Howard County APCO25 switchover - choppy audio

[sslop]

Hello,

Since the Howard County switchover to the new radio system (early 2020?) - the audio quality I've gotten from my scanner has been extremely choppy. I have tried moving the scanner to different areas in the county and it is always the same. I have re-programmed the frequencies several times, and also tried adjusting the sound quality adjustment - present it is low: 533, Mid: 1985, and Upp: 3342

When I hear audio, I notice it jumping quickly between frequencies, for example 860.2375 and 857.2375, and then flashing rapidly between DAT, NFM, P25, and LNK.

My scanner is a Uniden BC296D. It worked great, and audio quality before the switch and is basically unusable after. Is my scanner too old? Any other suggestions to try?
Thank you.

 

[dcr_inc]

Welcome to LSM..

 

[Mr_Boh]

I hate using the term too old, but since they switched, there is a different modulation in use and the scanner is struggling compared to newer models. What you are experiencing is what most people call "simulcast distortion". This is why a lot of people have purchased a Unication pager or Uniden Scanner.

You can keep trying to use that scanner, but you will need to try to isolate the signals to receiving only one tower. To this, if you are close to one tower (typically in county), you can try using the attenuator, or basically using a paper clip as an antenna to try to make reception bad enough that it only picks up one tower and not trying to decode the competing signals.

Depending on what you listen to, the Unication G4 (or G5) will likely be your favorite if you are only listening to Howard (and other area digital systems), Uniden SDS100 if you want to listen to more.

 

[doctordialtone]

Is my scanner too old? Any other suggestions to try?

Simulcast is causing your problem.

Simulcast Distortion - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

 

[maus92]

Hello,

Since the Howard County switchover to the new radio system (early 2020?) - the audio quality I've gotten from my scanner has been extremely choppy. I have tried moving the scanner to different areas in the county and it is always the same. I have re-programmed the frequencies several times, and also tried adjusting the sound quality adjustment - present it is low: 533, Mid: 1985, and Upp: 3342

When I hear audio, I notice it jumping quickly between frequencies, for example 860.2375 and 857.2375, and then flashing rapidly between DAT, NFM, P25, and LNK.

My scanner is a Uniden BC296D. It worked great, and audio quality before the switch and is basically unusable after. Is my scanner too old? Any other suggestions to try?
Thank you.

Your scanner is, unfortunately, obsolete with respect to the new Howard County Astro P25 system. You will *probably* need to invest in new equipment if signal attenuation methods mentioned above do not work (it's likely they will not.) As also mentioned above, the Unication G4 / G5 radios work great, as do the SDS100 / SDS200 - I have tested both the G5 and the SDS200 on the new system.

 

[boatbod]

Any other suggestions to try?
Thank you.

Spend $25 on an RTL dongle and some free software (OP25 or DSD+) or $650 for an SDS100/200 scanner.

 

[maus92]

Spend $25 on an RTL dongle and some free software (OP25 or DSD+) or $650 for an SDS100/200 scanner.

Plus the computer to run it (I had to add that in, lol.)

 

[tvengr]

My scanner is a Uniden BC296D. It worked great, and audio quality before the switch and is basically unusable after. Is my scanner too old? Any other suggestions to try?

Surprisingly, my BC796D, the mobile version of your scanner, works better on the Baltimore County P25 system than any of the newer scanners, except for the SDS100 and SDS200. Do you have programming software?

 

[baybum]

Your scanner is, unfortunately, obsolete with respect to the new Howard County Astro P25 system. You will *probably* need to invest in new equipment if signal attenuation methods mentioned above do not work (it's likely they will not.) As also mentioned above, the Unication G4 / G5 radios work great, as do the SDS100 / SDS200 - I have tested both the G5 and the SDS200 on the new system.

I wouldn't go as far as to say obsolete. My old PRO-96 and 668 are choppy, but not enough to drop $700 on a new scanner. I can tolerate some breaking up when weighed with the option of spending that kind of money on a new radio, when they'll probably go encrypted someday anyway.
Most of the interesting coms are encrypted now.
The dongle option is a good suggestion also, as long as you don't need the portability.

 

[tvengr]

My old PRO-96 and 668 are choppy

Try opening up your Pro-96 and adjusting VR4 for the best P25 decode. It is marked on the circuit board and can make quite a difference.

 

[baybum]

Try opening up your Pro-96 and adjusting VR4 for the best P25 decode. It is marked on the circuit board and can make quite a difference.

Yep, did that a long time ago. It helped then.
Thanks

 

[maus92]

I wouldn't go as far as to say obsolete. My old PRO-96 and 668 are choppy, but not enough to drop $700 on a new scanner. I can tolerate some breaking up when weighed with the option of spending that kind of money on a new radio, when they'll probably go encrypted someday anyway.
Most of the interesting coms are encrypted now.
The dongle option is a good suggestion also, as long as you don't need the portability.

One person's definition of obsolete can be totally different than another's - I still see computers made in the early 2000's that people try to run modern software on, cheapskates! The 296D won't do Phase 2, so in my opinion, it's obsolete. Can we agree on archaic? As far as ENC goes, did Howard change something? The police dispatch are still in the clear.

 

[baybum]

My definition, obsolete means completely unusable. When Howard goes Phase 2, the 296 amd my 96 will indeed, be obsolete.
You are correct about dispatch being in the clear. The more interesting, special ops TG's are encrypted.

 

[maus92]

My definition, obsolete means completely unusable. When Howard goes Phase 2, the 296 amd my 96 will indeed, be obsolete.
You are correct about dispatch being in the clear. The more interesting, special ops TG's are encrypted.

Does Howard still have a crosslink TG with the state police?

 

[boatbod]

Plus the computer to run it (I had to add that in, lol.)

LOL sure, sure... for about $35-50 you can have a RPi4 and don't even need a keyboard or screen as long as you have a means to ssh to it.

 

[maus92]

LOL sure, sure... for about $35-50 you can have a RPi4 and don't even need a keyboard or screen as long as you have a means to ssh to it.

And of course, the expertise to set up Linux. Not easy for the average scanner customer that has trouble with software loaders...

 

[sslop]

Thanks doctordialtone and everyone else for the fast diagnosis... The easiest/cheapest thing to try seems to be some attenuation on my antenna. I will start with 3dB and work down from there, and report back if it works or not.

 

[markgrutz]

Does Howard still have a crosslink TG with the state police?

I think yesterday I was hearing 11016 that had MSP activity on it. I have no idea is what the full time TG is, or if it was a patch, or what.. But the Waterloo cars were checking the park and rides for some reason.

 

[baybum]

I think yesterday I was hearing 11016 that had MSP activity on it. I have no idea is what the full time TG is, or if it was a patch, or what.. But the Waterloo cars were checking the park and rides for some reason.

The Long Gate park and ride is state property and it has a playground.

 

[sslop]

Updating: I tried both a "stub" antenna, sometimes in conjunction with an inline 3dB attenuator, and unfortunately neither made a significant difference. Quality is still most of the time unreadable.