Missing first 2 seconds of broadcast - LAPD

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GrandpaFrank

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I've had this issue for over a year now as long as I have owned this scanner. I'm missing the first 2-3 seconds of the initial broadcast while monitoring LAPD P25. I've even tried manually setting the decode threshold to no avail. Im using the stock antenna, but all of my other scanners use the stock antenna and none have this issue. It's pretty annoying. Even when a 3 beep broadcast alert comes up, I only hear 1 beep. What are some things I can try? I'm updated on my firmware, so its either a reception, or decoding problem. Are there any tweaks?
 

KI5IRE

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I am having the same issue on Fort Worth Regional Radio System in Fort Worth, Texas as well as the Hurst P25 System in Hurst, TX. Very frustrating as I tend to not hear the tone and use that to wake me up if there is an incident overnight or to draw my attention while listening.


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KI5IRE

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I am having the same issue on Fort Worth Regional Radio System in Fort Worth, Texas as well as the Hurst P25 System in Hurst, TX. Very frustrating as I tend to not hear the tone and use that to wake me up if there is an incident overnight or to draw my attention while listening.


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Anyone have any clue how we could fix our issue? I've been missing a lot of size ups and address dispatches.


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pinballwiz86

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I've had this issue for over a year now as long as I have owned this scanner. I'm missing the first 2-3 seconds of the initial broadcast while monitoring LAPD P25. I've even tried manually setting the decode threshold to no avail. Im using the stock antenna, but all of my other scanners use the stock antenna and none have this issue. It's pretty annoying. Even when a 3 beep broadcast alert comes up, I only hear 1 beep. What are some things I can try? I'm updated on my firmware, so its either a reception, or decoding problem. Are there any tweaks?

Try parking on just the local system. If your scanner has to scan tons of systems, then yeah. You might miss the very beginning of a transmission. That's normal.
 

sparklehorse

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Is your P25 system conventional or trunked? Is is Phase I or Phase II. Is it simulcast?

If it's Phase I trunked simulcast, you might try the following settings. They helped quite a bit on my local system. They seemed to have a cumulative positive effect, I can't say any one change by itself made much difference:

Upgraded the firmware to latest version (1.11.20)
AGC set to OFF (system setting)
Lock out all but your one best site.
For the site, set the Digital Threshold Mode to Manual, and set Digital Threshold Level to 5
Attenuator left OFF (site setting)
Delete ALL the site frequencies except the control channel and alternate cc (Sentinel downloads ALL the RR site frequencies)
Squelch set at 2

Lastly, I set the System Hold time to 3 sec., but go higher if your only monitoring one system.

See post #15 in this thread regarding the System Hold Time:

http://forums.radioreference.com/fl...m/232146-new-p25-system-help.html#post1694341

Also post #5 here showing it relates to the x36 models as well:

http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tavern/291925-some-intresting-notes-scanner.html#post2196782

After these changes the 536 is still clipping or missing a tx occasionally, but it's more like 3-4% of tx's now. So it's back in the error range of its conventional P25 performance.

Probably the most effective thing you can do to help with simulcast though is to purchase a yagi antenna.

Hope that helps.

.
 

KI5IRE

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Is your P25 system conventional or trunked? Is is Phase I or Phase II. Is it simulcast?

If it's Phase I trunked simulcast, you might try the following settings. They helped quite a bit on my local system. They seemed to have a cumulative positive effect, I can't say any one change by itself made much difference:

Upgraded the firmware to latest version (1.11.20)
AGC set to OFF (system setting)
Lock out all but your one best site.
For the site, set the Digital Threshold Mode to Manual, and set Digital Threshold Level to 5
Attenuator left OFF (site setting)
Delete ALL the site frequencies except the control channel and alternate cc (Sentinel downloads ALL the RR site frequencies)
Squelch set at 2

Lastly, I set the System Hold time to 3 sec., but go higher if your only monitoring one system.

See post #15 in this thread regarding the System Hold Time:

http://forums.radioreference.com/fl...m/232146-new-p25-system-help.html#post1694341

Also post #5 here showing it relates to the x36 models as well:

http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tavern/291925-some-intresting-notes-scanner.html#post2196782

After these changes the 536 is still clipping or missing a tx occasionally, but it's more like 3-4% of tx's now. So it's back in the error range of its conventional P25 performance.

Probably the most effective thing you can do to help with simulcast though is to purchase a yagi antenna.

Hope that helps.

.

The ones I monitor are P25 Trunked Systems.

I monitor the Fort Worth Regional Radio System, which is a simulcast system where I tend to pickup a lot of distortion and have issues missing transmissions. The other system I monitor is the Hurst P25 System, which just has a single site that I know of.

I did the settings that you mentioned in your last comment and it seems to clean it up a bit, but I am at work right now, so who knows how it will work back home as there is a 30 mile difference. Also, will the settings you recommended for a simulcast system possibly have any negative effects while I'm scanning the Hurst P25 single site system at home?
 

sprite1741

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It's a shame you have to go through all this setting adjustment to get these expensive scanners to work right. My 436 did the exact same thing (missing transmissions) but my other scanner works 100% of the time right out of the box at half the price.
 

royldean

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It's a shame you have to go through all this setting adjustment to get these expensive scanners to work right. My 436 did the exact same thing (missing transmissions) but my other scanner works 100% of the time right out of the box at half the price.

Which scanner is that? I'm looking to pick up a second....
 

sprite1741

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I posted a video of the BCD436HP scanning, clearly showing missed transmissions. They are programmed the same. 1 single site p25, frs, and a few ham repeaters on VHF. Pay close attention to 40 to 45 sec. The Uniden totally failed scanning the p25. I was going to add a 536 to replace my 10 year old 996t, not likely unless we can resolve this issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPd3KxA7XYo&feature=youtu.be
 

royldean

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Wait, I get it.... half the price? Also half the capability. I'm not knocking your Phase I reception issues, but I need all the capabilities that the 436 has, and honestly, I haven't experienced any the problems you're describing.... except for the well known simulcast decoding issues - which thankfully is not a primary system that I monitor.
 

sprite1741

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Wait, I get it.... half the price? Also half the capability. I'm not knocking your Phase I reception issues, but I need all the capabilities that the 436 has, and honestly, I haven't experienced any the problems you're describing.... except for the well known simulcast decoding issues - which thankfully is not a primary system that I monitor.

That's nice. I am just showing what the problem is and asking for help along with the others. What do you have to offer as a solution? Or did you just reply to bash the Whistler?
 

KI5IRE

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Try setting the digital delay from the default 400ms to zero.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

What is Set attenuator, set audio AGC, delay time, digital waiting time, digital threshold mode and digital threshold level? These are all things I've been told to change but don't know what any of them really do or what they are.
 

sparklehorse

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What is Set attenuator, set audio AGC, delay time, digital waiting time, digital threshold mode and digital threshold level? These are all things I've been told to change but don't know what any of them really do or what they are.

No one told you to do anything.

You asked in post #3:

"Anyone have any clue how we could fix our issue? I've been missing a lot of size ups and address dispatches."

I offered some setting changes you could try that might help. You can always change them back if they don't. There is a lot of information on each of these to be found here in previous RR threads, as well as Mark's Easier to Read manual.

.
 

drdeputy

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My interpretation was that he wasn't familiar enough with the radio to know how to do what was suggested. Substitute 'it was suggested that I try' for 'told'. But that's just me and I could be wrong.
 

royldean

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That's nice. I am just showing what the problem is and asking for help along with the others. What do you have to offer as a solution? Or did you just reply to bash the Whistler?

No, I replied because you claimed to have a scanner that would perform better at half the price. Turns out, it's the whistler, which is not capable of half the stuff the 436 is. Can you point out where I "bash the whistler"? I'm sure it's a fine scanner, it is simply not capable of what I need. It's half the price because it's got half the capability... no shame in that.

In fact, it seems as though the bashing that is occuring is on your end only.
 

sprite1741

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No, I replied because you claimed to have a scanner that would perform better at half the price. Turns out, it's the whistler, which is not capable of half the stuff the 436 is. Can you point out where I "bash the whistler"? I'm sure it's a fine scanner, it is simply not capable of what I need. It's half the price because it's got half the capability... no shame in that.

In fact, it seems as though the bashing that is occuring is on your end only.

You are contributing nothing to this thread. Stop trolling.
 

sprite1741

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Try this. I having good luck with the following. In your FL, on your p25 system set the hold time to 2 sec. 3 is too long, 0 and 1 not so good. Set most active or all TGID or dept./channel delays to 0. If you have one or two favorite TGID's you can set a longer delay, but not too many. So far this is an improvement. Still missing a few, but that's because it is scanning something else or missed because of the delay time. Not bad so far.
 

jonwienke

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I've had this issue for over a year now as long as I have owned this scanner. I'm missing the first 2-3 seconds of the initial broadcast while monitoring LAPD P25. I've even tried manually setting the decode threshold to no avail. Im using the stock antenna, but all of my other scanners use the stock antenna and none have this issue. It's pretty annoying. Even when a 3 beep broadcast alert comes up, I only hear 1 beep. What are some things I can try? I'm updated on my firmware, so its either a reception, or decoding problem. Are there any tweaks?

First thing to try is holding on that system so you aren't scanning anything else.

Also, try holding on the site that gives you the best reception. (Function + Department) If the scanner is scanning sites out of reception range you will miss whatever traffic starts while the scanner is scanning the out-of-range sites. What is your Range setting? Setting it too high (values >5 with stock antenna) will bog down your scanner looking for stuff it can't hear. The site is shown in small print under the Department name on the scanner display.

Once you have the site with the best reception identified, you can start tweaking that site's Digital Threshold Level. In most cases the default Auto and 8 work fine, but if you are having issues, then set it to Manual and adjust the value. Different systems have different settings, the best option for one may work poorly on a different system.
 
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