Madison County Communications District 700mhz

[N4GKS]

Don't forget TDMA is going to be just as much a problem too. Pretty hard to suggest buying anything right now with that looming just over the horizon.



When you get a chance could you move or delete your existing Tower0302 file and make a fresh run? I suspect that now those 2 700 MHz freqs have been turned up that the 2 800 MHz are now gone. Contrary to the statement in each tower file, the program DOES read existing data into a logging session, so if some previously logged freqs are no longer active they'll continue to show up.

TDMA is several years away around here.

 

[N4GKS]

HPD is now on digital. NORTH, SOUTH, WEST is not encrypted. Everything else is. Sheriff A 1 is open. All other is encrypted. County Fire is encrypted.

 

[N8OAY]

HPD is now on digital. NORTH, SOUTH, WEST is not encrypted. Everything else is. Sheriff A 1 is open. All other is encrypted. County Fire is encrypted.

County Fire being encrypted explains why my scanner is so quiet tonight. I don't understand why they decided to encrypt fire, but nothing we can do about it. If Madison City Fire and Huntsville Fire is encrypted, I may have a PSR-500 for sale. Don't need that expensive scanner to listen to railroads! I can hear them better with my Yaesu Vertex VX-150 anyway.

 

[Resqr551]

Madison County Communications

Can some one post the new HPD talkgroups? Was the last tower site put online? Were additional frequencies added for capacity?

 

[rvholland]

This afternoon I'm still hearing HPD dispatch North on the old 800 trunk system...

 

[N4GKS]

This afternoon I'm still hearing HPD dispatch North on the old 800 trunk system...

All of the cars haven't had their new radio's installed so some are still on the old system.

 

[emcom]

I am impressed with the coverage of the system. I travel outside the county footprint as part of one of my jobs. I have been near Guntersville Dam, Grant Mountain, Hwy 79, Scottsboro, and my mobile coverage was fine. Handheld was also receiving well outdoors in Scottsboro and near the dam. Im sure Grant would have been good for handheld coverage as well (on a mountaintop), but I couldnt stop due to the nature of my trip. With the old VHF system, we lost contact with dispatch east of Keel Mtn. In the county, I have only had one weak spot to deal with, but that is nothing in comparison to before.

I was on a call the other day with a volunteer fire dept. They were walking around in the front yard trying to locate a spot that they could reach dispatch on VHF and had to switch to a tac frequency with a tower in a different location to reach dispatch. I keyed up on the new 700 system and had no problems at all. Dispatch came back clear as could be. We were all impressed.

The system is working well. I am very thankful as a first responder to have it. I no longer have to carry a cell phone in my pocket to call the dispatcher if I am in a house (metal framed mobile homes being particularly bad in the past) or under a bridge with a suspect. I actually can reach them by radio now. Madison County has needed this for a long time.

 

[N4GKS]

That's because there is now a tower on Keel Mountain. There's also one on Lewis Mountain in New Market, Ranbow Mtn, Monte Sano and Drake Mtn. Good coverage all around.

 

[emcom]

..and we dont have all the bleed over mixing in that we had on vhf when we did get a signal in.

 

[WB4CS]

Quick question... I will be purchasing a P25 scanner soon and I'm new to digital trunking. I've read over the page that lists the frequencies for the new system Alabama Regional Communications System (ARCS) 1 Trunking System, Varies, Alabama - Scanner Frequencies
In order to listen to HPD which system do I need to program in? Huntsville Simulcast, New Market, Gurley, or all three?

 

[KE5TLF]

You'll only need the Simulcast "SITE" (which is actually consists of 3 towers) for Hunstville agencies. The chances of hearing anything from them on the other two sites would be rare, if at all.

 

[emcom]

EB, thanks for the signal report on the repeater yesterday.

 

[joebobe]

As of midnight, still hearing North South and West on analog. HSV Fire seems to have disappeared. Might be worth a digital scanner if HSV Fire and HPD dispatch 1 2 and 3 can be heard. Is anyone hearing HFD on digital?

 

[Caddop22]

Hfd

I am hearing HFD on analog as well as the digital feed through RR.

Can I get some suggestions as to what scanner to purchase for the new system? My trusty Pro-97 will be a paper weight.

Thanks

 

[N8OAY]

Caddop22, you need a digital trunking scanner that covers the 700 MHz band. If you can find them (check Grove Enterprises first), the GRE PSR-500 portable ot PSR-600 base/mobile are about $100 lower than the Uniden BCD-396 or BCD-996. Those 4 are your only options for the new 700 MHz system.

 

[N4GKS]

Caddop22, you need a digital trunking scanner that covers the 700 MHz band. If you can find them (check Grove Enterprises first), the GRE PSR-500 portable ot PSR-600 base/mobile are about $100 lower than the Uniden BCD-396 or BCD-996. Those 4 are your only options for the new 700 MHz system.

The Uniden Home Patrol receive 700?

 

[jimg]

The Uniden Home Patrol receive 700?

He might want to consider getting the GRE PSR 800, as it is the ONLY scanner right now that can receive the P25 TDMA Phase II, just in case they start or are using this modulation. (It is my understanding that none of the Unidens will receive any TDMA,Phase 1 or II at the present time, and the PSR 500 or 600 can only receive Phase 1, I have been told.) I think Grove carries the PSR 800 and so does Scanner Master. In fact, I just received mine from Scanner Master and the customer service was excellent, and so has been Grove when I have ordered from them in the past.

 

[N8OAY]

Oops! I was not thinking about the pre-programmed scanners when I wrote that post. Yes, the Home Patrol does receive the 700 MHz band. And I was not aware of the PSR-800 ability to receive TDMA II. The PSR-800 might be the best choice in this case. The RR.com home page for the statewide system which includes the Madison County system indicates that there is some TDMA Phase II in use on the system.

I am kinda wishing now that I had not bought the PSR-500. With County fire going encrypted, I expect Huntsville and Madison City fire to do the same. If that does happen, I will have a PSR-500 for sale. My Yaesu Vertex VX-150 portable ham radio receives railroads better than the PSR-500 and fits in the shirt pocket.

 

[N8OAY]

I ran Pro96Com for a while tonight. Found 2 new talkgroups - 30226 and 30227 for the Madison County Sheriff. It appears that the Sheriff is still the only agency on the system. Here is the Tower 302, radios and talkgroups files. Still only 2 neighboring sites. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I assume the 2 sites that are not yet active are Drake Mountain and Rainbow Mountain, since the Gurley and New Market sites have been monitored by someone else and posted on the system home page.

 

[N4GKS]

HPD is on the system. However they still have the old 800 and new 700 going at the same time.