MARCS-IP ("New MARCS") Site and Talkgroup Discussion

[saioke]

I probably couldn't even pick them up where I'm at. I can barely even hear the radios from General Mills. But I donno. When it comes to MARCs, the only site I can get a decent decode from is the Jackson site, and the Allensville site, despite Wellston and McArthur being closer.

 

[216DawgPound]

On Cuyahoga County Simulcast, heard a tone ( like a pager group tone) on 13641 this afternoon. I think this might be used for the weather sirens since I also heard same on same talk group during crummy weather. Don't know which region, though, since there are several. The tone today may have been for monthly first Saturday siren tests.

Can anyone else assist on this one?

Also, seeing encrypted comes on 29560 with Lorain County radio ids popping up.

 

[W8UU]

When it comes to MARCS, the only site I can get a decent decode from is the Jackson site, and the Allensville site, despite Wellston and McArthur being closer.

Probably RF shading from all these hills. The Wellston MARCS site is a notorious underperformer It's located on State Route 124 halfway to Wilkesville and the antennas are mounted on the backside of the tower, giving a significant directional quality toward Wilkesville and Meigs County. Wellston has almost zero MARCS coverage inside any of their school buildings prompting Wellston PD to install in-car 700 MHz repeaters. There are several really good tower sites available on hilltop city-owned property, if only ...

 

[saioke]

Probably RF shading from all these hills. The Wellston MARCS site is a notorious underperformer It's located on State Route 124 halfway to Wilkesville and the antennas are mounted on the backside of the tower, giving a significant directional quality toward Wilkesville and Meigs County. Wellston has almost zero MARCS coverage inside any of their school buildings prompting Wellston PD to install in-car 700 MHz repeaters. There are several really good tower sites available on hilltop city-owned property, if only ...

Yeah where I'm located, my signal has to pass through both Hamden hill cemetery and Lake Alma if I aim towards the site, and there's simply no way I could even get enough height on any antenna to get past any of it. I've been on the road that the site is at, and it's just a brutal area for 700-800mhz with all the trees and things. I'm not sure how anyone can get a good signal unless you live right next to that site. I don't get why the antennas are facing towards Wilkesville and Meigs though, because they don't have any good sites either?

I once emailed the Ohio Department of Administrative Services telling them about the MARCs Wellston tower situation and how the PD has signal trouble, but I've never heard anything back from them - probably because it's the city of Wellston's responsibility to get in contact with them and I ain't nobody but a civilian lol. Worth a shot though.

On an unrelated side note, someone on the Jackson site has a radio attached to the Jackson County Fireground 1 talkgroup that is constantly in a "refused" state on the site according to DSD+. Not sure what that's about.

 

[wa8pyr]

On an unrelated side note, someone on the Jackson site has a radio attached to the Jackson County Fireground 1 talkgroup that is constantly in a "refused" state on the site according to DSD+. Not sure what that's about.

It means one of three things….

1. The radio is not permitted access to that site;
2. The radio is not permitted access to that talkgroup;
3. The radio is not permitted access to the system at all.

Most likely #3, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it’s because the radio never got equipped with Link Layer Authentication. The deadline for that was 7/1/25, but got pushed back to 7/1/26 (because after more than five years, quite a few agencies still didn’t have their radios fixed up).

 

[saioke]

It means one of three things….

1. The radio is not permitted access to that site;
2. The radio is not permitted access to that talkgroup;
3. The radio is not permitted access to the system at all.

Most likely #3, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it’s because the radio never got equipped with Link Layer Authentication. The deadline for that was 7/1/25, but got pushed back to 7/1/26 (because after more than five years, quite a few agencies still didn’t have their radios fixed up).

In order for a radio to show up in DSD+, it would have to be turned on as well right? If so, what's the purpose of leaving an unfunctional radio powered on? I'm guessing they can still hear communications, but can't transmit?

 

[wa8pyr]

In order for a radio to show up in DSD+, it would have to be turned on as well right? If so, what's the purpose of leaving an unfunctional radio powered on? I'm guessing they can still hear communications, but can't transmit?

Yes, it has to be turned on. I suspect its a radio sitting on a shelf and mostly used for monitoring, which someone forgot about, and it never got the LLA update.

If the radio is not permitted to register/affiliate, it won’t transmit or receive.

 

[W8UU]

Yes, it has to be turned on. I suspect its a radio sitting on a shelf and mostly used for monitoring, which someone forgot about, and it never got the LLA update.
If the radio is not permitted to register/affiliate, it won’t transmit or receive.

I'm guessing it might be a hand-me-down hand-me-down.

In the earlier days of MARCS, one of the ways rural counties were enticed (bribed) to join the expensive MARCS project was the gift of used state radios that had been decommissioned but were still usable. Sort of like the Highway Patrol cruiser with 90,000 miles on it gifted to a village department with one 25 year old Dodge Diplomat and three part-time officers. Bonus points if the car came with a functional light bar.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office got a bunch of these radios over the years, primarily from ODNR. When MARCS waived the user fees for sheriff's offices, that sealed the deal. JCSO switched to MARCS, and that action slowly pushed everyone else in the county to sign up.

Fast forward to now. All of those first generation radios have been replaced with new equipment. The twice-decommissioned MARCS radios were then given to local volunteer fire departments to "help them out". I'm guessing at least some of those radios were not capable of receiving the LLA updates -- or someone simply forgot they existed.