korpseofdeath;1950333What data does everyone need from PRO96? I can post them up if still needed.[/QUOTE said:
New Oakland system
- Thread starter stingray327
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thursdasy
Member
So with my uniden 396XT OPD sounds pretty choppy and underwater. I've tried to adjust my P25 levels as well with no real change.
korpseofdeath
Member
I haven't tried to adjust any settings on my scanner at all. All I can say is for me and where my house is located, from not picking up Oakland at all to now a garbled / choppy, slightly comprehensible audio is amazing to me. LOL Oakland just had a structure fire and al-though it's very choppy and in-n-out, I was able to understand most of what they were saying.
korpseofdeath
Member
While monitoring Oakland's system last night and this morning I noticed two new talk groups. 65528 & 65511. Anyone know what they could possibly be? I wasn't able to get any audio from them, but maybe someone has a better signal then I do. My decode rate is only 45-65%.
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One of them is the Citywide Dispatch Patch (OPD Patrol 1 & 5 patched together), the other is the Citywide Service Patch (Service 1 & 2 patched together).
They create a separate talkgroup for the patches for backwards compatibility with the EDACS system, though that no longer seems necessary (it's probably left over in their consoles though). These talkgroups are temporary and change periodically (as EDACS patch talkgroups do), which is why we don't have anything permanently listed in the db. But you will always find them in the 65xxx range.
There are normally 10 frequencies, however 852.2875 is currently being used for coverage testing, and 854.4125 appears to be out of service.
The current control channel is 853.4625. The CC used to alternate regularly between 851.1750, 852.2875 and 853.3375 (every couple days or so), with other frequencies popping up every few months. Recently, however, the other frequencies have been popping up more often.
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Oakland has gone silent
Have not heard anything for almost 2 days now..At least for me is anyone else in the same boat?
Have not heard anything for almost 2 days now..At least for me is anyone else in the same boat?
AdminLaw
Member
They are on. I am at 15th and Clay, and can hear patrol and service channels. (With the usual digital distortion about 20% of the time.)
It has been working fine on my PSR-500 here in unincorporated Hayward. Make sure you have all of the system frequencies programmed in, as any of the frequencies can be used as the control channel. The current control channel now is 853.7. They are also broadcasting a test tone on 853.8375, which I use for antenna aiming and placement.
Tac 3 and Tac 4 was quite active yesterday evening with the May Day protests. It was mostly crowd control and crowd monitoring, I didn't hear any problems during the time I listened. Tac 3 was mostly Broadway around the downtown area and Tac 4 was around Fruitvale BART.
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They are all there. Im using the data base of RR and the ARC software to program. I seem to be getting good signal Im in Emmeryville with a good line of sight of down town.. Just very little traffic and mostly scrambled..
The signal meter on scanners isn't a good indicator of signal quality. I bet you're having difficulty hearing Oakland due to the difficulty scanners have with simulcast systems. Manually tune to 853.8375 and see how clearly you are able to hear the tone. If it's choppy, then it's not decoding well enough. You may find a sweet spot somewhere that decodes better. If you hear the tone fairly solid, so will the voice communications.
OaklandP25
Member
Test Tone Answer
Just some friendly technical information for all. The tone you may hear from time to time is our system broadcasting a 1011 test pattern. We use this test pattern to locate and measure interfering signals.
The test pattern is moved between the various channels depending on which channel is currently being used as a control channel. Occasionally the test tone may sound choppy due to the timing of the simulcast making adjustments. The P25 audio and control channels re-sync about every 60 seconds, but the test patterns do not make the same adjustments. When they are out of sync we reset them manually.
Hope this information is helpful to the community and we look forward to participating.
Happy Scanning!
Just some friendly technical information for all. The tone you may hear from time to time is our system broadcasting a 1011 test pattern. We use this test pattern to locate and measure interfering signals.
The test pattern is moved between the various channels depending on which channel is currently being used as a control channel. Occasionally the test tone may sound choppy due to the timing of the simulcast making adjustments. The P25 audio and control channels re-sync about every 60 seconds, but the test patterns do not make the same adjustments. When they are out of sync we reset them manually.
Hope this information is helpful to the community and we look forward to participating.
Happy Scanning!
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I will try that tomorrow. Thank you.
I find the test pattern helpful in locating a sweet spot for listening to Oakland. Usually, when the test pattern is clear, the other voice channels will be clear as well. I've noticed adjustments have been made to the system as it is clearer now. It's not perfect but it's much better than before.
I also noticed a two tone test pattern on talk group 100 yesterday. It sounds like a lower pitched tone followed by a higher pitched tone. I couldn't decode that one as clearly, but the other talk groups were intelligible. It does not appear to be on today.
The media reported that Oakland would test a few radios on EBRCS in April or May. Is that still going to take place? They also reported a disagreement over subscriber fees for using EBRCS.
OaklandP25
Member
System Channel Info
Here is some basic information that the community might find helpful to update the database.
The P25 System is currently equipped with ten (10) channels.
There are three sites which operate in simulcast (Gwin, APL, Seneca) - There is one additional stand-alone site at Fire Station 28 however it is not part of the simulcast.
WPQSPK is the modulation (not C4FM)
It is true that a Harris system, any channel can be utilized as a Control Channel, however we have set up our P25 System so that only the even numbered channels have this ability.
Here are the current channels with our designated channel numbers.
#1 851.1750
#2 852.2875
#3 852.8875
#4 853.3375
#5 853.8375 (Currently in 1011 Test Mode)
#6 854.1875
#7 854.4125
#8 853.4625
#9 854.2625
#10 853.7000 (Current Control Channel)
Here is some basic information that the community might find helpful to update the database.
The P25 System is currently equipped with ten (10) channels.
There are three sites which operate in simulcast (Gwin, APL, Seneca) - There is one additional stand-alone site at Fire Station 28 however it is not part of the simulcast.
WPQSPK is the modulation (not C4FM)
It is true that a Harris system, any channel can be utilized as a Control Channel, however we have set up our P25 System so that only the even numbered channels have this ability.
Here are the current channels with our designated channel numbers.
#1 851.1750
#2 852.2875
#3 852.8875
#4 853.3375
#5 853.8375 (Currently in 1011 Test Mode)
#6 854.1875
#7 854.4125
#8 853.4625
#9 854.2625
#10 853.7000 (Current Control Channel)
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Thank you all
The message about the "Tone" was most helpfull. I found the best spot and it is working now. Still have some minor issues but from what I understand about the "Decode Rates" on P25 systems I dont think its going to get better until Uniden getrs their act together and Im not holding my breath for that!
The message about the "Tone" was most helpfull. I found the best spot and it is working now. Still have some minor issues but from what I understand about the "Decode Rates" on P25 systems I dont think its going to get better until Uniden getrs their act together and Im not holding my breath for that!
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Add I would like to add that I welcome the impute from “OaklandP25” the posts are written like they have some official connection to the system and I think we would all welcome some official weigh in on this system.
thursdasy
Member
Also if OaklandP25 can give us some insight into why the system has such poor voice quality and how we might better program our scanners for this system? =)
The poor voice quality you experience on your scanner is a result of the modulation. The scanners were designed for C4FM modulation, and the system uses WCQPSK modulation. The best way to mitigate this is to monitor the system from a location where you are receiving only one site. This will cut down on the multipath interference that causes poor voice quality (receiving signals from multiple sites).
jland138
Member
I know C4FM is "Continuous 4 level FM" and CQPSK is "Compatible quadrature phase shift keying". What is WCQPSK?
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