New Jersey Turnpike Authority P25 TRS

[RadioDitch]

In my free time I've been working on a mapping project of the NJSP, NJICS, and NJTA systems. Sites and ranges. I'm not sure if the ranges in the database for the NJTA system are defaults at 5mi, but I believe they're wrong. When you map it out, it leaves significant gaps which don't exist in practice. An example is that the 5mi listed for Woodbridge puts it outside the range of Westfield, where when home from work, I can receive it nearly full strength. Should those ranges be changed?

 

[GTR8000]

Those range estimates are set by the admins on a per-site basis. It's essentially whatever we determine is a reasonable estimate of how far away you can expect to pull in a site with a decent signal, using a handheld scanner with rubber ducky or maybe a mobile scanner with all-band magmount antenna, not a base scanner with outdoor antenna. That range shouldn't be taken as gospel or as a statement on how the system actually performs in the real world using subscriber radios.

Not all admins are well versed in the science of RF propagation, nor would it be fair to expect them to be. Most make their best effort to set a reasonable range so that those using zip code or GPS based scanning will get the best results, vs having a ton of sites load up that aren't quite within range. My opinion is that it's better to err on the side of setting a conservative range estimate, rather than setting the range too over-optimistically large, which will inevitably lead to disappointment and complaints when nothing can be heard.

 

[RadioDitch]

That's a reasonable and logical explanation of practice. I've always taken them with a grain of salt, but those just looked way off. Would you need field data in order to increase them in the database?

 

[GTR8000]

If you feel that some of them should be increased somewhat, go ahead and submit them. I don't work NJ so I have no input on that system. Was just giving some generic insight as to how we come normally up with the numbers we do.

 

[RadioDitch]

Was just giving some generic insight as to how we come normally up with the numbers we do.

I follow and understand completely, and thank you for clarifying that. It's actually important to know as a user to get the most out of the DB.

 

[GTR8000]

"come normally up with" What the heck does that even mean?!? Jeez, proofread, much?

 

[RadioDitch]

"come normally up with" What the heck does that even mean?!? Jeez, proofread, much?

Well you are kind of our trunking Yoda jedi in these forums anyway, so...