Scanner help please!

[jasn2004x]

Hello all,

I have read a lot of great information on this site so I figured I would bring my question here.

I have a Radio Shack PRO-96 scanner that I have been listening to Cobb County GA's digital trunked system on for over two years now. My only problem is that pretty often I will get nothing but static when an officer keys up the radio. I can hit the scan button on my radio and it will usually make it stop. Is there something i'm doing wrong? Any way to make it stop? It is SO annoying!

Thanks!

 

[kb2vxa]

Since you have been listening for over two years apparently with no complaints I suggest you review any recent changes you have made. On the other hand, since most people don't know true static from white noise and the like everything qualifies as static so you're really telling us nothing. Check things out first and get back to us, if you end up really needing help it will be given freely.

 

[scaninnyc]

Let me try...

First of all, welcome to the site!

Your proximity to the A.F. Base or LockHeed might be an issue. It could be tower or ground operations bleeding over. I guess step one would be to eliminate these possibilities by flipping over to tower or ground operations each time this noise happens and see if you can identify it as bleed over.

If it is bleedover, you can order a notch filter from parelectronics.com to filter out that frequency.

 

[gmclam]

My only problem is that pretty often I will get nothing but static when an officer keys up the radio.

Is it "static" or something else? My initial thought was the channel being received is encrypted.

Is there something i'm doing wrong? Any way to make it stop? It is SO annoying!

Make sure you are describing the sound as accurately as possible. Perhaps post what it sounds like (a wav file?). If static, I wonder how your squelch is set. If you don't press SCAN when this happens, how long does it last? Does it go away when the officer unkeys the radio? What does the display on the scanner show when in this condition? I think more information is needed before a correct answer can be provided.

 

[N8IAA]

First, the Cobb P-25 system has just recently rebanded. Second, Dobbins is on a 406MHz system. Lockheed-Martin is on a 900MHz system.
Make sure that you have the new CC's programmed into the scanner. Just one of the many reasons that the 96 was replaced by the PSR-500/Pro-106 was to mute when a digital TG went analog and made the "motorboating" digital noise which is digital static. There are a lot of people here who know Cobb intimately, and can help you better understand what's going on with the 'static' issue.
HTH,
Larry

 

[rmiller818]

Larry covered it pretty well. I provide the Cobb Cities feed with a Pro-96 and you will hear the same thing every now and then. It is simply the scanner stopped decoding the digital and switched to analog and you are hearing the raw, undecoded digital signal. Not much you can do about it really. It could be you are to far from a tower, or are getting multipath distortion. As Larry said the Pro-106/PSR-500 will mute when it stops decoding a digital signal so you won't get that staticy noise, it also does a little better job at decoding the digital. Even then, there is really no scanner on the market that will properly decode a simlucast P25 system so even on my Pro-106 or 396XT they will occasionally not properly decode a transmission.

 

[b7spectra]

The only channel that is encrypted on the Cobb system is MCS and that isn't very often. Unfortunately, the Pro96 is a POS (on DTRS) compared to the newer equipment that is out there. Cobb is also going to be upgrading their vocoder soon, so hopefully the audio will get as good as Atlanta.

 

[jasn2004x]

Thanks for the replies!

Sorry about my vague description on the sound of the noise. I believe it is different from actual static. Probably more like "digital static" as one of the replies described. I can tell the difference between this noise and the noise I get when I simply tune to an analog channel and turn the squelch all the way down.

Also, this noise happens no matter what position the squelch is in. Although when trunking a digital system does the squelch position make a difference? I cannot seem to hear one.

rmiller - it sounds like your answer may be the most logical one...the radio just is not decoding the signal properly all the time. Is it worth the investment in the PRO-106 when and if I finally get to my last nerve or will there be newer equipment soon?

 

[N8IAA]

Is it worth the investment in the PRO-106 when and if I finally get to my last nerve or will there be newer equipment soon?

I wouldn't hold my breath too long There probably won't be anything really new in digital scanning soon. It took years for an upgrade from the 96. I've had my 106 for two years now. Just bought another 197 for the shack today. Can't beat the Black Friday prices still at the Shack. There was talk in another forum about a PSR-800. But I'm guessing a base/mobile similar to the 700 which is an analog trunktracker. $300 for a new in the box digital scanner is a great deal.
JMTCW,
Larry

 

[CalebATC]

Thanks for the replies!

Sorry about my vague description on the sound of the noise. I believe it is different from actual static. Probably more like "digital static" as one of the replies described. I can tell the difference between this noise and the noise I get when I simply tune to an analog channel and turn the squelch all the way down.

Also, this noise happens no matter what position the squelch is in. Although when trunking a digital system does the squelch position make a difference? I cannot seem to hear one.

rmiller - it sounds like your answer may be the most logical one...the radio just is not decoding the signal properly all the time. Is it worth the investment in the PRO-106 when and if I finally get to my last nerve or will there be newer equipment soon?

Wow, that really sucks! Radioshack just ended their $100 off sale on the 106/197. You may be able to find something over at Scanner Master in time. Maybe Cyber Monday will bring something?

Anyway, I think it may be encryption- did it sound like this: http://kb9ukd.com/digital/F1-Racal-Cougar.wav or, this http://kb9ukd.com/digital/ky57.wav , or this http://kb9ukd.com/digital/des-mot-trs.wav they are all encryption that can be misled for static.

I am definitely no expert on digital, but I bet it is either encryption or decoding issues- the Lockheed or Dobbins should definitely not cause any problems.

 

[rmiller818]

Probably not just encryption as the only encryption used in Cobb is the MCS units and occasionally SWAT. Both are not that frequent on the radio. Multipath issues and the 96 not muting a raw digital signal can make a for some noisy listening.

 

[jasn2004x]

CalebATC, it sounds similar to the second .wav file, but theres no way its encryption...I usually only listen to Kennesaw PD and as RMiller said they dont encrypt anything.

Looks like decoding issues is the final answer.