Saratoga County P25 Simulcast Issues

[bab5871]

So... I have a Pro-106 RS scanner. Looking to scan Saratoga County P25 but I'm having issues with the simulcast. Just using the rubber duck antenna, or occasionally hooking it to a discone on the roof or mag mount in the car. I had all freqs programmed in at one point, last night I took out all the north tower site freqs and I'm still having issues with garbled audio to no audio at all.

Currently using the south simulcast... Do I need to narrow this further? I'm in Ballston Lake/Clifton Park area.

851.16250c
851.58750c
851.65000c
851.97500c
852.13750
852.22500
852.55000
852.77500
853.11250
853.41250
853.52500
853.76250

 

[gralston73]

Are you using programming software, or did you do it by hand?

 

[bab5871]

Im using the ARC500 software.

 

[bab5871]

Looks like my decoding quality of control channel data sits around 40-50% at my house, but I've seen as low as 28% and as high as 80+% so I dunno. This is with only the south simulcast sites in, I can't get anything on the north.

Currently:

Sy: 3CB R001 S001
64% N--- W:BEE00

 

[k2hz]

Your programming is probably OK but you are not going to get reliable reception unless you are in a location where the control channel quality is in the high 90s.

 

[Thunderknight]

Try a yagi aimed at the Stillwater or Halfmoon site. Simulcast issues with scanners appear to be very common with this system.

 

[DaveNF2G]

Search this forum for the "official" Saratoga County P25 thread. There was a very lengthy discussion of all of this last year.

 

[bab5871]

I'll check that out Dave. Sitting in the parking lot here at work (Schenectady), with the mag antenna on the car, I've got full signal on the CC, it's really blasting over here, but the decoding is still 30-50%... crazy voodoo I guess.

 

[bab5871]

ALso...what do I need to do for rebanding on this Pro-106? Is saratoga county rebanded? Im guessing I have some changes to make regarding that.

 

[gralston73]

Given the topography of Saratoga County, they would have been better off going with a VHF or UHF P25 trunked system rather than an 800 system. Even with county supplied portables, the reception is marginal at best. There are some places I respond to in Greenfield where the voice quality is garbage...

 

[DaveNF2G]

ALso...what do I need to do for rebanding on this Pro-106? Is saratoga county rebanded? Im guessing I have some changes to make regarding that.

Saratoga County's system did not have to be rebanded because it had not been built yet when the rebanding happened.

 

[bab5871]

Ok, so then what's the cheapest commercial radio that can pick this up? lol

 

[gralston73]

Ok, so then what's the cheapest commercial radio that can pick this up? lol

It's a Motorola system. We use Motorola XTS 1500 portables at work. We don't have Saratoga Co. mobiles in our rigs, so I don't know which model they are using. Unless you have the system key, any radio would be useless, and they only have one radio shop authorized to do programming...

 

[KD2DLL]

It's a Motorola system. We use Motorola XTS 1500 portables at work. We don't have Saratoga Co. mobiles in our rigs, so I don't know which model they are using. Unless you have the system key, any radio would be useless, and they only have one radio shop authorized to do programming...

Plus when you put in a system key, it transmits the key to the system, so you would be transmitting on a frequency you are not authorized to.

 

[Thunderknight]

Plus when you put in a system key, it transmits the key to the system, so you would be transmitting on a frequency you are not authorized to.

Actually no.
A system key is only related to CPS programming.
What you are referring to is affiliation, which s unrelated to the system key.

 

[KD2DLL]

Actually no.
A system key is only related to CPS programming.
What you are referring to is affiliation, which s unrelated to the system key.

That's right, sorry. My knowledge of trunked systems is still a little limited but I knew there was something like that and thought it was the system key. My bad.

 

[FDNY10-75]

Don't the newer Harris portables silently affiliate? or can trunk/xmit without affiliation?

 

[DaveNF2G]

Affiliation still requires an exchange of transmissions between the radio and the trunking controller, so the original statement about an unauthorized radio transmission is correct.

If the RID is not authorized in the system, the controller might, either automatically or upon manual intervention, "sting" the radio, rendering it incapable of transmitting or receiving.