Official "Charlotte-Meck" Radio Thread

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Phillipsc84

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Official "Charlotte-Meck" Radio Thread

Can anyone in the Cherryville area confirm that site is still site 8 on the UASI? I believe it was temporary and has been added to the Gaston simulcast but I'm not quite close enough to tell.


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AK4FD

Catawba County, NC — FF/EMT, COML, AUXC, Skywarn
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Re: Cherryville

Yes it is still being used, I tested it yesterday. :)
 

hamstang

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Unication Pagers and Charlotte UASI?

Has anyone tried the Unication pagers in the Charlotte area? Like many folks, I have mixed results monitoring the Charlotte UASI P25 system with a BCD996XT. I get best results using a 800mHz yagi antenna pointed at Matthews site, but still frequently deal with multipath distortion. Users of the Unication pagers seem to think the pagers eliminate the multipath issues.
 

jplyler

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I have a G5 and really like it. I live in cornelius and drive all around N Meck without issue. It's definitely worth the price if you are a serious monitor and don't want to deal with the inconsistencies of a traditional scanner trying to track a simulcast system. It's NOT a scanner, it's a proper P25 system monitor. Too many folks bash the Unication units for the lack of 'scanner' features but they were not designed that way. No doubt, it would be nice to see a few features added to the G5 but it's never going to be a scanner, in the Uniden/Whistler sense of a scanner. If you purchase the G5 for what it was designed for then you will not be disappointed.

Jon
AK4XO
 

hamstang

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Thanks Jon. I actually only want to keep up with CFD and also my CMPD district. My BCD 996XT does great for VIPER and a nearby small town trunked system. Planning to acquire a G5 soon.
 

jplyler

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It'll be perfect for that. I'll have to send you my config. Just PM me and we'll figure out how to transfer the file.

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nwalshjr

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CMPD North Division - Changes in Talk Groups

I am in Huntersville and monitor this department. They are dispatched by CMPD out of the North Division. CMPD also dispatches for the Davidson PD using the North Division talk groups.

About two weeks ago, CMPD North Division changed their "dispatch" talk group to one listed in Radio Refernce as "Davidson Police Dispatch 1". I am also not picking up the "CMPD North Conference" talk group anymore.

Anybody have any info on what is going on with the CMPD North Division dispatch?
 

Soundman

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The CMPD North Division is on Davison Police Dispatch 1. The CMPD North Conference is still work . As of right now it looks like we will be hearing the CMPD North Dispatch on Davison Dispatch .Till someone update the db.
 

Bill28227

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The way it was and probably still is depends on the way the dispatcher hits the patch buttons. Davidson could be on the North TG or North could be on the Davidson TG. The officers can not tell the difference on their radios. It can flip flop back and forth.
 

nloder

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Posted this message in the NC forum, but probably should have posted it here:

I have been using a Uniden BCD436HP to monitor CMPD and Charlotte-Mecklenburg MEDIC, and the simulcast distortion is terrible! I live in south Charlotte, but the problem is persistent throughout the county.

Is there a better scanner model, perhaps with updated software, for monitoring P25 with simulcast distortion? I have tried different attenuation settings to no avail. I am considering installing an antenna and mobile scanner in my vehicle.. would that help? It seems like the handheld 436HP is sensitive to the way it is held- for example if I pick up the scanner during a transmission, it will drop out as soon as I touch it.

Any tried and true vehicle antenna and unit combinations for monitoring the Charlotte-Meck P25 system would be appreciated! Also, is an actual voice pager like the G5 actually legal to use to monitor?
 

kg4pbd

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Posted this message in the NC forum, but probably should have posted it here:

I have been using a Uniden BCD436HP to monitor CMPD and Charlotte-Mecklenburg MEDIC, and the simulcast distortion is terrible! I live in south Charlotte, but the problem is persistent throughout the county.

Is there a better scanner model, perhaps with updated software, for monitoring P25 with simulcast distortion? I have tried different attenuation settings to no avail. I am considering installing an antenna and mobile scanner in my vehicle.. would that help? It seems like the handheld 436HP is sensitive to the way it is held- for example if I pick up the scanner during a transmission, it will drop out as soon as I touch it.

Any tried and true vehicle antenna and unit combinations for monitoring the Charlotte-Meck P25 system would be appreciated! Also, is an actual voice pager like the G5 actually legal to use to monitor?

As far as scanners go, the 436/536 Unidens are the best I've used at handling simulcast distortion. That being said, it's still isn't great. I'm also in South Charlotte and it's tough. I keep most of my radios on directional antennas and that works great but kills the whole portability concept.

Also, on the 436, make sure you set the site for manual threshold, rather than auto. I keep it on manual, setting 7.

One thing you didn't mention was which antenna you are using. Less is generally more, and the best antenna I've found for this system, on a 436, is a simple 1/4 wave 800 mhz antenna.


800 MHz Low Profile 1/4 Wave Portable SMA Antenna | Scanner Master

If you use the Radio Shack 800mhz antenna you end up making the problem worse. That antenna is great for Viper but bad for the Charlotte system.

I don't have first-hand experience with the G4/G5 but from what I've heard they are great at handling LSM distortion, but you sacrifice some of the benefits of a scanner. It's a receiver in the same way a scanner is, so no issues with legality.
 

PegasusR7

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I need an education

Ladies and Gentlemen,
You asked and I listened!
This is the official Charlotte-Meck Radio Info Thread...the only discussion allowed in this thread is of communications around the Charlotte-Meck area....any off topic posts will be deleted and I reserve the right to un-sticky and lock this thread if I find it to be a waste of space...
Happy Monitoring!
Marshall KE4ZNR

Trying to program Charlotte Fire Dept into my BCD536HP scanner. All I have found is a black hole. I cannot locate CFD in Radio Reference. I do not have CFD callsign, so I cannot look up in FCC database. City of Charlotte FD is NOT listed as such in Radio Reference or FCC. I do not even know if CFD system is Motorola Type II, P25 phase 1, LTR, EDACS, or DMR enabled. I even saw that DMR may not work, and only after I spent $75 to get the key. Somebody help me please.
 

PegasusR7

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South Charlotte

As far as scanners go, the 436/536 Unidens are the best I've used at handling simulcast distortion. That being said, it's still isn't great. I'm also in South Charlotte and it's tough. I keep most of my radios on directional antennas and that works great but kills the whole portability concept.

Also, on the 436, make sure you set the site for manual threshold, rather than auto. I keep it on manual, setting 7.

One thing you didn't mention was which antenna you are using. Less is generally more, and the best antenna I've found for this system, on a 436, is a simple 1/4 wave 800 mhz antenna.


800 MHz Low Profile 1/4 Wave Portable SMA Antenna | Scanner Master

If you use the Radio Shack 800mhz antenna you end up making the problem worse. That antenna is great for Viper but bad for the Charlotte system.

I don't have first-hand experience with the G4/G5 but from what I've heard they are great at handling LSM distortion, but you sacrifice some of the benefits of a scanner. It's a receiver in the same way a scanner is, so no issues with legality.

I'm in south Charlotte too. Having big trouble with my scanner. Are you still active with scanners?
 

RF-Burns

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Trying to program Charlotte Fire Dept into my BCD536HP scanner. All I have found is a black hole. I cannot locate CFD in Radio Reference. I do not have CFD callsign, so I cannot look up in FCC database. City of Charlotte FD is NOT listed as such in Radio Reference or FCC. I do not even know if CFD system is Motorola Type II, P25 phase 1, LTR, EDACS, or DMR enabled. I even saw that DMR may not work, and only after I spent $75 to get the key. Somebody help me please.


Yes, CFD is listed in the Database under the system that it uses, Charlotte UASI - https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=6561

This system is a P25 Phase I System. The Callsign is WPUV635 & WQEX452 but looking that up on the FCC ULS is worthless because its a trunking system. The FCC doesn't provide talkgroup information, only Radio Reference does.

Mecklenburg, Union, Iredell, Cabarrus, City of Gastonia, & Stanley Counties use this system. When programming the system you only want to program the the Mecklenburg County Control Channels. The ones listed in blue and red. Then scroll down to the CFD and you'll need to add the talkgroups for the channels you want to listen to. YouTube offers quite a few videos on how to program most radios.

Motoman55
 
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