I miss hearing "personality"

[tunnelmot]

With everything going/gone trunked, I really miss radio system "personality". Example-
- I was born and raised in L.A.,
I really miss hearing MODAT on LAPD.
- Lived in Memphis TN, and I miss the Power Co. digital ID at begining and end of key-up.
- And last time I visited LA, LACO Sherrif was still using the GE "boop, boop" on the repeater input side to mask the units' traffic. On our last vacation, I actually detoured 3 states so I could hear it again live and get some recordings.(I have an understanding wife) Maybe it's analogous to an old favorite burger joint.

Does anyone else miss system "individuality" too? Is seems EDACS and Mot systems don't have any flavor, they "sound" the same anywhere you go.

A bit whacker-ish, I know, but just waxing nostalgia.

Now, in Houston, I relish the wholesomeness of HPD/HFD MDC conventional UHF comms. Warm, sweet, rich, analog audio...with a side of MDC.
I get Starnet loud and clear,and my radio doesn't skip a beat, but I always find myself back to HPD by the end of the night.


Any thoughts?

 

[N8IAA]

So true. Born and raised in Cleveland,OH. Absolutely loved the 460Mhz analog for the PD, and the 150Mhz for the FD. They then went digital on ancient Motorola VSLEP. No longer could monitor unless online. Moved to Georgia 9 yrs ago. Most counties in the Metro ATL on analog trunking. My county now is going P-25 digital encrypted. You know the line 'for our LEO's safety'. Another county that was VHF went digital encrypted. No longer in any of my scanners. Couple of other counties went digital and in the clear. Yeah!
Of course there are still counties that I can monitor that are still VHF. I, too, love the warm sound of analog. Even with static, you can hear what they are saying. With digital, it either is there or not. Then that horrible data burst hurts the ears.
Larry

 

[chrismol1]

Yeh, all the technical stuff that the radios do when you transmit or mess around with them. I guess most places dont really care about all the technical stuff, they just want it to work flawlessly.
love the analog VHF County Sheriff, static...the EMS and FD tones...that sound of VHF humming sometimes and local PD MDC
AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON VHF Low Band!!
the static when you move around, the bleeping in and out, choppy voice, the sound is so different than VHF High unless its the aging 20+ yr transmitter (which we are getting replaced this year with VHF and YES going to a 800MHz system! lol)
But that Low Band sound on 46.42 Fire Control! muffled!

 

[SLWilson]

Old Times...

Well, here in SE Ohio, we HAVEN'T left the "old stuff" and moved.

We are still running 39.62 for the Gallipolis Fire Department and 155.295 for the other 8 volunteer FD's and the county owned EMS. 155.565 for the county sheriff.

And, unlike the above poster mentions, our low band works great (but then, they are pretty much on it alone now) and we don't have any problems hearing the FD units on it. We maintain the base radio. Just put a new antenna up a couple of years ago, Still running 100 watts on it. It is a Motorols Micor base. We still have EXTRA parts for it.

Like the original poster says, each radio freq/system has its OWN sound to it. Live here and listen long enough and you can tell which tower the dispatcher is keying up before they talk! We're running one VHF Hi Motorola Micor base, four MOTO MTR2000 VHF Hi bases.

The old MOTO chirp (keying function tones) that the console sends out.....Still have 'em.

The chirp when "dropping" the PL on a tower. Still do that.

We have digital capabilities with the statewide MARCS system. We use it some. May move there someday when we can afford to, but, I'll probably be retired before that happens!

Steve/KB8FAR

 

[tunnelmot]

At least I know I'm not the only one.
Starnet (Houston area 800/700 Mot Smartzone/P25) is taking over EVERYTHING! Every school cop, bus driver, dog catcher, street sweeper, fireman, and 3-man PD is or has migrated to this system, and they ALL sound the same. This Motorola monster encompasses 13 counties surrounding Houston.

Even my toaster and microwave are migrating to this system.LMAO

Dont get me wrong, my radio gets flawless and full signal from multiple sites, but I used to know what dpt. was keying just by repeater/PL hum, or MDC, etc.

When I was younger, one of the joys of taking my radios on family trips was hearing the differences between different locales' repeaters/systems.

Now, once you get your control channel and TG's programmed in, they all sound the same.

Enjoy it while it lasts, one day we'll remember the good ole' digital days, when we all switch to Telepathic-Com. (Fingers to temples, eyes closed: Unit 12 to dispatch, I sense you are about to give me a call, I'm already here.)

Life is good,
Rich

 

[N9NRA]

Aftwer reading all the posts i have to add this, it`s the same with the Amateur Radio service now, back when i was first licensed (in 1991), all the repeaters on 2 meters and 440 had their own personality, ya could get on a machine (ham term for a repeater) and know, without looking at the radio`s display, what one ya were on. Now, as the orignal poster has so well put it, everything sounds the same, i too like the nice loud "punchy" sound of Analog comming outta my radio (and scanner too). Frankly digital just dosn`t sound the same, in other words, relating to digital, "that don`t impress me much". Thank god we still have lots of analog stuff to listen to around this state (WI) N9NRA

 

[dasnps]

I agree what you are saying... now my county is in the process of switching to automated dispatch. It's yet another example of how technology is replacing people.

 

[DickH]

I agree what you are saying... now my county is in the process of switching to automated dispatch. It's yet another example of how technology is replacing people.

I'm sure you will hate it initially, but soon you will appreciate it for the following reasons:
1) Every word and syllable will be pronounced the same and correctly every time.
2) Every dispatch will not be too soft or too loud.
3) Every dispatch will not be too fast or too slow.
In my city, some dispatchers talk so fast I can miss street names, etc. Others talk so softly they are hard to understand. Still others mumble and don't know how to pronounce words properly.
For example, they murder some street names. Here in the west, Worcester (Wuhstah) is pronounced WAR CESS TER. Portsmouth (Portsmuth) is PORTS MOUTH, etc., etc. (Don't even ask about Gloucester)

 

[ssr]

hate digital

I hate that everything is going digital and I hate to know that within a year my listening will be non-monitored . Let's all move to OHIO. Yeah!

 

[CCHLLM]

And for us old timers, analog still beats the hell out of digital when it comes to the audio quality, even on trunking. When the NC Highway Patrol leaves low band for the new 800 MHz VIPER system, it will signal the impending death of audio magic. For a while there will still be a little bit of the nostalgic analog magic because for now, the 800 trunking system is analog and sounds great. When the system is completely built out, it will be awaiting the figurative fingerstroke to turn on the digital, and then the world will end.......

 

[Grog]

When the system is completely built out, it will be awaiting the figurative fingerstroke to turn on the digital, and then the world will end.......

Most of the non-state TGs being added are digital (and many of the state TGs as well) so it's getting closer.


At least they left us some analog TGs for now

 

[CCHLLM]

Most of the non-state TGs being added are digital (and many of the state TGs as well) so it's getting closer.


At least they left us some analog TGs for now

I know.....I know......ARRRGGHHHH!
For now, my MaraTrac low band keeps the faith......

 

[WX5JCH]

So, how do we get the auto dispatcher to talk with a "okie" accent? Its hard to understand the ones that I've heard in my travels. We find it very hard to understand the rest of the world's talk. My wife has it so bad I have to translate for her.

I still miss dispatching the old car 80 on EMS runs back in Glendale back in the '60...

 

[Grondoline]

What ever happened to call letters and station ID? Haven't heard any in years. Has the FCC waived the old requirements, or is it given out in subaudible digital bursts?

 

[N9NRA]

And for us old timers, analog still beats the hell out of digital when it comes to the audio quality, even on trunking. When the NC Highway Patrol leaves low band for the new 800 MHz VIPER system, it will signal the impending death of audio magic. For a while there will still be a little bit of the nostalgic analog magic because for now, the 800 trunking system is analog and sounds great. When the system is completely built out, it will be awaiting the figurative fingerstroke to turn on the digital, and then the world will end.......

I gotta agree with ya here, i`ve had the chance to compare Analog and digital due to the fact that some agencies around this state run mixed mode (analog and digital), and i also think that Analog beats digital hands down for just plain great audio...in other words nice and "punchy". When i first heard digital on my `396T i thought "what the...,". while it didn`t sound all THAT bad, it still sounded "processed", and couldn`t hold a candle to Analog no matter how ya slice it. Oh well, we can enjoy the good stuff till the analog world lays down and, as Yoda on Star Wars said it, "will forever sleep". N9NRA

 

[slicerwizard]

You're judging P25 digital audio based on how it sounds on a 396? You've got to be kidding.

 

[N9NRA]

Actually it was just my thoughts on how P25 sounded versus Analog on my scanner, your mileage may vary, of course. I havn`t heard it on a properly set up radio, but i`m sure it sounds a lot better on the properly set radio as compaired to a scanner. N9NRA

 

[jrholm]

Actually it was just my thoughts on how P25 sounded versus Analog on my scanner, your mileage may vary, of course. I havn`t heard it on a properly set up radio, but i`m sure it sounds a lot better on the properly set radio as compaired to a scanner. N9NRA

I have the same opinion, but I've never heard P25 from a scanner just from the actual radio (and guess what, it still sucks).

 

[zangler]

With everything going/gone trunked, I really miss radio system "personality". Example-
- I was born and raised in L.A.,
I really miss hearing MODAT on LAPD.
- Lived in Memphis TN, and I miss the Power Co. digital ID at begining and end of key-up.
- And last time I visited LA, LACO Sherrif was still using the GE "boop, boop" on the repeater input side to mask the units' traffic. On our last vacation, I actually detoured 3 states so I could hear it again live and get some recordings.(I have an understanding wife) Maybe it's analogous to an old favorite burger joint.

Does anyone else miss system "individuality" too? Is seems EDACS and Mot systems don't have any flavor, they "sound" the same anywhere you go.

A bit whacker-ish, I know, but just waxing nostalgia.

Now, in Houston, I relish the wholesomeness of HPD/HFD MDC conventional UHF comms. Warm, sweet, rich, analog audio...with a side of MDC.
I get Starnet loud and clear,and my radio doesn't skip a beat, but I always find myself back to HPD by the end of the night.


Any thoughts?

im also in houston...and i know exactly what you mean

 

[OpSec]

Actually it was just my thoughts on how P25 sounded versus Analog on my scanner, your mileage may vary, of course. I havn`t heard it on a properly set up radio, but i`m sure it sounds a lot better on the properly set radio as compaired to a scanner. N9NRA

P25 conventional audio is great if the radios are aligned, programmed and used properly. It also depends on AGC settings and background noise, which tends to muck up P25 audio worse than analog audio. As you eluded to before, most of public safety in WI is using VHF legacy systems and each sound just a bit different. As time goes on and narrowband P25 systems start popping up, I think you will find that there still will be subtle differences in how they sound.

I am waiting to see how the DNR "system" will sound in P25 if they go that direction. They don't have much infrastructure so signals that are marginal now may not exist then. The same could be said for WSP if/when that conversion is made.