Johnson County P25 System

[KCoax]

The spot where I was able to get a good signal is not where I want put the scanner. Basically, I would of had to mount it vertically to a wall in a bad spot.

 

[factorone]

I've been able to actually have some success with JoCo's system lately by doing a few things. First, I was able to obtain a 700/800 3db gain antenna from Laird designed for automotive use (the short antennas you see on most police/fire/EMS vehicles) and I used that to get a solid signal in. I live around 135th and Antioch, and work down by 151st and Metcalf, and drive all over south JoCo between towers.

The Laird antenna made a big difference, but I set the system properties in the 197 for JoCo to "Roam" and set the lo threshold to 85. Since doing this, I've cut the amount of traffic lost to "garble" roughly in half, and I'm considering putting in another signal amplifier to see if it aids things inline. At the house, the antenna was able to at least get me enough antenna to get most traffic in, but I'm working on that yet.

This also works fairly well for the KSICS on the road.

 

[scannerowner]

Has anyone tried the new updated firmware version from the BCD396XT on JOCO's 700? I did on Buchanan County's 800 here in MO and it improved it a lot!

 

[CWR]

On the weekly FCC License renewal's , they list these 14 Repeater Frequencies for the Shawnee Tower at I-435 & Johnson Drive.
Question : Is this part of the Jo. Co. 700MHz system , or something else ?

2 - JUSTICE CENTER, 5850 RENNER AVE, SHAWNEE (JOHNSON) KS [Structure: Tower] (map)
853.775 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
853.9625 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
851.8875 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
852.1375 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
853.35 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
853.1 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
856.9625 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
852.825 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
857.9625 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
851.2625 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
858.9625 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
851.5375 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
859.6375 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E
859.9625 FB2 60p 340e Units: 1 8K10F1E

 

[MadSpleen85]

The majority of those do not appear in the RR database in this area, or even the state of Kansas in some cases.

There are a few that show to be part of the JoCo 700 system and a few others that are on KSICS.

Still annoys me to see the JoCo system grouped in with MARRS. :roll:

The ones on KSICS, do not currently appear to be anything in this immediate area. Maybe expanding KSICS to include a Shawnee tower? Doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense with there already being a KSICS tower at K-7 & I-70 in Bonner Springs, to the west in De Soto and others along I-35 in Mission and Olathe. Johnson County seems to be very well covered for KSICS.

 

[CWR]

Well ,,,,,,,,, I see that 853.775 & 853.9625MHz are listed in the database as control channels.

 

[hkrharry]

On the weekly FCC License renewal's , they list these 14 Repeater Frequencies for the Shawnee Tower at I-435 & Johnson Drive.
Question : Is this part of the Jo. Co. 700MHz system , or something else ?

This is part of the re-banding process that was started when JOCO was on 800 only, also they added the other sites, since this is a simulcast system, (the old TRS was a 2 site system). Ultimately you will see only the 800 Mhz channels used on the JOCO KS side of the MARRS system. The 700 Mhz channels will most likely be removed due to the county not wanting to narrow band the 700 mhz channels. Yes, that is what I said, narrow-banding of the 700 mhz channels. One of those gotchas for using 700 mhz that it too would ultimately be narrow-banded. It is a hardware thing.

HH

 

[PVPD730]

This is part of the re-banding process that was started when JOCO was on 800 only, also they added the other sites, since this is a simulcast system, (the old TRS was a 2 site system). Ultimately you will see only the 800 Mhz channels used on the JOCO KS side of the MARRS system. The 700 Mhz channels will most likely be removed due to the county not wanting to narrow band the 700 mhz channels. Yes, that is what I said, narrow-banding of the 700 mhz channels. One of those gotchas for using 700 mhz that it too would ultimately be narrow-banded. It is a hardware thing.

HH

If an agency decides to stick with 700 Mhz and narrow-bands, does that mean they would be required to use Phase II (TDMA)? I remember seeing that somewhere, but highly doubtful it came from a reliable source (definitely not FCC). Independence, MO is doing the same thing as JOCO.

 

[scannerowner]

So everyone that was using 700mhz will use 800?

 

[factorone]

This is part of the re-banding process that was started when JOCO was on 800 only, also they added the other sites, since this is a simulcast system, (the old TRS was a 2 site system). Ultimately you will see only the 800 Mhz channels used on the JOCO KS side of the MARRS system. The 700 Mhz channels will most likely be removed due to the county not wanting to narrow band the 700 mhz channels. Yes, that is what I said, narrow-banding of the 700 mhz channels. One of those gotchas for using 700 mhz that it too would ultimately be narrow-banded. It is a hardware thing.

HH

I've heard rumors of this floating around as well, but talking to individuals at CommenCo and KC Wireless, they may end up keeping the 700s around for one reason or another (apparently for some agencies, it'll be cost-prohibitive to reprogram their entire fleet of radios for rebanding, as the county passed some of the costs of the system on to the end users/agencies involved).

 

[MadSpleen85]

I've noticed lately that with all this snow on the ground my reception tends to be extremely hit and miss. Anyone else having any similar issues?

I have three scanners that are on this system and they all seem to be struggling tracking the system at times. The issue didn't start until the snow started. All three use the stock antenna and they have not moved in at least six months.

I have read all over the place online and the consensus seems to be that snow does not impact 700/800 MHz radio reception at all.

So, I thought I would ask here. With the database being the scrambled mess that it is (JoCo P25 jammed in with MARRS), it is difficult to tell if I missed an update in CC's or something. I'm thinking it is more of a reception issue though.

Semi-unrelated, what does everyone use for antenna on to monitor this system? I've been looking at adding something to the tower for monitoring Douglas County and KSICS (both 800 MHz). If I can find something that might also do the higher end of the 700 band and the 800 band, it might be worth upgrading everything at once.

Any input, on both issues, is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[KAA951]

I have read all over the place online and the consensus seems to be that snow does not impact 700/800 MHz radio.

No, but even a thin layer of ice on the antenna would- especially if that threw the multicasting off just a bit. You probably wouldn't notice it on a radio, but a scanner?

 

[MadSpleen85]

No, but even a thin layer of ice on the antenna would- especially if that threw the multicasting off just a bit. You probably wouldn't notice it on a radio, but a scanner?

I'm assuming you mean the transmitter antenna, since my scanner antenna are all inside for this system. I've tried messing with my attenuation and used different antenna, nothing seems to work very well for too long. Everything is audible, there are just unexpected dropouts occasionally. I've gotten used to the crystal clear digital reception so the sudden dropouts are frustrating.

 

[mancow]

Worst system ever. It's worse than HF. It's as if they took it out of the box, turned it on and walked away.

 

[KAA951]

Worst system ever. It's worse than HF. It's as if they took it out of the box, turned it on and walked away.

Nice- hope they do a better job with the new Shawnee County system.

 

[MadSpleen85]

Worst system ever. It's worse than HF. It's as if they took it out of the box, turned it on and walked away.

I have to agree. Lately there even seems to be an increase in times that I am hearing actual users on the system asking others to repeat their traffic due to the first attempt being "garbled" or "unreadable".

I've been looking for an antenna to mount on my roof but, if those who have radios on the system are having difficulty, I would imagine an antenna isn't going to do me much good with a scanner.

I'm picking up Fire/Med-Act dispatch stronger on the Paola repeater of KSICS than I am the JoCo system.

 

[bear780ks]

I've noticed lately that with all this snow on the ground my reception tends to be extremely hit and miss. Anyone else having any similar issues?


Semi-unrelated, what does everyone use for antenna on to monitor this system? I've been looking at adding something to the tower for monitoring Douglas County and KSICS (both 800 MHz). If I can find something that might also do the higher end of the 700 band and the 800 band, it might be worth upgrading everything at once.

Any input, on both issues, is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With the snow on the ground here in Central Kansas Area from were i'm at i'm picking up Mac Co on there EDACTS and Sedgwich Co. / Wichita come in allot better as well with snow & and i'm sure the ground and the farmers appreciate it as well..


My antenna that i'm using on my 396xt is the Radio shack 800Mhz whip little burger hasn't let me down Yet and to think it's over 5 years old.. Ra

 

[MadSpleen85]

I sent out a few emails a couple days ago looking for info on this system and have started receiving replies on my issue.

The issue seems to revolve around the system being in the process of going from 700MHz to all 800MHz. Of the few who I have heard from that have inside knowledge, no one seems to know when the switch over will actually occur.

I will forward any new info that I get to the RR database admins and here.

Until this switch happens, it sounds like scanning could be kind of hit or miss. I've been having pretty good luck the last two or three days.

 

[cinsu]

I located some Motorola documentation dated October 2011 referencing 800mhz migration. It shows a proposed time line for system optimization lasting 25 days with a completion date of 7/25/2012 immediately followed by a cutover lasting 5 days. Obviously the dates are old but may give an idea on what is going on when assuming they are in the optimization stage. Everything else prior is planning and construction.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[factorone]

I sent out a few emails a couple days ago looking for info on this system and have started receiving replies on my issue.

The issue seems to revolve around the system being in the process of going from 700MHz to all 800MHz. Of the few who I have heard from that have inside knowledge, no one seems to know when the switch over will actually occur.

I will forward any new info that I get to the RR database admins and here.

Until this switch happens, it sounds like scanning could be kind of hit or miss. I've been having pretty good luck the last two or three days.

Try the 3db gain radio antennas. I've had moderate success on my POV with one (it's an actual Motorola 700/800 stub antenna), and using one on my "base station" at work in south OP, I get just about everything, including KCK and KCMO MARRS. I've had to go from "Stationary" to "Roaming" on the broadcast type, and adjust the lower thresholds to force it to stay on one control channel longer, but it seems to be working. A lot of agencies that still use scanners are equipping their vehicles with them for the 700-800 range because of the increased reception and clarity, as opposed to the other styles of scanner antennas out there.

I did notice a difference when we got all the snow a few weeks back. I ended up assisting OPPD with several stuck vehicles/slide-offs around south OP the first go-round because of the enormous call volumes they had that day, which actually resulted in most of their calls on the radio being those of "emergent" nature only, since the dispatchers couldn't keep enough units in service to handle the important stuff.