Question about signal breaking up.

[banjo5stringleon]

I’m still a newbie. I’ve only had my radios for roughly 2 weeks. I’m putting in an amplifier tomorrow morning. Should that help with noticeable voices breaking up. Not all of them are doing it. Just a few channel’s and seems to be mostly the further distant ones.

 

[RaleighGuy]

It could be a number of things, including simulcast distortion. It is hard to say since you don't tell us the radio you have and the agencies or systems you are listening to.

 

[hiegtx]

I’m still a newbie. I’ve only had my radios for roughly 2 weeks. I’m putting in an amplifier tomorrow morning. Should that help with noticeable voices breaking up. Not all of them are doing it. Just a few channel’s and seems to be mostly the further distant ones.

If you are having problems with MARCS-IP in your home county, Miami, then you may be dealing with simulcast issues. If that is the case, adding an amplifier may well increase your problems, not reduce them.

Here's a map of the sites in your county:


If you haven't looked into simulcast problems, start by taking a look at this Wiki page:
Simulcast digital distortion - The RadioReference Wiki

As N1GAW has already noted, without knowing which radio you are using, and which systems and/or agencies you are trying to monitor, then getting you more specific health will be difficult.

 

[tvengr]

It could be a number of things, including simulcast distortion. It is hard to say since you don't tell us the radio you have and the agencies or systems you are listening to.

Also, let us know what programming software you are using? You can attach your file or files for us to check for problems.

 

[banjo5stringleon]

tvengr
I’m scanning the trunk system with the sds200. The system is MARCS-IP. Still waiting on the FM filter and the amp to be mailed out. Thanks.

 

[wa8pyr]

I’m still a newbie. I’ve only had my radios for roughly 2 weeks. I’m putting in an amplifier tomorrow morning. Should that help with noticeable voices breaking up. Not all of them are doing it. Just a few channel’s and seems to be mostly the further distant ones.

tvengr
I’m scanning the trunk system with the sds200. The system is MARCS-IP. Still waiting on the FM filter and the amp to be mailed out. Thanks.

Don't forget to check your programming. If you're using the default programming downloaded from the database, it's likely that the radio is trying to scan distant tower sites which you can't quite receive very well and they'll be noisy; if you're having trouble picking up the first row of towers outside Miami County, an amplifier may help with reception of those towers, but then you'll be picking up the next row of towers beyond that, and they'll be noisy.

Having relatives in the area, I'm very familiar with Miami County. When I visit, I sometimes have issues receiving Montgomery County from Troy, even on higher ground. Since you're in Piqua, it's very possible that what's noisy are the towers in neighboring counties to the south.

First thing to check is to lock out ("avoid") all of the tower sites except the Miami County simulcast site, which your SDS200 should have no trouble with receiving. If that works, unlock (or "un-avoid") the next row of towers in surrounding counties one tower at a time.

By process of elimination, you'll figure out which towers you can receive clearly and which ones you can't, and can adjust your programming to suit the situation.

Also, don't forget that sometimes a transmission might be garbled because the person on the other end isn't getting into the system very well, which makes the transmission sound garbled to everyone.

 

[tvengr]

I’m scanning the trunk system with the sds200. The system is MARCS-IP. Still waiting on the FM filter and the amp to be mailed out. Thanks.

Go to the File tab in Sentinel and Export to hpe file (Favorites list). Highlight your favorites list and click OK. Locate the favorites list you just exported in the file explorer. Right click on the file and Send to Compressed (zipped) folder. In your post, click on Attach files, highlight the compressed folder, and click on Open. It will attach to your post so that I can check your file for problems. If you would like, I can create a favorites list for Miami County and attach it for you to program your scanner. That will give you an idea how to do it.

 

[banjo5stringleon]

Go to the File tab in Sentinel and Export to hpe file (Favorites list). Highlight your favorites list and click OK. Locate the favorites list you just exported in the file explorer. Right click on the file and Send to Compressed (zipped) folder. In your post, click on Attach files, highlight the compressed folder, and click on Open. It will attach to your post so that I can check your file for problems. If you would like, I can create a favorites list for Miami County and attach it for you to program your scanner. That will give you an idea how to do it.

Being a newbie that’s a little over my head. Although I do have sentinel, which I’m working with a little bit. I’m kind of leery of trying anything with sentinel at this time. I’m not very familiar with the computers either. But thank you for your advice.

 

[banjo5stringleon]

Don't forget to check your programming. If you're using the default programming downloaded from the database, it's likely that the radio is trying to scan distant tower sites which you can't quite receive very well and they'll be noisy; if you're having trouble picking up the first row of towers outside Miami County, an amplifier may help with reception of those towers, but then you'll be picking up the next row of towers beyond that, and they'll be noisy.

Having relatives in the area, I'm very familiar with Miami County. When I visit, I sometimes have issues receiving Montgomery County from Troy, even on higher ground. Since you're in Piqua, it's very possible that what's noisy are the towers in neighboring counties to the south.

First thing to check is to lock out ("avoid") all of the tower sites except the Miami County simulcast site, which your SDS200 should have no trouble with receiving. If that works, unlock (or "un-avoid") the next row of towers in surrounding counties one tower at a time.

By process of elimination, you'll figure out which towers you can receive clearly and which ones you can't, and can adjust your programming to suit the situation.

Also, don't forget that sometimes a transmission might be garbled because the person on the other end isn't getting into the system very well, which makes the transmission sound garbled to everyone.

For right now I’ve been using the void button. Until I get more familiar with scanner talk. I’m kind of stuck. I kind of understand what you’re saying, but at this time I’ll use the void button.
Thanks for your input.

 

[amcferrin90]

When you say amplifier, you're speaking of like a pre-amp that attaches to your scanner?

 

[IAmSixNine]

There are also a few good threads that talk about filters. Since your using an SDS model scanner you will definitely need to get familiar with how to set up and adjust the filters.
There are several 700 and 800mhz systems i monitor and a few of them sounded bad but with the proper filter it fixed the problem.
unfortunately its not like the old days where it was a single frequency on VHF or UHF and the best thing was a better antenna higher up.
Now a days its a bout filters, right sites and minor tweaks here and there.

 

[banjo5stringleon]

When you say amplifier, you're speaking of like a pre-amp that attaches to your scanner?

Yes that’s what I meant. I’m still waiting on the connectors.