Ravalli County Sheriff - Possible P25 ?

[Studebaker1955]

Hello.

I just started hearing a lot of digital signals in the last few days
on 155.190 which is the Ravalli County Sheriff.

I programmed all of the Ravalli County Sheriff and Fire frequencies into
my favorites list from the Sentinal database last year.

I am now just starting to hear those digital signals.
What's strange is that I hear it only during the day.

I have seen other posts indicating that this a P25 signal from
around Stevensville.
I thought P25 signals were up in the 800 mhz range.

Has anyone heard this and were you able to decode it.?

I am using both the Uniden BCD436HP and the SDS200.
Would the discovery modes on these scanners help?

I have mainly Missoula and Ravalli Counties programed.


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

 

[jjwhite29]

No P25 signals are not just in the 800mhz. Only a few cities have gone to 800mhz. Go look at the Montana State Public System you will see the frequencies for all the identified areas.

 

[Studebaker1955]

No P25 signals are not just in the 800mhz. Only a few cities have gone to 800mhz. Go look at the Montana State Public System you will see the frequencies for all the identified areas.

Thanks for your reply.
I did go over there to check, and 155.190 was not in there.
is there a way to do a discovery for this as I mentioned in my post?

Thanks

 

[jjwhite29]

I'm curious what you mean by Digital Sounds. You can always do a discovery search and see if you have any active control channels in your area.

 

[Studebaker1955]

I'm curious what you mean by Digital Sounds. You can always do a discovery search and see if you have any active control channels in your area.

Sorry, I was not sure what the correct terminology I should have used.

A good example is in Missoula County for their City Police.
They use two seperate channels for the same frequency.

I hear all of the City Police FM traffic as usual but because they use their P25 audio on the same frequency,
with the same modulation when they transmit with P25 I just hear noise.

The dispatcher responds back on the FM channel.
When I hear the P25 signal responding back to the dispatcher on their FM channel
again it is just noise.

With the P25 channel programmed in I can hear it decoded.

This is what I am trying to figure out.

In the case of the Missoula City Police,why would they both use the same modulation?
but use a different audio option on the same frequency?

I have both of these programmed in from the database,and then I can hear both sides of their conversation.
Both of these are for the Missoula City Police and I have copied the two channels from the database.

Police 1 Dispatch (FMN)

-

155.610000

NFM

CTCSS 203.5Hz

Law Dispatch

Off

2sec

Off

Off

0

None

Off

Police 1 Dispatch (P25)

-

155.610000

NFM

NAC 203

Law Dispatch

Off

2sec

Off

Off

0

None

Off

This for the Ravalli County Sheriff.
Which is I am also trying to figure out.
Except their is no P25 listed for this frequency

Sheriff -

-

155.190000

NFM

Search

Law Talk

Off

2sec

Off

Off

0

None

Off

Here is a post that I found on the Forum from September 24th of 2020.

This is from a member by the name of Bum by.
"I just south of Stevensville, near Victor, and I hear Flathead County P25 on 155.1900 and 154.9200, I think this is Big Mountain, its about the only traffic I hear out of the Flathead."

What discovery search mode should I use to find and decode these types of signals.
And how do I do it?


My scanners are the Uniden SDS200 and the BCD436HP.

Any help would be appreciated

Mike

 

[Wilrobnson]

155.190 is licensed for both analog and P25 voice to Ravalli County by the FCC.

ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Conventional License - KOB651 - RAVALLI, COUNTY OF - Frequency 000155.19000000

 

[Studebaker1955]

155.190 is licensed for both analog and P25 voice to Ravalli County by the FCC.

ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Conventional License - KOB651 - RAVALLI, COUNTY OF - Frequency 000155.19000000

Hello-
If I did a conventional search of this frequency would I be able to get it programmed into my scanner?


Thanks

 

[bumby]

Studebaker, I am 100% certain you are receiving the P25 signal from Big Mountain in Whitefish. You will find this frequency listed for Flathead county, and also part of the Montana Public Safety Communication System. I am located in the foothills on the east side of the Bitterroot valley at about 4000 feet elevation. I have an outdoor antenna up about 30 feet. I have clear reception of the Big Mountain site. If you have a weak signal, you may not be able to decode it. Some days reception is better than other days. It is important to have the proper setting in Sentinel to decode the P25 signal. In Sentinel you will need to edit your favorite list that contains the frequency, and either edit the audio option to Digital and then either select Digital Search or put in the actual NAC code of 160 for Flathead county. I am guessing this is why you are not able to decode the signal. The other frequency to add would be 154.9200, same NAC code 160.

 

[Wilrobnson]

If I did a conventional search of this frequency would I be able to get it programmed into my scanner?

I'm not sure what this means. Can you just enter the frequency?

 

[AlaskaRadar]

At the current moment I am not aware of p25 use by ravailli. I do know that sometimes vhf skip can allow us to hear someplace north of missoula On occasion. Are we thinking it may be that?

 

[bumby]

Yes, I live in the Ravalli county, east of Victor, and I monitor 155.190 Mhz daily, and the only traffic heard is P25 out of Flathead county, Big Mountain. I believe the OP is receiving the signal from Big Mountain.

 

[Studebaker1955]

Hello.
Are you using an outdoor antenna,and how far away is BigMountain?
Do you know why the 155.190 Mhz frequency showing up as on of the Ravalli County Sheriff?

Thanks

 

[bumby]

Are you using an outdoor antenna,and how far away is BigMountain?
Do you know why the 155.190 Mhz frequency showing up as on of the Ravalli County Sheriff?

Outdoor antenna is a VHF copper pipe J-Pole. Big Mountain is approximately 175 miles away, its elevation is 11,376 feet. 155.190 Mhz shows up in the RR database for Ravalli County Sheriff, because 155.190 Mhz is a licensed frequency for for Ravalli County Sheriff. It is also used by other licensed agencies throughout the State of Montana.

 

[AlaskaRadar]

so if your set up supports it, you can set a PL tone of 151.4 on the RX side and filter out to Ravalli only. Hope that helps.

 

[Studebaker1955]

so if your set up supports it, you can set a PL tone of 151.4 on the RX side and filter out to Ravalli only. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the information.
Whats strange is that I never hear the Ravalli County Sheriff on 155.190.
I'm wondering if they stopped using it?

Again thanks for all of your help

 

[IAmSixNine]

@Studebaker1955 To add to the comment about P25 being on 800mhz.. P25 is a protocol that can be used on any band. VHF, UHF, Tband, 700 and 800.
Digital Protocols are P25, DMR, NXDN.. And in those protocols you can use them in a conventional way or trunking.
So on any of those frequencies you can have analog or digital. Once you figure out what protocol it can then be in a form of analog conventional, analog trunking, digital conventional or digital trunking.
examples are
DMR conventional
DMR trunking like Capacity Plus, Connect Plus, Linked capacity Plus.

 

[Studebaker1955]

Thanks for your help.
I'm still learning.

Mike