Issue with some local channels Ohio MARCS-IP and DMR

[Djsmurf1984]

Afternoon,

I believe I have most things set-up finally after tons of reading, awesome site and Forum! Not new to scanning new to the SDS200. Two main questions.

It's not a huge issue as I am usually getting good audio, with the Ohio MARCS-IP their RSSI is up there -85 to -120. I have a small external antenna, is this just an I need to upgrade my antenna? Anyone that is scanning them seeing similar?

The second question is with DMR. (Sandusky Co. Ohio) It seemed to update all DMR sites and add their color code. The two that seem to give me issues are my local police and dispatch. Clyde Police is not listed as DMR however is updated to DMR CC 4 (it will at time give them a TG as well) I don't pickup much more than static from them.

The second is not a huge deal just something I noticed. Wood co. Sheriff 154.725000 (1/2) shows as DMR CC 8 it gets 0 duration hits over a few seconds now and then. SQ is at 2 not sure if I would even notice without ProScan.

I dug the best I could with the local police issue and still nothing. I don't think it's an antenna issue I have picked up things from Canada.

Thank you in advance.
Tyler

 

[hiegtx]

Afternoon,

I believe I have most things set-up finally after tons of reading, awesome site and Forum! Not new to scanning new to the SDS200. Two main questions.

It's not a huge issue as I am usually getting good audio, with the Ohio MARCS-IP their RSSI is up there -85 to -120. I have a small external antenna, is this just an I need to upgrade my antenna? Anyone that is scanning them seeing similar?

The second question is with DMR. (Sandusky Co. Ohio) It seemed to update all DMR sites and add their color code. The two that seem to give me issues are my local police and dispatch. Clyde Police is not listed as DMR however is updated to DMR CC 4 (it will at time give them a TG as well) I don't pickup much more than static from them.

You might get a much better answer if you request that your thread be moved to the Ohio forum. There may be somebody in or near your county that can help you determine what you need. To do that, do not start a new thread in the state forum. Instead, click on the "Report" link in the lower left corner of your post. That will bring up a page where you can request that a moderator move your thread.

Looking at the linked license for Clyde, you are correct, they are not licensed to use DMR, nor does the database have them listed that way. Just taking a guess here. Clyde shows to be using 453.875, and not digital (P25) nor DMR. But Fremont PD is at 453.825, which is very close to Clyde's frequency. Fremont is listed as DMR, with Color Code 4, and talkgroups 1 & 2. What you might do is tweak the filters, to see if that helps. The filters are pretty much a 'try it & see if it helps' deal, While there's been a lot of comments back & forth on how to set and/or use the filters, there is no specific step by step instructions. Try them on just the Department where you have Clyde. Here's one long winded thread on filters. There are several others, probably more helpful. You might try a search on just the Uniden Tech Support forum, with key word 'filters'. Note- Do not use the Auto setting. If you use that, when the scanner gets to that department, it tries each possible filter setting one at a time, till it finds the one that works the best. Unfortunately, it does not save that setting, and will go through the same trial & error process every time that department comes up. Nor is it saved so that you can upload it into Sentinel.

The second is not a huge deal just something I noticed. Wood co. Sheriff 154.725000 (1/2) shows as DMR CC 8 it gets 0 duration hits over a few seconds now and then. SQ is at 2 not sure if I would even notice without ProScan.

I dug the best I could with the local police issue and still nothing. I don't think it's an antenna issue I have picked up things from Canada.

Thank you in advance.
Tyler

For the Wood County S.O., frequency 154.725, that is flagged as full time encrypted (note the DMRE) The upper case E in the mode denotes full time encryption. Had it been a lower case e, that indicates only encrypted part of the time.

Your SDS200 will skip over encrypted transmissions, so you would not hear anything. It might stop on the frequency for perhaps a fraction of a second, then when it recognizes that encryption is in use, it will move on without you hearing anything.

Edit to add: There are several filter related links on the SDS100/SDS200 FAQ Wiki page.

 

[Djsmurf1984]

You might get a much better answer if you request that your thread be moved to the Ohio forum. There may be somebody in or near your county that can help you determine what you need. To do that, do not start a new thread in the state forum. Instead, click on the "Report" link in the lower left corner of your post. That will bring up a page where you can request that a moderator move your thread.

Done.

Looking at the linked license for Clyde, you are correct, they are not licensed to use DMR, nor does the database have them listed that way. Just taking a guess here. Clyde shows to be using 453.875, and not digital (P25) nor DMR. But Fremont PD is at 453.825, which is very close to Clyde's frequency. Fremont is listed as DMR, with Color Code 4, and talkgroups 1 & 2. What you might do is tweak the filters, to see if that helps. The filters are pretty much a 'try it & see if it helps' deal, While there's been a lot of comments back & forth on how to set and/or use the filters, there is no specific step by step instructions. Try them on just the Department where you have Clyde. Here's one long winded thread on filters. There are several others, probably more helpful. You might try a search on just the Uniden Tech Support forum, with key word 'filters'. Note- Do not use the Auto setting. If you use that, when the scanner gets to that department, it tries each possible filter setting one at a time, till it finds the one that works the best. Unfortunately, it does not save that setting, and will go through the same trial & error process every time that department comes up. Nor is it saved so that you can upload it into Sentinel.

That does make since, I dug around for some time thinking because Fremont recently changed maybe Clyde has as well. I have Clyde dispatch sorted and coming in now. Just missing 453.7125 & 453.875. I look through the filters threads. I don't mind a bit of tinkering.

Your SDS200 will skip over encrypted transmissions, so you would not hear anything. It might stop on the frequency for perhaps a fraction of a second, then when it recognizes that encryption is in use, it will move on without you hearing anything.

Good to know, I was not aware of that. I only notice as they show up in ProScan, and have my delay time set to 0 so I assumed the scanner was just moving along.

Thank you.
Tyler

 

[Djsmurf1984]

Okay now I'm confused. How does a channel I'm telling to scan as analog pick up as digital DMR? I have noticed 107.2 is Erie co. sheriff dispatch and Sandusky co. Skywarn/ARES. My two Clyde police channels are nothing but noise.

 

[wa8pyr]

The second is not a huge deal just something I noticed. Wood co. Sheriff 154.725000 (1/2) shows as DMR CC 8 it gets 0 duration hits over a few seconds now and then. SQ is at 2 not sure if I would even notice without ProScan.

It’s possible those 0 duration transmissions are actually data. Quite a few agencies using DMR on a single channel will use one slot for voice transmissions, and the other slot for GPS data on their CAD/AVL system. GPS transmissions are very, very brief, and typically happen about once per minute.

If you’re simply monitoring a DMR frequency without any talkgroups programmed in, you’ll see everything on both slots.

 

[Davey1]

For the Wood County S.O., frequency 154.725, that is flagged as full time encrypted (note the DMRE) The upper case E in the mode denotes full time encryption. Had it been a lower case e, that indicates only encrypted part of the time.
View attachment 142577
Your SDS200 will skip over encrypted transmissions, so you would not hear anything. It might stop on the frequency for perhaps a fraction of a second, then when it recognizes that encryption is in use, it will move on without you hearing anything.

Edit to add: There are several filter related links on the SDS100/SDS200 FAQ Wiki page.

The Wood County Sheriff is on DMR full-time on 154.725. Slot 1 is used for dispatch, as listed in the database and is NOT encrypted at all. Slot 2 is used for SRT and IS encrypted all of time.

 

[hiegtx]

The Wood County Sheriff is on DMR full-time on 154.725. Slot 1 is used for dispatch, as listed in the database and is NOT encrypted at all. Slot 2 is used for SRT and IS encrypted all of time.

I see a pattern similar to that in my area. An agency, or business, take a DMR frequency channel, and divides it into two, using the slots to differentiate usage.

At least it appears that you can hear the Dispatch side.