needs code

[Jay911]

That's beautiful. That actually is a wealth of information.

155.97 is confirmed as being both the control channel and the voice channel ("Usage: cv"), so you are going to need to listen to it as a trunk system. The scanner will know whether or not to unmute for voice by what it hears on the control channel.

155.97 is RFSS 60, Site 1, which matches my guess from NAC 03C. (For what it's worth, now that this is confirmed as a trunk system, the NAC is pretty much irrelevant to the scanner user.)

Now.. there are two talkgroups listed, 548 and 604. 548 I had logged on a previous trip around the island as Northern Peninsula. So I would think that 604 is the talkgroup for your area. I could be wrong about 548, though. Best to listen to both of them and figure out which one is your area.

Even better, you've discovered a second site. An "Adjacent Site" or neighbor site has been located, RFSS 61 site 01. Its frequency is 153.29. Unfortunately we don't know where it is in relation to you, just that it's out there. Perhaps if you or snowblow do any travelling, you can find it. It could be as far away as Cartwright, L'Anse Au Clair, or Lab City even, though.

In order to put both these sites in the RR database, we need to know a little bit more about your location. You said central Lab. Is it safe to assume Goose Bay or somewhere nearby?

 

[Wilber8]

Central Labrador

I am in Happy Valley - Goose Bay, or any combination of the two. Long name, small town.
There is a detachment in the area of Sheshi**** - North West River, a little over 30 km straight line distance, perhaps that is the other site?
What modifications should I make to the file you sent? I know that it does not respond when there is a transmission on 155.97. I had input that frequency in another scan list and when I heard activity I would switch to see if I could hear anything. Nothing heard but could receive again when I switched back.

 

[Jay911]

North West River could be a good candidate. (The forum censored whatever the last part of the other town name is.. the censoring algorithm is messed up.)

I'm surprised the file I sent you didn't work. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it only works if you are listening to it at the start of the transmission. Would you mind leaving the radio on "my" file for a good while and seeing if you get any activity out of it? The act of switching over when someone is talking might be causing you to miss transmissions - the TSYS is expecting to get trunk control channel data and instead it gets voice on that frequency. I'm just thinking that's a theory.

I'll submit a ticket to get these changes made to the RRDB. Thanks for all your work!

 

[Jay911]

Hey Jay911 and Wilber8 ,thanks for your help.I know nothing about scanners so I was wondering if there was a scanner out there that I could buy and just have to program it.I have been looking at some but I don't know which one to buy and I can't pay $400 to 600 for one.

Somehow I didn't get notified about your post until just now - not sure how that happened. I wasn't ignoring you by posting a half-dozen more times

You need a scanner that can do P25 digital. You can probably get them programmed for a fee. Or, you can get somebody to create a file that you can upload by computer, like I did with Wilber8.

Unfortunately it's going to be a little pricey. The best deal I can find from the usual suspects (companies like Scanner Master and Universal Radio) is $429 or $439 US for handheld (Uniden 396XT) or mobile (Uniden 996XT). You can't get the GRE radios like Wilber8 has any more - GRE went out of business. Whistler might sell them soon, but it remains to be seen what they'll charge and how you can get them. Americans are supposed to be able to pick up those Whistler scanners at Radio Shack, but of course we don't have RS any more in Canada, and The Source (what RS turned into) only has one digital scanner on its webpage and it's $699 Cdn.

Canadian retailers sell the same Uniden radios mentioned above for $519 Cdn.

You might be able to find someone selling a radio on eBay for cheaper. Most of the digital scanners I found with a quick search were in the low $400 range.

If you search on your own, remember the key point that whatever scanner you get has to be able to handle APCO P25 trunking. A partial list of them is available on this wiki page:

Digital Scanner Comparison Chart - The RadioReference Wiki

The only ones that page are missing are the newer Uniden and GRE radios, which are either out of your price range (high $500, low $600 at best) or unavailable at all. Also keep in mind the prices listed on that chart are in US funds.

 

[Wilber8]

No Luck

I tried listening all last evening with no luck. Being a Friday I know there was communication. Is there something wrong with my radio?

 

[Jay911]

I would say no, there must be something up with my programming. Either that or the GRE radios don't handle these Voice On Control P25 systems properly. I'll look into it.

 

[snowblow]

Thanks Jay 911,I am useless at all this programming stuff,so hopefully Wilber8 might be able to figure this out.Wilber8 just let me know if you figure this out.Thanks for all your help guys.Also Wiber8 I am in goose bay.

 

[Jay911]

I think I know what the problem was. There's a thing in a P25 trunking system called an "identifier table". Most trunk systems provide it over the control channel, and NPR does (it's the information at the bottom of your post with the PRO96COM information). Maybe somehow the PSR-600 isn't recognizing it. So I recreated it in the PSREdit file and changed the system from P25 AUTO to P25 MANUAL so it will detect it.

Give this version a shot and see what it does.

 

[Wilber8]

Thanks

Thanks I will give it a try. I cannot thank you enough for all you have done.
I make beef jerky that I am told is very good. Would you like some? BBQ or Teriyaki?

 

[snowblow]

Hey Wiber8 is there anyway you can send me a private message?

 

[Wilber8]

To Snowblow

Please check your messages.

 

[snowblow]

Hey Wilber 8 I can't find your message,would you be able to tell me if a uniden bear tracker bct15x scanner is any good in this area?

 

[snowblow]

Hi Wilber8 just found your message just replied

 

[Wilber8]

BCT15X

I went to the Uniden website to check the unit. It does not appear to be capable of receiving P25 talkgroup communications.
Check the link.

 

[Wilber8]

The Link

Uniden Scanners - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[snowblow]

Wilber8 just send you a private message.

 

[Jay911]

The 15X doesn't do P25. As shown in that link, you are limited to the following if you go with Uniden.

Handhelds (from newest to oldest):

436HP
396XT
396T
296D

Base/Mobile (again, newest to oldest):

536HP
HomePatrol-1
996XT
996T
796D
785D

The prices also get lower as you go with older models, of course. You could be pretty lucky and find somebody willing to cut loose an older model for a decent price.

The above is only Uniden radios. GRE also has some that will work (including some under the Radio Shack name).

For GRE radios, you want to look for:

Base:
PSR-600

Handheld:
PSR-800
PSR-500

For Radio Shack models:

Base:
PRO-197 (this is the GRE PSR-600 in an RS branded case)
PRO-2096

Handheld:
PRO-18 (this is like a GRE PSR-800)
PRO-106 (this is a GRE PSR-500)
PRO-96

If you are willing to become a premium subscriber to RR, there is a "Classifieds" section where people buy & sell scanners.

 

[snowblow]

thanks Jay911