ICAWIN Question

[anthonyramos01]

I was running the full list for ICAWIN in Ada County and I was getting traffic for Ada County on the frequencies for Chinese Peak in Bannock County and I checked all the control channels through the FCC and they all came back for Bannock County. I am still pretty new to this and was wondering why the Chinese Peak frequencies are all the out in Ada County. And side note Chinese Peak seems to have the best strength for whatever reason.

 

[thewenk]

Chinese peak could have been patched into the Ada County site(s). It could be that Bannock County Mobiles were in the Boise area and need to be in communication with Bannock County. When the ICAWIN system was first set up I heard Boise area traffic in Eastern Idaho on several occasions.

 

[jrtl92]

Chinese peak could have been patched into the Ada County site(s). It could be that Bannock County Mobiles were in the Boise area and need to be in communication with Bannock County. When the ICAWIN system was first set up I heard Boise area traffic in Eastern Idaho on several occasions.

I had no idea TG's could roam that far, I always thought they could only roam onto neighbor sites or within certain "zones" of towers. Hence the need for the statewide regional TG's. So far I havent heard any Bannock County traffic here in Ada County, im not certain whether that means anyone is (or isn't) roaming and causing Ada to come in all the way out there.

 

[thewenk]

I don 't thin k it is quite like roaming. I am not sure how it does work, but the sites must be linked together.

 

[devicelab]

I was running the full list for ICAWIN in Ada County and I was getting traffic for Ada County on the frequencies for Chinese Peak in Bannock County and I checked all the control channels through the FCC and they all came back for Bannock County.

You do realize that's there a great deal of land between Boise and Pocatello right? Of course the system could use the same frequencies. They are licensed on them. Why not re-use the frequencies if there's no chance of interference?

Use software like Pro96com to monitor the CC of your local site. Then you'll have better knowledge of what frequencies are in-use, etc. It's also a good idea just to know what TGIDs are being actively used in your area.

Pro96Com - Control channel decoder for P25 Trunked Radio Systems

I'd be surprised if you hear any Boise traffic in the Pocatello area -- unless there were Boise unit(s) doing training in that area. Then the TGID would follow them to Pocatello and anyone monitoring would hear the Boise traffic.

FWIW, unless you're travelling a lot, I would only program the local sites into your scanner. Scanning the entire system would surely reduce the amount of local traffic you'd be able to hear.

 

[thewenk]

Maybe there is a new site in the Boise area and it is using some or all of the same frequencies as the Chinese Peak site.. Need to check for a new site number.

 

[jrtl92]

Maybe there is a new site in the Boise area and it is using some or all of the same frequencies as the Chinese Peak site.. Need to check for a new site number.

I cant imagine you would be able to get frequencies from Boise all the way to Pocatello, there are many mountains in between. I cant even get anywhere near Flat Top Butte in Jerome County from here. Unless OP has a good antenna I should know about

 

[tvengr]

I was running the full list for ICAWIN in Ada County and I was getting traffic for Ada County on the frequencies for Chinese Peak in Bannock County.

1 (1)	003 (3)	Ada County Simulcast	Ada	769.25625	769.76875	770.28125	770.79375	771.03125	771.33125	771.79375
				772.09375	772.24375	772.69375	773.14375	773.38125	773.63125	773.88125
				774.13125c	774.38125c	774.63125c	774.88125c

1 (1)	001 (1)	Chinese Peak	Bannock	769.08125	769.86875	770.33125	771.03125	771.48125	771.85625	772.26875
				772.71875	773.58125c	774.13125	774.18125c	774.88125c	775.48125c

Note that Ada County Simulcast and Chinese Peak both list 774.88125 as a control channel capable frequency. The problem is that most scanners cannot differentiate between sites. If you have both sites programmed and both share the same control channel capable frequency, Chinese Peak may show on the scanner when you are actually receiving the Ada County Simulcast site. The only scanners which usually will accurately display the site you are receiving are the SDS100 and SDS200. They are the only scanners which can use Site NAC. Think of Site NAC as a PL tone for sites. In this case, even the SDS scanners are unable to know which site is being used. Almost every site for ICAWIN in the database lists 180 as the Site NAC which is highly unusual for a statewide system. All of the sites in Ada and Bannock Counties show 180 as the Site NAC.

 

[devicelab]

Note that Ada County Simulcast and Chinese Peak both list 774.88125 as a control channel capable frequency.

I think I said this already. Just program only the sites you *need* into your scanner. There's no reason to program multiple sites for an area you never visit. If you happen to visit Boise then you can always AVOID the Chinese Peak site until you return home.