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Z8MJ6Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So can we get an update on how well the Yagi works for you

 

[ebuckeye]

The once great Franklin county system has been subject to distortion here lately, at least for me. The City system seems to have improved slightly, but not enough to make listening enjoyable outside 270. Keep us updated on the use of the new antennas.

 

[W8RMH]

The once great Franklin county system has been subject to distortion here lately, at least for me. The City system seems to have improved slightly, but not enough to make listening enjoyable outside 270. Keep us updated on the use of the new antennas.

I am several miles outside of the loop and my indoor Yagi works very well on my feed (BCD996XT) and my general scanner (HP-2). I receive about 95% decode. However with the antenna at 120 degrees I had to give up all reception of COIRS.

I have had a BCD436HP for a week or so and I get very good reception, I'd say 99% decode. I have noticed a few problem spots in my office on the 1st floor of a large downtown building but a small move usually clears it up. My BCD396XT would not work there at all. I still get an occasional muffled or high/low volume issue but that seems to be the nature of digital.

I think the BCDx36HPs are the way to go.

 

[Robert43055]

I am several miles outside of the loop and my indoor Yagi works very well on my feed (BCD996XT) and my general scanner (HP-2). I receive about 95% decode. However with the antenna at 120 degrees I had to give up all reception of COIRS.

I have had a BCD436HP for a week or so and I get very good reception, I'd say 99% decode. I have noticed a few problem spots in my office on the 1st floor of a large downtown building but a small move usually clears it up. My BCD396XT would not work there at all. I still get an occasional muffled or high/low volume issue but that seems to be the nature of digital.

I think the BCDx36HPs are the way to go.

I would have to agree the BCDx36HP models are probably the best way to go., I also work in a downtown highrise building and I couldnt get any reception with the BCD396XT, BCD996XT or the BCD325P2, The BCD436HP out perfromed all of those scanners, I havent had hardly any decode issues with the 436, most of the time the reception is clear for me as well.

 

[KD8DVR]

The once great Franklin county system has been subject to distortion here lately, at least for me. The City system seems to have improved slightly, but not enough to make listening enjoyable outside 270. Keep us updated on the use of the new antennas.

Good for me. Columbus MARCS is the one giving me fits. COIRS and Columbus city are fine also.

AntiSquid disclaimer: All information provided is personal opinion only and may or may not resemble actual fact.

 

[copper434]

I was checking the forums for atmospheric interference information... Lots of variables but that would seem to be the main factor when you have the here today gone tomorrow experience...I don't know if this exists ,something similar to the daily allergen alerts...Factoring the known contributors to signal distortion and issuing regional and local forecast .Yeah I know ,what would be the income potential for it...Maybe a subscription service or a app purchase...Any entrepreneurs out there listening .

 

[amcferrin90]

So I have a little something for you. I'm of the persuasion that the Sprint 800 MHz LTE and CDMA channels are causing interference with the public safety systems. My own tests indicate this to be true. If you're having interference issues and would like to see if it may be a Sprint tower causing your problem, there's a KML link below that opens with Google Earth. It shows several different types of colored pegs. These are all Sprint towers and the color/symbol indicate the cell bands active. The pegs of interest to us are the green ones which have 800 MHz LTE/CDMA active.

http://cbus.digiblur.com/clbaio.kml

 

[radioron231]

So I have a little something for you. I'm of the persuasion that the Sprint 800 MHz LTE and CDMA channels are causing interference with the public safety systems. My own tests indicate this to be true. If you're having interference issues and would like to see if it may be a Sprint tower causing your problem, there's a KML link below that opens with Google Earth. It shows several different types of colored pegs. These are all Sprint towers and the color/symbol indicate the cell bands active. The pegs of interest to us are the green ones which have 800 MHz LTE/CDMA active.

http://cbus.digiblur.com/clbaio.kml

That's a good point as cell towers have historically caused interference with public safety radios. Thanks for the link.

On a side note, I have a 436 and I receive COIRS, Columbus MARCS and Columbus City just fine from Delaware City and anywhere I have traveled in Columbus.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

 

[KD8DVR]

I was checking the forums for atmospheric interference information... Lots of variables but that would seem to be the main factor when you have the here today gone tomorrow experience...I don't know if this exists ,something similar to the daily allergen alerts...Factoring the known contributors to signal distortion and issuing regional and local forecast .Yeah I know ,what would be the income potential for it...Maybe a subscription service or a app purchase...Any entrepreneurs out there listening .

Atmospherics rarely mess with frequencies that high. Hf and VHF, yes. Uhf and higher, no.

There are many free resources amateur radio operators already use for RF propagation.

AntiSquid disclaimer: All information provided is personal opinion only and may or may not resemble actual fact.

 

[amcferrin90]

Atmospherics rarely mess with frequencies that high. Hf and VHF, yes. Uhf and higher, no.

There are many free resources amateur radio operators already use for RF propagation.

AntiSquid disclaimer: All information provided is personal opinion only and may or may not resemble actual fact.

That's not entirely true about UHF. I can recall many nights sitting with my BC200XLT handheld scanner in my living room in Whitehall listening to Hamilton County SO come in perfectly over top of Reynoldsburg PD on 460.300. Defining over top of as an active RPD transmission was in progress over their repeater when a transmission from HCSO obliterated it. I was hearing Cincinnati addresses and "all county broadcasts" at the time and looked up the frequency in my Police Call book if you remember that.

 

[KD8DVR]

That's not entirely true about UHF. I can recall many nights sitting with my BC200XLT handheld scanner in my living room in Whitehall listening to Hamilton County SO come in perfectly over top of Reynoldsburg PD on 460.300. Defining over top of as an active RPD transmission was in progress over their repeater when a transmission from HCSO obliterated it. I was hearing Cincinnati addresses and "all county broadcasts" at the time and looked up the frequency in my Police Call book if you remember that.

I said it's rare. Not impossible. I'm aware of tropo ducting on uhf.

AntiSquid disclaimer: All information provided is personal opinion only and may or may not resemble actual fact.

 

[kayn1n32008]

I said it's rare. Not impossible. I'm aware of tropo ducting on uhf.

Tropo is fairly common where I live on 700MHz and 800MHz. It's quite common on UHF. Troop effecting UHF and above is much more common that you may think.