NXDN no audio

[kd8jwj]

I am trying to program a Kenwood NX200K to recieve the following Frequency for Ohio County Kentucky

155.95500

KIG918

RM

32 RAN

OCEMS DISP D

EMS - Dispatch

NXDN

EMS Dispatch

All of the analog channels work fine and I can see the radio stop scan and the light come on when recieveing the NXDN Freq but I get no audio.
Can anyone help?

 

[BigEd1314]

Did you try both narrow and very narrow of nxdn?

 

[mmckenna]

There are a couple of things that will cause this….

There are two flavors of NXDN, Narrow and Very Narrow. Narrow uses 12.5KHz channels and about 9.6K data speed. Very Narrow uses 6.25KHz channels and about 4.8K data speed.
The two are NOT interchangeable. The data rates are different and if your radio is set to the wrong one, it will NOT decode audio. It'll show that the radio is receiving, but there will be no audio.

If the RAN is set up on the RX side, it needs to be correct. You can set it to 0, and it should work, sort of like setting a radio to carrier squelch.

If the are running encryption and depending on how your radio is set up, the audio will mute if it does not have the correct key.

 

[kd8jwj]

I did try Very Narrow band and the radio did not stop scan on freq when a signal was transmitted. I have a BCD996xt that gives the motor boating sound when it receives the nxdn freq because it is programmed on analog for that frequency. That way I know when the nxdn is being transmitted on.

 

[kd8jwj]

There are a couple of things that will cause this….

There are two flavors of NXDN, Narrow and Very Narrow. Narrow uses 12.5KHz channels and about 9.6K data speed. Very Narrow uses 6.25KHz channels and about 4.8K data speed.
The two are NOT interchangeable. The data rates are different and if your radio is set to the wrong one, it will NOT decode audio. It'll show that the radio is receiving, but there will be no audio.

If the RAN is set up on the RX side, it needs to be correct. You can set it to 0, and it should work, sort of like setting a radio to carrier squelch.

If the are running encryption and depending on how your radio is set up, the audio will mute if it does not have the correct key.

I tried extra narrow band no receive at all, my software will not allow 0 for the RAN, I tried none and still no receive

 

[mmckenna]

I tried extra narrow band no receive at all, my software will not allow 0 for the RAN, I tried none and still no receive

OK, it's possible they are encrypted.

If you go to your "Encryption" tab, what is the Encryption type set for? Should be Type 1 or Type 2, I don't recall which one does what, but try switching it to the other one.
One of the settings will pass audio to the speaker no matter what. If it's a non-encrypted signal, you'll get normal audio. If it's encrypted, you'll hear garbage.

 

[kd8jwj]

I changed some fleet sync settings and now the radio displays someones name with 911 beside it when NXDN is received on that freq

 

[kd8jwj]

OK, it's possible they are encrypted.

If you go to your "Encryption" tab, what is the Encryption type set for? Should be Type 1 or Type 2, I don't recall which one does what, but try switching it to the other one.
One of the settings will pass audio to the speaker no matter what. If it's a non-encrypted signal, you'll get normal audio. If it's encrypted, you'll hear garbage.

it was set on type 1, I just switched to type 2, Ill let you know what happens

 

[kd8jwj]

it was set on type 1, I just switched to type 2, Ill let you know what happens

OK, it's possible they are encrypted.

If you go to your "Encryption" tab, what is the Encryption type set for? Should be Type 1 or Type 2, I don't recall which one does what, but try switching it to the other one.
One of the settings will pass audio to the speaker no matter what. If it's a non-encrypted signal, you'll get normal audio. If it's encrypted, you'll hear garbage.

Type 2 made no change, keys up I get VID on left of display 911 on right in display, but no audio, they also use this freq on analog, could they be using analog for voice and nxdn for data transmission?

 

[mmckenna]

Type 2 made no change, keys up I get VID on left of display 911 on right in display, but no audio, they also use this freq on analog, could they be using analog for voice and nxdn for data transmission?

Mixed mode would be an option, but I don't think that's it.

Likely they are running analog with some flavor of radio ID. Could be MDC1200, fleetsync, etc.
Try setting it to mixed mode or analog mode and see what happens.

Looking at the license, it shows narrow band FM analog, NXDN Narrow and NXDN Very Narrow. Could be they are still running analog with plans to -eventually- switch to NXDN.

 

[kd8jwj]

Mixed mode would be an option, but I don't think that's it.

Likely they are running analog with some flavor of radio ID. Could be MDC1200, fleetsync, etc.
Try setting it to mixed mode or analog mode and see what happens.

Looking at the license, it shows narrow band FM analog, NXDN Narrow and NXDN Very Narrow. Could be they are still running analog with plans to -eventually- switch to NXDN.

tried running mixed mode, works the same as programming them is separate groups, after changing some nxdn settings I can now see the id of the radios transmitting nxdn but still no audio. Theres a setting somewhere I'm missing but don't know what, All of the id's it displayed I put in the nxdn id list but since I did that they haven't transmitted so I don't know if I made a difference or not.
My p25 radio programs easy but this one is being a real pain in the A$$, I'm new at NXDN so it's probably somthing really easy, I just ain't finding it
WE'll it just picked up the signal, saw MED 6 in the display which I had added to the id list and still no audio so I can flush that idea

 

[mmckenna]

OK.

Here's what I'd suggest.

Program the frequency as analog only. See if you hear any analog traffic. Don't worry about radio ID's or anything like that.

Program another channel with the frequency set up as NXDN Very Narrow, RAN set to NONE.

Program a third channel with the frequency set up as NXDN Narrow, RAN set to NONE.

If none of that works, then it's likely they are encrypted. Radio ID's are not encrypted, so you'll see those.

Only other issue I can think of is that you may just be on the fringes of coverage and having issues decoding audio.


I've got about 450 NXDN radios in service on my trunked system. The programming is pretty easy once you understand how the systems work. Sounds like this is a conventional channel, so you don't need to get into the trunking stuff, won't work anyway without a system key and a valid radio ID.
For conventional, you only have a couple of settings you need to get right to receive traffic. Frequency, RAN, Narrow vs. Very Narrow. About the only thing that can get in the way is encryption or if you set up some sort of individual call setup that is keeping you from hearing traffic unless it's addressed to you.

 

[kd8jwj]

tried running mixed mode, works the same as programming them is separate groups, after changing some nxdn settings I can now see the id of the radios transmitting nxdn but still no audio. Theres a setting somewhere I'm missing but don't know what, All of the id's it displayed I put in the nxdn id list but since I did that they haven't transmitted so I don't know if I made a difference or not.
My p25 radio programs easy but this one is being a real pain in the A$$, I'm new at NXDN so it's probably somthing really easy, I just ain't finding it

OK.

Here's what I'd suggest.

Program the frequency as analog only. See if you hear any analog traffic. Don't worry about radio ID's or anything like that.

Program another channel with the frequency set up as NXDN Very Narrow, RAN set to NONE.

Program a third channel with the frequency set up as NXDN Narrow, RAN set to NONE.

If none of that works, then it's likely they are encrypted. Radio ID's are not encrypted, so you'll see those.

Only other issue I can think of is that you may just be on the fringes of coverage and having issues decoding audio.


I've got about 450 NXDN radios in service on my trunked system. The programming is pretty easy once you understand how the systems work. Sounds like this is a conventional channel, so you don't need to get into the trunking stuff, won't work anyway without a system key and a valid radio ID.
For conventional, you only have a couple of settings you need to get right to receive traffic. Frequency, RAN, Narrow vs. Very Narrow. About the only thing that can get in the way is encryption or if you set up some sort of individual call setup that is keeping you from hearing traffic unless it's addressed to you.

OK.

Here's what I'd suggest.

Program the frequency as analog only. See if you hear any analog traffic. Don't worry about radio ID's or anything like that.

Program another channel with the frequency set up as NXDN Very Narrow, RAN set to NONE.

Program a third channel with the frequency set up as NXDN Narrow, RAN set to NONE.

If none of that works, then it's likely they are encrypted. Radio ID's are not encrypted, so you'll see those.

Only other issue I can think of is that you may just be on the fringes of coverage and having issues decoding audio.


I've got about 450 NXDN radios in service on my trunked system. The programming is pretty easy once you understand how the systems work. Sounds like this is a conventional channel, so you don't need to get into the trunking stuff, won't work anyway without a system key and a valid radio ID.
For conventional, you only have a couple of settings you need to get right to receive traffic. Frequency, RAN, Narrow vs. Very Narrow. About the only thing that can get in the way is encryption or if you set up some sort of individual call setup that is keeping you from hearing traffic unless it's addressed to you.

Great minds must think alike, I just programmed exactly what you wrote into the radio right before reading this.
I am getting about 2 or 3 on the signal meter, maybe the signal could be low enough not to carry voice as you suggest.
The battery alert is going so I'm going to stick it in the charger for the night and practice social distancing and park near the tower tomorrow and see what happens.
I've tried about every setting I can think of and so far no luck.
I did pick up voice on a different non RAN NXDN freq this morning but they arent very active so it's hard to know if I did somthing to kill it trying to fix this one.
Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it

 

[mmckenna]

2-3 bars should be more than enough to decode properly. Mine has no issues down into the high -100dB range.

I suspect they are running encryption. If you were getting radio ID's OK, that's the next logical thing. Nothing you can do about that.

 

[trashman43]

They are operating in mixed mode. The NXDN side is encrypted.

 

[kd8jwj]

They are operating in mixed mode. The NXDN side is encrypted.

They are operating in mixed mode. The NXDN side is encrypted.

Thanks for the info, since they are encrypted I guess I just wasted a bunch of money trying to listen on NXDN.
At least I ended up with a decent 2 meter portable ham radio.
Problem is never hear any ham operators in my area, haven't even heard the repeater key up and id lately.
After all the virus stuff is over with and I go up north maybe I'll bring my HF rig down or if I find a good deal buy one for Kentucky too.