philly pa police

[fletch1]

i live in trenton nj why cant i pick up philly with my bc796d or bcd396t from home

 

[Joseph11]

Philly has a very weak signal, I've heard people say they really can't pick them up outside of Philly.

 

[scanjunkie]

The signal is not really weak...the system is just designed to be used within the city.

 

[ml73]

I live in Bucks County just above Philly and with my Pro-96 cannot pick up anything except for the Far Northeast and even then it is sporadic.

 

[enginecompany]

I live in Drexel Hill, Delaware coutny and can pick up Everything in Philly, And I use the Radio Shack 800mhz antenna on my Pro-96, ml73 It's weird that you can't pick it up from bucks county.

 

[scanjunkie]

When I am in Horsham I can't pick up Philly either. The system is just not designed to reach far outside the city.

 

[enginecompany]

yeah, that's what sucks about their system. I can pick up Bucks down here, but I guess their system is different.

 

[kc0net]

I was at the Philadelphia airport and could not get my BC296 to decode. I could get a brief burst of voice but then it would return to digital. I programmed the radio from this site and have always got other cities to work. This thread indicates that Philadelphia PD is not very strong, however I got 3 bars on my signal strength meter. Is there something I am doing wrong?

Frank
KC0NET

 

[jimv]

When I visit my parents (who live in Springfield Township, Delaware County, PA) I can't even receive the Philly TRS while I'm inside of their house. My parents live only about 5-miles from the west Philly line. I'll tell you, their system is pretty bad. I live in Frederick, MD and pick up the Washington, DC system (with a yagi on the roof) and I'm 40-miles away! Granted, I may only be using the rubber duckie antenna when I'm in the Philly area, but 5-miles away and I'm unable to their system...come on!

 

[koleary]

Live in Bucks County, can not pick up philly with a Pro96, Uniden 396t or Uniden 796.

 

[scan-pa]

It's been reported that the Philladelphia system uses Directional Ant aimed into the city and not Omni Directional Ant. Like most use.....

 

[don333]

I have also experienced this problem with the FD when visiting Philly, but this may be the exception. I was visiting in Bucks County this past weekend, Montgomeryville to be exact, and was picking up the Philly FD with my new 396 at my hotel in the vicinity of Routes 202 & 309. Maybe the air was right.

 

[jb9152]

I have also experienced this problem with the FD when visiting Philly, but this may be the exception. I was visiting in Bucks County this past weekend, Montgomeryville to be exact, and was picking up the Philly FD with my new 396 at my hotel in the vicinity of Routes 202 & 309. Maybe the air was right.

Not trying to be a 'buster' here, don, but "MONTGOMERYville" is in MONTGOMERY County, not Bucks.

Just for clarification.

 

[don333]

My error.
hope I didn't offend anyone!!!!!

 

[jimv]

It's been reported that the Philladelphia system uses Directional Ant aimed into the city and not Omni Directional Ant. Like most use.....

Actually, I have only heard of reports that Baltimore City's TRS uses directional antennas aimed into the city . However, this is the only other system, other than Philly, that does this. Therefore, if our assumptions are correct, these two major jurisdictions will not be able to rely on their critial voice systems much more than 10 or so miles outside of their geographical boundaries.

To this end, I hope Philly or Baltimore doesn't have to provide mutual aid during a multijurisdictional response, like what occurred at the Pentagon on 9-11-01. However, while Baltimore City may have capability to switch to neighboring trunked systems, I'm almost positive that Philly can't. So, if a major terrorist attack occurs in Delaware County, PA, and they call the Philadelphia Fire Department for assistance, I hope everyone exchanges Nextel ID info. As for Philly calling back to their dispatchers, I hope they can use those same cell phones for that purpose because with directional antennas pointed into the city, not much more will work for them.

 

[scanjunkie]

Not trying to be a 'buster' here, don, but "MONTGOMERYville" is in MONTGOMERY County, not Bucks.

Just for clarification.

Close enough...Montgomeryville borders Bucks...if you fart in Montgomeryville the poeple in Bucks are gonna smell it!!

 

[jb9152]

Close enough...Montgomeryville borders Bucks...if you fart in Montgomeryville the poeple in Bucks are gonna smell it!!

Agreed. Just wanted to clarify.

 

[jcardani]

FYI,

I am in Voorhees NJ and an external directional antenna with gain is required to receive the Philly trunked radio system.

 

[Audiodave1]

I was at the Philadelphia airport and could not get my BC296 to decode. I could get a brief burst of voice but then it would return to digital. I programmed the radio from this site and have always got other cities to work. This thread indicates that Philadelphia PD is not very strong, however I got 3 bars on my signal strength meter. Is there something I am doing wrong?

Frank
KC0NET

Hello,
There is a tower within 3 miles of PHL,I promise you there are no coverage issues at the airport.
The problem you were likely having is front end overload of the receiver. The PHL area is a pretty messy RF zone with a ton of licenses. Lots of old analog cellular channels in the 870ish band too which will kill you most every time.

Dave

 

[buckyswider]

Actually, I have only heard of reports that Baltimore City's TRS uses directional antennas aimed into the city . However, this is the only other system, other than Philly, that does this. Therefore, if our assumptions are correct, these two major jurisdictions will not be able to rely on their critial voice systems much more than 10 or so miles outside of their geographical boundaries.

To this end, I hope Philly or Baltimore doesn't have to provide mutual aid during a multijurisdictional response, like what occurred at the Pentagon on 9-11-01. However, while Baltimore City may have capability to switch to neighboring trunked systems, I'm almost positive that Philly can't. So, if a major terrorist attack occurs in Delaware County, PA, and they call the Philadelphia Fire Department for assistance, I hope everyone exchanges Nextel ID info. As for Philly calling back to their dispatchers, I hope they can use those same cell phones for that purpose because with directional antennas pointed into the city, not much more will work for them.

Nobody's trunked (or repeated) system is designed to work very far out of juridstiction. In the case of a multiagency mutual aid response, units will communicate on conventional 800Mhz frequencies dedicated just for this purpose. There's nothing at all wrong with the Philly or Baltimore directional systems (at least that aspect of it) except it pisses off people who want to monitor from the outside.