Missing EBRCS Central Contra Costa

[kfsbasso]

I have been scanning for about 30 years, sometimes more actively than others, but it was always at least on in the background with my local police and fire. Then I noticed that my local (Benicia) departments had gone silent. I knew they had replaced their radio system in about 2017, but it hadn’t seemed to make any difference so I didn’t think much about it--until they turned off their analog transmission. Anyway, to make a long story a little less long, I did some research and then gave myself a crash course in trunked, digital systems, EBRCS, P25 and FDMA, got myself a BCD536HP, found RadioReference and learned how to use Sentinel and Proscan, and I am happily reunited with Benicia PD and Fire. I am also enjoying exploring the rest of EBRCS, MERA and other systems suddenly available to me.

The question that I’m hoping someone can help me with is this: Why can I not hear anything from the central part of Contra Costa County? I am particularly interested in ConFire Central Dispatch but would also like to hear other local departments since we used to live in the county and my wife still works there. Here is why it’s a mystery to me: I get Confire West and East, CC Sheriff West, East AND Central, departments as widely spread out as Berkeley, Albany, San Pablo, Richmond and Pittsburg; most of these on CCCO West but occasionally on CCCO East. So why nothing from Martinez, Concord and central ConFire?
1. I’m thinking that I am physically just too far from the CCCO Central transmitter and that these agencies are not represented on the West or East Simulcasts for whatever reason. But if I’m too far from CCCO Central, why can I receive CCCO East? Why can I hear MERA for that matter? My display shows a strong signal from CCCO Central, but no data.
2. I can see downtown Martinez from my backyard. I get a strong signal from ConFire Central Dispatch analog broadcast. But it looks like the analog broadcast comes from several towers and there is only one CCCO Central Simulcast down in the Walnut Creek area.
3. It doesn’t look like anybody is fully encrypted yet except Antioch and Brentwood, so I don’t think that’s the problem.

I apologize for being so wordy but I am hoping someone who knows a lot more than I can tell me if I’m missing something or it’s just beyond my control. Thanks for listening.

 

[N6ML]

If you're in the Martinez area, you definitely should be able to hear CCCO Central Simulcast. It sounds like a programming issue of some sort. What control channel frequency are you seeing when you're hearing ConFire West and East?

 

[kfsbasso]

Thanks for responding.

I'm actually in Benicia. I have line of sight to Martinez across the water.

Almost everything I hear comes from CCCO West Simulcast at 853.7375. All those services I mentioned in my post are present on West. When I have CCCO East Simulcast turned on I will get some activity usually from 772.50625. This seems odd because the coverage on the map for East if farther away from me than the coverage area for Central, which according to the map extends into Benicia. I am monitoring all the frequencies of CCCO Central all the time and I see the control channel at 774.45625 and, as I said in my post, it shows full, strong signal on my display but no DAT.

 

[N6ML]

I wonder if you have the wrong RFSS/Site IDs programmed for the CCCO Central site? I don't know offhand what the HP would do in that case. The only other possibility I can think of is that you have some very strong local interference on that control channel frequency, but that seems less likely.

 

[N6ML]

I guess I haven't done Sentinel in a while! I just checked my SDS100 configs, and don't see RFSS/Site IDs, but there is a NAC for each site, so make sure you have that set right.

 

[kfsbasso]

That's the kind of thing I was wondering about, stuff that I don't fully understand yet. All I know is that what is programmed into the 536 came straight from an updated Sentinel and matches what shows in RadioReference.
I also wonder why I get so many departments on CCCO West, including some from Alameda County, but ConFire Central and many others are not there. What determines which departments broadcast on which simulcast? Why aren't they all just on their closest system or, conversely, why aren't they all on all the systems?

 

[N6ML]

I think the availability of talkgroups on sites is driven by the coverage requirements of the agencies. I know that ConFire East (dispatch, but not tac) is carried on the Central site (maybe to cover parts of Bay Point that are in the shadows), but ConFire Central is not carried on the East site. AlCo Fire is carried on some CCCO sites, probably to fill in some coverage gaps too.

It might be interesting to listen on 774.45625 on FM mode, and see if you can hear (audibly) the digital signal, or something else.

 

[dhalbasch]

If you can hear Benicia, you should be able to hear all Central as Benicia is on Central as well. I would check to make sure your talk groups are all entered the way you want.
I very often travel to American Canyon from Antioch and go thru Benicia and monitor the Central Cell on my SDS100 and don't lose it till I get to the back side of American Canyon, almost to Napa.

Dennis

 

[kfsbasso]

I know it says that Benicia is on Central, but it is also (or mainly) on West which is where I hear it.
I would think that I would get something from Central. The map shows it carries to the southern part of Benicia. I live on a hill, I can see Martinez and Mt. Diablo from my backyard, and have a (very old) discone in my attic. I can pick up CCCO East, Contra Costa analog signals, Marin County MERA with no problem, and have heard analog signals from San Jose. So where is Central? If I tune to the Central control channel, I see full bars signal, but no "DAT" on the display. I often do an ID Search on the entire EBRCS with all the systems on. Never a peep from Central. 'Tis a mystery.

 

[N6ML]

Benicia may be carried on the CCCO West simulcast site too (?)

 

[Eng74]

I have found that the SDS radios work much better on this system than the *36HP’s. What antenna are using on your 536HP?