Need Help: TRX-1 Programming

[Patrolman714]

Hello to All,

I last programmed my TRX-1 in 2022, using Starcraft Software.

Now, I attempted to reprogram using the Whistler Programming Software by importing their library.
Specifically trying to Program in the Horry County SC Trunking System. And it is not working.

I cannot designate the control channels of the 14 frequencies. Instead it says use "Any" I think that is the problem.
Or, are there any special side ban updates that I need to do since last using the scanner?

Next question. If I want to program the TRX-1 directly by downloading the database from RR, which scanner software should I use?

Thanks to all who can help.

 

[hiegtx]

Next question. If I want to program the TRX-1 directly by downloading the database from RR, which scanner software should I use?

"Library Import" is part of EZ-Scan, the software provided by Whistler. There is no third party software for the TRX scanners. Libraary Import takes a number of steps. You need to make choices as to what type of system you are trying to set up, as well as designate the state and county the system is used in..
In Library Import
:

Start by selecting Preferred

That will take you to the screen where you choose your state.

Select Counties & Cities in the Data Type & select the "Next" link at the bottom of the page.

Choose your county, and select trunked systems.


Hit Next to move to the next step.
That gets you to a list of systems in the chosen county.



.Select the system



Then hit Sites at the bottom of the page.


Your system only has one site, so select it then hit Talkgroups at the bottom of the page.


Go through the categories and select the categories you want, and within those categories check only the talkgroups that you want.

Once you've waded through the categories, and weeded out what you don't want, hit the Import Selected Channels.

That takes you to the screen where you can set the Scanlist these imported channels should go.




After choosing your Scanlist, then hit the Import Channels button to complete the process. You can, of course, edit the imported system to spread the selected talkgroups to different Scanlists, like separate lists for each department or agency, or any other changes you want. Yuo can also name the individual scanlists, if you want to have them reflect a specific agency or department.

 

[Patrolman714]

Thank you Steve for your excellent presentation.

I followed all of your steps and the Horry County Trunking System is installed. I selected all of the talk groups that I want to listen to. And placed them into precise scan lists. All scan lists are enabled. The scan lists do scan, But, do not stop on any of them. It acts as if the control channels are not active.

I tried to select the CC's in the site / frequency page. But, the four of them appear to be set to "any" making me think that the scanner will not recognize the CC's. There is no way to set the freqs to be a CC.

I uploaded the SC State "Palmetto 800" trunking system and it works.

Can you think of any additional remedies for the Horry County Trunking System to work?

The RR Database for Horry County shows the CC's. I was thinking if I could download / upload from RR, that it might work.
I could not find a way to directly download from RR. I am an upgraded member.

Much thanks.,

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

I followed all of your steps and the Horry County Trunking System is installed. I selected all of the talk groups that I want to listen to. And placed them into precise scan lists. All scan lists are enabled. The scan lists do scan, But, do not stop on any of them. It acts as if the control channels are not active.

Could be a symptom of simulcast distortion. Whistlers are notoriously prone to it. Ultimately you'd be better off with a Uniden SDS100 or 150 or 200 to monitor systems with simulcast sites but feel free to try the multipath mitigation suggestions in the wiki I linked below

Simulcast Distortion - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

 

[RaleighGuy]

@Whiskey3JMC is most likely correct, simulcast is your problem. But here is a "How To" for you to follow (download/print for future use @Patrolman714) when programming. It has been floating around in the forums for the past five years.

 

[Patrolman714]

@Whiskey3JMC is most likely correct, simulcast is your problem. But here is a "How To" for you to follow (download/print for future use @Patrolman714) when programming. It has been floating around in the forums for the past five years.

Thanks!. I wasn't aware of the simulcast issue

 

[Patrolman714]

Could be a symptom of simulcast distortion. Whistlers are notoriously prone to it. Ultimately you'd be better off with a Uniden SDS100 or 150 or 200 to monitor systems with simulcast sites but feel free to try the multipath mitigation suggestions in the wiki I linked below

Simulcast Distortion - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Thanks! I just ordered a SDS 150. Will still try the Multipath Migration Suggestions in the wiki on my existing TRX-1

multipath mitigation suggestions in the wiki

 

[tvengr]

Can you think of any additional remedies for the Horry County Trunking System to work?

Please attach your CDAT programming file so we can take a look at it. Click on Attach files and open the file.

 

[Patrolman714]

Here is the latest file. Not sure how to open it on here.

 

[tvengr]

For the Horry County system, I have a couple of suggestions to try. For the site frequencies, lockout all of them except for the last four. You only need the 4 red control channel capable frequencies in the database: All of the frequency info is carried on the control channel.
858.9625
859.2125
859.4375
859.7125
The scanner will have less of a problem finding the control channel if it doesn't need to search through all of the voice frequencies to find it. Under Site Options, change Trunking Tables from Auto Fill to Standard. The standard tables cover the 800 MHz frequencies used by the system. Due to the simulcast distortion, the scanner may be having problems loading the tables from the control channel. You can also try turning on the attenuator (ATT) in the Horry County system. Reducing the out of phase interference from the other towers, can improve control channel decoding. When dealing with simulcast, less signal is more. You can also try increasing the Dwell time to 2 seconds.

 

[Patrolman714]

For the Horry County system, I have a couple of suggestions to try. For the site frequencies, lockout all of them except for the last four. You only need the 4 red control channel capable frequencies in the database: All of the frequency info is carried on the control channel.
858.9625
859.2125
859.4375
859.7125
The scanner will have less of a problem finding the control channel if it doesn't need to search through all of the voice frequencies to find it. Under Site Options, change Trunking Tables from Auto Fill to Standard. The standard tables cover the 800 MHz frequencies used by the system. Due to the simulcast distortion, the scanner may be having problems loading the tables from the control channel. You can also try turning on the attenuator (ATT) in the Horry County system. Reducing the out of phase interference from the other towers, can improve control channel decoding. When dealing with simulcast, less signal is more. You can also try increasing the Dwell time to 2 seconds.

Wow! Will try all and report back,

 

[Patrolman714]

For the Horry County system, I have a couple of suggestions to try. For the site frequencies, lockout all of them except for the last four. You only need the 4 red control channel capable frequencies in the database: All of the frequency info is carried on the control channel.
858.9625
859.2125
859.4375
859.7125
The scanner will have less of a problem finding the control channel if it doesn't need to search through all of the voice frequencies to find it. Under Site Options, change Trunking Tables from Auto Fill to Standard. The standard tables cover the 800 MHz frequencies used by the system. Due to the simulcast distortion, the scanner may be having problems loading the tables from the control channel. You can also try turning on the attenuator (ATT) in the Horry County system. Reducing the out of phase interference from the other towers, can improve control channel decoding. When dealing with simulcast, less signal is more. You can also try increasing the Dwell time to 2 seconds.

I tried everything but changing the Dwell Time. Where us that located?

 

[tvengr]

I tried everything but changing the Dwell Time. Where us that located?

That is in the system (Far right).

 

[Patrolman714]

That is in the system (Far right).

So, I tried all of the fixes that were suggested. Nothing has worked. Very frustrating. I did order a Uniden SDS150. I have two of these TRX-1 scanners. Do they have any used market value. If so, how much should I ask for them? And, I am still willing to try any more suggestions to get the simulcast issue to work. Thanks to all for helping.

 

[hiegtx]

So, I tried all of the fixes that were suggested. Nothing has worked. Very frustrating. I did order a Uniden SDS150. I have two of these TRX-1 scanners. Do they have any used market value. If so, how much should I ask for them? And, I am still willing to try any more suggestions to get the simulcast issue to work. Thanks to all for helping.

What may help, if you have not already tried it, is to use a paper clip for an antenna. Dealing with simulcast, you need less antenna, not more.

What I do, with my 325P2, is lay it flat on the desktop. Use one of the OEM antennas, not one of the 800MHz gain antenna (like Remtronix antennas). Laying ot flat reduces the signal strength to the scanner, making it less susceptible to the distortion. Certainly not as good as my SDS100, but there is enough improvement to make it useful, bringing up to 50 or 60% of the SDS.

If you are sort of between two tower sites, you might try blocking the signal path to one of them with something metallic, like a baking pan. Stant it on it's edge by the scanner, so that it's top is above the scanner's antenna's height. And, of course, try moving the scanner around. Sometimes, moving a few feet makes enough difference to be useful.

 

[tvengr]

If you are using an outside antenna, unplug from it and use the stock scanner-mounted antenna. Did you check the squelch setting? Did you try swapping antennas between the 2 scanners. You can keep the TRX-1 scanners and use them for things like aircraft, railroad, VHF marine band and other conventional frequencies. That will leave your SDS150 clear for the Horry County trunked system so you don't miss anything. I have 4 scanners going all of the time. Did you try reprogramming both of the TRX-1's? Here are the ATC frequencies for Myrtle Beach International Airport.

Myrtle Beach
128.450	KMYR Tower VHF
259.300	KMYR Tower UHF
120.300	KMYR Ground VHF
275.800	KMYR Ground UHF
122.950	KMYR Unicom
123.925	KMYR ATIS
119.200	KMYR App/Dep VHF
127.400	KMYR App/Dep*VHF
257.950	KMYR App/Dep UHF
350.300	KMYR App/Dep*UHF
121.500	Aero Emerg VHF
243.000	Aero Emerg UHF

 

[Patrolman714]

What may help, if you have not already tried it, is to use a paper clip for an antenna. Dealing with simulcast, you need less antenna, not more.

What I do, with my 325P2, is lay it flat on the desktop. Use one of the OEM antennas, not one of the 800MHz gain antenna (like Remtronix antennas). Laying ot flat reduces the signal strength to the scanner, making it less susceptible to the distortion. Certainly not as good as my SDS100, but there is enough improvement to make it useful, bringing up to 50 or 60% of the SDS.

If you are sort of between two tower sites, you might try blocking the signal path to one of them with something metallic, like a baking pan. Stant it on it's edge by the scanner, so that it's top is above the scanner's antenna's height. And, of course, try moving the scanner around. Sometimes, moving a few feet makes enough difference to be useful.

Steve, Thanks for the suggestions. I had tried both the OEM antenna and a 800mhz. Have the scanner laying flat. How did you attach the paper clip. I do want to scan in other places than home.

 

[Patrolman714]

If you are using an outside antenna, unplug from it and use the stock scanner-mounted antenna. Did you check the squelch setting? Did you try swapping antennas between the 2 scanners. You can keep the TRX-1 scanners and use them for things like aircraft, railroad, VHF marine band and other conventional frequencies. That will leave your SDS150 clear for the Horry County trunked system so you don't miss anything. I have 4 scanners going all of the time. Did you try reprogramming both of the TRX-1's? Here are the ATC frequencies for Myrtle Beach International Airport.

Myrtle Beach
128.450	KMYR Tower VHF
259.300	KMYR Tower UHF
120.300	KMYR Ground VHF
275.800	KMYR Ground UHF
122.950	KMYR Unicom
123.925	KMYR ATIS
119.200	KMYR App/Dep VHF
127.400	KMYR App/Dep*VHF
257.950	KMYR App/Dep UHF
350.300	KMYR App/Dep*UHF
121.500	Aero Emerg VHF
243.000	Aero Emerg UHF

I only tried programming one of the TRX-1's. Will try the other as well.

 

[Patrolman714]

If you are using an outside antenna, unplug from it and use the stock scanner-mounted antenna. Did you check the squelch setting? Did you try swapping antennas between the 2 scanners. You can keep the TRX-1 scanners and use them for things like aircraft, railroad, VHF marine band and other conventional frequencies. That will leave your SDS150 clear for the Horry County trunked system so you don't miss anything. I have 4 scanners going all of the time. Did you try reprogramming both of the TRX-1's? Here are the ATC frequencies for Myrtle Beach International Airport.

Myrtle Beach
128.450	KMYR Tower VHF
259.300	KMYR Tower UHF
120.300	KMYR Ground VHF
275.800	KMYR Ground UHF
122.950	KMYR Unicom
123.925	KMYR ATIS
119.200	KMYR App/Dep VHF
127.400	KMYR App/Dep*VHF
257.950	KMYR App/Dep UHF
350.300	KMYR App/Dep*UHF
121.500	Aero Emerg VHF
243.000	Aero Emerg UHF

I did notice that there were some old convention freqs for various police and fire. I think that they were in use before the trunking system. Will try programming them in too. Overall, there are not many conventional freqs here of what I am looking for.

 

[hiegtx]

Steve, Thanks for the suggestions. I had tried both the OEM antenna and a 800mhz. Have the scanner laying flat. How did you attach the paper clip. I do want to scan in other places than home.

When you take the antenna off of the scanner, then "open out" the paper clip so that you can straighten out the outer part. Then, you can insert that end of the clip in the socket of the antenna connector on the scanner (the same 'socket' that the center pin of the BNC antenna connects to). It might help, or might not, but all it will cost you to try it is a few minutes of your time.