Ongoing Changes: Marion Co. MECA System
- Thread starter KC9NEG
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delallen
Member
I know that alot of us are very frustrated with this new changeover to digital.
After listening to Meca 1 this week I have this to offer:
Use a good outside directional antenna with a good cable. This is very important!
I think I saw a map that shows where the towers are. Someone will jump in here with that info I'm sure.
I have read every thread on this board and have spent countless hours trying to reprogram my scanner to match &^%%&# thresholds and #$%^&* whatever technical stuff that I have no idea what some of highly technical people are trying to help us with.
I am just a novice. (however I hold a GMRS license lol)
We are making this too hard.
Observations:
1. If you don't have a good signal you can't catch the control channels
2. When the wind blows your signal will suffer.
3. A low signal gives you the garble that we have talked and read about.
4. When I listened to the Speedway Fire yesterday (with the F bombs) We do have a problem with the firefighters inside the building with their gear on. I could hear ops outside fine but the guys in the fire could not be heard clear enough to me.
It does seem that ops could hear them (I don't know how)
5. It only took a degeree left or right to tune the antenna once I got close. Very touchy from Greenwood. (important)
6. I'm hearing Meca just as clear as Safe-T. I'm not bragging about this because I was so frustrated I was ready to throw this scanner in the trash last Sunday.
When you get it right, it sounds much better than the analog.
Most of this has already been posted, but this is my own experience.
Just my cheap .02
BC796D
After listening to Meca 1 this week I have this to offer:
Use a good outside directional antenna with a good cable. This is very important!
I think I saw a map that shows where the towers are. Someone will jump in here with that info I'm sure.
I have read every thread on this board and have spent countless hours trying to reprogram my scanner to match &^%%&# thresholds and #$%^&* whatever technical stuff that I have no idea what some of highly technical people are trying to help us with.
I am just a novice. (however I hold a GMRS license lol)
We are making this too hard.
Observations:
1. If you don't have a good signal you can't catch the control channels
2. When the wind blows your signal will suffer.
3. A low signal gives you the garble that we have talked and read about.
4. When I listened to the Speedway Fire yesterday (with the F bombs) We do have a problem with the firefighters inside the building with their gear on. I could hear ops outside fine but the guys in the fire could not be heard clear enough to me.
It does seem that ops could hear them (I don't know how)
5. It only took a degeree left or right to tune the antenna once I got close. Very touchy from Greenwood. (important)
6. I'm hearing Meca just as clear as Safe-T. I'm not bragging about this because I was so frustrated I was ready to throw this scanner in the trash last Sunday.
When you get it right, it sounds much better than the analog.
Most of this has already been posted, but this is my own experience.
Just my cheap .02
BC796D
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I've been seeing 10144 a lot and it's encrypted..
Bojack
Member
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2004
- Messages
- 19
GRE, Uniden & closed banks
Those of you using the GRE or Uniden are you capable of having a closed bank on the new Indy P25 system? By a closed bank that would be having select talk groups in a bank and listen to just those programmed groups. I have the Pro 96 that I have to keep the bank open in order to receive anything and not being able to narrow down just the few groups I would like to monitor.
My only option I have now is to leave the bank open then select the lockout for the groups I don't want to listen to.This list will quickly fill up as the new system expands and the Pro 96 runs out of memory allocation. Anyone else with the Pro 96 or 2096 have this issue? Any work arounds?
Thanks
Those of you using the GRE or Uniden are you capable of having a closed bank on the new Indy P25 system? By a closed bank that would be having select talk groups in a bank and listen to just those programmed groups. I have the Pro 96 that I have to keep the bank open in order to receive anything and not being able to narrow down just the few groups I would like to monitor.
My only option I have now is to leave the bank open then select the lockout for the groups I don't want to listen to.This list will quickly fill up as the new system expands and the Pro 96 runs out of memory allocation. Anyone else with the Pro 96 or 2096 have this issue? Any work arounds?
Thanks
Viper43
Member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2005
- Messages
- 3,272
The nearest tower isn't the one I listen to...it's 5 or 6 miles to the Lawrence tower, but I get the one on 21st better and thats probably 10 miles at least.
V
GTO_04
Member
My PSR-500 has been flawless, with the exception of noisy firegrounds which is an inherent problem in the system. It's a big improvement over the analog IMHO.
GTO_04
GTO_04
I have a PRO-96 that has been useless with thte digital system. I swear it is something I've programmed wrong, but I've tried eveything and I am not receiving a damn thing.
I am now running it in open mode and still not getting anything.
I live at 79th and Michigan.
delallen
Member
W9NES
Member
Sounds like MECA has worked on the system.The audio sounds a little better on the Northwest Side around 79Th and Michigan Road.is anyone else having a audio problem across the city/County?
ind224
Member
96 issue
I have a 96 with cpu 1.4 . Firmware is all current.
As as on the analog sytem, I usually CC only and save TG as heard.
The 96 is space limited and with the analog I had to run 3 banks to get MECA 1 with special events still popping up ocassionally. 2 banks closed and 1 open to catch.
Last night I cleaned out all the Sys 2 I had on the one bank for collecting the new digital. Then I locked out sys 2 CC and scanned just Sys 1 CC saving and entering my own text via win96. As I type (at work) new TG are still coming in and I just save them and text ID them at home. Don't forget FIRE/EMS are still analog for the most part and airport fire is still using the 453.475 with PL. I lock that out and listen on a different radio so I can keep the squelch wide open on the 96.
Airport was instructed to go back to analog due to issues (last night) and I find the watery sound (like when SAFE T was new) to be the annoying but tolerable thing so far.
I am getting most of all communications running a base antenna but the duck is useless in a building.
Good coax and antenna orientation is going to be key as previously mentioned.
Some folks will probably be OK with a discone and others may well need yagi's;dont slack on the coax. Single runs with no breaks are always the best.
I'm fortunate to have a rooftop antenna at work near the airport for daytime listening.
I have a 96 with cpu 1.4 . Firmware is all current.
As as on the analog sytem, I usually CC only and save TG as heard.
The 96 is space limited and with the analog I had to run 3 banks to get MECA 1 with special events still popping up ocassionally. 2 banks closed and 1 open to catch.
Last night I cleaned out all the Sys 2 I had on the one bank for collecting the new digital. Then I locked out sys 2 CC and scanned just Sys 1 CC saving and entering my own text via win96. As I type (at work) new TG are still coming in and I just save them and text ID them at home. Don't forget FIRE/EMS are still analog for the most part and airport fire is still using the 453.475 with PL. I lock that out and listen on a different radio so I can keep the squelch wide open on the 96.
Airport was instructed to go back to analog due to issues (last night) and I find the watery sound (like when SAFE T was new) to be the annoying but tolerable thing so far.
I am getting most of all communications running a base antenna but the duck is useless in a building.
Good coax and antenna orientation is going to be key as previously mentioned.
Some folks will probably be OK with a discone and others may well need yagi's;dont slack on the coax. Single runs with no breaks are always the best.
I'm fortunate to have a rooftop antenna at work near the airport for daytime listening.
GTO_04
Member
IMHO, if you are in Marion County, you should not need an external antenna to pick up the new MECA system. Are you near a cell tower causing interference? I am getting 5 bars on my 500 all the time inside a concrete block building.
GTO_04
GTO_04
GTO - you may have missed it before, but location is CRITICAL.
It doesn't take much to see that some people lucked out by having their homes in a perfect spot. But don't equate that to others having the wrong radio, or programming it wrong, or anything else. This is a KNOWN issue which affects E V E R Y CQPSK simulcast digital system in the COUNTRY. A directional antenna pointed at the closest tower is how you get the best signal. Nothing else.
It doesn't take much to see that some people lucked out by having their homes in a perfect spot. But don't equate that to others having the wrong radio, or programming it wrong, or anything else. This is a KNOWN issue which affects E V E R Y CQPSK simulcast digital system in the COUNTRY. A directional antenna pointed at the closest tower is how you get the best signal. Nothing else.
GTO_04
Member
I never said that anyone had the wrong radio! Just reporting my results, sorry if that offended anyone. I am not the only one to report that the GRE does a better job on CQPSK simulcast systems.
Also I am not using mine in just one "perfect" location.
GTO_04
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The point is you should NOT need any thing special to pick it up IN COUNTY the Unidens and GRE work just fine I have been all over the county"NOT JUST AT HOME" and out of county the system reaches out in to outlying countys and YES you may need somthing more OUT OF COUNTY we are not trying to tick any one off just trying to help some people do have some wrong settings and have put the sys 1 and sys2 freqs together as one system because of the DB it needs to be seprate like the Analog was listed seprate for 1 and 2 yes we know that scanners have a hard time decoding the digital but we are trying to help ease the symptoms a bit. By the way some users of the system are having some of the same issues with the XTS5000 as scanner users. This is still coming on line so there will be a lot of tweaking so it is a wait and see game if it gets any better for every one.
Note on the 396T and the 996T
I have found some times on the P25 Band Plan Setting that there is more than 2 freqs and steps listed there should only be two. Delete the third if it shows up. MECA sends this band plan out on the CC so it should auto set that band plan for you for 2 listed freqs and steps.
Note on the 396T and the 996T
I have found some times on the P25 Band Plan Setting that there is more than 2 freqs and steps listed there should only be two. Delete the third if it shows up. MECA sends this band plan out on the CC so it should auto set that band plan for you for 2 listed freqs and steps.
I quess my point in the last thread is this
Dont run out and get new antennas and cable and spend a lot of money just yet Motorola and MECA are still bringing the system online and there will be a lot of changes and tower work from them. So just hold in there and wait and see.
Dont run out and get new antennas and cable and spend a lot of money just yet Motorola and MECA are still bringing the system online and there will be a lot of changes and tower work from them. So just hold in there and wait and see.
pliquett
Member
What about if you get great signal 5 bars almost constantly? The problem is that the transmissions are 9 out of 10 times nothing but garble. It happens on almost all talkgroups. One time its fine the next 9 garble then maybe fine for a few. I don't think signal or control channel is the problem I feel that the radios for whatever reason are overloaded and until someone figures out how to fix it its going to be a long and painful process. I have a feeling from listening that its not just scanners having issues but the police radios as well. Has anyone talked to gre about the issues?
speedway_navigator
Member
I'm at 30th and High School and my signal strength meter goes from nothing to full scale and back 3 - 4 times a second. It does seem better outside, but still intermittent. I've tried tweaking about every setting I can find and I still see errors from 14 to 70+.
I have PM'd a couple of readers and tried their settings without any gain / loss.
I thought I had hit the magic spot last night when I turned the squelch down to 2 and got about 5 or 6 conversations in a row, but then a sgt called in a foot pursuit of an armed suspect and the next thing I heard was a "in custody" call from 2 blocks away, so I know I missed some stuff there.
I have PM'd a couple of readers and tried their settings without any gain / loss.
I thought I had hit the magic spot last night when I turned the squelch down to 2 and got about 5 or 6 conversations in a row, but then a sgt called in a foot pursuit of an armed suspect and the next thing I heard was a "in custody" call from 2 blocks away, so I know I missed some stuff there.
kb9tfh
Member
Maybe if someone has a codeplug from the PSR-500 and BCD-396 that is working really, really well (after some tweaks of course) they could upload it....
Just a thought....
Joe KB9TFH
Just a thought....
Joe KB9TFH
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