GATRRS Travis County radio issues

[KTR722]

Sounds like GATRRS TC is having some radio issues this afternoon. Anyone else noticing or know what may be up?

I am hearing garbled radio transmissions, or seeing the radio lock in on a talk group for several seconds/minutes on dead air or the channel just keeps clicking.

Also hearing dispatchers asking if a unit is trying to key up and getting no response. And just heard another unit requesting a radio check and noting that their radio is not behaving correctly either so its a system-wide problem it appears.

ACL just started and there is more traffic than usual as a result, including talk groups in use that are not normally used. No idea if that is the issue but first rule of troubleshooting is "what changed?"...

 

[KTR722]

Update, overheard radio shop saying they narrowed down whatever issue they are having to 4 channels and they just removed them from the system to see if that fixes. timestamp 5:11:24 pm.

Unknown/Unknown Group Calls Live

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www.broadcastify.com

 

[W5ATX]

I'm monitoring this as well, as much as i'd like to blame it on an outside RFI source such as a wireless transmitter at the Austin City Limits music fest that's happening, but I think it's internal instead. I noticed this around 2pm +/- today. Poor radio techs were just about to wind down for the weekend and i have a feeling they are going to be chasing this till midnight or longer. If i had a kraken SDR i'd be out doing some direction finding of my own. Foxhunting with attenuators and a yagi doesn't get me excited anymore

 

[W5ATX]

They changed the control channel to 851.3875. radio service has been up all night trying to figure out what's going on, it's still hanging.

 

[pbeezy]

Yeah it still sounds pretty bad right now. Tons of digital clicks and pops. So doesn’t seem like it was just the 4 channels they thought it was.

 

[W5ATX]

I started writing down frequencies that were hanging, there were a handful that were worse than others but it seemed it like they all did it. sometimes a channel would transmit for 5 minutes, just a carrier with no voice. I've been listening for a bit now and it seems to have been fixed, very curious if it was ACL related, or maybe one of those ERRCS repeaters or DVRS that was causing some sort of loop/feedback.

 

[KevinC]

I started writing down frequencies that were hanging, there were a handful that were worse than others but it seemed it like they all did it. sometimes a channel would transmit for 5 minutes, just a carrier with no voice. I've been listening for a bit now and it seems to have been fixed, very curious if it was ACL related, or maybe one of those ERRCS repeaters or DVRS that was causing some sort of loop/feedback.

The last time something like that happened on that system they found a TX antenna laying across a RX antenna.

 

[W5ATX]

that could cause some issues, desense, etc. I spoke too soon, listening now and i'm hearing lots of digital noise, ticks, beeps, sometimes the last word they say is unintentionally being repeated a few extra times. dispatch is having officers repeat their last traffic because it's cutting out. I'm not seeing anything channels hanging as long, but i'm seeing the sds200 flashing "LINK" several times before going back to the data/control channel.

 

[KevinC]

that could cause some issues, desense, etc. I spoke too soon, listening now and i'm hearing lots of digital noise, ticks, beeps, sometimes the last word they say is unintentionally being repeated a few extra times. dispatch is having officers repeat their last traffic because it's cutting out. I'm not seeing anything channels hanging as long, but i'm seeing the sds200 flashing "LINK" several times before going back to the data/control channel.

I thought the repeating audio was a feature only OpenSky had.

 

[pbeezy]

that could cause some issues, desense, etc. I spoke too soon, listening now and i'm hearing lots of digital noise, ticks, beeps, sometimes the last word they say is unintentionally being repeated a few extra times. dispatch is having officers repeat their last traffic because it's cutting out. I'm not seeing anything channels hanging as long, but i'm seeing the sds200 flashing "LINK" several times before going back to the data/control channel.

I haven’t noticed an increase in digital errors when the clicks and pops happen or the cut outs. It’s interesting

 

[W5ATX]

Ok the echoing is still happening, some of the apd tac units were talking to each other on their respective channels, doing radio checks commenting they haven't heard any radio traffic while scanning the main channels. they also confirmed they are hearing the echoing on their side as well. another interesting note, some of the apd dispatchers were dispatching from handi-talkies as you could hear the MOT talk permit tone in the background.

I haven’t noticed an increase in digital errors when the clicks and pops happen or the cut outs. It’s interesting

yeah you should hear the echo tho, it just did it on henr radio tgid 988 at 1:33a timestamp. listen to the archive via broadcastify calls and you'll hear it. and when she unkeyed, it started hanging again, only for about 10 seconds. it doesnt pop all the time, but the weird clicks are there, and the echo sticks out, usually if you hear the echo the channel will hang or act weird. it's a random bug that's affecting multiple departments at random times. If the radio shop reads this, send me a message i'll help you guys out if you need some direction finding, tower hand, or someone to bring coffee at 2am lol. one can wish right?

 

[W5ATX]

I haven’t noticed an increase in digital errors when the clicks and pops happen or the cut outs. It’s interesting

maybe i misread your msg, you are hearing the clicks but there aren't any errors associated with it? I use an SDS200, when the echos are occurring it's full scale an shows P25, so it's definitely the audio being sent from the simulcast sites and not a decode issue on your end. on the flip side when they are done talking or echoing and the channel hangs, the P25 identifier is gone and it's just a carrier. which brings up a point. they have been switching these IR sites to all full blown simulcast sites, maybe one of them has a sync issue? i noticed some TDMA sync errors on the CC raw data dump but i'm only guessing here.

 

[W5ATX]

I found that shure, sony and sennheiser wireless microphones from other countries operate in the US public safety frequency band plan. One of them is on 807.850, which is the input to one of the channels that keeps hanging the most. now i'm starting to wonder if there a artist/band from the UK or out of country that's here playing at Austin City Limits music fest and they brought their wireless mic system with them, and it's transmitting a carrier on the input.

 

[pbeezy]

I found that shure, sony and sennheiser wireless microphones from other countries operate in the US public safety frequency band plan. One of them is on 807.850, which is the input to one of the channels that keeps hanging the most. now i'm starting to wonder if there a artist/band from the UK or out of country that's here playing at Austin City Limits music fest and they brought their wireless mic system with them, and it's transmitting a carrier on the input.

Yeah that is an interesting point but I’d have to assume that these mics would also have interference on their end, and it’d probably be much worse on their side. i also assume the interference would disappear in the early morning hours once the festival has ended, maybe they left them on, I guess we will know if it disappears during the week and returns during the second weekend of ACL

 

[W5ATX]

I was thinking the same. I wish i could help these guys out somehow.

 

[KevinC]

Riddle me this….how would an external anything cause the audio feedback? What I’ve heard on the feed sounds exactly like acoustic coupling feedback (like having a speaker and a mic too close to each other).

 

[W5ATX]

I agree kevin, it kind of sounds like someone is keyed up with a radio feeding back in the background, but the echo is quicker. usually when there's a radio turned up too loud in the background, the feedback keeps oscillating and gets louder and louder until it's a hot open-mic mess. this sounds like the system itself is feeding back but it's repeating the last bit of transmission a just few times. in theory a console or subscriber keys up and grabs the culprit frequency and when they unkey there's still a carrier on the input, so it rekeys and repeats the very last 150 milliseconds of audio. i can't explain why the channel stays transmitting with a carrier and no audio. sometimes up tot 5 minutes. i'm making this up as i go no but sounds plausible right? I've been listening for hours and i've heard a few hiccups earlier on and a few more around 530p. it's not as bad as it was last night, and seems some of the apd and tcso tgids get it most. I noticed they disabled 852.850. i went outside with a yagi but didnt hear anything from south austin on the input or output. I've listening to 852.850 for the last hour and i'm receiving a blip every 5 mins that makes the display light up on the sds200 but no audio. i'm just monitoring taking it all in and learning as i go.

 

[Tomsowyer37]

I have a Motorola XTL 2500 and sds200. Ever since Saturday the Motorola is mute can’t heard anything on the other side the SDS200 working just fine. Any idea why?

 

[KevinC]

I have a Motorola XTL 2500 and sds200. Ever since Saturday the Motorola is mute can’t heard anything on the other side the SDS200 working just fine. Any idea why?

I believe the CC rolled, so you probably don’t have the current one in your list.

 

[Tomsowyer37]

Sounds like GATRRS TC is having some radio issues this afternoon. Anyone else noticing or know what may be up?

I am hearing garbled radio transmissions, or seeing the radio lock in on a talk group for several seconds/minutes on dead air or the channel just keeps clicking.

Also hearing dispatchers asking if a unit is trying to key up and getting no response. And just heard another unit requesting a radio check and noting that their radio is not behaving correctly either so its a system-wide problem it appears.

ACL just started and there is more traffic than usual as a result, including talk groups in use that are not normally used. No idea if that is the issue but first rule of troubleshooting is "what changed?"...

I believe the CC rolled, so you probably don’t have the current one in your list.

I'm monitoring this as well, as much as i'd like to blame it on an outside RFI source such as a wireless transmitter at the Austin City Limits music fest that's happening, but I think it's internal instead. I noticed this around 2pm +/- today. Poor radio techs were just about to wind down for the weekend and i have a feeling they are going to be chasing this till midnight or longer. If i had a kraken SDR i'd be out doing some direction finding of my own. Foxhunting with attenuators and a yagi doesn't get me excited anymore

Any idea what’s going on with the APD and fire locution frequencies in the GATTRS can’t hear nothing whatsoever.