Palmetto Net in York ??

[k4gps]

I am trying to pick up palmetto net in York (Sharon area) and I get a really horrible signal here. The site is listed as Newport but I can hardly pick up a signal. Is there a better site to load up. Wife is flying today with MedCtr Air today and wanted to listen in to hear any callouts.

This is what I am using.
047 (2F)Newport (YORK)York854.83750855.78750858.28750a860.78750c866.48750

Thanks,
Rich

 

[LarrySC]

What scanner???? Using ATT??????? What antenna??????? Programmed with what software?????
More details will get you better answers. Larry

 

[vinzep491]

Reception is not as redundant upstate as itt is in other places. Withoutknowing more specific info i would sugfest to uldate your antenna. If youre using a handheld witth the standard rubberantenna upgrade to the radioshack 800 antenna, which works great on the pal,metto system

If you are mobile a quarter inch 800 antenna will work wonders, as will an outdoor antenna on a base radio.

 

[qball]

The Thickety Mountain site in Cherokee County or the Union County site may work better for you.

The Newport site is a long way from Sharon...

 

[Searay]

I would try to improve your reception capabilities and use the Newport site if at all possible. Medcenter Air 3 is stationed at the Rock Hill airport so while at their base they will be affiliated to the Newport site. I am not sure about their dispatch radio, whether it is at CMC in Charlotte or at some other location. If it is in Charlotte there is a high probability that they are affiliated to the Newport site as well. If that is the case this will ensure that you get all of or at least most of the comms if you monitor the Newport site.

Matt

 

[jeffmulter]

I appreciate Rich supplying the original post. I have some comments to share regarding his questions, and would appreciate any feedback from others ...

When I'm monitoring Pal 800, I have no problems with receiving Newport, Lancaster and Chester, and sometimes also have marginal reception of the Chester, Winnsboro and Union sites. I have only heard Med Center Air working through the Lancaster site on the rare occasions I have heard them on Pal 800, and on those occasions, they were enroute to Columbia or Augusta ... no local flights.

On some statewide trunking systems, there is a protocol to only use specific sites to work the system when an aircraft is above a minimum altitude. Otherwise, the aircraft may end up keying multiple repeaters, as frequencies are often reused among sites within a large geographic system. Florida's statewide system has this requirement in place, for instance.

Anyone know if there is such a restriction on the Pal 800 system ?

Med Center Air alerts their crews via pager (462.925 MHz. - CMC has a transmitter on a tower on Neely Store Road, which is east of I-77 and the Galleria Mall). CMC flightwatch also alerts crews via VHF radio on 155.325 MHz. ... I believe they used to have a remote receiver at Lake Wylie.

I believe MCA's primary communications mode in Lancaster, York and Chester Counties is still via contact with EMS and fire / landing zone personnel on VHF, with a patch to the P25 trunking on the York Co system.

In conclusion, if I was looking to hear MCA when they are south of the border, their VHF channel would currently be my first mode to monitor.

 

[brian]

Jeff -

The MCA talkgroup transmissions are only going to be heard on the Palmetto 800 sites that have a radio affiliated to that site with that talkgroup. I'm not exactly sure what technical means a radio installed in an aircraft uses to ensure that it affiliates with a nearby site instead of a far-away site when airborn. Smartzone radios use RSSI to control this (in theory), but I could see a situation where many sites would have near-perfect RSSI values at 1000ft and it might choose a site far away to affiliate with.

The Palmetto 800 system has the ability to restrict a particular talkgroup to affiliate only to a single or certain multiple sites. So, for example, Spartanburg County Sheriff radios can only affiliate to sites 16, 17, 18 and 19 on their dispatch talkgroup. But you may hear their channel 3 talkgroup (48560) affiliated to other sites - that's their "Roam" talkgroup that can be used on any site in the system. You'll hear the Spartanburg Municipal PD talkgroup on Site 58 Union regularly, but but not the SD talkgroups. Maybe Woodruff PD gets better reception from Site 58.

I would assume MCA's Palmetto 800 talkgroup is capable of "statewide" usage on any site given that they fly to locations in many parts of the state. I would agree that Newport is the most likely site for them to affiliate with when operating close to home. I show the talkgroup having been active on site 18 and 58, but I don't know how often/consistently that happens.

 

[bbeam]

Monitoring Other Counties Pal 800

I live in Beaufort County SC and want to monitor Colleton County. I can't pick up Colleton County by programming their frequencies - too far away. Is their a way to monitor their Colleton County talk groups by using frequencies of a local tower?

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

Bryan

 

[brian]

Probably not. You don't have control of which talkgroups are carried on particular sites. But it depends on where in Beaufort County you live.

Colleton County has 4 separate sites for Palmetto 800 now: Site 10 Canadys (Northeast), Site 14 Walterboro (Central), and Site 64 Stephens Crossroads (Northwest). Site 33 Yemassee is technically in Hampton County but covers the southwest portion of Colleton and likely carries the Colleton Co talkgroups.

If you're in the northern part of Beaufort County you may be in range range of the Yemassee site. If you're on the northeast sea islands, you might be able to hear Site 27 Ravenel, and it might also carry the Colleton County talkgroups. I was able to hear this site from Harbor Island not too long ago. If you're in the Beaufort or Hilton Head area, most likely you're out of luck.

If you're really motivated, consider purchasing an outdoor 800MHz yagi antenna and point it North or Northeast. The additional gain this antenna would provide might mean marginal reception most of the time. 800MHz propagation can vary significantly based on weather conditions.