RISP Monitoring Issues

[SIGG]

So I just started monitoring RISP and have been having some issues.

Certain times I hear nothing at all for 2 hours+. Other times they're fairly active and I can hear them dispatching to crashes and disabled vehicles.

Is there something that RISP does to quiet (ie. encrypt) their comms at certain times? Or am I most likely on the fringe of the listening area? I'm new to monitoring digital systems but I've heard that instead of hearing staticy comms - you just don't receive anything at all.

How does RISP assign their comms? I know some TG's are encrypted - can you generally hear all comms or just the initial dispatch?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ecps92]

Your profile says Boston. Too far away to listen on a Scanner to RISCON

Now if your location is closer, it is likely your not getting the best signal
from the Zone tower - Scanners are not designed the same was as the Public Safety Radios. As the digital signal arrives it can get confused with the data stream.

What Zone are you attempting and what is your actual location [might be worth a beam aimed at the nearest or even (experiment) a farther away tower]

BTW there are plenty of threads on the issues of simulcast and the only real solution seems to be experiment

So I just started monitoring RISP and have been having some issues.

Certain times I hear nothing at all for 2 hours+. Other times they're fairly active and I can hear them dispatching to crashes and disabled vehicles.

Is there something that RISP does to quiet (ie. encrypt) their comms at certain times? Or am I most likely on the fringe of the listening area? I'm new to monitoring digital systems but I've heard that instead of hearing staticy comms - you just don't receive anything at all.

How does RISP assign their comms? I know some TG's are encrypted - can you generally hear all comms or just the initial dispatch?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[W1KNE]

So I just started monitoring RISP and have been having some issues.

Certain times I hear nothing at all for 2 hours+. Other times they're fairly active and I can hear them dispatching to crashes and disabled vehicles.

Is there something that RISP does to quiet (ie. encrypt) their comms at certain times? Or am I most likely on the fringe of the listening area? I'm new to monitoring digital systems but I've heard that instead of hearing staticy comms - you just don't receive anything at all.

How does RISP assign their comms? I know some TG's are encrypted - can you generally hear all comms or just the initial dispatch?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Yes, you are living on the fringe of the system. Because it is digital, it suffers from what is known as "the cliff effect". Basically once the reception error rate exceeds the maximum capacity, the receiver can not decode, and the audio goes away. If you were to get an 800MHz cut yagi, and aim it towards RI, you'd have almost no issue what so ever picking them up. HOWEVER, you need to be careful, as you may experience overload from the RF of Blue Hills with that Yagi if it is aimed that way.

RISP tend to go in waves, however, of sometimes a lot of radio traffic, some quieter times. However their primary operations TGs have always been in the clear. They may use their secondary TGs occasionally, but it's not common.

Your profile says Boston. Too far away to listen on a Scanner to RISCON

Too far with a handheld, yes. But with a base station, you can hear the north zone in a large chunk of the Boston area. In fact I got the NZ almost 100% when I lived in Quincy. (Can't say the same here in Taunton, where it only comes in during nice warm summer days.).

 

[PJH]

To expand on what Mike said - if using a Uniden scanner, locate the closest tower to your location, and use a Yagi antenna.

Unidens (and I think the GRE/Whister's) have issues decoding the linear simulcast systems. The current workaround is the yagi antenna, which is direction and helps filter out adjacent towers transmitting the same transmissions.

Its a trade off, as any other transmissions will be essentially filtered that you would like to scan due to its directional nature.

It works, but not ideal.

 

[SIGG]

Your profile says Boston. Too far away to listen on a Scanner to RISCON

Now if your location is closer, it is likely your not getting the best signal
from the Zone tower - Scanners are not designed the same was as the Public Safety Radios. As the digital signal arrives it can get confused with the data stream.

What Zone are you attempting and what is your actual location [might be worth a beam aimed at the nearest or even (experiment) a farther away tower]

BTW there are plenty of threads on the issues of simulcast and the only real solution seems to be experiment

Thanks for the info. Need to update my location - I’m in the Warwick, RI area.

When I do receive RISP I see South Simulcast on my 436. Is there a North and South tower and I’m picking up the South one? Is that what you mean by Zone?

I’m familiar with the MSP system but the RISP (and digital in general) is new for me.


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[PJH]

There is a north / south “zone” but each tower in each zone broadcasts the same thing.

If you do some digging in the FCC licensee, you’ll be able to map each tower location and find the one closest to you.

As far as the receiving radio knows, it’s just one tower it’s hearing (simplified of course).

 

[SIGG]

Yes, you are living on the fringe of the system. Because it is digital, it suffers from what is known as "the cliff effect". Basically once the reception error rate exceeds the maximum capacity, the receiver can not decode, and the audio goes away. If you were to get an 800MHz cut yagi, and aim it towards RI, you'd have almost no issue what so ever picking them up. HOWEVER, you need to be careful, as you may experience overload from the RF of Blue Hills with that Yagi if it is aimed that way.



RISP tend to go in waves, however, of sometimes a lot of radio traffic, some quieter times. However their primary operations TGs have always been in the clear. They may use their secondary TGs occasionally, but it's not common.







Too far with a handheld, yes. But with a base station, you can hear the north zone in a large chunk of the Boston area. In fact I got the NZ almost 100% when I lived in Quincy. (Can't say the same here in Taunton, where it only comes in during nice warm summer days.).

I’m in the Warwick, RI area but sounds like a Yagi is still what I need. Any recommendation on where to get one? Could is use it indoors or would it need to be mounted outside?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SIGG]

There is a north / south “zone” but each tower in each zone broadcasts the same thing.

If you do some digging in the FCC licensee, you’ll be able to map each tower location and find the one closest to you.

As far as the receiving radio knows, it’s just one tower it’s hearing (simplified of course).

Makes sense and seems simplier than the MSP system.


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