P25RX Trivia

[kb8q]

Michigan has 83 counties. We also have one of the largest P25 systems in the country. The system serves almost every county. It's run by the state and has 110,000 users.

I've had the P25RX about 11 weeks. In that time, the P25RX has recorded nearly 15,000 unique RID's. The county code is embedded in the radio ID. I just did a little analysis of the 15,000 RID's it's captured and discovered that I have radio ID's from literally every one of the state's 83 counties.

Wow.

 

[djbisme]

Michigan’s MPSCS system is very impressive and well thought-out.

 

[kb8q]

Michigan’s MPSCS system is very impressive and well thought-out.

Seems to be, yes. Probably why the adoption rate has been very high by agencies all over the state. Now, even the few that held back are starting to come on board.

 

[kb8q]

Urban Antenna Structure

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I like the ground plane. With a name like Smuckers, its gotta be good!

 

[kb8q]

For over 2,500 TGID's, 2 radios are better than 1.

 

[kb8q]

In the upper right of that photo is a new Anker product. 100W using GAN technology. It's about the size of an iPhone Pro Max except a bit thicker. 2 USB-C, 2 USB-A and 2 a/c outlets on top. It's powering the MacBook Pro with 2 P25RX receivers connected and plenty of power to spare for charging whatever else I need. Very compact setup.

 

[w8tut]

Hello. New to RR and BTT. I'm in Michigan as well. I've downloaded the statewide channel database and noticed, much to my chagrin, that the control channels are not marked in the database as they are on the website. I'm using the tree-view testing software which requires you to mark the control channels. And, btt recommended that I load only the control channels onto the P25RX-II. So, I am in the process of deleting all but the control frequencies from the MPSCS entries in the database by visually cross-checking them against the website. This method is incredibly slow. Does anyone know if there is a better method?

 

[kb8q]

Hello. New to RR and BTT. I'm in Michigan as well. I've downloaded the statewide channel database and noticed, much to my chagrin, that the control channels are not marked in the database as they are on the website. I'm using the tree-view testing software which requires you to mark the control channels. And, btt recommended that I load only the control channels onto the P25RX-II. So, I am in the process of deleting all but the control frequencies from the MPSCS entries in the database by visually cross-checking them against the website. This method is incredibly slow. Does anyone know if there is a better method?

I looked you up in QRZ. If you're primarily using the receiver at home, you really only need the CC & ALT freqs for the Washtenaw simulcast 2/22 as 2 of the towers for that are close to you. That would be a good place to start. Those freqs are 853.25, 855.0875 & 855.2875. The simplest thing to do is only keep the 1 CC active as the ALT's aren't used very often. I believe the primary CC there is usually 855.2875. You'll be able to hear all the traffic on the Washtenaw simulcast if you have just that one freq active.

 

[W4KRR]

In the upper right of that photo is a new Anker product. 100W using GAN technology. It's about the size of an iPhone Pro Max except a bit thicker. 2 USB-C, 2 USB-A and 2 a/c outlets on top. It's powering the MacBook Pro with 2 P25RX receivers connected and plenty of power to spare for charging whatever else I need. Very compact setup.

What is the Anker model number for the pictured power supply?

 

[jtwalker]

What is the Anker model number for the pictured power supply?

Anker 727 Charging Station

 

[kb8q]

Anker 727 Charging Station

Just now seeing this... yes, the Anker 727 is what I've got in that photo. Glad I bought it. The white LED ring on top turns blue if the power draw reaches 90-100W. Haven't seen that happen with what I'm doing.

 

[krokus]

How has reception been? Any changes with using just the CC?

 

[kb8q]

How has reception been? Any changes with using just the CC?

I'm not noticing any changes from CC to ALT. The only one around here that goes to the ALT occasionally is 701 853.725 and tht's generally not more than a couple minutes. Not worth the trouble on the Bluetail receivers to use anything more than the primary CC. In the Unications I use all the CC's and ALT's in about a 30 mile radius so I'm covered wherever I go.

 

[btt]

The P25RX models can also be programmed to use all the ALT channels. For this application, I prefer to configure it so that it will only start scanning ALT channels after about 10 seconds of no signal.

 

[kb8q]

The P25RX models can also be programmed to use all the ALT channels. For this application, I prefer to configure it so that it will only start scanning ALT channels after about 10 seconds of no signal.

The config for scanning after 10 sec of no signal is triggered by the 99999 setting in the Global Settings in the Channel Config tab. I haven't been using that because I understood that TG priority interrupt doesn't is disabled when scanning is enabled. Is it the enabling of SCAN driving that or is priority interrupt only disabled if the unit is actually scanning?

I'd rather not have to choose between the two, however, I'm not using the scan to allow the TG priority interrupt to work. The use of ALT on the large simulcast system is so brief that I'm not really even noticing the loss of signal (as in no more than a couple of minutes)

James

 

[btt]

The config for scanning after 10 sec of no signal is triggered by the 99999 setting in the Global Settings in the Channel Config tab. I haven't been using that because I understood that TG priority interrupt doesn't is disabled when scanning is enabled. Is it the enabling of SCAN driving that or is priority interrupt only disabled if the unit is actually scanning?

I'd rather not have to choose between the two, however, I'm not using the scan to allow the TG priority interrupt to work. The use of ALT on the large simulcast system is so brief that I'm not really even noticing the loss of signal (as in no more than a couple of minutes)

James

I forgot we ran into the issue with TG interrupt on the scanning versions (even though it was very recent). I don't think this is an issue with the stable (non-scanning) versions while "roaming".

 

[w8tut]

I looked you up in QRZ. If you're primarily using the receiver at home, you really only need the CC & ALT freqs for the Washtenaw simulcast 2/22 as 2 of the towers for that are close to you. That would be a good place to start. Those freqs are 853.25, 855.0875 & 855.2875. The simplest thing to do is only keep the 1 CC active as the ALT's aren't used very often. I believe the primary CC there is usually 855.2875. You'll be able to hear all the traffic on the Washtenaw simulcast if you have just that one freq active.

Thank you. I have used that on CC with success. However, I have a long commute and sometimes travel around the state. I was hoping to add all the CCs so that I could roam now matter where I, um, roamed.

 

[btt]

Thank you. I have used that on CC with success. However, I have a long commute and sometimes travel around the state. I was hoping to add all the CCs so that I could roam now matter where I, um, roamed.

If you are using the stable version of the software/firmware that the receiver shipped with, then you can test the frequencies in your area. It will automatically detect the control channels, then you can add those to the flash memory. After that, enable "roaming" on the P25RX Config tab, and set the timeout to a high value of 99999. If the signal drops for more than 10 seconds, then it will start cycling through the stored list of control channels until it finds an active one. Hope this helps.