MARCS-IP Columbus vs Franklin County systems? (Simulcast systems rant)

[KD8DVR]

I'm using Unitrunker and the RTL-SDR dongles. Franklin county has very little traffic, whereas Columbus is full of traffic.

Which system will support (eventually) Columbus and Franklin county public safety?

These simulcast systems drive me nuts. Columbus signal goes from 100% to totally dark. Voice sounds like a cat dropped in boiling water, if anything at all Franklin County is very good copy. Riverview and Centerburg, oddly enough, are strong copy too. I'm in the Polaris area.

Seems like all Franklin County has is some sort of School Bus traffic.

I'm just concerned the horrible way p25 is degraded on simulcast systems may take away my monitoring ability.

 

[W8RMH]

I live in Grove City and receive MARCS-IP just fine using a real scanner. I have found the MARCS-IP system to be the clearest digital system I have ever heard.

I was in the polaris area for 4 - 5 hours today and had no problems receiving MARCS-IP perfectly, Columbus and Franklin, along with MARCS, Franklin TRS (analog), and COIRS, in my car with the HP-II and a 760-870 MHz phantom antenna. PERFECTLY.

The Columbus site (not the City of Columbus, but the state site located in Columbus) is for all MARCS-IP, you will hear any agency that is close enough to affiliate with it. I hear Madison and Licking Counties on Columbus most of the time.

The Franklin County IP system is supposed to eventually support all public safety agencies in the county (nothing official yet but the City of Columbus will probably be on it too). It is separate from the Columbus IP site as Franklin County is a Tier 4 system, where the county builds, maintains and manages their own tower sites and subscribers but shares the appropriate MARCS zone controller. The county can determine which talkgroups and agencies may roam to their tower sites.

The Franklin County IP system is brand new. Most agencies are just now receiving radios and testing. So far that school bus agency is the only fulltime user.

My recommendation, throw that dongle crap away and get an HP-II.

 

[wdz]

Forgive me if this is off topic, are these the Columbus Simulcast and Franklin County Simulcast sites listed under MARCS-IP or is that something completely different?

 

[W8RMH]

Forgive me if this is off topic, are these the Columbus Simulcast and Franklin County Simulcast sites listed under MARCS-IP or is that something completely different?

Correct.

 

[KD8DVR]

Well, fortunately for me, then, I should be okay. The Franklin County system (as it is with its sole user) perfect for me. The Columbus IP system and Columbus old marcs are the only two with cruddy copy. COIRS, Columbus analog, and, a couple nearby IP sites are fine. I can likely do something antennawise to maybe isolate towers. If the Franklin County IP site is where all our action will eventually be, then that will be great. The "dongle crap" is the only reason I got back into scanning. I cannot justify big dollars on something that isn't a transceiver. Well, cost and the "geek factor"

 

[wa8pyr]

Well, fortunately for me, then, I should be okay. The Franklin County system (as it is with its sole user) perfect for me. If the Franklin County IP site is where all our action will eventually be, then that will be great.

Stay tuned, you'll have more to listen to pretty soon.

The "dongle crap" is the only reason I got back into scanning. I cannot justify big dollars on something that isn't a transceiver. Well, cost and the "geek factor"

The "dongles" are fun to play with, aren't they?

 

[KD8DVR]

Definitely fun I think tinkering with antenna designs will be fun too. Now looking towards corner reflectors. All fits into the ham radio, what can I design (blow up) today!