New Hanover County P25

[theoldcop]

Hello,
I've posted queries about this issue in other venues so I hope it doesn't seem too repetitive. I was wondering if any who monitors the New Hanover County public safety talk groups have difficulty in their intelligibility? I'm using a Uniden HP-1 and the decodes can be absolutely awful at times. Is anyone else experiencing issues like this or is it just me? I have a 536HP on order and hope the newer technology resolves this problem.
Thank you.
John

 

[oft]

thecop:

I too hear the "difficulty in intelligability" randomly with my BCD396XT. Here is what is baffling me, The law enforcement groups seem to get their messages clear when I hear the intermittent garbling while the EMS groups will ask dispatch to repeat because of the intermittent garbling.

 

[theoldcop]

THANK YOU!
I was beginning to think it was just me. I, too, have a 396 but it is in storage until we move into our house. I'll let you know how the 536HP works when it arrives, but to be honest I don't expect the decoding to be any better.
I must say that the scanning here in NHC is great!
Again, I appreciate your response.
John

 

[macboney]

Garbled NEW HANOVER CO

I use two different radios, a Uniden 796D and a Radio Shack Pro 197. On the Uniden at home I have more distortion than on the Pro 197 that is mobile. Sometimes it seems that it depends on the dispatcher. On County fire most of the time things are clear but occasionally not. One day on WPD a mobile unit was garbled and the dispatcher told him so. I passed him on MLK and it was a motorcycle using a handhled on his belt. Evidently when he was turned one way his body blocked some signal as he was clear part of the time. The Pro 197 seems to have better audio than the Uniden. Might be my ears however. I am upgrading my antenna to my home unit with a dedicated 850 mhz base antenna and 1/2" Heliax for deed line. Hoping that will make things better all the way around on P25. I use a different radio and antenna for aircraft and other non digital reception.

 

[theoldcop]

I appreciate your response macboney. FWIW I recently purchased a 536HP and I found a HUGE difference in reception with regard to garbled comms. They aren't always perfect but the difference is astounding. I don't know why.

 

[macboney]

receivers

Good morning. I have read your other posts replying to what I said about PS3 and the 33004 WPD talkgroup. I appreciate the info about the new scanner. I recently bought a Kenwood TK5400 handhled with the software, programming cable charger and new battery for much less than a new handheld scanner. I am having trouble programming it though. I have to have a network file that requires a system key, which I do no t know what such is much less what it is. I have been told that the receiver on this radio is far superior to scanners. Of course with a syswtems new selling price of close to 2 thousand dollars it ought to be. It is 512 chanels, will scan and will handle digital and analog. Are you familiar with the system key for the New Hanover P25 system?

 

[oft]

macboney:

New Hanover County P25 System

New Hanover County P25 System Trunking System, Wilmington, North Carolina - Scanner Frequencies

Is the "system ID" the same as the system key?

 

[theoldcop]

Macboney I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the system key is NOT something you're going to be able to get your hands on. Although every radio has to be "registered" with the system to be able to transmit on the system, I think having the system key would give the radio the capability to transmit and I believe it would be closely guarded. Hope this makes sense.
Again...this is just a guess.

 

[macboney]

P25 sys key

I think you are probably correct. That is what I was afraid of. I took a chance and probably have a radio that I won't get much use out of right now. It will let me program conventional stuff but not trunking the way it is. I will check with local shop and see what I can figure out. I am relatively new to P25 stuff so I have more to learn. When I went to work at PD here we were still on the VHF system and went to UHF in late 70's. The digital stuff is all new to me.

 

[trumpetman]

You're not going to get access to the system key unless you're an authorized programmer for the New Hanover system or a trusted mutual aid agency that needs New Hanover talkgroups in their radio.

Don't expect much good news from the radio shop either; even the most transparent radio systems are very unlikely to offer access and programming to a single person.

Wish there was better news to offer, but a scanner looks to be the best option for you right now.