Increasing Scanning Reception - MPSCS

[nvanw27]

I live between a few MPSCS towers - I'm pretty much equidistant between South Boardman and Manton, and I can receive River Central despite being a little further away from it. I am unable to get anything from Manton or Rapid City. I've tried a stock Uniden BCD325P2 antenna and a magnet mount antenna for a car as well - no dice. I know I should be able to receive South Boardman and Manton from where I'm at, I'm just not sure what I need to do to be able to receive off of those. Any antenna/mounting/setting recommendations?

 

[dmchalmers]

I hope to hear a reply also I'm just outside of the Treetops sites range an the west branch site using a discone on a 35' tower

 

[jimsokol]

I no longer have this model and am trying to remember the display, so forgive me if off a little. Do you see signal bars in the top right when it scans the control channels programmed or "DAT" next to the freq?

 

[hanlonmi06]

One thing I always revert to when troubleshooting reception is to click over to the NOAA freqs. I know roughly what stations to expect to hear and at what strength. If I think I am having antenna problems that is one possible quick way to know whether its antenna or "programming". If the weather reception is good to go, then I start digging into configurations of my MPSCS stuff. If I am not getting weather reception then I know I have hardware problems.

 

[hockeyref2]

Put a yagi on your roof pointed toward the site? There are some close sites that I can't hear, and some farther away that I can.... There are terrain features in the way.

Then some sites I can get OK most of the time, but sometimes I can't.. I that gets into weather effects, foliage, RF noise, etc.
I used to be able to get Manton for months, then one day it was gone.

 

[buddrousa]

As posted in POST #5 you need line of sight from antenna to antenna.
1. How far are you from those sites in miles (no guessing)?
2. What is the terrain like between you and them?
3. Can you put up say a 50 foot tower with LMR 400 no longer than 75 to 100 feet?
4. Are you near a Cell Tower, FM Radio, Paging, or other 2way Radio Tower?
Answer all these questions and we can better help you.
Look in the Database at the radio maps for coverage like this.

Radio North (Grand Traverse) Trunking System - Site: South

Radio North (Grand Traverse) Trunking System site details for South

www.radioreference.com

 

[nvanw27]

I no longer have this model and am trying to remember the display, so forgive me if off a little. Do you see signal bars in the top right when it scans the control channels programmed or "DAT" next to the freq?

The Manton site shows one or two bars, and DAT will appear. This is the site furthest from me that I am trying to receive, but it's also the only tower I can pick up that carries a few of the Talkgroups I'd like to monitor. The closer site, South Boardman, does not indicate signal strength and my scanner does not stay on it since it does not see any traffic from it. I'm able to pick up the much further Rapid City (which I am outside the radius of) with full signal strength.

As posted in POST #5 you need line of sight from antenna to antenna.
1. How far are you from those sites in miles (no guessing)?
2. What is the terrain like between you and them?
3. Can you put up say a 50 foot tower with LMR 400 no longer than 75 to 100 feet?
4. Are you near a Cell Tower, FM Radio, Paging, or other 2way Radio Tower?
Answer all these questions and we can better help you.
Look in the Database at the radio maps for coverage like this.

Radio North (Grand Traverse) Trunking System - Site: South

Radio North (Grand Traverse) Trunking System site details for South

www.radioreference.com

1. I am 14.8 miles away from the Manton site. There is a somewhat sizeable hill between that site and my location, but that tower is on top of said hill. There's also a river, otherwise everything is just wooded land.
I'm 7.58 miles away from the South Boardman site. It's pretty much a straight shot from that site to my location - in the winter, I can actually see the lights on the tower at night. It's flat wooded land between there and my location.
3. I hadn't considered doing that, but I'm in such an area where it would be possible.
4. No. There are no cell/radio/FM towers within close range to my location. The closest cell towers are about 3-4 miles away, and the closest 2-way radio tower is the repeater at work, 5 miles away.
I have checked the coverage maps. I am well within the coverage radii for both South Boardman and Manton.

 

[buddrousa]

Ok so 4. You can see the tower but get no signal there are 2 possible causes. 1. Wrong Control Channel Information. 2. Simulcast Distortion.
Ok so 1. 15 miles the tower is on the hill. 1. The antenna may be directional looking away from you. 2. Simulcast Distortion
Can you take the same scanner and drive near the sites and it work?

 

[smithken]

The sites the OP is concerned about are not simulcast, in fact it looks like the nearest simulcast site is 150 miles away.

 

[buddrousa]

But if you look at my area you will not see Simulcast Listed even though I have a system that is mixed mode Analog and DMR 2 Site System.

 

[wtp]

4 (4)	019 (13)	Manton	Wexford	851.425	852.275	852.925	853.425c	853.925c	856.3875	857.2875
4 (4)	021 (15)	Mesick 1	Wexford	851.400	851.900	852.400	853.2875	853.7125c	853.900c	854.9375
				855.3875	855.6375	855.7875	856.8625
4 (4)	022 (16)	Wellston	Wexford	851.1375	851.6875	852.5625c	853.200c	855.0875	856.5875	856.6875
				857.3125
4 (4)	023 (17)	Boon	Wexford	851.0375	851.625	852.0625c	852.5875c	852.6375c	854.5625	854.8625
				855.5625	856.8625

4 (4)	031 (1F)	South Boardman	Grand Traverse	851.3375	851.475	852.3625	852.8875	853.375c	853.500c	853.800c
				855.0125	856.7875
4 (4)	051 (33)	River Central	Grand Traverse	769.78125	770.08125	770.53125	851.725	852.0375	852.250	852.7625
				853.1375c	853.350c

have you tried them all ?

 

[nvanw27]

4 (4)	019 (13)	Manton	Wexford	851.425	852.275	852.925	853.425c	853.925c	856.3875	857.2875
4 (4)	021 (15)	Mesick 1	Wexford	851.400	851.900	852.400	853.2875	853.7125c	853.900c	854.9375
				855.3875	855.6375	855.7875	856.8625
4 (4)	022 (16)	Wellston	Wexford	851.1375	851.6875	852.5625c	853.200c	855.0875	856.5875	856.6875
				857.3125
4 (4)	023 (17)	Boon	Wexford	851.0375	851.625	852.0625c	852.5875c	852.6375c	854.5625	854.8625
				855.5625	856.8625

4 (4)	031 (1F)	South Boardman	Grand Traverse	851.3375	851.475	852.3625	852.8875	853.375c	853.500c	853.800c
				855.0125	856.7875
4 (4)	051 (33)	River Central	Grand Traverse	769.78125	770.08125	770.53125	851.725	852.0375	852.250	852.7625
				853.1375c	853.350c

have you tried them all ?

Affirmative. Manton is one of the sites I'm having trouble with. Mesick 1 is within range, but only comes in at night. Wellston and Boon are outside of my radius, South Boardman is the line of site tower. River Central is the only one that comes in clearly.

I have all of those frequencies programmed nonetheless, but it doesn't appear to be helping.

 

[buddrousa]

Back 1 of my questions.
If you take the scanner and drive near the other towers do you hear traffic?

 

[kd8ati]

But if you look at my area you will not see Simulcast Listed even though I have a system that is mixed mode Analog and DMR 2 Site System.

For the MPSCS, all of the simulcast sites are listed as such. His area does not have any simulcast sites so the issues he is trying to resolve would have nothing to do with simulcast multipath issues.

 

[buddrousa]

I just listed the things that would cause the problems not knowing the area.
So this leaves a few things that I mentioned also.
1. Interference from other towers FM, PAGING or 2WAY.
2. Antenna System but OP is using Factory Antenna. Needs to install Antenna System.
3. Programming error I have ask the OP 2 times to take the scanner near the sites to see if it works NO ANSWER YET.

 

[Ronaldski]

ALL simulcast is in the lower peninsula and in the southern half of that. Up your way, no simulcast.

General rule of thumb is you can get your county and depending on where your at in that county, the surrounding counties.
850's MHz is really lousy IMHO for radio use, hence why they need multiple towers and it doesnt go through walls well.
An outside antenna you could get a county(s) farther out depending on your location, tower locations and even weather will vary reception.

You can get a dedicated 800MHz antenna and those do work great, but you do lose sensitivity in the 150's and most definitely in the aircraft band. 800 - REMTRONIX 800 MHz Portable BNC Antenna | Scanner Master

Tri band, to get other frequency ranges. - BNC VHF/UHF/800 MHz REM-842B REMTRONIX Triband antenna | Scanner Master

Its just that as you go higher in frequency the distance drops. Accordingly CB/AM radio are very low frequencies so in turn you could get stations from a few states away.

 

[nvanw27]

Back 1 of my questions.
If you take the scanner and drive near the other towers do you hear traffic?

On Manton, if I go across the street I can pick it up. South Boardman doesn't come in unless I'm right on top of that site.

 

[buddrousa]

Outside Antenna would help with one the other you may never get.

 

[RichM]

I‘m in Northern MI as well and use an outdoor antenna. While I can pick up 3-4 towers the outlier’s don’t come in well, garbled, one sided etc. For me it is much more enjoyable to just listen to my one strong tower and leave it at that. I routinely hear 4-7 county’s off that one tower, plenty of clear sounding action with no need for the other towers, ymmv.

 

[krokus]

Is your scanner's attenuator turned on?