Johnson County P25 System

[MadSpleen85]

Like I said in the previous post I have no experience with encryption. I thought I read somewhere that if something is encrypted the scanner will not even recognize that there is a transmission being made? I could very well be wrong.


Updated list:

• 31001 Fairway City
• 31101 Gardner City
• 31003 Merriam City
• 31004 Mission City
• 31006 Westwood City

 

[KCoax]

On the JOCO P25 system 396T will stop and stay on the encrypted traffic. The transmission is audible. Sounds garbled. The 996XT will occasionally stop on the encryption, but will continue after about 2 seconds.

 

[MadSpleen85]

Updated list:

• 31001 Fairway Police (North Zone)
• 31003 Merriam Police (North Zone)
• 31004 Mission Police (North Zone)
• 31006 Westwood Police (North Zone)
  
• 31101 Gardner Police (South Zone)
• 31120 Park Patrol (South Zone)

Hearing some new activity, seems to be more frequent in the overnight hours. Have a list of TG's I am still trying to pin down as to what they are.

 

[MadSpleen85]

Olathe PD did a lot of testing the last couple of days and now seems to be switched over to the new system.

 

[MadSpleen85]

TG 31304. Guessing it is Olathe PD channel 2, hard to tell being it is encrypted. It falls right in order with the rest of the Olathe PD TG's.

Also heard activity on TG 30031 in the database as Sheriff Narcotics. This TG is also encrypted.

 

[jgorman]

I'm having a very hard time scanning anything in the 700 MHz system in JOCO. Are you guys having any problems? I am working with freescan and have downloaded everything from radio reference. I have each department separated into quick keys so they can be turned off and on. The two main problems I am having is that I am getting bleed over from "The JO" on all of my Johnson County Sheriff systems and bleed over from other agencies. For example I am picking up JOCO SO North Zone on my Olathe PD group. And there is quite a bit of motor boating going on. If anyone uses freescan, I'll take any advice you can give. I am scanning with Uniden 996T and 996XT. All of my firmware is up to date.
Thanks in advance.......

 

[PVPD730]

I'm having a very hard time scanning anything in the 700 MHz system in JOCO. Are you guys having any problems? I am working with freescan and have downloaded everything from radio reference. I have each department separated into quick keys so they can be turned off and on. The two main problems I am having is that I am getting bleed over from "The JO" on all of my Johnson County Sheriff systems and bleed over from other agencies. For example I am picking up JOCO SO North Zone on my Olathe PD group. And there is quite a bit of motor boating going on. If anyone uses freescan, I'll take any advice you can give. I am scanning with Uniden 996T and 996XT. All of my firmware is up to date.
Thanks in advance.......

You're not the only one having problems. This wiki article pretty much explains everything: Simulcast digital distortion - The RadioReference Wiki.

 

[jgorman]

Very helpful....Thank you. Not the greatest of news but at least I have an answer.

 

[PVPD730]

Well, I was able to get out last night and do some reception testing with the 996XT around different parts of KC and here's what I came up with....

North of the River
Near KCI Airport-Some reception, but most of it was broken.
169 Hwy and Englewood-Some reception, mostly broken.
Liberty area 152 Hwy and I-35-Forget it...received nothing.
210 Hwy and I-435-Same as Liberty...received nothing.

South of the River
Independence I-70 & Lee's Summit Rd-No reception.
Sports Complex I-70 & Blue Ridge-Some reception, mostly broken.
Downtown KC 5th & Broadway-Great reception there.

Wyandotte County/KCK area
I-70 and 18th St-Clear reception!
I-70 and I-435 near the Speedway-OK reception, with some distortion here and there.
Edwardsville K-32 and I-435-Clear Reception!

Johnson County/South KC
Shawnee I-435 and Midland Dr-Clear Reception!
Shawnee Johnson Dr & Nieman-OK reception, with some distortion here and there.
Lenexa I-35 and 87th St-Clear Reception!
Overland Park I-435 and Metcalf-Clear Reception!
I-435 and State Line-OK reception with some distortion here and there.
Grandview Triangle 71 Hwy & 470-Some reception, mostly broken.
Lee's Summit 470 & Colbern Rd-Received nothing!

 

[sparxxxkc]

ok. I got a new digital scanner (rs pro 163) and i can not get the thing to find the new 700mhz channels. can someone tell me how to set it up to find these please?! I have the tg #'s but I dont really know what to do with them. Thanx in advance.

 

[rankin39]

When you say "no reception" what does your signal strength read? With the Leavenworth Co. multi site system I lose all demodulation about 5 mi. short of the Douglas Co. line, but the signal strength remains a full 5 bars consistently all the way into Lawrence and most places in town. The problem is multi-path reception, not lack of signal.

Bob, WoNXN west of Tonganoxie.

 

[PVPD730]

In areas such as Liberty and Lee's Summit, there were no bars displayed. Elsewhere in the "broken reception" areas it varied on the signal strength (appeared as if the bars were bouncing around).

 

[rankin39]

Thanks for the info. Interesting. I'll have to give the system a try up here west of Tonganoxie.

Bob, WoNXN

 

[n0lqt]

ok. I got a new digital scanner (rs pro 163) and i can not get the thing to find the new 700mhz channels. can someone tell me how to set it up to find these please?! I have the tg #'s but I dont really know what to do with them. Thanx in advance.

OK, I assume you are programming it by hand. I would really suggest you get one of the software packages available to program the radio and a programming cable though. I prefer Starrsoft's WIN500 software myself. Makes changing and updating evolving systems like this a breeze.

When you create the new system object, hit PGM, NEW, TGRP, and then choose a blank scanlist (1-22), scroll down to the "TSYS:" entry line and scroll out to "NEW" and hit SEL. Scroll out to "P25 AUTO". Scroll down to "Tag:" and enter a name such as "JO-CO 700" or some such... Scroll down to "Frequencies:" and hit SEL. Enter the five current control channels, 772.98750, 774.48125, 774.73125, 853.77500, and 853.96250, one in to each of the provided slots. (Not sure if the last two are "required" as they may just be legacy channels now) Exit back to the list and scroll down to the Expert Settings area. I usually set the "Muli-site:" to ROAM and leave the rest at default. SAVE and then EXIT and you are ready to go. Add Talkgroups as you go or type in the whole list. This is where I believe the programming software pays for itself. With the number of changes I've put thru my radios, I would have worn out 3 keypads by now....

******** After I added this post, I reread it and noticed you said you had a RS Pro-163. Hope you haven't thrown the box and packing away yet. The Pro-163 is NOT a digital trunking scanner. It is analog only. The only Digital (APCO Project 25) scanners RS currently has are the Pro-106 handheld and Pro-197 mobile/base. Both are on sale right now for $379.99. If you've had it less than thirty days, take it back and get one of the digitals. If they sold it to you telling you it would work on the JO-CO 700 system, DEMAND your money back whether it's been more then thirty days or not and go to a different store. If they refuse, ask for the District manager's phone number. If she says no, ask for the regional manager's phone number and on up the line. After about the 2nd or 3rd call up the food chain, I'll almost guaranty a "yes" but likely the DM will approve it the first time around.********

 

[jgorman]

Just curious as to what you were scanning.... If it was JOCO SO, did you have any problems with bleed over? This seems to be the biggest problem I am having with the digital system. I will pick up Olathe PD when it isn't even programmed into my JOCO north zone, or "the JO" on my JOCO south zone system. I'm not sure how to solve this problem or if it can be solved. I also have a lot of problems with motorboating. Did you have problems with any of these issues?

 

[MadSpleen85]

I have not experienced any bleed over up here in Shawnee. I am scanning the entire system with wildcards and have had very little problems with motorboating. Currently only using a RS Pro-106. I have found that using the Attenuator seems to help when I am stationary. Have not done too much testing while mobile, besides around the house and yard. If the scanner is sitting in one place, I usually have the attenuator on and can tell a difference.

 

[tjm1001]

Just a few questions if anyone can help...

Have been using a BCT15 Trunktracker III before the new P25 system came into play. Also have a BC250D. If I can FIND a P25 card for it, will it work for the new system?

Does anyone know when Lenexa, Shawnee, and OP will join the new system?

Will ECC continue broadcasting calls only on the old frequency?

Which scanner(s) should I look at purchasing?

 

[MadSpleen85]

I am not familiar with Bearcat scanners so I am no help there. I have always heard good things and had good luck with Radio Shack scanners so I have never even looked elsewhere.

The original plan was for the ECC to continue using the analog channel 1 for tone outs and voicing the calls. If I am not mistaken that is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

I have not heard or seen anything about when the other Police agencies in the county will transition to the new system. I have not heard any activity on any of those TG's for the agencies that are yet to switch.

 

[tjm1001]

Madspleen,

thanks for your input!

By the way... love your twitter feeds!

 

[PVPD730]

Have been using a BCT15 Trunktracker III before the new P25 system came into play. Also have a BC250D. If I can FIND a P25 card for it, will it work for the new system?

The BC250D is only capable of doing 800 MHz P25, so that won't work for monitoring JOCO.