Milwaukee County OASIS Digital Trunked Radio System

[whop94]

Whistler TRX-1 and TRX-2 with all updates applied.

Having a hard time hearing this system. I hear traffic rarely, and when I do it tends to have digital dropouts and breakup.

Oddly enough, my BC-996XT performs much better on this system than the Whistlers - the one and only case where that is true anywhere I have travelled.

I'm in the Greenfield area and currently using indoor antennas.

Any ideas?

Sounds like simulcast distortion, that generation of scanner just isn't able to handle simulcast P25 systems, for instance I live right smack dab in the middle of Dane Co and my Trx-1 was only able to pick up maybe half of the transmissions on the Madison P25 and couldn't even lock on to our DaneCom system, unfortunately the only real solution is picking up a Unication G5 or one of the new generation of scanners i.e SDS100.

Simulcast distortion on scanners has been discussed ad nauseam on several threads and there are some tips and tricks such as direction antennas and tinkering with settings, maybe you'll have more luck than me so its worth looking up! But I wouldn't count on it.

 

[wx9kvh]

Whistler TRX-1 and TRX-2 with all updates applied.

Having a hard time hearing this system. I hear traffic rarely, and when I do it tends to have digital dropouts and breakup.

Oddly enough, my BC-996XT performs much better on this system than the Whistlers - the one and only case where that is true anywhere I have travelled.

I'm in the Greenfield area and currently using indoor antennas.

Any ideas?

I live in the greenfield area as well and i'm having nothing but issues hearing the system also, i've found that putting the attenuator on makes a slight difference. My BCD536HP works better on this system, even using the stock antenna that comes with the scanner.

 

[mkescan]

I live in the greenfield area as well and i'm having nothing but issues hearing the system also, i've found that putting the attenuator on makes a slight difference. My BCD536HP works better on this system, even using the stock antenna that comes with the scanner.

I am on 27th & Ohio. Just moving Scanner a few inches, or messing with short tilts of scanner antenna can make a big difference, it's Crazy.

 

[prowisscan]

Just wanted to ride along on this reception topic too! I live right between Miller Park and State Fair Park and have reception issues too! I find that using the stock antenna along using attenuation will help on my Pro 106. I wanted to add that some of the frequencies of OASIS are better than others; some will come in clearly and others will drop out or be garbled. I also have a nasty cell tower about 150 yards from my house that has numerous antennas on it which raises the noise floor in the 700/800 MHz band. Depending on the day/time/weather, I need to move my scanner around to achieve at least some reception of the system. The Waukesha side of OASIS is out of the question at my QTH.

 

[whop94]

I cant recommend taking the plunge and getting a radio that can handle the LSM system enough! I tried for months and months, different antennas, different setups, all it did was cause more frustration! Even if I found a "sweet spot" all it takes is a subtle change in the weather, wind, atmospheric conditions etc. to cause reception to cut right back out.

Personally the G5 saved me a little sanity, hopefully when whistler comes out with their LSM capable radio it will drive the prices down a little bit as I know that was my biggest concern, this hobby does have a way of becoming more and more pricey.

 

[Div106]

The morning of Monday November 19, WCC agencies will start the process of moving to OASIS WC side. Other Dispatch Center in Waukesha County will switch over through out the rest of the week then.

 

[BrewCrew81]

This is really helpful information. Do you know if the VHF paging channel will remain?

 

[Div106]

Yes fire paging through WCC will continue over VHF 154.4300 patched with OASIS TG58909

 

[BrewCrew81]

Yes fire paging through WCC will continue over VHF 154.4300 patched with OASIS TG58909

Awesome. Thank you!

 

[CrabbyMilton]

Will I be able to receive the Waukesha "side" of this system with my 436HP and the standard furnished antenna? I live in the west central portion of Milwaukee County.
Digital as we know is a bit different when it comes to reception. Either its perfectly clear or nothing at all most of the time.

 

[mkescan]

Will I be able to receive the Waukesha "side" of this system with my 436HP and the standard furnished antenna? I live in the west central portion of Milwaukee County.
Digital as we know is a bit different when it comes to reception. Either its perfectly clear or nothing at all most of the time.

I have 3 to 5 bars for Waukesha County. I am on 27th & Ohio area.

 

[sippelb]

Just curious if anyone has had luck getting a Pro-106 to work on this new system? I've tried setting mine up, but it doesn't seem to be tracking the system correctly. I'm showing a signal strength of 4-5 bars, but the "T" symbol never appears like it does for the Waukesha County 800Mhz system. I do have it set up as a P25 Auto system with just the 4 control channels programmed.

 

[djeplett]

Just curious if anyone has had luck getting a Pro-106 to work on this new system? I've tried setting mine up, but it doesn't seem to be tracking the system correctly. I'm showing a signal strength of 4-5 bars, but the "T" symbol never appears like it does for the Waukesha County 800Mhz system. I do have it set up as a P25 Auto system with just the 4 control channels programmed.

Try entering in the control channels one by one in tune mode until you find the active one and see what your decode percentage is. My guess is you're having simulcast issues. I used to listen to OASIS when I would visit Milwaukee with my PRO-106 and it was hit & miss.

 

[prowisscan]

I have a PRO 106 and have issues as well. I live in the middle of Milw. Co and it's hit and miss. There are so many different factors that affect my reception on this simulcast P25 system such as weather, time of year/seasons and location of the handheld; I also have a cell tower near me that creates digital hash/mash on the 800mhz band. From all of the research that I've done, the PRO 106 will have issues with the 800mhz simulcast digital systems. Try using your attenuator, adjust locations and try different antennas.

 

[mkescan]

WCC Fire Alert now on OASIS 58909

 

[Div106]

WCC Dispatch has switched to OASIS radio system now. CIty of Waukesha, Elm Grove, Mukwonago, Oconomowoc, and Muskego are still found on the Analog system.

 

[Tim]

WCC Dispatch has switched to OASIS radio system now. CIty of Waukesha, Elm Grove, Mukwonago, Oconomowoc, and Muskego are still found on the Analog system.

Just an update, Muskego & Elm Grove also made the switch to OASIS today. It also seems like a number of the municipal DPW/County Governments made the switch. Also noted ENCRYPTION on TG's 58000, 58014, 58325, 58603 & 58665.


Tim

 

[whitethunderz28]

Does anyone have the sweet spot for the p25 adjust mode and the p25 adjust level? I am picking up garbled chatter.

Thanks!

 

[jjn555]

I have a PRO 106 and have issues as well. I live in the middle of Milw. Co and it's hit and miss. There are so many different factors that affect my reception on this simulcast P25 system such as weather, time of year/seasons and location of the handheld; I also have a cell tower near me that creates digital hash/mash on the 800mhz band. From all of the research that I've done, the PRO 106 will have issues with the 800mhz simulcast digital systems. Try using your attenuator, adjust locations and try different antennas.

I have a PRO106 as well, and am experiencing similar issues as you are. I'm STILL learning about this, but I can pass along what I've learned. I don't pretend to be an expert. My roof antenna that I had been using for MCTRS was useless for OASIS. Just for kicks, I put my handheld beam antenna on the radio and pointed it towards the Watertown Plank Road transmitter and it was remarkably better. That would be my first tip. Here's the link for the antenna I am using now. I did NOT put the long radials on it, only the short ones.

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-005499

My 2nd tip would be to use the Analyze mode of the PRO-106 to try to find a configuration for you that results in as high of an error free number as possible. With my outdoor antenna, I was getting maybe 70% error free rate. With my indoor beam antenna I'm in the low 90s. I'm still experimenting.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

WCC page on OASIS came it fairly well and I live in the west central section of Milwaukee County.
It gets that digital garble at times but still good enough with the standard antenna on my 436HP.