Ooook. Now i'm starting to question the functionality of my radio

[hiegtx]

See anything wrong in the screenshots? I'm just trying for brazoria sheriff and fort bend sheriff dispatch mostly.

Using:
Texas Wide Area Radio Network (TxWARN) (P25) Trunking System, Various, Texas - Scanner Frequencies


Scanner Settings
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Jet, looking at the last two screenshots, it looks like you have the sites set up fairly well. I did not validate all the talkgroups, but the site frequencies look ok.

However, the next to last picture, I see where you have named the Scanlists for each "system" (you're programming each site as a different system, which is also how I handle FWRRS in my area). However, even though you have the sites created, with associated talkgroups for what you want to hear, looking at that last pic, those lists are not enabled. So, the scanner would check the 'site' (entered as a system), but there would be no active talkgroups associated with it since that list is off.

Turn on (enable) the scanlists for each of these, send that to the scanner (write to the SD card), then see what you get.

 

[jetscanner]

Jet, looking at the last two screenshots, it looks like you have the sites set up fairly well. I did not validate all the talkgroups, but the site frequencies look ok.

However, the next to last picture, I see where you have named the Scanlists for each "system" (you're programming each site as a different system, which is also how I handle FWRRS in my area). However, even though you have the sites created, with associated talkgroups for what you want to hear, looking at that last pic, those lists are not enabled. So, the scanner would check the 'site' (entered as a system), but there would be no active talkgroups associated with it since that list is off.

Turn on (enable) the scanlists for each of these, send that to the scanner (write to the SD card), then see what you get.

Someone else pointed that out. Im actually just enabling the playlist I want to listen to when on the scanner.

Is that what youre talking about?

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[jetscanner]

My old PRO18 used to stop receiving P25 sites and the fix was to replace the SD card.. It would hear analog traffic just fine not P25 until the card change it has done that 3 times to me over time.

I had read about that somewhere on here. Gave it a try. Started from scratch. No luck

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[hiegtx]

Someone else pointed that out. Im actually just enabling the playlist I want to listen to when on the scanner.

Is that what youre talking about?

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Yep.

I take the opposite action. For my TRX-1, which uses similar software & programming, I have the lists enabled, then disable (turn off) the ones I want to skip on the scanner itself.

I see that you have the Scan set enabled, but not the individual scan lists, which is what I was referring to.

 

[jetscanner]

Took it with me for a little drive (2-4 miles) and got short bursts of talking with the (T) Trunk icon. SO, that answers it. SIGNAL.

Good news and bad news.
Good because my scanner isnt broken.
Bad, because it means my home is possibly in a horrible location.

-At home, when connected to the Yagi, its silent, but gets FULL bars, but NO "T". Whats up with that!?
-On the regular factory antenna, silent, and it struggles to get 1 bar. (no T/Trunking signal on display)
-On this old scanner whip antenna I have, its silent, and it struggles at 2-3 bars. (no T/Trunking signal on display)

I've danced around the yard a bit, no real luck yet.

 

[buddrousa]

How close are you to FM RADIO TOWER, TV STATION TOWER, or CELL PHONE TOWER. Have you turned on the ATT?

 

[jetscanner]

How close are you to FM RADIO TOWER, TV STATION TOWER, or CELL PHONE TOWER. Have you turned on the ATT?

Yeah ATT doesnt seem to help.

I DO have a cell tower about 1.5 miles from me.....



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[buddrousa]

Then I would look for noise in your home WIFI, LED BULBS, ect. How is your coax run next to AC POWER? It can induce noise if run parallel closer than 6 inches has to cross at 90 degrees and not touch the AC wire. What is the antenna mounted on can you get beside the antenna with the scanner and rubber duck antenna and hear traffic. Have you looked at your coax disconnected from the antenna with a ohm meter it should read open. A beam at you house should work better than the rubber duck 2 miles closer.

 

[jetscanner]

Then I would look for noise in your home WIFI, LED BULBS, ect. How is your coax run next to AC POWER? It can induce noise if run parallel closer than 6 inches has to cross at 90 degrees and not touch the AC wire. What is the antenna mounted on can you get beside the antenna with the scanner and rubber duck antenna and hear traffic. Have you looked at your coax disconnected from the antenna with a ohm meter it should read open. A beam at you house should work better than the rubber duck 2 miles closer.

I can get Phase 2 wonderfully. A tower for that is 4-6 miles down the road. Hell I even get broadcasts with the antenna off.

I went up to the roof to connect directly to the antenna. Same issue.

Wifi is here, but definitely a necessity. I can shut it off to test.

One question: on phase 2 I can get 1-2-3 bars and the T trunking signal. On phase 1 I get full solid bars yet no trunking signal.

Hows that?



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[buddrousa]

As posted by a SCANNER REP for a SCANNER SALES COMPANY (A man that most people here call a scanner expert) had noise problems he searched for months to find a LED NIGHT LIGHT was the source of the noise.

 

[jetscanner]

As posted by a SCANNER REP for a SCANNER SALES COMPANY (A man that most people here call a scanner expert) had noise problems he searched for months to find a LED NIGHT LIGHT was the source of the noise.

lol oh man. I mind as well just shut off the breaker and see what happens.

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[buddrousa]

You ask for help we are trying to tell you what works or does not work for others. If you do not want help just say so and I will offer no more help.

 

[jetscanner]

You ask for help we are trying to tell you what works or does not work for others. If you do not want help just say so and I will offer no more help.

You misunderstood. Im actually going to turn off the breaker and then check signal. I wasnt being sarcastic. Otherwise it would take all night disabling all the electronics around here only to not find a culprit.

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[buddrousa]

Like I said Rich looked for months before he found his. If I read your post you do not get the signal connected straight to the antenna with a short jumper.

 

[INDY72]

I can get Phase 2 wonderfully. A tower for that is 4-6 miles down the road. Hell I even get broadcasts with the antenna off.

I went up to the roof to connect directly to the antenna. Same issue.

Wifi is here, but definitely a necessity. I can shut it off to test.

One question: on phase 2 I can get 1-2-3 bars and the T trunking signal. On phase 1 I get full solid bars yet no trunking signal.

Hows that?



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If the Phase I system is an LSM (Simulcast) then multipath distortion can cause you more headaches than a bit of interference from your fridge light etc....

 

[jetscanner]

If the Phase I system is an LSM (Simulcast) then multipath distortion can cause you more headaches than a bit of interference from your fridge light etc....

Love the screen name

It is a simulcast and im dead center between two towers (each about 30 miles away) if that has any effect

Does using a single site change anything for the scanner? Thats how I have it running on mine

Ive tinkered with AGC etc with no luck so far. Ill keep reading some more

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[AggieCon]

Simulcast Reception Tips

Howdy Jet Scanner. Sorry to jump in here late. I haven't been on this website much lately.

I am down the road from you.

The Brazoria County TXWARN P25 Simulcast system is spotty when using a consumer radio scanner. Both Uniden and Whistler perform about the same; perhaps a 536HP does just a bit better than Whistler. But nothing worth buying a new scanner.

Your scanner does not demodulate the P25 Linear Simulcast Modulation properly, so it is less tolerant to timing issues caused by the additional multipath due to multiple transition sites.

For home use, the best advice I can give is to buy two $10 RTL_SDR dongles and use DSD+, which is another $10. That should do the trick.

You'll do best with a 700-800mHz antenna. The factory one is marginal.

If you search this website regarding simulcast, you'll find a lot of information to go off of.

In short, here are my most important tips for improving your reception:

• Monitor only 1 system at a time
• Turn the squelch setting all the way down
• Program only one site per system (It appears you have done this. Good!)
• Program only the active control channel (It's 772.85625)
• Set a delay time of at least 0.3 seconds
• Have a wildcard (note: this is a busy site, start skipping talkgroups so it isn't jumping into the middle or end of 6843546 calls).

The Brazoria County SO talkgroup is pretty active. There's stuff from Houston. DPS. All of the local cities. Tons to hear.



In your area, you should also be able to receive a lot of Harris County stuff. I can't speak to Fort Bend.


I'd be happy to take a look at your scanlist if you email it to me.


Another thing I can offer: Digital Frequency Quick Import


Set it to around 80 watts minimum and pull each county (for P25) into the conventional list. You'll be able to find all of the trunked traffic in a hurry that way.


Send me an email: Justin@DigitalFrequencySearch.com


I can also send you some SDR and antenna recommendations.

 

[jetscanner]

Howdy Jet Scanner. Sorry to jump in here late. I haven't been on this website much lately.

I am down the road from you.

The Brazoria County TXWARN P25 Simulcast system is spotty when using a consumer radio scanner. Both Uniden and Whistler perform about the same; perhaps a 536HP does just a bit better than Whistler. But nothing worth buying a new scanner.

Your scanner does not demodulate the P25 Linear Simulcast Modulation properly, so it is less tolerant to timing issues caused by the additional multipath due to multiple transition sites.

For home use, the best advice I can give is to buy two $10 RTL_SDR dongles and use DSD+, which is another $10. That should do the trick.

You'll do best with a 700-800mHz antenna. The factory one is marginal.

If you search this website regarding simulcast, you'll find a lot of information to go off of.

In short, here are my most important tips for improving your reception:

• Monitor only 1 system at a time
• Turn the squelch setting all the way down
• Program only one site per system (It appears you have done this. Good!)
• Program only the active control channel (It's 772.85625)
• Set a delay time of at least 0.3 seconds
• Have a wildcard (note: this is a busy site, start skipping talkgroups so it isn't jumping into the middle or end of 6843546 calls).

The Brazoria County SO talkgroup is pretty active. There's stuff from Houston. DPS. All of the local cities. Tons to hear.



In your area, you should also be able to receive a lot of Harris County stuff. I can't speak to Fort Bend.


I'd be happy to take a look at your scanlist if you email it to me.


Another thing I can offer: Digital Frequency Quick Import


Set it to around 80 watts minimum and pull each county (for P25) into the conventional list. You'll be able to find all of the trunked traffic in a hurry that way.


Send me an email: Justin@DigitalFrequencySearch.com


I can also send you some SDR and antenna recommendations.

Awwwwesome info. I actually have the attachable RS 800mhz coming in today, so we'll see how that goes and where to go from there. Im also building a yagi.

In the past 24 hours ive confirmed I can get spotty BCSO service about 1 mile down the road. I also can get spotty FBSO when about 2 miles the other way (im around the brazoria/fort bend border)

Originally I wasnt sure if this scanner was fully functional, so its good to rule that out and strangely a relief to know its location and not the device.



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[AggieCon]

My best advice is to use the tools that are best to accomplish your goal.

In this case, that's likely:

1. A pair of $10 software radios
2. The ~ $1,000 Unication Pager
3. An even more expensive radio

No matter what you do, your Whistler isn't going to work well while mobile. If you are fortunate, you will be able to construct a sweet spot at your home that will allow good decode in that spot.


Please do implement the tips regarding squelch and programming just the control channel, etc. That will help.

 

[jetscanner]

My best advice is to use the tools that are best to accomplish your goal.

In this case, that's likely:

1. A pair of $10 software radios
2. The ~ $1,000 Unication Pager
3. An even more expensive radio

No matter what you do, your Whistler isn't going to work well while mobile. If you are fortunate, you will be able to construct a sweet spot at your home that will allow good decode in that spot.


Please do implement the tips regarding squelch and programming just the control channel, etc. That will help.

800mhz came in. Signal is now great with everything. Just no trunking/T data. I have a set also for just the control channels.

Le sigh.

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