Needing some NXDN advice please

[danzik]

Hi, I have a Uniden SDS200 with the NXDN upgrade and I am trying to recieve Wabash Indiana city police on it and am having issues doing so. Should it work right off the area code database as i put in the area code and it does not recieve anything from the city police. Do I need to manually do something to recieve the NXDN signal? Thanks in advance

 

[hiegtx]

Hi, I have a Uniden SDS200 with the NXDN upgrade and I am trying to recieve Wabash Indiana city police on it and am having issues doing so. Should it work right off the area code database as i put in the area code and it does not recieve anything from the city police. Do I need to manually do something to recieve the NXDN signal? Thanks in advance

When you say that you 'put in the area code, are you meaning to say that you input the zip code, but still not hearing anything? Is Location control set as On or Off.

If you are trying location control (using the zip code), verify that you have the main database enabled for scanning. Also, have you updated the database in Sentinel, then have Sentinel write it to the scanner? As shipped, the database in both Sentinel (after you install it) as well as the scanner itself may be months, or even years out of date. Use Sentinel to download the most recent database (06/21/2020), then connect the scanner to your PC and have Sentinel send it to the scanner. Also, if you are using location control (it appears that you have at least tried that), be sure that your location is correct. I would suggest re-entering your location (via zip code on either the scanner or Sentinel) just to make sure.

Did you program the NXDN channels manually? Or did you append from the database? If you added the Wabash PD frequencies to a Favorites list by appending from the database in Sentinel, then you would also have the location details in place. But if entered manually, unless you added the location information during the process, then the location is, in effect, zero degrees for both latitude & longitude. The scanner would treat that as if the agency was located jn the Atlantic ocean, off Africa's west coast, and out of range if location control was in use.

For the NXDN upgrade, did you purchase this yourself, on Uniden's website, then entered the key you received in the scanner? Or did you pay the dealer where you purchased the scanner to handle the upgrade process? To verify that the NXDN upgrade is in place, verify it yourself.
First, press the Menu key (by pushing on the Squelch knob).
Then scroll down to Settings and select by pressing Enter (that's the key labeled with a large E)
On the settings menu scroll down & select Upgrade by pressing Enter again
On the Upgrade menu, scroll down and select Upgrade NXDN
If the upgrade has already been entered, you will get a message stating that. If not, then you'll need to enter the key correctly.

Also, looking at your county's talkgroups on the statewide system, Project Hoosier SAFE-T, I see two talkgroups there for Wabash (city) PD. If you are receiving other agencies in your county on SAFE-T, then if the city was using it instead of, or in addition to, NXDN, you should hear them (again, be sure that the database is up to date).

You might also want to have your thread moved to the Indiana state forum. Someone in your area might then respond as whether what you see in the database is correct, or incorrect, and help you correct it. To do that, do not create a new thread. Instead, click on the Report in the lower left corner of one of your posts, and request that a moderator move your thread to the state forum.

 

[buddrousa]

Delete

 

[cpfinlay]

Also, looking at your county's talkgroups on the statewide system, Project Hoosier SAFE-T, I see two talkgroups there for Wabash (city) PD. If you are receiving other agencies in your county on SAFE-T, then if the city was using it instead of, or in addition to, NXDN, you should hear them (again, be sure that the database is up to date).

Agree with your entire, very detailed post. To me, it appears to me to be a P25 Phase 1 system; not NXDN. Right?

 

[u2brent]

Wabash County, Indiana (IN) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Wabash County, Indiana (IN)

www.radioreference.com

Wabash

Frequency	Input	License	Type	Tone	Alpha Tag	Description	Mode	Tag
158.77500	154.71000	WQBR341	RM	1 RAN	WABASH PD DISP	Police Dispatch	NXDN	Law Dispatch
154.86750	159.03750	WQBR341	RM	1 RAN	WABASH PD 2	Police Secondary	NXDN	Law Dispatch

Maybe Encrypted and not noted..

 

[cpfinlay]

So it looks like there are 2 different systems. Wonder which they use?

 

[hiegtx]

Agree with your entire, very detailed post. To me, it appears to me to be a P25 Phase 1 system; not NXDN. Right?


View attachment 87071

Looking at the database page for the county, those NXDN licenses were issued in 2015. Update history for the county (the last 30 that we can see) only gets back into July of 2018, so any changes before that date are not visible to most members. (Maybe the dB admins can see farther back, but I can't).
The last changes to SAFE-T only gets back to March of this year. so no way to know when the Wabash (city) talkgroups were added.

So, the question remains- Is the city PD using the NXDN frequencies, or the SAFE-T talkgroups. Or maybe simulcasting traffic from one system over on the other.

Wabash County, Indiana (IN) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Wabash County, Indiana (IN)

www.radioreference.com

Wabash

Frequency	Input	License	Type	Tone	Alpha Tag	Description	Mode	Tag
158.77500	154.71000	WQBR341	RM	1 RAN	WABASH PD DISP	Police Dispatch	NXDN	Law Dispatch
154.86750	159.03750	WQBR341	RM	1 RAN	WABASH PD 2	Police Secondary	NXDN	Law Dispatch

Maybe Encrypted and not noted..

That, of course, is a possibility.

So it looks like there are 2 different systems. Wonder which they use?

That is what I'm wondering as well. That;s why I've suggested some tasks the OP can do to verify his system is really up to date on the database, with a correct location, and that the NXDN upgrade was successfully performed. If the two NXDN frequencies were appended from the database, which will carry over the location details, then using the main database and location (after verifying correct location stored), the OP should have been able to hear usage on either system. That is, unless as cpfinlay suggested, they are encrypted, which the scanner will ignore.

I think, presuming the items we've suggested are updated and correctly set, that the OP might want to drop this down in the Indiana form, & see if someone there knows something that is not reflected in the database.

 

[danzik]

Ok guys thank you sooo much for all the replies and the help! When I was home at lunch I decided to take the radio with me to town back to work which would be closer to the tower and I was pulling the NXDN signal from the city in so I believe my issue is going to be that I simply need to upgrade my antenna out here, I have been receiving everything else is why I thought it wasnt working properly. Thanks everyone! PS that was also very good info hiegtx, thank you!]

 

[danzik]

yes I purchased the NXDN package myself and typed in the key in the menu for the upgrade and it took. I do believe the wabash city is indeed using the kenwood next edge because I had lost their signal back in 2015 using my uniden BCD996T and was never able to get it back and heard they were using NXDN so thats why I bought the sds200

 

[danzik]

i didnt get to listen to it long but i did see 158.775 pop up and heard conversations and also saw NEX4 pop up at the top of the screen on the sds200

 

[danzik]

So it looks like there are 2 different systems. Wonder which they use?

Looks like mostly 158.775 but will know more later hopefully, thanks

 

[hiegtx]

Ok guys thank you sooo much for all the replies and the help! When I was home at lunch I decided to take the radio with me to town back to work which would be closer to the tower and I was pulling the NXDN signal from the city in so I believe my issue is going to be that I simply need to upgrade my antenna out here, I have been receiving everything else is why I thought it wasnt working properly. Thanks everyone! PS that was also very good info hiegtx, thank you!]

Glad you got it going. If you think they might be using talkgroups, you can put those frequencies into a One Frequency Trunked system (OFT). That way, you can see if they are using different TGIDs for various activities, like one ID for patrol dispatch, a different one for detectives, an additional one for "talk" or tac" uses.

 

[danzik]

Glad you got it going. If you think they might be using talkgroups, you can put those frequencies into a One Frequency Trunked system (OFT). That way, you can see if they are using different TGIDs for various activities, like one ID for patrol dispatch, a different one for detectives, an additional one for "talk" or tac" uses.

I am indeed wondering this as the channel did not seem to be as active as i think it should be! It has been stated before bu someone that this isn't a trunked but a conventional but alot could have changed, also i need to upgrade my antenna system like i stated bef

 

[hiegtx]

I am indeed wondering this as the channel did not seem to be as active as i think it should be! It has been stated before bu someone that this isn't a trunked but a conventional but alot could have changed, also i need to upgrade my antenna system like i stated bef

Just to be clear, even if the frequency is listed as conventional, not part of a multi-frequency trunked system, you may still see talkgroups being used. Take a look at this "system", used by one of the large hotels in downtown Dallas:

Adolphus Hotel Trunking System, Dallas, Texas

Adolphus Hotel Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Even though only a single frequency is used, you still see talkgroups in use to signify certain activities. There are other licensees where every user basically shows as using the same TGID, such as 100. But in many cases, you do see more than one talkgroup.

Your PD has two frequencies, but you can program both of them into the same OFT system. Just use a different "site" for each frequency. See the attached file. You'll need to extract Wabash.hpe from the zipped file, then import it into Sentinel.

They may indeed only by using these frequencies in conventional node, but by programming them into an OFT, you would receive either usage (after you upgrade your antenna to reliably receive them}.