Info on how Riscon works

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bobruzzo

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I am getting closer to getting new radio for monitoring RISCON. I dont understand if I am programming a CENTRAL MAIN FREQUENCY or the individual towns that use RISCON. I live in Cranston. Would I be able to hear as far down as Westerly? Or just the area of the state I am in? Do I need a dedicated antenna to a certain frequency? Are most of the RISCON frequencies that the towns are on, UHF?
 

tvengr

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If you can receive the South Simulcast site, you may be able to monitor Westerly. A good 800 MHz antenna, preferably outside and the higher the better, should give you good coverage of the RISCON system. This 2 links will tell you what is conventional and what is on RISCON:
You will not be able to monitor Westerly PD. They are encrypted.
 

bobruzzo

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OK my main concern is which antenna to use. So I could buy a dedicated 800 mhz....vertical might be better so as to be able to pick up south and north.
 

bobruzzo

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OK my main concern is which antenna to use. So I could buy a dedicated 800 mhz....vertical might be better so as to be able to pick up south and north.
Here is a good sized 800 mhz antenna that could easily be put up nice and high.
 

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W1KNE

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In Cranston? A "Set top" antenna indoors would pick up RISCON without much issue. You can do an outdoor antenna but you may find you get hammered with overload from all the nearby towers. Don't forget you got big sites on Peck Hill and Neutakonakut Hills, both not too far from you. Even one of those HT 800 Only antennas and a right angle BNC may be enough!
 

bobruzzo

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In Cranston? A "Set top" antenna indoors would pick up RISCON without much issue. You can do an outdoor antenna but you may find you get hammered with overload from all the nearby towers. Don't forget you got big sites on Peck Hill and Neutakonakut Hills, both not too far from you. Even one of those HT 800 Only antennas and a right angle BNC may be enough!
I was looking at the coverage maps of both RISCON's NORTH system and "PROVIDENCE" system. I noticed there was latitude and longitude for both sites. So I was able to track down the exact location of them. The Providence transmitter is 8 miles from me and the North area transmitter is a little further northwest. So I am thinking just as you suggest. All the better if I can get away with a little whip antenna that comes with the radio. I plan to use the radio for primarily RISCON anyway. Plus I am on the 2nd floor in my house. I talked to a guy on here who lives the next town over who says he uses the whip antenna and it works fine. I probably wont hear the SOUTH system....it's pretty far from me and lots of hills in the way. However the coverage map for SOUTH shows I am in range. Sounds like I am going to be in business......
 

pmlance

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I'm located on the Johnston/ Cranston line off plainfield st . I just purchased the SDS100 , I can pick up North and South zone as well as Providence with no problem at all with the stock antenna that came with the SDS100. with that being said , I have other digital scanners and they can only get North and Providence zones . and yes the overload from Neutakonakut Hill is crazy , I'm at the base of it.
 

ecps92

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DO NOT reply on those coverage maps, they are just approximate circles of where you may/maynot hear the signal

Your best bet is to experiment yourself, as moving your stock antenna a few inches may make a world of difference and adding
an outside antenna may frustrate you even more.
I was looking at the coverage maps of both RISCON's NORTH system and "PROVIDENCE" system. I noticed there was latitude and longitude for both sites. So I was able to track down the exact location of them. The Providence transmitter is 8 miles from me and the North area transmitter is a little further northwest. So I am thinking just as you suggest. All the better if I can get away with a little whip antenna that comes with the radio. I plan to use the radio for primarily RISCON anyway. Plus I am on the 2nd floor in my house. I talked to a guy on here who lives the next town over who says he uses the whip antenna and it works fine. I probably wont hear the SOUTH system....it's pretty far from me and lots of hills in the way. However the coverage map for SOUTH shows I am in range. Sounds like I am going to be in business......
 

bobruzzo

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I'm located on the Johnston/ Cranston line off plainfield st . I just purchased the SDS100 , I can pick up North and South zone as well as Providence with no problem at all with the stock antenna that came with the SDS100. with that being said , I have other digital scanners and they can only get North and Providence zones . and yes the overload from Neutakonakut Hill is crazy , I'm at the base of it.
What kind of transmitters are up on Neutakonakut Hill? I Hear a LOUD pager on 152.6 and cant figure out if its from up on that hill or in Western Cranston.
 

bobruzzo

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I'm located on the Johnston/ Cranston line off plainfield st . I just purchased the SDS100 , I can pick up North and South zone as well as Providence with no problem at all with the stock antenna that came with the SDS100. with that being said , I have other digital scanners and they can only get North and Providence zones . and yes the overload from Neutakonakut Hill is crazy , I'm at the base of it.
I am located close to the Cranston / Warwick line just north of Warwick Mall. Peck Hill is the landfill and there's a bunch of transmitters up there. We have a few big hills like Dean Estates right to the east. To the west the land rises high in Western Cranston. No obstructions to south and a slight elevation in land to the north towards Johnston. So I am kinda hoping those hills buffer the powerful signals from those on Peck Hill & Neutakonacut hill. Here is pic of the horizon which looks like this to the west, north and northwest. I taped a camera to a few long bamboo poles taped together and lifted it up. I could only get as high as my dipole that is in foreground.
 

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bobruzzo

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I picked up a BCD996p2 yesterday and it seems a small indoor antenna works OK. I am using that suction cup antenna mounted in my window up on 2nd floor of house. Still experimenting with programming. Still need to clean up P25 audio. I noticed last night reception was much improved. But still get a slight "under water" type effect on some transmissions. I have RISCON as 1 system and a local LTR in another system.
Not sure if I am getting simulcast issues or if it's my location as far as RISCON reception. I have the 3 sites programmed in one "bank" (9) North, South and Providence. I tried programming split up over 3 separate systems each in their own bank but didnt seem to work well. The funny thing is RIPTA has the best quality. No cutting out, no distortion. Prov PD channel 1 is not too good. And I had to program Cranston PD in a separate bank cause they arent available thru Freescan when you transfer data to radio under "trunked" when you start Freescan. I noticed Cranston PD comes up on display with "NAC DEF" which is some kind of digital squelch? I also noticed I cant change the ID from "SCAN" to "SEARCH" on the Cranston PD freqs I programmed. So thats the only thing I dont understand. As far as I remember Cranston PD freqs have not been conventional in a very long time. But they dont show up as "digital" or P25 when you transfer the database from RR. Only the Fire Dept shows up. (?) Slowly learning this thing!
 

ecps92

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RISCON is a Trunked system, which uses Talkgroups

Cranston is a conventional UHF system.

I urge [others may suggest otherwise] you to break each zone out tp its own bank, to prevent from capturing a neighboring zone
Not all talkgroups are across all zones.
I picked up a BCD996p2 yesterday and it seems a small indoor antenna works OK. I am using that suction cup antenna mounted in my window up on 2nd floor of house. Still experimenting with programming. Still need to clean up P25 audio. I noticed last night reception was much improved. But still get a slight "under water" type effect on some transmissions. I have RISCON as 1 system and a local LTR in another system.
Not sure if I am getting simulcast issues or if it's my location as far as RISCON reception. I have the 3 sites programmed in one "bank" (9) North, South and Providence. I tried programming split up over 3 separate systems each in their own bank but didnt seem to work well. The funny thing is RIPTA has the best quality. No cutting out, no distortion. Prov PD channel 1 is not too good. And I had to program Cranston PD in a separate bank cause they arent available thru Freescan when you transfer data to radio under "trunked" when you start Freescan. I noticed Cranston PD comes up on display with "NAC DEF" which is some kind of digital squelch? I also noticed I cant change the ID from "SCAN" to "SEARCH" on the Cranston PD freqs I programmed. So thats the only thing I dont understand. As far as I remember Cranston PD freqs have not been conventional in a very long time. But they dont show up as "digital" or P25 when you transfer the database from RR. Only the Fire Dept shows up. (?) Slowly learning this thing!
 

bobruzzo

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RISCON is a Trunked system, which uses Talkgroups

Cranston is a conventional UHF system.

I urge [others may suggest otherwise] you to break each zone out tp its own bank, to prevent from capturing a neighboring zone
Not all talkgroups are across all zones.
OK So what I should try is to put the NORTH system on its own bank, and likewise for the SOUTH and PROVIDENCE? For example NORTH would be on "S0 1, SOUTH on S0 2 and Providence on S0 3.
 

ecps92

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Yes and manually select the zone you are within or want to monitor.
That way in-case you get locked onto South when you want North, you can turn the zone/sites on/off

OK So what I should try is to put the NORTH system on its own bank, and likewise for the SOUTH and PROVIDENCE? For example NORTH would be on "S0 1, SOUTH on S0 2 and Providence on S0 3.
 

bobruzzo

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The only thing I dont understand is how you differentiate exactly which towns are in which Zones? I attached a list I made from Freescan for the NORTH zone of RISCON. Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth etc are really neither north or south! So I assume I will put them in "SOUTH". When you choose in Freescan which Zones you want to import it doesnt differentiate between north south or Prov.
 

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ecps92

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The only 1000% Accurate source of that is RISCON
SNE has attempted to determine which towns have been heard in each of the Zones, but with todays modern scanners, put in all the TG's and then experiment as you see who is using North vs South vs all 3 vs... etc etc

The only thing I dont understand is how you differentiate exactly which towns are in which Zones? I attached a list I made from Freescan for the NORTH zone of RISCON. Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth etc are really neither north or south! So I assume I will put them in "SOUTH". When you choose in Freescan which Zones you want to import it doesnt differentiate between north south or Prov.
 

bobruzzo

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The only 1000% Accurate source of that is RISCON
SNE has attempted to determine which towns have been heard in each of the Zones, but with todays modern scanners, put in all the TG's and then experiment as you see who is using North vs South vs all 3 vs... etc etc
OKI am 1/2 way there. I am setting "ID Mode" to "SCAN" instead of "SEARCH"
 
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