PA Statewide P25 Phase 2 System

HM1529

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Did they possibly move the WEST03 A/G site to another tower location? It's been about 8 months since I've been able to pick up any 700MHz P25 activity from just east of Pittsburgh. I wonder if they moved the tower closer to Johnstown where there is an active PA ANG base

Anything is possible. The old PERR01 air/ground site got moved north to Center Co.
 

GTR8000

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Did they possibly move the WEST03 A/G site to another tower location? It's been about 8 months since I've been able to pick up any 700MHz P25 activity from just east of Pittsburgh. I wonder if they moved the tower closer to Johnstown where there is an active PA ANG base
8 months? Well I'll tell you this much, the recent map of sites that was posted by the SRND back in September showed the PERR01 site moved to CENT08, but it shows WEST03 in the same spot it's always been with no other 700 MHz sites in the area until you hit BLAI02. Stands to reason that if WEST03 was moved and has been off the air that long, it would've been reflected on that map as PERR01 is.

Have you actually visited the area, or are you trying to pick it up from 10+ miles away? Those sites are not designed for ground coverage, so unless you're pretty close to it, you may not pick anything up.

Is Site 146 showing as an active peer to any of the other 700 sites in that area? That would be a clue.
 

IStebleton

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8 months? Well I'll tell you this much, the recent map of sites that was posted by the SRND back in September showed the PERR01 site moved to CENT08, but it shows WEST03 in the same spot it's always been with no other 700 MHz sites in the area until you hit BLAI02. Stands to reason that if WEST03 was moved and has been off the air that long, it would've been reflected on that map as PERR01 is.

Have you actually visited the area, or are you trying to pick it up from 10+ miles away? Those sites are not designed for ground coverage, so unless you're pretty close to it, you may not pick anything up.

Is Site 146 showing as an active peer to any of the other 700 sites in that area? That would be a clue.
I'm less than 3 miles from WEST03, and I was able to pick it up when it was a part of the separate A/G system, and I picked it up now problem after it switched into the current Statewide system. After it was switched off in the spring, I have yet to get any P25 700MHz control channel. Hopefully someone in SW PA can see if Site 146 shows up somewhere
 

jeffm77

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I am in North Versailles, pretty close to the 700 MHZ site. It has been off the air since about the end of September. I have it scanning all the time. Not sure what happened to it.
 

bearcat

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Has anyone seen the WEST03 site show up as a neighbor to other sites? That might be a clue as to it being gone or off the air. That being said FAYE62 has no neighbors but it is on the air.

Just a thought
 

JimBobTerp

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Hi Pennsylvania folks
I have a question for anyone who can maybe give me some feedback. I was wondering if with this BCD536HP & with this antenna https://www.scannermaster.com/SpectrumForce_Wideband_Antenna_with_SMA_p/01-541327.htm that I can hear PA Statewide P25 Phase 2 System? I have a few sites programmed in my radio and have not heard anything. I know we are in a snow storm 1-16-21 and u think the trucks would be talking back and forth. I live Schuylkill County (Tamaqua) Thanks for the people that help me with this all.
 

KC3ECJ

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Hi Pennsylvania folks
I have a question for anyone who can maybe give me some feedback. I was wondering if with this BCD536HP & with this antenna https://www.scannermaster.com/SpectrumForce_Wideband_Antenna_with_SMA_p/01-541327.htm that I can hear PA Statewide P25 Phase 2 System? I have a few sites programmed in my radio and have not heard anything. I know we are in a snow storm 1-16-21 and u think the trucks would be talking back and forth. I live Schuylkill County (Tamaqua) Thanks for the people that help me with this all.
Are you locked onto one site or is it changing between sites?
I keep the SDS100 tuned to one site at a time.
I find it can miss stuff if it goes between too many sites.

 

maus92

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For a statewide system and a stationary monitoring position, you should only enable the sites that are receivable from your location. This increases your chance to hear active tgs for your area. The assumption is that the PA SW system has sites that are within range - many statewide systems are optimized for mobile coverage along major highways, and not necessarily in towns and rural areas.
 

Whiskey3JMC

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I have a few sites programmed in my radio and have not heard anything. I know we are in a snow storm 1-16-21 and u think the trucks would be talking back and forth.
I can't speak specifically for your region but District 6 (Philly region) was hopping last night with PENNDOT plow traffic. In addition to what has been suggested by the members above & assuming PENNDOT talkgroups for your region (District 5 I believe?) are programmed into your 536HP I'd also suggest checking to ensure the "Public Works" service type is turned on otherwise PENNDOT talkgroups won't come through
 
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Rishayan

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Hi Pennsylvania folks
I have a question for anyone who can maybe give me some feedback. I was wondering if with this BCD536HP & with this antenna https://www.scannermaster.com/SpectrumForce_Wideband_Antenna_with_SMA_p/01-541327.htm that I can hear PA Statewide P25 Phase 2 System? I have a few sites programmed in my radio and have not heard anything. I know we are in a snow storm 1-16-21 and u think the trucks would be talking back and forth. I live Schuylkill County (Tamaqua) Thanks for the people that help me with this all.
Yes, I was scanning the VHF Hi band back and forth during the last two snowstorms and heard nothing on the PA Statewide P25 Phase 2 repeater frequencies, just occasional open carriers, with nothing. About a year or two ago, I did briefly receive some PennDOT P2 traffic on one of these frequencies. Now, nothing. I am using both a TRX1 and an SDS100 scanning and monitoring in conventional mode. On the local P25 county TRS repeaters, lots of activity. On the state, nothing, just the buzz of their control channels, and the occasional off and on open carriers on the voice channels, which I believe to be the encrypted PSP transmissions. PennDOT must still be on Open Sky in this region ( Harrisburg area), as they have still not made the switch over to Phase 2.
 

GTR8000

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Yes, I was scanning the VHF Hi band back and forth during the last two snowstorms and heard nothing on the PA Statewide P25 Phase 2 repeater frequencies, just occasional open carriers, with nothing. About a year or two ago, I did briefly receive some PennDOT P2 traffic on one of these frequencies. Now, nothing. I am using both a TRX1 and an SDS100 scanning and monitoring in conventional mode. On the local P25 county TRS repeaters, lots of activity. On the state, nothing, just the buzz of their control channels, and the occasional off and on open carriers on the voice channels, which I believe to be the encrypted PSP transmissions.
You can't listen to P25 Phase II by scanning the frequencies conventionally, so you will never hear any activity unless you scan the system properly in trunked mode.
 

ka3aaa

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you aparently are not listening to the right tower site because there is a whole lot of traffic from PADOT and some other agencies in the Harrisburg area. Try listening to the 800 mhz site in Harrisburg. Program that in as a separate p25p2 system by its self and see what happens. Listening in conventional mode wont work because they are not repeater frequencies.
 

GTR8000

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Listening in conventional mode wont work because they are not repeater frequencies.
Say what? Of course they are repeaters. The reason you can't listen to P25 P2 by monitoring the voice channels directly in conventional mode is because the time slot info is not there (comes over the control channel), not because "they are not repeater frequencies".
 

Rishayan

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You can't listen to P25 Phase II by scanning the frequencies conventionally, so you will never hear any activity unless you scan the system properly in trunked mode.
That's not true at all. I listen regularly to both the Berks County and York County phase 2 systems ( as well as Chester County P2 and Maryland's FIRST P2 system when I am in the area) just by punching in the repeater frequencies.
 

Rishayan

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Incorrect, see PennDot District 8 talkgroups here (Dauphin County is Maintenance Group 8-5)
Well buddy, they must have been awful quiet the night of the recent snow storm, because I was constantly checking 159.1125 Dauphin County phase 2 repeater , as well as surrounding counties, and nothing( except for encrypted PSP). All this while local two bit rural townships were chatting away on their PW frequencies. But, of course it's possible that I just missed their occasional conversation. But I remember back in the day when they were on 47 Mhz, they sure weren't radio shy!
 

Whiskey3JMC

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That's not true at all. I listen regularly to both the Berks County and York County phase 2 systems ( as well as Chester County P2 and Maryland's FIRST P2 system when I am in the area) just by punching in the repeater frequencies.
Follow one talkgroup. It cannot be done without programming the correct way as a trunked radio system
 

maus92

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That's not true at all. I listen regularly to both the Berks County and York County phase 2 systems ( as well as Chester County P2 and Maryland's FIRST P2 system when I am in the area) just by punching in the repeater frequencies.
Depends on how busy the site is at the time you are listening - you may not be following whole conversations, and certainly not following the talk path slot assignments.
 

Rishayan

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Say what? Of course they are repeaters. The reason you can't listen to P25 P2 by monitoring the voice channels directly in conventional mode is because the time slot info is not there (comes over the control channel), not because "they are not repeater frequencies".
Well, I don't know about that, as I easily receive York County, Berks County, Chester County and many other P2 systems as I travel around the country, just by punching in the repeater frequencies. Maybe Pennsylvania has a differently configured system. However, I did receive PennDot briefly a year or two ago on one of these frequencies, I just didn't write down what frequency it was. However, maybe you are right, Pennsylvania might be different.
 
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