New Jersey Interoperability Communication System (NJICS)

[richee2000]

It seems as though I am not receiving Newark fire on the Union County site anymore either... Everything else seems to be coming through loud and clear on the Union County site... I am closest to the watchung tower ...

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[Murenovich]

It seems as though I am not receiving Newark fire on the Union County site anymore either... Everything else seems to be coming through loud and clear on the Union County site... I am closest to the watchung tower ...

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Yeah unfortunately I am no longer receiving them on the Union County Simulcast either, I can see the Watchung tower from my bedroom window. Very upsetting as I love listening to Newark FD and am out of range of the West Orange Simulcast at my new place.

 

[Tac-1]

Yes confirmed Newark is only on West Orange Site.

 

[Hillside1]

I discovered as well I am not receiving Newark FD on Union County site, which I confirmed by using 2 radios. I still received Newark choppy as usual on the West Orange site and nothing on Union County. It cannot be related to settings I believe, as I changed nothing and everything else on Union County is received good as usual. I am located in Linden, if that makes any difference.

When this first happened I came here to verify if others were still receiving them on the Union simulcast.. A few said they still were. I then assumed something happened with my antenna. I switched to the Newark site (which sometimes drops out on me), and there was Newark so I knew it wasn't my settings either. I'm in Hillside and it sounds like we have similar reception peculiarities.

 

[lovescanner]

same here in elizabeth for newark fire dept and others only on west orange i get west orange of i dont get finding control channel on my scanner i have the uniden 325

 

[Tac-1]

Control Channels for West Orange Site

774.78125 Control Ch.

alternate CC
773.79375
774.31875
774.54375

 

[richee2000]

West Orange when it first went up was a powerful omnidirectional site that reached far South... Now it must be set up directional to avoid any southern exposure... As the Union County site has taken over for that .... In Bernards township I was receiving West Orange full strength when it first went up years ago... Now there is zero signal. It is obviously meant to cover Essex County parts of Morris County and most counties east of the site....

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[APX8000]

No, the Watchung site was originally part of the West Orange simulcast. That is why it got so far south. Now Watchung is part of the Union County simulcast.


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[richee2000]

Yes I forgot about that you are correct.

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[richee2000]

although, most signals coming from the eagle rock, W Orange tower are loud and clear, including Essex County Sheriff, W Orange Police, etc... while NJICS W orange has no signal in this area.

 

[GTR8000]

although, most signals coming from the eagle rock, W Orange tower are loud and clear, including Essex County Sheriff, W Orange Police, etc... while NJICS W orange has no signal in this area.

Apples and orange. You simply cannot compare a standalone 150w repeater using an omnidirectional antenna with a subsite of a simulcast cell that uses directional antennas at half the power output.

The West Orange simulcast cell is not meant to cover that far south. That's what the Union County simulcast cell, Martinsville, and Pluckemin sites are for.

 

[APX8000]

I’m actually surprised that Newark came over the Union simulcast for so long. In reality, you are tying up a resource (frequency) on two separate simulcast “sites” when the vast majority of the time their subscribers are affiliated to the West Orange simulcast. That frequency could be better utilized for an agency in Union County since that’s what their subscriber is affiliated to. It’s all about efficiency, not “I want to hear my favorite FD 30 miles to the south.”


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[GTR8000]

It’s all about efficiency, not “I want to hear my favorite FD 30 miles to the south.”

Ding ding ding...winner winner, chicken dinner!

Unfortunately many don't grasp that concept, because they're seeing it through the lens of a hobbyist. The people who build and maintain these systems only care about actual usage by subscribers, and their primary concern is to make sure there are enough available channel resources for those who truly need them. That is why not all talkgroups are permitted at every site, and why talkgroups aren't simply broadcast throughout the entire system. If a subscriber affiliates and is permitted access to that talkgroup at that site, only then will the site carry that traffic.

 

[ansky]

I’m actually surprised that Newark came over the Union simulcast for so long. In reality, you are tying up a resource (frequency) on two separate simulcast “sites” when the vast majority of the time their subscribers are affiliated to the West Orange simulcast. That frequency could be better utilized for an agency in Union County since that’s what their subscriber is affiliated to. It’s all about efficiency, not “I want to hear my favorite FD 30 miles to the south.”


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Not that I'm complaining, but I'm wondering how much longer New Brunswick fire will remain on the Union County simulcast. New Brunswick is nowhere near Union County. But I have to say it is nice being able to hear them from 30 miles away in Essex.

 

[slingshot202]

Is there a way for find which departments are on which systems or is this a trial and error type of thing? I am not a big one for searching out, when I hear towns have moved, etc, I go in and check it out. But, is there a way to know who is on multiple sites if perhaps I wanted to check it out. I may be missing it, but I have not seen such a list yet.

 

[HM1529]

I am monitoring the Berlin simulcast cell from SC Montco. The only NJSP traffic I ever seem to hear when monitoring is NJ Turnpike 2Comm. Do Bellmawr cars and other patrol stations not operate on NJICS directly? I’d be amazed if they did and never affiliated on the Berlin cell. That seems to cover a large area.

 

[saber2k5]

I hear 5Comm occasionally, and more often the South Medivac talk group on NJICS.

 

[GTR8000]

I am monitoring the Berlin simulcast cell from SC Montco. The only NJSP traffic I ever seem to hear when monitoring is NJ Turnpike 2Comm. Do Bellmawr cars and other patrol stations not operate on NJICS directly? I’d be amazed if they did and never affiliated on the Berlin cell. That seems to cover a large area.

The 800 MHz SmartZone system is the primary system for the NJSP. You'll only hear traffic on the 700 MHz system if someone happens to affiliate with a particular site/simulcast cell, but it's very hit or miss. I'm not suggesting that there are no NJSP radios natively on the 700 MHz system, but they are very rare.

 

[HM1529]

The 800 MHz SmartZone system is the primary system for the NJSP. You'll only hear traffic on the 700 MHz system if someone happens to affiliate with a particular site/simulcast cell, but it's very hit or miss. I'm not suggesting that there are no NJSP radios natively on the 700 MHz system, but they are very rare.

Thanks, I guess I didn’t realize just how rare it was to hear NJSP on the new system. I figured the dispatch talkgroup simulcasts would be pretty active while other talkgroups might not appear often.

My main interest is DEP and Medevacs. I know there is a database note about NJSP, I was just surprised at the fact that I hadn’t heard any NJSP dispatches at all over a lengthy period.

 

[GTR8000]

It's so rare that a little birdie once told me that even the APX mobiles in NJSP cars are only programmed with the 800 MHz system. I believe that info was from two or three years ago, so it may not still hold true. However, given the rarity with which the NJSP talkgroups are heard on most sites of the 700 MHz system, and with extremely few affiliations by NJSP subscriber IDs, it would seem to still be the case by and large.