Palmetto 800 Good or not?

[IPD845]

I have wondered wheter or not the Palmetto system is really as good as they say. Since I started working around law enforcement most of the agencies have had problems. Example in case Irmo has 1 active channel and has one inactive, and are paying for both. Then of course Lexington County has large dead spots, but you look at the coverage map the system covers the whole of the county. Now one of the reasons this occured is they removed them from the harbison tower so the city of Columbia could use it. Course some problems all go back to the local radio shop ie programming screw ups(radio channels and other features). Just wondering what everyone else's opinion of this system is.

 

[jbstahr]

I don't know about the system as a whole, but here in York County, SCHP uses Palmetto 800 although I almost never hear them on it. Even if I monitor in open mode, I get almost no traffic off of any of the nearby sites. I get plenty of traffic from the Charlotte TRS so I know my radio isn't the issue.

 

[LarrySC]

The upstate is booming!! Towers; Paris Mtn, Hogback, Fairforest, Stone Sta., Seneca, Anderson, Laurens, and one planned soon for Pickens. No problem here. Using BC-780's, PRO-2067, and PRO-95 and 96 which all work good. In this area PRO-95/95 original rubber duck is replaced by 1/4 wave 3" 800 and all freq down thru VHF work good. Maybe in your area you need better antennas. Some at this site: www.bncantenna.com

 

[jbstahr]

The upstate is booming!! Towers; Paris Mtn, Hogback, Fairforest, Stone Sta., Seneca, Anderson, Laurens, and one planned soon for Pickens. No problem here. Using BC-780's, PRO-2067, and PRO-95 and 96 which all work good. In this area PRO-95/95 original rubber duck is replaced by 1/4 wave 3" 800 and all freq down thru VHF work good. Maybe in your area you need better antennas. Some at this site: www.bncantenna.com

Currently I monitor the Chester,Newport and Lancaster sites. Very minimal traffic. I don't think antennas are the issue as I can monitor everything great with the exception of Palmetto. The Charlotte TRS comes in loud and clear. I have a RS discone antenna mounted in my attic as outdoor antennas are prohibited by the HOA. Does any one in York County have any input on monitoring Palmetto?

 

[jeffmulter]

I'm surprised you don't hear much off the Newport, Lancaster and Chester sites.

I find the Newport and Lancaster sites quite active, particularly during the morning and afternoon drive times. I monitor these sites by scanlist, only (not in open mode), but the SCHP York and SCHP Chester / Lancaster / Fairfield / Chesterfield talkgroups are active.

Chester Sheriffs can be heard off both the Chester and Lancaster sites.

SHEP units from both I-77, and sometimes I-85 (Cherokee Co) can be heard on DPS 4 and Shep 4 (they are separate talkgroups).

Relative to the CMPD system, the Palmetto sites might seem inactive, though.

Signal-wise, the Newport site is stronger than the Lancaster site here in Indian Land. A couple of months ago, I was doing a check on the CMPD Red Fez site from the Buster Boyd Bridge, and found I could hear the Newport control channel well with no rubber duckie from that location.

Double-check the latency percentage of the sites at your location to make sure they are being decoded well by your scanner.

Also, make sure you don't have the control channels for each site programmed together in the same bank. If you do, place a couple of conventional channels, such as the ITAC frequencies, between each control channel.

 

[jbstahr]

Also, make sure you don't have the control channels for each site programmed together in the same bank. If you do, place a couple of conventional channels, such as the ITAC frequencies, between each control channel.

Your last paragraph pretty much hit the nail on the head. I re-set the channels and am now picking up schp fairly well. It's still fuzzy at times, but readable. What after-market antenna do you recommend, Jeff?

 

[jeffmulter]

Recent observations from other Pro 96 users seem to indicate that the scanner will tend to lock onto the first control channel it decodes - and not decode the other control channels - when control channels are programmed in adjoining memory positions.

By programming a couple of conventional channels between each control channel, you force the scanner out of trunking mode after each control channel.

Aftermarket antenna ? Before considering replacing your antenna, try relocating it in the attic. I have a couple of discones among the antennas in my attic, and placement is very critical. A foot this or that way changes reception in various directions.

I have mine on stands made from Christmas tree holders and PVC. Wooden 2x2s will also work. Take your stand, a piece of coax and your scanner up into the attic, and check the reception from various areas of the attic.

 

[evan]

Then of course Lexington County has large dead spots, but you look at the coverage map the system covers the whole of the county.

My understanding is that the coverage map is for mobile (in vehicle) radios. Lexington County SD hardly has any mobile radios. They mostly use XTS3000 handhelds which obviously don't put out as much power as mobile radios and don't receive as well as radios with external antennas on top of vehicles.

Now one of the reasons this occured is they removed them from the harbison tower so the city of Columbia could use it.

Have they ever been on the Harbsion tower? I never remember Lexington County talkgroups being affiliated with that cell and I was told it was to save money because users have to pay more according the number of towers they use. Just recently however, Lexington County EMS talkgroups have begun to affiliate with Harbsion. If the issue is indeed money and not too many users on one cell, perhaps LCSD should stop encrypting all 10+ talkgroups and use the money saved to pay for the fees of using another cell.

I've always been impressed with the system although I am not a user of it. My Pro-96 with the RS 800mhz antenna does a great job tracking the system.

 

[jbstahr]

After some programming tweaks I am picking up the traffic here in York County. I also am experimenting with the J-pole antenna that Pro-95 has discussed on other posts. I decided to make the 800 Mhz one first and the results are impressive. I am hearing things that I couldn't pull in before, and thats with the antenna out on the porch!

 

[IPD845]

I was talking to a Lexington County Sgt. , CPD officer, and Irmo CPL. none are impressed with the Palmetto 800. Lexington had the usual complaints and CPD and Irmo complaind of inactive channels that didn't work. And I would like to know how some one was able to come up with Irmo's 800 channel 2 as of last night when I checked it still doesn't work on my radio. Now Lexington's mobile's that they do have still have the same dead spot's that their hand helds do and I was advised that the encryption cost them the same as richland county pay's for normal 800 channels. Now when the system first started yeah it cost more because the towers had to have adjustment's made but after that was so it could handle encrypted.

 

[INDY72]

The Palmetto 800 will be going through Phase II of its buildout/improvement over the next two years,.. according to Motorola this will increase coverage to the point that even with a HT on a low power setting should have good coverage Statewide (minus the few dead spots, these are unavoidable). In the upstate they are trying to work closely with the slow buildout of the NC system to set up a series of crosslinks, as will be done with the GA system once it does a buildout. In the Low Country the Palmetto 800 is amazing and is very busy... From personal experience there are just a couple of deadspots, and reception was very good even in most buildings using an XTS3000-R, as well as great reception on a PRO-94 B. It will be interesting to see just what its like after Phase II is completed. When I make my next trip down to Myrtle Beach, Chucktown, and then up to Charlotte, will listen and see what I can pick up, as that should give a good cross state sampling of the Palmetto 800. I already know the Greenville/Spartanburg sector is awesome, and have personal experience monitoring that in Ashville, NC, with no fade at all, using an PRO-94 B with the rubber duckie!

 

[marke241]

I live in the Charleston area , and I agree with Milf. I have no problems hearing traffic on the Pal- 800 system. I would say that I listen practically every day, using the PRO-2067,92 and 95. Sure there are times when the reception is a little weak, such as when I'm down in the Charleston area and it locks on to the Moncks Corner or Summerville cell instead of Hagood. But also there are plenty of times when I pick up the Holly Hill and Orangeburg Cell and sometimes even the Bamberg site from Summerville. Overall I think the system does a great job. And by the way, most of the time I'm just using either the 800 mhz RS antenna or the rubber duckie to get these results.

 

[merlin-7]

The dorchester county system is booming

 

[scfcpd71]

the Darlington area tower is working well. The system is lightly loaded most times and the freqs can be scanned in conventional mode.

Usually the SCHP and SHEP are the only ones on most days...I'm about 4 miles from the Darlington tower and indoor reception on a Pro-2007 is readable. During the local NASCAR race there was lots more digital modulation but I was able to enjoy keeping up with it all.

I've noticed the audio level is about 1/3 lower than the conventional PS freqs including those of the agency I work for the SC Forestry.

Mitch