Garland County/Hot Springs

[wbswetnam]

I'm here in Hot Springs now, up on the 14th floor of the good 'ol Hot Springs Hotel. I finally figured out how to place my 436HP into site hold, and I've been monitoring it for the past half hour on the Garland County Simulcast site. I've heard State Police Troop K, and I've heard Saline County, but not a peep of any of the Garland County talk groups. From my home in Russellville, I have heard Garland County SO a few times off of the Nimrod tower, so I don't understand why I can't hear any Garland County talk groups on either the Garland County Simulcast site, or Magnet, or Jack Mountain.

 

[boy7777777777]

I was there last weekend by the racetrack and heard garland county on the simulcast site quite a bit. I have a 436hp also.

 

[wbswetnam]

I was there for two days, and I never heard any Garland County talk groups even one time. Bizarre.

 

[ad5kl]

I have a BCD396XT (Phase I only) scanner, and I hear the GCSO regularly on their new AWIN TG's. Heard them on the way home from work today.

 

[Magnetsteve]

So, the City of Hot Springs Government Instagram account posted a photo and update of the communications system project.

From the post:

"Friday June 14th, the final shelter for the radio communications system was delivered to the Crown Castle site located on the ridgeline above Fox Pass Road. The shelter and generator will be installed by crews contracted by Motorola over the next week. The SBA site construction (Rod's Pizza) is complete and ready for the installation of communication equipment. The ACTI engineering project revisions are nearly complete and should be ready to submit to the State Historical Commission next week."

 

[ad5kl]

I noticed some new antennas on the side of the SBA tower this week. I have all sites loaded into a Test Quick Key & I've been checking for the data channel rattle.

 

[INDY72]

Usually first will be a short time of a Sub audible data signal to show connectivity. Then comes low power CC. Then power up and range testing.

 

[ad5kl]

Here's the south site of the 3-site Hot Springs Simulcast.

 

[ad5kl]

I've upgraded from BCD396XT to a new SDS100. The receive on the new scanner is like night & day difference from the old scanner. Hearing lots more in the hilly terrain around here now and now I'm ready for P2. That said, I'm still listening for the three HS Simulcast sites to fire up but they are still silent.

 

[ad5kl]

Aug 1 and still no cc rattle from the Hot Springs City Simulcast.

 

[zenomorf]

is hotsprings still on 800- analog?

 

[zenomorf]

ASP can be heard on 700 AWIN hotsprings and garland county.

 

[zenomorf]

hope i didnt confuse anyone, ASP is heard in hotsprings and garland county on the 700 simulcast tower not the new towers.

 

[Magnetsteve]

is hotsprings still on 800- analog?

Yes, they are still on their 800 Analog SmartNet system.

 

[ad5kl]

Yeah, the county & state agencies are on AWIN. City of Hot Springs is still on their old analog 800 system for now.

 

[ad5kl]

According to today's Hot Springs Sentinel Record, the closing of the ACTI (Rehab) building means it is no longer a potential site for the Hot Springs Simulcast. Other potential sites such as Levi Tower are being reviewed, but the big issue now is the microwave path linking the 3 sites together through the valley downtown. The sites on Fox Pass & the 3000 block of Central remain unchanged.

 

[INDY72]

OOf... So that means potentially a year long delay

 

[ad5kl]

I was thinking the same thing. Was hoping HS would ditch their 400 & 800 analog soon, since it sounds terrible. Really apparent now since most everyone else locally is on AWIN.

 

[slobonmycob]

I was thinking the same thing. Was hoping HS would ditch their 400 & 800 analog soon, since it sounds terrible. Really apparent now since most everyone else locally is on AWIN.

I agree, analog isn't very user friendly in rural areas and really does complicate the job. The quality of digital is amazing though it's a pain in the ass for us scanner users.

 

[wbswetnam]

Maybe they can put it atop Hotel Hot Springs? It's 14 stories up.