Garden State Parkway

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n1chu

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Traveling the Garden State Parkway tomorrow. I will be heading south from the furthermost north location where it starts after I cross the Hudson River in Terrytown NY, destination is Atlantic City NJ. I will be using the NJICS Phase II system. The system includes agencies, among others, NJSP and certain counties. As I am only interested in activities on the Garden State Parkway I will “Avoid” any State Police TG’s that don’t relate to the Parkway and other numerous agencies on the NJICS Phase II System. But I wonder if there are certain Counties that I should include? In short, I’m asking if anyone can provide me with a list of what I should include and what I should “Avoid” for the Garden State. Thanks.
 

rr60

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The “local agencies don’t patrol the GSP generally. They do send Fire and EMS.

Stick with GSP TG’s only. FYI often routine calls for service can go over the “board” or MDT.

Site selection will be important. Likely disable one and enable the next every 15-20 minutes. Use the DB to figure out which sites cover which areas.

Off the top of my head, you will need seven or eight sites for the GSP. I do not listen to more than one site at a time. Good Luck! Your welcome.
 

rr60

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From North to South roughly 1,7,8,22,56,57,9
 
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Also, make sure you have the correct TG programmed depending on your location. For example, I believe NORTH dispatch covers approx. Mile Post 130 and up, CENTRAL is MP 60 - 130, and SOUTH is MP 0 - 60 approx. If someone has the exact zone coverage mileposts, feel free to post.
 

Frequency1

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Below is copied from a forum post, dated 8/5/17…

Bass River Station MP 0 to 89.0 1 Comm
Holmdel Station MP 89.0 to 131.0 2 Comm
Bloomfield Station MP 131.0 to 172.3 3 Comm
 

Frequency1

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Below is copied from a forum post, dated 8/5/17…

Bass River Station MP 0 to 89.0 1 Comm
Holmdel Station MP 89.0 to 131.0 2 Comm
Bloomfield Station MP 131.0 to 172.3 3 Comm
I believe it should say 2 Comm is North (MP 131-172.3) and 3 Comm is Central (MP 89-131).
 
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n1chu

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Great info all! Thanks for the input. I surmise NJSP has fully migrated off their old 800 MHz system as I don’t even see it listed anymore… I do see TG’s for south, central and north GSP on NJICS however…
 

8000XE

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Great info all! Thanks for the input. I surmise NJSP has fully migrated off their old 800 MHz system as I don’t even see it listed anymore… I do see TG’s for south, central and north GSP on NJICS however…
Correct - the “old” system has been decommissioned and they’ve fully made the transition to NJICS
 
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During my trip to Cape May, I did notice a few spots where NJICS was not being picked up even with all the Sites programmed in correctly. There are definitely a few dead spots that last several miles.
 

8000XE

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During my trip to Cape May, I did notice a few spots where NJICS was not being picked up even with all the Sites programmed in correctly. There are definitely a few dead spots that last several miles.
Dead spots on the parkway?
 

n1chu

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Again, thank you all. My trip to Atlantic City, NJ down the GSP was uneventful. But I did hear routine activity on the north, central and south GSP districts. I can’t speak to “dead spots” as I only make the trip once a year.
 
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Yes, if memory serves there were a few dead spots in the southern Atlantic County area and southern Ocean County area where the scanner was not locking on to NJICS. Also sporadic spots in Middlesex County.
 

8000XE

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Not to downplay the dead spots, but I frequently travel the parkway from end to end, at least twice a month, and haven’t hit a dead spot with a subscriber affiliated radio.
 

joey123

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Not to downplay the dead spots, but I frequently travel the parkway from end to end, at least twice a month, and haven’t hit a dead spot with a subscriber affiliated radio.
And dead spots in cherry hill nj and Moorestown nj
 
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With the BCD436 using the stock rubber duck antenna, I do hit many sporadic dead spots along the Parkway. Most do not last too long, aside from a good 10-15 mile stretch in southern Ocean County between LBI and AC
 

GM

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With regard to dead spots, now I see the reason why: the scanner you are using is an older model P25 Phase 2 scanner (BCD436HP) not designed to handle simulcast well. A good majority of the tower sites along the Garden State Parkway have now been switched over to simulcast type, and are no longer the ASR type (single broadcast sites) like what Telegraph Hill, Neptune, Galloway, and some other ones used to be. Using my SDS100, I do not encounter any dead spots with the SMA style antenna. The stock antenna sometimes might hit a brief dead spot, but that's because it's designed for all bands, and not specifically just for 700/800 MHz coverage.

In Ocean County, coverage was poor in some areas, but with the improved simulcast coverage and some antenna modifications recently (within the past year), I have noticed coverage to be far more superior. If you are using an older P25 Phase 2 scanner, reception has actually become worse since simulcast distortion is present. What a BCD325P2, BCD436HP, WS1080 and TRX-1 used to be able to receive has significantly become worse to the point that the reception is spotty at best, based on my experience while hiking and driving in those areas.

If you scan the NJ Turnpike Authority 800 MHz system with the BCD436HP, reception should be excellent since all of those sites are ASR (single broadcast type) that are networked together based on subscriber affiliation. There are no simulcast issues with the NJTA 800 MHz system, so if you compare both systems (NJTA & NJICS) on your BCD436HP, you'll notice the differences between how simulcast and non-simulcast (ASR type) work. When the older style P25 Phase 2 scanners were originally designed years ago, there were not a lot of simulcast systems in play at the time.
 
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