Orange County CORNet P25 System
- Thread starter GTR8000
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Deer Park PD is a tac talkgroup, not dispatch, and they go OOS at midnight. Port is pretty quiet tonight, same with Sheriff. Just put the scanner into wildcard mode so you can get whatever activity is on the system currently. Are you even locked onto the control channel? Should be seeing a T or whatever the display shows.
Ive never used the wildcard mode im trying to figure out how to do that
It's not really weird, but rather FCC restrictions on RF contours. The days of low band and VHF flame throwers is gone. The FCC has, in some cases, put very tight restrictions on how much RF can leave the licensed County's borders.
You would think...
Well if you don't live in the red circle don't even waste your time programming anything . I was literally at Walmart in westfall nothing! I started to hear a little when I got closer to Price Chopper started to really hear when I got to the Matamoras Port Jervis bridge.
Nonsense, there is plenty of signal in the area. RSSI in the Walmart parking lot is 80+ on an APX portable. I guarantee that if I stood outside your house near the BRCTV tower, I would get a strong signal from the North cell.
The system is simulcast, and as has been discussed many times in the past here, most scanners can't properly decode P25 simulcast trunking. You could try a better antenna than the stock wideband, something geared towards 700 and/or 800 MHz. If hearing the system is that important to you, then invest in better hardware that is designed to decode P25 simulcast trunking, such as a Uniden SDS series scanner or a Unication G series pager.
But to claim that there is no signal in the air a few miles inside Pike County is flat out wrong.
What type of antenna are you using on your Whistler scanner? Rubber duck or an outdoor antenna? I have had success through that area on my SDS100 and Unication G5 using rubber duck antennas. The Unication isn't a fair comparison because it's very similar to a commercial radio.
I am using the old magnet mount RadioShack antenna with a ws1080 whistler https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=5654
Ok, I'd recommend an SDS series scanner or Unication if you are looking to maximize your reception of any of the newer simulcast systems just as GTR8000 stated in his post. Scanning has become very technical(although maybe it always was!) and having the right equipment is essential to one's success.
I recently picked this antenna up https://www.scannermaster.com/Wideband_Antenna_with_Mag_Mount_and_BNC_p/01-541326.htm and I highly recommend it. I took a trip to NH from NY and the antenna was perfect across VHF, and 800 analog/digital systems connected to an SDS100.
Basically the Whistler scanner doesn't handle the simulcast decoding very well which is why you are experiencing little to no signal where you have done testing. The SDS series and Unication Pagers are designed specifically for these simulcast systems which will greatly improve your scanning enjoyment.
Simulcast distortion is the main cause of what you are experiencing. This is a common topic amongst the scanning community nowadays so don't feel like you are the only one.
Good luck and keep scanning!
I had an SDS200 and it did ok for scanning the CORNet system, but then I got a Unication G4 and it is actually better than the the SDS. I find, in my personal experience, that the Unication scans receives as well as some of the APX radios that my agency uses.
Those were my favorite antennas! When OC used to be all low band and that antenna would pick up great on those frequencies.
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Was this before the EDACS days?
EDACS was not used by any of the FDs in my area. I believe Middlehope FD used EDACS, but most EDACS was police agencies. Some PDs were on EDACS and some were on VHF. Not every PD in the County used EDACS because of reception issues with it. All EMS agencies were on VHF and most FDs were on low band.
We know, but this thread is about Orange County, not Dutchess or Ulster.
In fact, this thread is about the P25 system, not the EDACS system or low band or anything else.
Ah thank you for this information, I would have never known. Thanks for cracking the case detective!
w2lpa
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It appears that most on this thread have trunking P-25 Phase 2 capable scanners.
I've had some success listening to the system's South signal with just a single RTL-SDR, a piece of wire hanging from the window, and SDR-Trunk software running on Windows.
Next step for me is either a second RTL-SDR (or other SDR) with DSD+, or a discriminator tap on an old scanner and DSD+.
The threads on this system have been most helpful. I'm keeping an eye out for the day when the LE talkgroups become encrypted.
I've had some success listening to the system's South signal with just a single RTL-SDR, a piece of wire hanging from the window, and SDR-Trunk software running on Windows.
Next step for me is either a second RTL-SDR (or other SDR) with DSD+, or a discriminator tap on an old scanner and DSD+.
The threads on this system have been most helpful. I'm keeping an eye out for the day when the LE talkgroups become encrypted.
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