Round Rock Control Channel MIA

[Nebuchadnezzar]

This afternoon there has been no traffic heard over my feed or on my hand held for Round Rock. It appears that the scanners, a 996t and a 396xt aren't finding any active control frequencies on the Williamson simulcast tower.

Travis county and Pflugerville along with APD are coming in loud and clear, so I know the equipment is working. I have checked that nothing is locked out and squelch is set to 0. The 996t hasn't been touched other than to turn it off last night to save my battery backup from beeping during a 30min power outage. After power was restored I turned it back on and restarted my server and feed. It was working fine this morning, and now this afternoon I get silence.

Any ideas guys? I would blame propagation but I get simulcast 2 loud and clear. Could they of moved to a different simulcast tower? I'm not that familiar with the actual Motorola system they use and don't know what would be involved in switching towers. I will be checking other towers for the missing traffic in the morning, but any input or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Neb

 

[W5TWX]

Scott, I'm not getting anything either. We were in Temple yesterday and I noticed I didn't hear anything when we got back to RR. Let me know if you figure it out. I'll do the same.

 

[texasemt13]

I'm at a loss unless it's an internal problem with the TRS. Maybe try their NPSAC freqs (here).

I have noticed that about once a week (for the past month) I hear the San Marcos dispatcher come across telling users that the LCRA Wimberley and Cedar Valley sites are down. Not suggesting the problems are related in anyway but just providing an example that sometimes sites can go down.

 

[soncorn]

Have you done a search in CC only mode from 851 to 861 to see if the CC has changed?

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Thanks EMT I used the band scope with ARC xt and cross referenced with the link you posted. I found 857.9625, I haven't been listening to it for long but I am hearing Round Rock/Wilco traffic on it.

Will update thread when/if I discover more.

 

[W5TWX]

It's working for me now with the 857.9625. Thanks Scott and EMT.

 

[therowdydog]

Quick question, totally new to all this ... but as far as I can tell from the database, RR is trunked? Though if it's coming in for y'all on 857.9625 does that mean that I could just get a scanner that can get 800 frequencies and listen to it that way? Thanks guys.

 

[W5TWX]

You need to make sure that you get a scanner that has DIGITAL capabilities if you want to listen to Round Rock PD and FD. Uniden, GRE, and Radio Shack all make digital scanners.

 

[texasemt13]

Quick question, totally new to all this ... but as far as I can tell from the database, RR is trunked? Though if it's coming in for y'all on 857.9625 does that mean that I could just get a scanner that can get 800 frequencies and listen to it that way? Thanks guys.

Yes, if it can handle the 800Mhz step size, and has P25 Digital capabilities (as W5TWX said) you can essentially scan through the voice channels. I'd turn all the delays off so it immediately drops the frequency and heads for a new one. Check what you want to listen for in our database though- if it has an "E" next to it it has been reported to be encrypted- so all you might hear is encryption trash- which you would also hear trying to scan through the channels in a conventional fashion (which from experience- is no fun to try and listen to).

 

[W5TWX]

Since it was mentioned, everything in Williamson County has been encrypted with the exception of the following listed.

Round Rock Police
Round Rock Fire
Wm. Co. EMS - some
Taylor Police
Taylor Fire
various public works

If anyone else has anymore info on the encrypted agencies in WILCO, please come forward and post up. It'sossible that there might still be one or two small fire departments that are not encrypted. Some don't have enough calls to determine.