Not sure what side of town you live on but the system is split west side mainly on 856.1625 and on the east side 858.1875 if you take Meridian street us31 and split the city from east to west you should get 856.1625 better out at the airport and lets say in larwance Twsp you should get 858.1875 better. Hope that helps a little
MECA Digital: reception issues and solutions
- Thread starter AK9R
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Not sure what side of town you live on but the system is split west side mainly on 856.1625 and on the east side 858.1875 if you take Meridian street us31 and split the city from east to west you should get 856.1625 better out at the airport and lets say in larwance Twsp you should get 858.1875 better. Hope that helps a little
Thanks for the kudos, but I don't think that's true either. I do know more about CQPSK than you, but I'm sure others can make that claim too.
In any case, there weren't multiple CC's when I last listened to it, so either I was in a bad spot or something has changed. I'm not saying you are making stuff up, but the very administrator of the MECA database says there is only one CC for the entire system. And having multiple CC's means it is not a true simulcast system, so there's more to the story.
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Unless they are talking about the Public Safety side = 1 CC
and the Government services side = 1 CC
And callign that the split...
Who knows, I say experiment and whatever setting or non-setting works, use that, but I really doubt any "scanner listener" making claims here is really an expert on this system.
I have no problem when I listen to it when in range, or the Cincinnati one either.
Viper im gonna have to take your word,i know using multi site,and roam doesnt work on my PSR-500,I DROVE around the city tonight as far north to 86th st west to high school rd and south to greenwood using the 800 MHz Rubber Ant with no problems the radio has only the 4 CC programmed and multi site off,AttenMode:Normal,Global Atten:Off,Narrow FM:No Dig AGC :ON,Super Track:ON,Multi Site:OFF,I Programmed My PSR-600,500 & Pro-197 with those settings and the radios work great ,I Live close to downtown close to the chase tower antenna, ind224 there is something wrong with the radio contact GRE for repair.
Ok here is the break down
SYS 1 Public Safty CC 858.1875 on now 856.1625 CC on now two running at the same time SYS 1 for Marion County is split east west MECA uses 4 CC freqs to rotate between with 2 in use at all times.
SYS 2 Goverment CC 852.1125 on now only 1 in use at a time
SYS 1 Public Safty CC 858.1875 on now 856.1625 CC on now two running at the same time SYS 1 for Marion County is split east west MECA uses 4 CC freqs to rotate between with 2 in use at all times.
SYS 2 Goverment CC 852.1125 on now only 1 in use at a time
Thats true but thats not going to help ind224,for meca all u need to program in the radios are those 4 CC, make sure 858.1875 is programmed first, helps the radio trunk alot faster and theres no need to go out and buy a beam antenna unless you're miles away from the towers,i have plenty of trees, bldgs blocking my path and i can still use a lil 2 inch stub rubber ducky ant and get great reception,ind224 contact GRE they will help,their support team is out standing.
usswood
Member
I thought...speaking stickly on what I have read...that MECA was a single CC system...although there are 2 CCs transmitting they're both transmitting the same info therefore there is just really 1 CC...is this not the case??
ind224
Member
Tonights recap...
When the new system was testing and first came up I was displaced near the airport and listening on a 96. Peaches and creme.
Now I'm back at my main station near the State fairgrounds and trying my best to get a 600 to do what the 96 does without trying.
At my work location and also with a rooftop antenna, I do get two CC at the same time. One at 99% and one at 56% Since the signal meter means nothing, my numbers will always refer to decode rate.
At home I only get the .1875 and it fluctuates from 90+% to 50% in a sweep or two.
I have tried all the settings suggested and done the "LCN" type order killing 3 and 4 to no avail. All files in radio are newest 1.3 and 1.6
For the time being (and until GRE responds to my last reply on the ticket about service fees, warranty etc) I'm going to try the beam idea since I'll be home most of the weekend. If it gets me listening through the holidays I'll be happy.
Based on the 2 CC at work and near my house single CC, it makes sense the Multisite settings may work since 2 CC kinda makes this a **stard similcast; I found another setting about check all CC. Tried that too and tonights attempt at MECA at home is the worst it has ever been,even back to the settings woody had in it when I got it. Not even an LED or more than 80% on .1875 Plenty to hear on the other radios for the night and I'll report back on beam testing tomorrow.
Thanks to all for the input and suggestions.
When the new system was testing and first came up I was displaced near the airport and listening on a 96. Peaches and creme.
Now I'm back at my main station near the State fairgrounds and trying my best to get a 600 to do what the 96 does without trying.
At my work location and also with a rooftop antenna, I do get two CC at the same time. One at 99% and one at 56% Since the signal meter means nothing, my numbers will always refer to decode rate.
At home I only get the .1875 and it fluctuates from 90+% to 50% in a sweep or two.
I have tried all the settings suggested and done the "LCN" type order killing 3 and 4 to no avail. All files in radio are newest 1.3 and 1.6
For the time being (and until GRE responds to my last reply on the ticket about service fees, warranty etc) I'm going to try the beam idea since I'll be home most of the weekend. If it gets me listening through the holidays I'll be happy.
Based on the 2 CC at work and near my house single CC, it makes sense the Multisite settings may work since 2 CC kinda makes this a **stard similcast; I found another setting about check all CC. Tried that too and tonights attempt at MECA at home is the worst it has ever been,even back to the settings woody had in it when I got it. Not even an LED or more than 80% on .1875 Plenty to hear on the other radios for the night and I'll report back on beam testing tomorrow.
Thanks to all for the input and suggestions.
To Answer Your Question Usswood If You Were To Enter Only 858.1875 The Radio Would Work Great,Only one Time that i know of The control Ch Switched to alt CC,after that i put in the other 3 chanels in case they switched again
GTO_04
Member
I get excellent MECA P25 reception in the area of the State Fairgrounds with both my 500 and my 396. To me it looks like you are having an RF problem with your scanner. You should not need a beam antenna in your location. It's not like you're right in between two towers.
Putting the control channels in an LCN order will have zero effect on your P25 reception. LCN order only applies to EDACS systems.
GTO_04
It's not that complicated as a couple of people on here "try" to make it.
Most people are using simple setups and they work.
Let's try this. What software program are you using?
And can you post your file in the .bin or p500 format so others can take a look at it.
Also, Check you settings for system type... P25 auto is needed or p25 manual.
But posting a file would be the best way for finding answers.
ind224
Member
Thanks GTO, can you tell me your settings? I'm clear on the LCN thats why I put it in quotes...it was suggested that I put them in a specific order so I tried it.
I still don't see how to have the four CC's loaded and easily toggle or LO so I can pick and choose.
All I see is the edit and delete.
I can do manual F2 F3 to analyze but again not LO any of the four.
I still don't see how to have the four CC's loaded and easily toggle or LO so I can pick and choose.
All I see is the edit and delete.
I can do manual F2 F3 to analyze but again not LO any of the four.
ind224
Member
I don't have software yet. I have all CC loaded. I can get up to 99% on 1875 but am getting nothing conversation wise. T does flash . Did a global clear and still the same. Supertrack yes narrow,P25 AUTO, AGC on, no attenuation. If a firmware reload will not destroy scan lists I may try that.
ind224 sry to hear your having so much trouble with the radio,the " T" flashing indicates its trunking the system,i noticed when the T disappears for several seconds it loses its tunking abilities i told this to GRE Support and they agree something may have went wrong with the radio,you are going to continue to have trouble until they GRE can look at the radio,when you do get it repaired just put in the 858.1875 and it will trunk the system,i have programmed 4 radios now and they work perfect,You will know your radio is working right when you see the "T" stay on the screen,it shouldnt disappear for several seconds,thats the whole key to your problem its not trunking like its suppose to.
GTO_04
Member
Thanks GTO, can you tell me your settings? I'm clear on the LCN thats why I put it in quotes...it was suggested that I put them in a specific order so I tried it.
I still don't see how to have the four CC's loaded and easily toggle or LO so I can pick and choose.
All I see is the edit and delete.
I can do manual F2 F3 to analyze but again not LO any of the four.
I figured you meant the order of the control channel entry when you said LCN. Still the order should not matter with a P25 system. Make sure you are P25 and not MOT Type II 800. I do have multisite turned off since it is a simulcast system.
Otherwise, I am using all of the default settings and P25 auto. I have all of the control channels programmed and none of them locked out. I have a lot of the law enforcement and fire TGs programmed, along with the Wildcard. As I find encrypted TGs I lock them out. Fortunately there are not a lot of them but when they appear they sound like bad digital decoding. It has been some Special Ops TGs that show up as encrypted.
I dont have Win500 on this PC so I don't recall how you lock out the frequencies. Really though you shouln't have to.
I think you have an RF sensitivity problem, or some other issue that prevents you from good reception on that particular CC frequency.
GTO_04
ind224
Member
Thanks again guys. I'm going to reload the firmware and cross the fingers.
Are there any good low profile mobile anttennas for a P25 System using the PSR-500 or PSR-600,I get great reception using a 800MHz Rubber antenna at about 7 mile radius from downtown?
Get the software. Get the software. Get the software.
Every time I program the scanner by hand, I've hit something or did something that has caused it not to work the way I want it to operate.
And the software makes it easy to fix the problem or error, usually it's a wrong object or scan list etc.
If you have the cable, since you are putting in new firmware, get the software first.
Win500, PSRedit, Butel ARC They are all free to try for 30 days.
Quit monkeying around with the settings... The scanner works great out of the box, figure out why you are not receiving anything first, then monkey around with it. The only settings I've had to change was roam or stat or off.
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So did reloading the firmware fix or solve anything.
I don't believe you ever reported back to this thread what did or didn't happen.
I imagine some people would want to know the end results.
Viper43
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I rigged up a RS800 Mhz antenna to use mobile, works great, and it's got much better than 7 mile range, I have picked up MECA all the way out past Knightstown and farther in some areas.
BTW, I also use it in the house and still no problems picking it up through the aluminum sideing and so forth. Heck, theres even a 30x40x18 polebarn between the house and the MECA towers.
V
BTW, I also use it in the house and still no problems picking it up through the aluminum sideing and so forth. Heck, theres even a 30x40x18 polebarn between the house and the MECA towers.
V
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