p25 digital

[yatesfire5]

i have a radioshack pro 197 programmed for my county kust bought a scanner antenna that is supposed to help receive better and still no luck i get about 3 or 4 seconds of traffic then it goes away any help would be appericated as i am banging my head on the desk trying to figuer this out

 

[krokus]

i have a radioshack pro 197 programmed for my county kust bought a scanner antenna that is supposed to help receive better and still no luck i get about 3 or 4 seconds of traffic then it goes away any help would be appericated as i am banging my head on the desk trying to figuer this out

What do you mean goes away?

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[yatesfire5]

i have a signal for about 5 or 10 seconds then lose it also the signal strength bar is all over the place

 

[clbsquared]

Is it a simulcast system? Scanners perform very poorly with these types of systems.

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[yatesfire5]

yes it is a simulcast system

 

[SteveSimpkin]

https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Simulcast_digital_distortion

 

[ka3jjz]

I think the system he's trying to hear is this one...

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=7308

Unfortunately most of the consumer grade scanners can't handle simulcast systems very well. Simply put, your scanner is hearing the same signal from more than one site at the same time. As counter-intuitive as it might be, you actually might do better with LESS antenna (some folks have actually used a stretched out paper clip as the antenna). Why is this? This is because you want to try to hear only one tower and reduce the signal from the others. An antenna known as a Yagi is very effective in doing this.

Another error that newcomers make is that they try to dump every frequency for all sites in one TSYS. You want to program only 1 site per TSYS, assuming for a moment that you use this radio in a mobile environment - otherwise just pick the site that's physically closest to you, as that will likely be the one that gives you the best signal. Make sure you turn on the attenuator to reduce the scanner's sensitivity to other signals when scanning within that TSYS.

Look in the 'Mode' column - as long as that's a 'D', the 197 will copy it. Those that are marked 'T' are utilizing a mode the 197 can't decode. This might also be part of the issue.

We have an article in our wiki (links are always blue) that is designed to help newcomers start programming scanners like yours..note that there is an 'Easier to Read' manual linked at the bottom of...

Getting Started with your GRE/RS Object Oriented Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike

 

[RoninJoliet]

Since the extreme COLD conditions have arrived and now no leaves on trees it seems P25 Digital simulcast systems are performing worse....Its like more signal is not better that's how this animal performs, its sure not like the good o'le VHF-UHF....I use attic RS grnd plane antennas with RG6U LL coax and I copy the local towers of IL-Starcom P25 Digital system but lately two antennas are too strong a signal from different towers resulting in the "T" and bars jumping all over...Today is a little warmer and there fine.....

 

[krokus]

Since the extreme COLD conditions have arrived and now no leaves on trees it seems P25 Digital simulcast systems are performing worse....Its like more signal is not better that's how this animal performs, its sure not like the good o'le VHF-UHF....I use attic RS grnd plane antennas with RG6U LL coax and I copy the local towers of IL-Starcom P25 Digital system but lately two antennas are too strong a signal from different towers resulting in the "T" and bars jumping all over...Today is a little warmer and there fine.....

800 MHz signals are attenuated by foliage, so less leaves will allow more signals from more sites.

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[bailly2]

stick the stock rubber ducky antenna through a hole in the side of an empty paint can near the botton. best thing for simulcast distortion
...could the priority mode be on?

 

[jonwienke]

stick the stock rubber ducky antenna through a hole in the side of an empty paint can near the botton. best thing for simulcast distortion

No. The best thing is a directional antenna, so you're only picking up signal from one tower. Improvised attenuators degrade the signal, and only help if there is a significant signal level difference between towers, and the attenuation pushes the signal level of all the towers but one below the receiver's noise level. Sticking the antenna in a paint can is more likely to hurt reception than help.

 

[bob550]

In my experience, using multiple scanners and antennas with or without amplification, you can't out-wit P25 reception challenges. Just when you think you've got the best solution, reception goes south and you're back to where you started. However, if I am listening carefully enough, I'll sometimes hear variations in reception quality between mobile units and the base during the same transmission. It's possible that the base is experiencing the same difficulties I am. The point is that not all reception troubles are within our ability to resolve through antenna selection and placement.