Help with Linn County P25

[RHans1947]

Hello fellow Iowans,

I just bought a Uniden BCD996P2 after using a non-P25 scanner for years now that we have moved to CR for the Linn County P25 (Linn and Johnson County Public Safety (Project 25) System Trunking System, Various, Iowa - Scanner Frequencies). I excitedly programmed it using Freescan (amazingly easy compared to all the hours spent on the old ones) however I was quickly disappointed to find I seemed to have the problems with garbeled decodes (simulcast distortion I believe is the term). I have found that it seems to prefer a 6 on the P25 Threshold which has helped some but still varies. I am not incredibly knowledgable on radio terminology either, just enjoy the scanning hobby

Anyone else have pointers?

Thanks & a Merry Christmas all.

 

[mws72]

One way is to determine which of the sites you are nearest to and try to restrict the reception of any other sites. Placement of the scanner, using the back of the set antenna or turning on attenuation are some of the ideas to try.

 

[IowaGuy1603]

Hello fellow Iowans,

I just bought a Uniden BCD996P2 after using a non-P25 scanner for years now that we have moved to CR for the Linn County P25 (Linn and Johnson County Public Safety (Project 25) System Trunking System, Various, Iowa - Scanner Frequencies). I excitedly programmed it using Freescan (amazingly easy compared to all the hours spent on the old ones) however I was quickly disappointed to find I seemed to have the problems with garbeled decodes (simulcast distortion I believe is the term). I have found that it seems to prefer a 6 on the P25 Threshold which has helped some but still varies. I am not incredibly knowledgable on radio terminology either, just enjoy the scanning hobby

Anyone else have pointers?

Thanks & a Merry Christmas all.

I bought a cheap PCB board Yagi antenna & pointed it toward one of the towers. that fixed 90% of the garble.

There are a couple other tricks that can work depending on where you are.