Frustrated and Need to ask for Help

[greggk]

Hi. If you look at my previous posts, there is a big gap in the time since I've been here. (Long Illness) A few weeks ago I was able to get back to my scanners, a Uniden 996T and a PRO 106. I use ARC 500. Programming thru RR was always a breeze for me, but now something is not right and I just cannot find the answer. Its been trial and error for me over several weeks now with little luck.

An Example. I am trying to download Chicago Police and Fire into my Pro 106. If I search for conventional frequencies, I find them. I can find what appear to be digital /APCO 25 channels as well. I tried downloading them also. No luck. Just dead air.

I have downloaded Lake County Fire, Police, and Sheriff with no problems.

The issue seems to be what do I pick; there are numerous options on the left side of the software, and numerous other selections on the right side when searching with ARC 500 and RR.

I assume I just cannot pick out "any" control channels on the left and mate them with "any" sites on the right. And then to make it more complicated, at least for me, Chicago Fire and Police seem to be using both conventional and APCO 25 channels? For many agencies I would like to monitor, I am having problems deciding which frequencies/system to download.

If I have explained this properly, I hope someone will have some answers to help me out. As I said, it has been weeks of frustration with this.

Thanks.

Greg

 

[greggk]

Maybe this is a better example of my dilemma :

I was looking for Illinois State Police. The software, on the right side, had numerous talk groups, and I selected what I needed. When I tried to "Upload" the frequencies, I got a notice saying to "pick at least one site."

And that is the question. With a really long list of sites on the left side of the software, which site do I pick?

I just gave it another try and no luck.

Greg

 

[krokus]

When I tried to "Upload" the frequencies, I got a notice saying to "pick at least one site."

The talkgroups are useless, by themselves. They are carried on a system, so you must select which towers you want to listen to, on that system.

Sent from Tapatalk

 

[greggk]

I thank you for your reply. My problem is that when I have 40-50 "systems" to choose from, how do I know which one to pick? Many of them are very similar. The System I picked last night for the Illinois State police is not working. I did, however, for a few seconds picked up some garbled talk. Perhaps I do not have the system set properly. Its very frustrating.

Greg

 

[RonnieUSA]

I thank you for your reply. My problem is that when I have 40-50 "systems" to choose from, how do I know which one to pick? Many of them are very similar. The System I picked last night for the Illinois State police is not working. I did, however, for a few seconds picked up some garbled talk. Perhaps I do not have the system set properly. Its very frustrating.

Greg

I lookwd up where You live in Cook County, I think this would be the site You would use; Cook North / Northwest Central Dispatch - Simulcast [P2] [Need NAC] Site Details (STARCOM21 Statewide Illinois P25)

 

[greggk]

Thanks so much. I will give it a try. It does say that the site modulation is Phase 1 and Phase II. Will that work with a PRO 106? Perhaps this is why I cannot pick up anything?

Again, my thanks. Will try in a few minutes .

Greg

 

[Ensnared]

Cook County

Hi. If you look at my previous posts, there is a big gap in the time since I've been here. (Long Illness) A few weeks ago I was able to get back to my scanners, a Uniden 996T and a PRO 106. I use ARC 500. Programming thru RR was always a breeze for me, but now something is not right and I just cannot find the answer. Its been trial and error for me over several weeks now with little luck.

An Example. I am trying to download Chicago Police and Fire into my Pro 106. If I search for conventional frequencies, I find them. I can find what appear to be digital /APCO 25 channels as well. I tried downloading them also. No luck. Just dead air.

I have downloaded Lake County Fire, Police, and Sheriff with no problems.

The issue seems to be what do I pick; there are numerous options on the left side of the software, and numerous other selections on the right side when searching with ARC 500 and RR.

I assume I just cannot pick out "any" control channels on the left and mate them with "any" sites on the right. And then to make it more complicated, at least for me, Chicago Fire and Police seem to be using both conventional and APCO 25 channels? For many agencies I would like to monitor, I am having problems deciding which frequencies/system to download.

If I have explained this properly, I hope someone will have some answers to help me out. As I said, it has been weeks of frustration with this.

Thanks.

Greg

When I looked at the Cook county RR DB page, I found this statement, "STARCOM21 Statewide Illinois P25 Project 25 Phase II Primary Sheriff and County Jail communications/operations on sites 501, 502, 503. Fall back is on the former VHF systems."

Hence, it seems as though the bulk of Cook County communications exists on this statewide system. If you would like to determine which site is near you, I would open this page and zoom in on the sites. Site Map: STARCOM21 Statewide Illinois P25 Trunking System, Statewide, Illinois

However, when I look at the various talk groups for "some" of Cook County S.O., I see nothing but a series of "E" in the mode column of the RR DB. I'm sorry to inform you that these channels are encrypted. I don't know if these are encrypted all of the time.

Furthermore, there are several "T" modes indicated. This means your radio won't pick them up. You need a radio capable of Phase II interception. At present, there are only two on the market with more possibly coming at the end of March, 2014.

I don't use ARC. Therefore, I cannot assist you in your programming of this system.

I just wanted to point out how to find the sites & why VHF was not working for you.

If I were living in that area, I would certainly exhaust the list of Federal frequencies. You are in a robust area for monitoring such; however, again, some of these will likely be encrypted. If you are lucky, you might encounter a simplex analog or digital channel. You could also load all of the Skywarn frequencies for your county into the Skywarn bank.

Good luck.

 

[greggk]

Ensnared..really appreciate it. I just programmed in what Ronnie suggested above and put numerous talk groups on the site.

It appears I am hearing the State Police Now. The Cook Sheriffs Office has been encrypted now for at least 1 year. I hear that now the Cops on NWCD is encrypted, and that's bad for us as ALL the local Pd's were on it.

NWCD Fire is programmed in now with the State police, but nothing from them either. I hear they are Phase II now. You know what that means: "Honey, can I buy a Scanner, please!?

Again thanks for the help. It is very useful info that I have not come across. Have Great Day.

Greg

 

[greggk]

Hi. You have all been a big help; I am now pulling in the Illinois State Police and IDOT/Tollway frequencies.

I have a question I did not want to start a new thread for.

With all my doing and undoing in the ARC 500 software, I find that I have 10 "STARCOM" systems assigned, but I only have 3 different talk groups, one for the Sheriffs Department, One for the Illinois State police, and one for IDOT.

I cannot figure out, and could not find any instructions for deleting the other 7 systems. And because I do not know what 7 systems to safely delete, than I cannot change the name assigned to them; I would like to rename the three good systems.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Greg