That still has to be the weirdest part of the entire thing...the fact that some of yall aren't having issues, and some of us are. If it was just me I'd think I was the problem, but as you know there are several other in this forum and outside of it that are in the same boat.
Can you provide your general location wrt the Beaverdale tower site - how many miles away and from what direction? How have you programmed your 996P2? Is it programmed to track a trunked radio system (which only requires using the active control channel) or are you scanning the three frequencies conventionally? The Beaverdale site is a stand-alone resource (aka not simulcast) so a 996P2 should receive it with no issues.
According to google maps I am 7.98 miles from the tower. Slightly east of due south. Using trunked with just the 3 freqs and using ID Search mode. No other settings changed.
Quite literally what ive done btw.
ID Search huh? Next time BPD comes thru look at the TG ID and see if maybe they didnt change TGs, imagine the whole time this was the issue🤣
Considering that the Beaverdale site is directional with an azimuth pointed to 290 deg and a beamwidth of 180 deg, you are just inside / adjacent to the southern lobe of the Beaverdale site footprint, hence your ability to receive the site adequately. Assuming the transmit antenna is mounted on the upper third of a 100m tower, a user should expect good receive performance at least 8-12 miles from the site, and more depending on the gain performance of the transmit antenna and if the tower is taller than 100m.
From what I have seen, the antenna is at the top of the tower. And I believe it is taller than 100m but ofc thats visual estimation.
I dont think thats the issue because i just heard them on my scanner through the Lee Co Simulcast site. Im thinking they are either having problems with the site or they are moving Des Moines County over to simulcast and havent finished upgrading it yet.
They still are on 26601 but also use 26602 and 26603 for car to car stuff.
Yeah thats what ive been doing this whole time.
Wow that amazes me. I have 3 external antennas and I get nothing and haven't for weeks now. I don't understand it at all. Please tell me how your 996P2 is programmed. I don't think it's a programming issue but I want to rule that out.
I manually programmed it about 5 years ago when I first learned of ISICS. Since it has been so long ago I don't remember what I did step by step. Basically just made a system with the 3 Beaverdale freqs and used ID SEARCH. Since there was nothing of interest on there at that time it has been locked out for years until the city and county started using it. I just unlocked it and been hearing everything since. I have never messed with settings such as filters or threshold. I kind of get the feeling that some users get so involved changing all that stuff and then things get messed up. I've read for years you have to set the squelch at 2 but never believed it. I set my squelch around 8 to 10.
If 66 doesnt exist then why is Lee Co simulcast?
Per the ISICS coverage map, the Lee County simulcast cell appears to consist of four RF sites. While I’m speculating somewhat, it’s likely that the former Donnellson tower location was incorporated into this LSM simulcast buildout, along with other existing county tower sites. This would be consistent with Lee County’s status as a Level 4 ISICS user, meaning the county owns and operates local infrastructure that’s tied directly into the statewide ISICS core.
