Lancaster County on Palmetto 800

[garys]

I'm in Indian Land and have Lancaster County conventional frequencies programmed into the 436HP. Very good signal on my of the VHF channels. I also have the Lancaster site of the Palmetto system programmed in, but am not hearing anything.

I programmed the control channel frequency in as a conventional channel just to see if I could hear the data channel buzzing. I can, but it's apparently just not strong enough to decode the data on the Lancaster system I have programmed in.

I'm using a RS800 scanner, which is my only option.

I have two questions First, is there a better site to use? Second. the RR frequency data page shows several TGs in use for the SO and Lancaster City PD. Are those active enough to spend the time trying to get the trunk to work?

Thanks.

 

[Bill28227]

I am also in Indian Land. 99.999 % of the traffic is on the 154 and 155 conventional channels. You are getting all the traffic now. Some of the supervisors have the Palmetto radios in their cars but if I hear them once a month that is a lot. One usually tells the other to go to 800.
With that said, Lancaster Co and City has received a license to go to the 700 band and the towers are being built out now. Those frequencies are not active yet. They will be someday.
By chance are you in SC?
Bill

 

[garys]

I'm down here visiting my son and his family. They moved up here about a month ago. His company transferred him up from Alabama, so we wanted to see them and the new house.

It definitely won't be our last trip down here, so I want to have the scanner set up correct.

As it happens, it seems to be a matter of location. I moved the scanner about 6 inches, and it started to receive the Lancaster site. I heard the State Police out of York County, although a bit scratchy.

It's also nice to hear a clear analog VHF repeater system for a change. There aren't many where I live, it's mostly UHF, or 700 or 800 trunked.

700 trunked doens't sound bad as long as there are enough transmitter sites.

With all of the new houses going up in Lancaster County, I can see that PD, FD, and EMS Are going to be much busier in the near future. They'll need a bigger radio system.

I am also in Indian Land. 99.999 % of the traffic is on the 154 and 155 conventional channels. You are getting all the traffic now. Some of the supervisors have the Palmetto radios in their cars but if I hear them once a month that is a lot. One usually tells the other to go to 800.
With that said, Lancaster Co and City has received a license to go to the 700 band and the towers are being built out now. Those frequencies are not active yet. They will be someday.
By chance are you in SC?
Bill

 

[Bill28227]

One of the big problems with the current analog system is if a unit is out on a HT and sometimes even a car they can not reach the receiver when they are in the far north part of the county. It is very iffy when they are down by Showmars or the Indian Land Walmart. And of course the same story that parts are not available for their old radios

 

[garys]

All of which could be fixed with a hardware upgrade. No mobiles, portables, receiver sites, etc... It would cost less than a new 700 system and provide good coverage. The problem with the analog system is more likely to be not enough channels for the population growth the county is seeing right now. Between all of the developments going up, there have to at least 2,000 new homes being built in the area.

That's going to require more of everything, as I mentioned earlier.

One of the big problems with the current analog system is if a unit is out on a HT and sometimes even a car they can not reach the receiver when they are in the far north part of the county. It is very iffy when they are down by Showmars or the Indian Land Walmart. And of course the same story that parts are not available for their old radios

 

[garys]

I hate to reply to my own comment, but the forum limits the amount of time we have to edit.

I added the Palmetto 800 - York County frequencies as a site to my Palmetto 800 - Lancaster system. I knew that I was unlikely to get any Lancaster County traffic, but thought it might help with highway patrol traffic. I didn't hear much, but I didn't have much time to listen because we were doing family stuff, so I don't know if that's going to work.

I also missed the radio traffic for the crash at Jim Wilson and Charlotte Highway. The only good thing about that is that happened on a Sunday night. What a mess.

 

[brian]

Looking at the map, I would assume that the Newport site in York Co. would be the "best" site to cover the Indian Land area from an RF standpoint. Site 47, 860.7875.

 

[garys]

That's the one I used. Signal strength was much better and I could get good decode compared to the Lancaster site.

OTOH, I had no luck at all hearing the Charlotte site on the UASI system. Distance and my limitation of only having a rubber duckie (RS 800) were the likely culprits it seems. Next trip down, I'll play with that more time permitting.

Overall, the programming information in the RRDB is very accurate.

Looking at the map, I would assume that the Newport site in York Co. would be the "best" site to cover the Indian Land area from an RF standpoint. Site 47, 860.7875.

 

[brian]

That's good to hear. Thanks.

 

[SCPD]

Lancaster county going to 700 mhz witll they be phase 1 or 2

 

[peeta725]

Please tell me that Lancaster County finally bought a CAD system.... Last I heard they still used cards.

 

[garys]

I don't know if they have one, but they'll need one pretty soon. This was my first time down there, but won't be my last. It's much easier to get to than my son's previous home state. As a result we'll be visiting more often.

The county is going from what seems to have been a pretty sleepy rural area south of Charlotte, to a pretty big suburb. House going up everywhere, along with shopping malls, schools, and other buildings.

Indian Land is in the midst of a debate as to whether incorporate or remain an unincorporated area. Public safety is going to get a lot busier, just because of the increase in population.

Lancaster County EMS has a station at the main entrance to Walnut Creek, and that's a good thing considering how big that development is going to be.

The same thing is going on in York County, even though that's more populous already.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if a CAD system was part of the 700 Mhz project. It certainlyi wouldn't be the first time a major radio upgrade included a CAD/Mobile Computer system as well.

Please tell me that Lancaster County finally bought a CAD system.... Last I heard they still used cards.

 

[Bill28227]

Gary, The sheriff does had a CAD system now. You often hear the dispatcher tell the units to check the CAD. It has been there for at least a couple months now. The EMS has 8 stations they work out of across the county. One is at Walnut Creek and another is in Indian Land near the QT gas station. The County Fire system has something like 18 stations around the county plus the City Fire Dept. By the way there is also a Lancaster city Police Department on their own frequencies. They will all be part of the new 700 system once it starts.
Bill

 

[garys]

Thanks for the info. I went by the Indian Land station (Station 4?) on the way to the Charlotte Douglas. Even though I was in Walnut Creek about half a dozen times, I didn't notice the station at the entrance until my next to last trip.

I was getting good reception of the VHF frequencies in the county, although Lancaster City was probably a bit weak since it didn't seem busy. York County was busy.

I wasn't able to get good copy on any of the Charlotte UASI sites, and I wasn't very far over the state line. I was more interested in the SC traffic anyway.

The EMS system seems to be a paid county system. I'm not sure about the fire department, is it volunteer, paid, a combination?

It's a pretty area, BTW. Never been there before.

Gary, The sheriff does had a CAD system now. You often hear the dispatcher tell the units to check the CAD. It has been there for at least a couple months now. The EMS has 8 stations they work out of across the county. One is at Walnut Creek and another is in Indian Land near the QT gas station. The County Fire system has something like 18 stations around the county plus the City Fire Dept. By the way there is also a Lancaster city Police Department on their own frequencies. They will all be part of the new 700 system once it starts.
Bill