This info is spot on! Station radios (XTL5000) for station alerting are always left on the respective dispatch channel. While the rig mobile radios (also XTL5000) will be scanning their respective dispatch, command, tac and sometimes either an EMS and/or PD channel. As for portable radios (XTS5000 and APX8000), they will be the same as the rig radios.The only "guaranteed" sites where you'll hear 3-Disp-2 are the areas where "Desert" fire stations exist.
Such as:
High Desert Simulcast, Wrightwood site, Baker or Turquoise site, Paxton, Donnell, Spirit Mtn or Needles, Trona hill or SBSO Trona. Some of these are "or" because it's assumed there's only one fire station radio sitting on the dispatch channel. Fire engine radios are not normally left on the dispatch channel, they scan it. If a station radio affiliates with one local site, you won't hear 3-Disp-2 radio traffic on the other site.
Yes, a Yucca Valley area fire station "could" affiliate with Onyx on occasion forcing 3-Disp-2 to be broadcast but if you think about it, that's only going to happen if Paxton goes down temporarily.
I've found radios that for one reason or another affiliated with a more distant site. Rebooting the radio caused it to shop around for a strong signal locally and it went back to "normal". Why did it lose the strong local signal in the first place? Not sure - perhaps the local site went down then came back up?
Yes those older BCD536HP do not do well with those 800 mhz Simulcast Towers. I had the BCD996P2 and it just did not function well at all. The only thing is to use obviously a single band 700/800 Moto or next I would use a Unication G5 which honestly is the best out there. Better than the SDS-100 and SDS-200 but limited to dual band. It's a give and take situation. But anyways having the G5 with VHF/700/800 is the best bet for dual band out in SBDCO area. You get BLM and Calcord SBDCO FIRE BDC-VHF Tacticals that cover all the way to Primm Neveda and I believe the 40 frwy all the way to Needles and Lake Havasu area.North Desert Sim has been working well.
Lone Pine is a natural dead spot.
545am tuesday was up to listen to a brush a few blocks away.
Its a tough area to monitor, with a mix of 800 and P25 going on.
536 in one spot and the sds200 in another. On the 200 with a 700/800 ducky hears better, than the discone on the 536, on 800 patches.
Honestly if you were to buy the Unication G5 in those rual areas in the desert you are going to start picking up other towers or sites we call it and have more to listen too. The sensitivty is amazing.thanks for the insight, I started to hear Disp coming up on Lone Pine, but I could not see which of the 3 it was coming from. since I live in WW part time, I'm across the canyon from the tower. I got a 536, sds100 and a 436. I keep the 100 on 3-d-2. I may add Baker in as well.