MARCS site Interference?

[Volfirefighter]

I am still having a devil of a time receiving the Minerva stand-alone site. I am well-within its stated 10 mile radius. I have a 9 db gain yagi pointed at this site and am using Belden 9913 coax connected to an SDS200. I still only get an RSSI of -100 dBm and 2 signal bars at best; I do get some transmissions but believe I am missing others. On the Stark Simulcast, I get an RSSI of -50 dBm and five full bars all the time with only the back-of-set antenna. Is the Stark Simulcast possibly overpowering and drowning out signals from the weaker site? If so, is there any way to remedy this?

 

[jonwienke]

If there is terrain between you and the Minerva site transmitter(s)? What, if any, filters are you using with the SDS200?

 

[mtindor]

I am still having a devil of a time receiving the Minerva stand-alone site. I am well-within its stated 10 mile radius. I have a 9 db gain yagi pointed at this site and am using Belden 9913 coax connected to an SDS200. I still only get an RSSI of -100 dBm and 2 signal bars at best; I do get some transmissions but believe I am missing others. On the Stark Simulcast, I get an RSSI of -50 dBm and five full bars all the time with only the back-of-set antenna. Is the Stark Simulcast possibly overpowering and drowning out signals from the weaker site? If so, is there any way to remedy this?

try turning on ATTenuator for minerva site. you are only abt 3 miles from the Paris site of the stark simulcast and the front end is possibly overloaded

m

 

[firemantom26]

I can get once and a while. It's lower powered site to cover a small area.

 

[northernsummit]

Can you hear the control channel? Put Unitrunker or an RTL dongle on it and monitor the control channel for joins/grants etc. If its a super low power site to fill a gap maybe there are not a lot of radios affiliating to it because they are seeing better performance from, or prefer the other multicast site?. It's possible it has very little actual traffic for you to hear or that its weighted in the subscriber radios to only be used when no other site is viable.

 

[W8RMH]

The Stark County site is not listed as a simulcast site in the database.

 

[mtindor]

The Stark County site is not listed as a simulcast site in the database.

Actually, it is. By default if a MARCS site is listed as "AAAAA county" it's automatically simulcast (or at least one should presume such).

Mike

 

[budevans]

Actually, it is. By default if a MARCS site is listed as "AAAAA county" it's automatically simulcast (or at least one should presume such).

Mike

"AAAAA county" where is this posted/listed in the Database???? Where is the definition for AAAAA county???

 

[EdAzalia]

I think "AAAAA county" is "Any county" - generic...

 

[W8RMH]

Some sites list the word 'Simulcast' in their listing and some don't.

 

[mszabo2000]

I am still having a devil of a time receiving the Minerva stand-alone site. I am well-within its stated 10 mile radius. I have a 9 db gain yagi pointed at this site and am using Belden 9913 coax connected to an SDS200. I still only get an RSSI of -100 dBm and 2 signal bars at best; I do get some transmissions but believe I am missing others. On the Stark Simulcast, I get an RSSI of -50 dBm and five full bars all the time with only the back-of-set antenna. Is the Stark Simulcast possibly overpowering and drowning out signals from the weaker site? If so, is there any way to remedy this?

Looking at an elevation profile between the Minerva site and downtown Robertsville I'm surprised you hear anything, mounds and mounds of dirt between the two.

 

[mtindor]

Some sites list the word 'Simulcast' in their listing and some don't.

None of the MARCS sites list "simulcast" in the name. On the old system they did, and on the new system they may have in the beginning . But at some point it was decided not to have the word simulcast listed. If you see a site with the name of a whole county, you really have to presume it's a simulcast. There isn't a county anywhere in Ohio that could be covered by one standalone (non-simulcast) site.

Mike

 

[WA0CBW]

Are the sites simulcast or multi-cast?
bb

 

[mtindor]

Stark County is a simulcast, although that is totally irrrelevant in this thread. The site that the OP is trying to monitor is a low-profile standalone P25 site intended to provide coverage specifically for the Minerva area (Minerva Police/Fire/Sandy Creek JFD). The Stark simulcast, and the Kensington standalone site cover everywhere else around there just fine. The additional coverage was needed specifically for Minerva.

Mike

 

[phask]

I am still having a devil of a time receiving the Minerva stand-alone site. I am well-within its stated 10 mile radius. I have a 9 db gain yagi pointed at this site and am using Belden 9913 coax connected to an SDS200. I still only get an RSSI of -100 dBm and 2 signal bars at best; I do get some transmissions but believe I am missing others. On the Stark Simulcast, I get an RSSI of -50 dBm and five full bars all the time with only the back-of-set antenna. Is the Stark Simulcast possibly overpowering and drowning out signals from the weaker site? If so, is there any way to remedy this?

Since you have a 200, use the analyze feature. If you get any signal you can use it to tweak the antenna. If nothing, you're SOL.

 

[N8MWY]

Volfirefighter, can you get that antenna up any higher? I'm a few miles north of Minerva and I get full scale signal on the Minerva tower, no de-sensing from the Paris site.

Don