Did I not read on here that BLUE TAIL stopped selling units due to supply problems?
BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Scanner issue with simulcast
- Thread starter Biged1780
- Start date
Tell me this, specific to the initial post question. How are these radios going to work on an encrypted radio system, Henderson County? For those who are answering, how many have actually driven through that part of Texas. Again, this is a very small radio system. With the exception of a few TX Warn INTEROP talk groups, the listener is out of luck, period. LOL, this is not a robust listening environment. Furthermore, it is not afflicted with linear simulcast distortion like Houston, Dallas, etc.
Which sites and system frequencies did you use on TX Warn? I don't understand, why did you turn off the squelch. I, like many, put the squelch on 2 when using the SDS 100/200 and/or 436HP/536HP radios.
Yes, TX Warn has a site located in Athens, Texas. I programmed TX Warn into my SDS 100 and 436HP during a recent trip through that sparsely populated area of Texas; however, I got no hits.
Hence, if there are affiliated units passing through that tower site, such as those who use the INTEROP talk groups marked with Phase I mode, it can be heard on the Whistler 1040 and the aforementioned Uniden scanners.
I used to listen to "D" mode from Fairfield to Conroe, Texas years ago.
The site located in Henderson County is 046 (2E). Under the right conditions, he can monitor INTEROP Zones 75, 76, 77, 78 depending on who is passing through. I once monitored Montgomery County when I was in Fairfield, Texas, a considerable amount of distance away.
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JethrowJohnson
Active Member
Yeah, that's true. I forgot about that.
Many 436 owners have issues and a good bunch do not. I have a 436 and it fine with simulcast.
JethrowJohnson
Active Member
Mine has some problems with simulcast, but for the most part it comes in perfectly.
In DT Houston, my 436HP has a nervous breakdown. Here is where the SDS 100 shines!
Everyone's radio environment is different. There's no one-answer-fits-all to this. It's all relative to your location in relation to two or more simulcasting towers. I have a 436HP with a Comet SMA501 antenna I use for simulcast systems. It's a bit of an improvement with simulcast versus the stock antenna but it isn't perfect. For more congested simulcast systems I still depend on my trusty SDS100 to handle these systems
Not sure what the gain is on the stock 436 antenna but the SMA 501 is a 0 dBi gain antenna and that's one of the things that can help scanners with simulcast. Reduce the gain and sometimes instead of it seeing multiple towers, it see's one.
Biged1780
Member
Thanks
Biged1780
Member
I was adjusting squelch to off to see if I could hear anything. I'm new at this so I'm trying to learn.
I’d second the Unication G4/G5 series. They preform very well compared to a Motorola APX. It may be a little different to program than a traditional scanner but you can find plenty of help online. You can also try getting a yagi antenna and pointing it towards one of the simulcast towers. Also you might want to look into an SDR Dongle. I can’t speak for Blue Tail but it sounds neat.
Like pretty much everyone else he has been hit by the leftover covid issues, but has been working pretty much around the clock to resolve that. He has new parts and like previously mentioned he is deigning a smaller less expensive LSM unit. I have two of the original ones. they work great on LSM systems. Additional functionality is being developed regularly.
You can listen: the two systems on the two I have are:
Broward County Fire/Rescue Live Audio Feed (broadcastify.com)
Pompano Beach Fire/Rescue/BSO (East & West) Live Audio Feed (broadcastify.com)
Ubbe
Member
For some reason they sound terrible. I listened to other Broadcastify feeds and they sounded excellent. It seems to reduce the audio level when it's a weak audio and increase the level when there's a strong audio. Making it having a huge dynamic range that doesn't make it over internet and low sound level disappears in a digital squarewave . It's a lack of AGC/compression and are instead using expansion, something you do not want in radio audio.
/Ubbe
JethrowJohnson
Active Member
Broward County Fire/Rescue feed is about a 2/10 I'd say. Sounded alright for the most part but some of it was a little garbly, other times it was choppy, and one time it sounded like the scanner itself was losing signal.
JethrowJohnson
Active Member
Pompano Beach Fire/Rescue/BSO (East & West) sounds even worse. Sorry, but I think something needs to be adjusted.
JethrowJohnson
Active Member
Sorry, I didn't mean to discourage you or anything. I was just letting you know, it's probably just needing a simple adjustment or something. 👍
Thanks, you didn't, I'm in NH, it's in So FL, I listen to it all the time... may have skewed the reference frequency, it's been running for 6 months with no one near it. And to be honest, I listen when I'm there with an SDS100 and side by side audio is pretty much identical. So there may be some tweaks I can try but I am satisfied. It was less than 1/2 the price of the 100 and the new one will be 1/3 the price with outstanding service response.
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JethrowJohnson
Active Member
Maybe it's not the radio, and it's just the feed that's doing that.
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