King County Washington/Valley Comm PD frequencies changed?

[grafixman1]

Kent, Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way and others are no longer being received. I hear sheriff and fire but PD has no feeds. Did they change their radios or freqs? I am using an older Bearcat Trunk Tracker III.

 

[tvengr]

I believe they have switched to the new PSERN P25 Phase II system: Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network (PSERN) Trunking System, Seattle, Washington I suggest that you click on Report and request that your thread be moved to the Washington state forum. There is a large discussion about the new system.

 

[grafixman1]

Thank you for your reply. Interesting to see this. Do you know if the TrunkTracker III I use would support this or is it time for a new radio?

 

[tvengr]

A TrunkTracker III scanner will not work. You will need a scanner capable of P25 Phase 2 (TrunkTracker V). I would recommend a Uniden SDS100 handheld or SDS200 base/mobile. I am assuming the main sites will be simulcast. I don't see any info on that yet. Another member may know. I am sure it will be coming in the database. The SDS100 and SDS200 are the only scanners specifically designed to receive simulcast sites. Any other P25 Phase 2 capable scanner may or may not work depending upon your location in relation to the towers. Whistler scanners are the worst for simulcast. The SDS scanners can also be upgraded to receive DMR and NXDN if you desire. It is less expensive to purchase the keys at my.uniden.com and enable them yourself than to have a dealer do it.

 

[freqseeker]

A TrunkTracker III scanner will not work. You will need a scanner capable of P25 Phase 2 (TrunkTracker V). I would recommend a Uniden SDS100 handheld or SDS200 base/mobile. I am assuming the main sites will be simulcast. I don't see any info on that yet. Another member may know. I am sure it will be coming in the database. The SDS100 and SDS200 are the only scanners specifically designed to receive simulcast sites. Any other P25 Phase 2 capable scanner may or may not work depending upon your location in relation to the towers. Whistler scanners are the worst for simulcast. The SDS scanners can also be upgraded to receive DMR and NXDN if you desire. It is less expensive to purchase the keys at my.uniden.com and enable them yourself than to have a dealer do it.

You are correct. My BCD325P2 struggles missing 50% of the time when mobile or stationary, BCD436HP does a little better.
The SDS 100 and 2 SDS 200's one on external antenna and one on inside antenna work very good.
My BlueTail receivers work great too and they have better audio. New model coming soon!
This is using South King County Simulcast, haven't experimented with others yet.

 

[Tortue]

If you don't need portability, an SDR dongle will work as well. For less than a hundred bucks...

 

[Grego]

I am in Pierce County and find that the new King County comes in much better and clearer than the old. It sounds much better than any of the Phase 2 systems.

 

[erikk1840]

I'm using BCD325P2 and the old system worked much better for me. I'm down in the Kent Valley near the Green River. I get garbled and one sided conversations with the new system. Does the SDS100 have better sensitivity?

 

[freqseeker]

I'm using BCD325P2 and the old system worked much better for me. I'm down in the Kent Valley near the Green River. I get garbled and one sided conversations with the new system. Does the SDS100 have better sensitivity?

The SDS100 was designed for your very problem. Dealing with digital simulcast. I have both radios and the SDS100 does just fine while the BCD325P2 works the way you described.
It may be hard to justify buying one when encryption is on the horizon. At least they hold their value well.

 

[grafixman1]

I had a conversation with someone and Seattle, Kent, Federal Way and others in WA state have partially changed out their radios. It is being managed by Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network

The question remains if the transmissions will be encrypted. If true, my spending $649 for a Uniden SDS100 would be money going down the drain. Maybe they have already activated encryption, I don't know since do not have the other radio.

 

[devicelab]

I'm using BCD325P2 and the old system worked much better for me. I'm down in the Kent Valley near the Green River. I get garbled and one sided conversations with the new system.

You're obviously not finding the local control channel. Just do a custom search from 854-860 (in CC mode) and see which CC you receive the best. Then either add that frequencies to your scanner and/or lock out the other sites (especially if you don't need them.)

 

[devicelab]

The question remains if the transmissions will be encrypted. If true, my spending $649 for a Uniden SDS100 would be money going down the drain. Maybe they have already activated encryption, I don't know since do not have the other radio.

No the question remains how much of the system will be monitorable. There are encrypted talkgroups but for now they're limited.

 

[grafixman1]

A TrunkTracker III scanner will not work. You will need a scanner capable of P25 Phase 2 (TrunkTracker V). I would recommend a Uniden SDS100 handheld or SDS200 base/mobile. I am assuming the main sites will be simulcast. I don't see any info on that yet. Another member may know. I am sure it will be coming in the database. The SDS100 and SDS200 are the only scanners specifically designed to receive simulcast sites. Any other P25 Phase 2 capable scanner may or may not work depending upon your location in relation to the towers. Whistler scanners are the worst for simulcast. The SDS scanners can also be upgraded to receive DMR and NXDN if you desire. It is less expensive to purchase the keys at my.uniden.com and enable them yourself than to have a dealer do it.

I wonder if both the SDS100 and new BCD160DN would receive the channels, if they are not encrypted.

 

[devicelab]

I wonder if both the SDS100 and new BCD160DN would receive the channels, if they are not encrypted.

No the DN scanners do not have P25.

 

[bethelhntr]

Having the same issue with my BCD436HP, It lost Valley Com Fire completely. Which is my favorite to listen to. I have been communicating with Uniden to find a solution. Iv'e had the scanner for 6 months...

 

[erikk1840]

I'd like to get an SDS100 but I'm not going to spend $650. Uniden needs to produce a simpler, lower cost simulcast scanner.

 

[waltmitty]

I had the SDS models on my wish list for a year or more since I couldn't afford it and refused to pay with credit (personal spending rules). Eventually, my 3 Pro-2006s were *really* showing their age so I ended up selling various other hobby items which I identified infrequently used, e.g.Garmin avialtion GPS, Icom aviation tx/rx, aviation headset etc. After several months of inventory reduction, I purchased the SDS100 and 200.... and gave away the Pro-2006 to my siblings who only occasionally turn on the scanner for nearby police, fire and aviation chatter.