StarCom 21 Question, Champaign County

[Highlander_821]

So I just got a new Pro-2096 to monitor MDICE and StarCom 21 in my area. Evrything is going quite well so far, but I have a question.

I programmed the control channels listed on this website for the locations for Champaign-Urbana and Pesotum (Dist. 10 headquarters). I am running in open mode, and everything is good, but why am I receiving talkgroup 13000, which is Dist 6, Pontiac? Not that I mind, and it is easy to make that stop if I want, but why? I figured I would only get traffic associated with Dist 10.

 

[timmer]

I am here in Springfield, and I'm getting several other districts. I get d-10, d-18, d-20 and d-8. These towers are placed to get coverage across the state, and apparently work very well. As you said, you can easily lock out the talkgroups you don't want to hear. That's what I do. I have a Pro-96 which is the handheld version of your radio.

 

[Highlander_821]

Interesting.

I'm having another issue--This thing seems pretty deaf on VHF-hi. My BC245xlt can pick up several signals on VHF-hi that this 2096 can't hear, using the same antenna.

Is this a known shortcoming? It seems to me that a 500 dollar scanner ought to at least be as sensitive as a 200 dollar, 10 year old scanner. I might have to send this in to se if it is aligned properly, or if it is defective.

 

[N9JIG]

So I just got a new Pro-2096 to monitor MDICE and StarCom 21 in my area. Evrything is going quite well so far, but I have a question.

I programmed the control channels listed on this website for the locations for Champaign-Urbana and Pesotum (Dist. 10 headquarters). I am running in open mode, and everything is good, but why am I receiving talkgroup 13000, which is Dist 6, Pontiac? Not that I mind, and it is easy to make that stop if I want, but why? I figured I would only get traffic associated with Dist 10.

If there is an ISP radio tuned to D6 (13000) on the tower you are listening to then a scanner will hear it. This is called Affiliation. The system knows what radios are tuned to what talkgroups on what towers, and sends the appropriate communications to those towers. You will only hear the traffic if a system radio is affiliated with the tower you are monitoring.

Some talkgroups are restricted to certian towers, and the system won't allow radios to affiliate when they are not in range of the specified towers. Some talkgroups are statewide so that radios can affiliate anywhere in the state. Since the StarCom21 system is still evolving they may not yet have finalized what talkgroups will work on what towers, which may explain why we sometimes here ISP District 22 (far southern tip on IL) 350 miles north in Chicagoland sometimes.

 

[N9JIG]

Interesting.

I'm having another issue--This thing seems pretty deaf on VHF-hi. My BC245xlt can pick up several signals on VHF-hi that this 2096 can't hear, using the same antenna.

Is this a known shortcoming? It seems to me that a 500 dollar scanner ought to at least be as sensitive as a 200 dollar, 10 year old scanner. I might have to send this in to se if it is aligned properly, or if it is defective.

While some scanners are generally more sensitive than others on certain bands, even within the same model there are variances. I have 4 different BC780's and one is fantastically sensitive on VHF while another is almost deaf on the same freqs, even sharing the same antenna.

As a rule handhelds are usually more sensitive than desktop/mobiles, since they usually have a much lesser antenna attached to them. Connect a base antenna on them and you often overload the radio but sometimes you can get very good results.

 

[Highlander_821]

This is really bad. The BC245xlt is receiving Danville PD and Vermilion County Sheriff on a rubber duck from 30 miles away, and the 2096 can't hear it with a Diamond discone with very low loss coax. This antenna is working fine on the other radios, so it is definitely the radio. This one is going back. That's just too much money for it to be beat by an HT on a duck.