Help with San Diego RCS.

[nickbm3]

Hi, i recently moved to San Clemente and i am interested in listening to San Diego county fire/ems traffic.
I have 2 questions. First is, does anyone have recommendations on antennas, sites to point at, etc? My house is up on a hill in San Clemente, and on a clear day i can see san diego across the bay. Im using uniden BCT15 for SD City and BCD996T for county. SD City i can hear almost perfectly, but im having trouble with county, the South zone to be more specific.

Also, im a little confused by the North and South zones as to what areas specifically are in each. I havent been able to find a website or any info to list areas for each zone. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Nick

 

[W6KRU]

A yagi would probably help. Have you tried the North zone? Here is a map of the zones.

 

[WayneH]

You won't be picking up the South Zone from San Clemente. It's difficult even in Northern parts of San Diego Co. The North Zone on the other hand propagates much better.

 

[W6KRU]

You won't be picking up the South Zone from San Clemente. It's difficult even in Northern parts of San Diego Co. The North Zone on the other hand propagates much better.

It might be possible Wayne. I can usually get the South zone here in Oceanside with a sputnik hanging under the eave. The path from San Clemente to the Pt. Loma site is mostly over the water. I think it would depend on the obstructions around the receive antenna and the proximity to the beach.

 

[WayneH]

I can get it from the Vista/Oceanside border but I needed something external with reasonable height. I'd figure if you were mobile or monitoring with a duck you'll have issues.

In theory getting South over the water sounds possible but I'll bet it ends up harder than thought.

 

[Mike_G_D]

For what it's worth, except when conditions are just right, I cannot get the RCS South Zone or the SD City system from where I am in northeast Carlsbad. More towards the coast, it's possible as I recall. I have a very restrictive antenna situation, however, unfortunately. But I can hear a good part of the Riverside County and San Bernardino County systems! And I can hear the Orange County system off and on reasonably well. And CHP on low band does amazingly well where I am using virtually a "wet noodle" so I must be in a good line of sight path to one of their mountain top transmitters.

I am amazed at how well the RCS North Zone does compared to the South Zone when I am in different parts of the county. This reflects what Wayne said.

BTW, Wayne, I'd sure like to meet you some day when you're down this way if you can spare some time; I'll buy you coffee and would love to hear some of your "tall tech tales"!;-)

Also, Dan, some day we gotta meet too! Anyway, there is an updated microwave sight map that I obtained (I think from Brandon or Mick or one of those Guru dudes with amazing inside info) which is similar to the one you attached for the OP but includes the newer Northwest Loop and Imperial County sights. I tried to attach it but it was too large a file even when zipped. If I can dig up where/who I got it from I'll post the link here.

-Mike

 

[brandon]

Wasn't me. You must be thinking of Brian (MtnBiker2005)

FWIW I have been able to pick up the RCS South from the higher elevations of Murrieta/Menifee in the Riverside County area, for example just north of Newport Rd on the I-215. This is well north and east of San Clemente. When conditions are right I can hear it weakly on the other side of the hill too, but that is extremely rare. Too many cell sites around here to do any serious DX'ing on 800.

 

[flugpop]

On a a site that I manage that's on a hill in Temecula. I can hear North, South and City. That's where I would go to test to make sure I had RCS set up correctly. I must say that I have alot of issues picking up North and South P25 but I think that might be due to multipath.

 

[K7CB]

Also, im a little confused by the North and South zones as to what areas specifically are in each. I havent been able to find a website or any info to list areas for each zone. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Nick

I'm not positive, but I think highway 52 is essentially the divider...anything north of it is RCS North and anything south is RCS South. I could be wrong, though.

 

[W6KRU]

I'm not positive, but I think highway 52 is essentially the divider...anything north of it is RCS North and anything south is RCS South. I could be wrong, though.

That is correct but there is a lot of overlap. The East zone kicks in at about Alpine and extends out past Jamul. I would post an updated map but it is just a little too large even after zipping. I'll see if I can find a copy posted somewhere.

 

[WayneH]

That is correct but there is a lot of overlap. The East zone kicks in at about Alpine and extends out past Jamul. I would post an updated map but it is just a little too large even after zipping. I'll see if I can find a copy posted somewhere.

I can host it. PM me if interested.

 

[WayneH]

I can host it. PM me if interested.

Alrighty, got it uploaded. The PDF is here.