STARS SYSTEM

[Chris45]

I live in Prince William County and it seems that STARS is not working.

Is anyone else in Northern Virginia experiencing anything similar?

Seems unbelievable that all the neighboring sites would be down.

Many thanks for any info!

Chris

 

[KI4SXZ]

I just turned on and an getting full signals and "LNK & "DAT" on fairfax & independent hill. Havent heard any voice yet.


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[KI4SXZ]

Check that. Independent Hill is giving me a signal, but its not decoding anything on it.


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[KI4SXZ]

And I'm getting voice on Fairfax. Still nothing on Independent


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[Chris45]

Interesting!

I programed about 4 to 5 of the closest sites including Loudon, Mt. Weather, Dumfries, and Fairfax.

Normally the WS1088 preforms flawlessly on this system. I do not receive any signal at this time. Only VSP I can hear are patched to the Fairfax System.

Chris

 

[cm205]

I have noticed a change over the past three or so weeks where I can no longer receive NoVA STARS traffic on either my Pro 106 or BCD436HP. I do not really listen to the system that much so I have not really bothered to investigate, but it looks like I have good signal strength but am not receiving trunking data for some reason. Maybe a system change of some kind?

 

[Chris45]

Thanks for sharing. it is a maintenance or upgrade issue. System was doing great and could frequently hear Culpeper and occasionally Richmond. Reloaded from the database and hope that it has not made it worse.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

Looks like there will be improvements/upgrades to the system but not till 2019.

http://sfc.virginia.gov/pdf/Budget ...lete Pre-Session Summary Document 1-10-17.pdf

 

[troymail]

Has anyone attempted to take a look at the control channel using something like Pro96Com to see if there is any activity?

EDIT: FWIW - when I drove down I-95 in the early hours of 6/1, monitoring STARS on my TRX-1, I saw some activity on these sites:

Arlington
Dumfries
Thornburg
Glen Allen
Richmond
Petersburg
Emporia

I had other sites (CCs only) programmed including Fairfax and Independent Hill but I see nothing in my recordings indicting activity from other sites than above. Keep in mind that the TRX-1 was selecting which site to monitor.

 

[lynnk]

I live in MD and make weekly trips across the 301 bridge and over to Fredericksburg driving through VSP Div 1 and Div 2 and I have not been able to pick up any VSP comm. I used to be able to get them regularly on my PSR-800 programmed to the RR data for STARS. I noticed over the last couple of months it has been dead quiet. I don't even see the "T" flickering on and off showing that it sees a trunking control signal. Sometime over the last 2 weeks I did hear one Richmond conversation but I was driving and couldn't look at the scanner long enough to note the control frequency. Something has changed and it almost seems like the control frequencies since I'm not seeing the "T". I have turned extra sites on and opened a lot of talkgroups but still not hearing anything.

 

[fredva]

I live in MD and make weekly trips across the 301 bridge and over to Fredericksburg driving through VSP Div 1 and Div 2 and I have not been able to pick up any VSP comm. I used to be able to get them regularly on my PSR-800 programmed to the RR data for STARS. I noticed over the last couple of months it has been dead quiet. I don't even see the "T" flickering on and off showing that it sees a trunking control signal. Sometime over the last 2 weeks I did hear one Richmond conversation but I was driving and couldn't look at the scanner long enough to note the control frequency. Something has changed and it almost seems like the control frequencies since I'm not seeing the "T". I have turned extra sites on and opened a lot of talkgroups but still not hearing anything.

Lynn, I cover some of that same ground daily and I've been getting a lot of VSP traffic on my PRO-18. I don't remember updating my STARS programming recently.

I don't suppose it is a reception issue, like attenuation unintentionally turned on, a bad connection to your antenna, or something like that?

 

[fredva]

My programming

I've got STARS programmed in my scanner several different ways. The STARS Playlist I've been listening to lately has the Edgehill and Thornburg sites programmed as shown in the pictures. In this case, I programmed in all the site frequencies at the time.

 

[lynnk]

Your tables look exactly like mine. I've tried it with all the frequencies and then with just the control channels. Most recently with just the control channels. I'll unlock all the frequencies and see what happens the next trip. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Chris45]

It is good to know, by all the reports, that my equipment id is not at fault. It seems strange for such a good system to be down for so long. I would think that if this was a maintenance issue, it would have been repaired by now. Then the question arises just how communications are continuing? Maybe there is a backup system, or possibly the State has pulled the plug on STARS? Hopefully we may get information from RR.Com. Can't find any information elsewhere else. Thanks for all replies!

 

[mejnetguru]

Fairfax site seems to be fine, lots of chatter tonight (and over the last days as well).

I've always had to fight with monitoring STARS. Often has no "T", just "S" even if I have good voice with strong signal showing on scanner. Almost never works on an indoor antenna even though I have direct sight line to tower < 1 mi away.

I rarely have any luck with Independent Hill site in or out or mobile.

 

[fredva]

It is good to know, by all the reports, that my equipment id is not at fault. It seems strange for such a good system to be down for so long. I would think that if this was a maintenance issue, it would have been repaired by now. Then the question arises just how communications are continuing? Maybe there is a backup system, or possibly the State has pulled the plug on STARS? Hopefully we may get information from RR.Com. Can't find any information elsewhere else. Thanks for all replies!

The whole STARS system isn't down or else other people wouldn't still be hearing STARS traffic. There may be individual sites that are down, but not the whole system. The sites are also going to have some overlapping coverage; i.e., a trooper in Prince William County who can't use Independent Hill may be using Dumfries or Mt. Weather, etc.

 

[fredva]

Chris, have you tried locking out your nearest site (Independent Hill?) and see if your scanner will latch on and decode another site? I don't know if it will help, but it probably won't hurt either.

 

[Chris45]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will be traveling around the area today, and will give it a try!

 

[KC4ASF]

A reliable source says that anything that can be dispatched using basically "text" (terminals) is the preferred method now.. Voice is used for rush issues/dispatches such as accidents, etc.. This has really brought a great reduction in voice traffic.

 

[KC4ASF]

Mike,
I like that way you did that! I should have done that this morning while Windows 10 "upgraded" for an hour. Then said it was restoring my system without the updates!

Is their a way to sort using only the new added site information?

Thanks