Summit County P25 coverage question

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amanaman1

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Does anyone know if the Summit P25 system uses lower power or some other issue that might explain why I can't pick them up unless I'm close by? Seems like I have to be at least within an 8-10 mile radius of Barberton/Norton/Fairlawn to hear any traffic from any of them. I figured it was because since they were smaller cities, their coverage didn't need to extend as far but the maps here on RR show a 20 mile coverage from the summit P25 tower sites and I have to be well inside the inner half of the circles to pick anything up on my mobile. I'm even within the shown range at my house about 18 miles away and still can't get anything on my base antenna either. (D130J 30' up).

I understand line of sight and all that but with the MarcsIP25 and Summit 800 sites I monitor, I can receive pretty much all of those towers no problem, regardless if I'm mobile or home, with many being much farther away than the Summit P25 towers in the Barberton area.

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northernsummit

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Does anyone know if the Summit P25 system uses lower power or some other issue that might explain why I can't pick them up unless I'm close by? Seems like I have to be at least within an 8-10 mile radius of Barberton/Norton/Fairlawn to hear any traffic from any of them. I figured it was because since they were smaller cities

The size of the city using it shouldn't have any influence on the coverage of the system since the system as a whole is going to become county wide simulcast. Here's a question - what site/CC did you put into your scanner? It could be you're listening to the wrong site?

Are you sure you're not getting simulcast distortion while mobile? Maybe your squelch is closed too much?

I can hear Copley, Bath, Fairlawn, New Franklin and something else off this system in Macedonia on a PSR-600 using the same antenna you speak of inside my attic. I've not put much effort into trying to determine if I'm hearing the simulcast site or the Fairlawn site (I threw them all in one night in a hurry). I have a very solid copy of the Simulcast control channel 858.7125, but I'm hearing Copley PD tonight on 855.5875 almost exclusively.

So either the P25 system frequencies are accurate and I'm hearing the Fairlawn tower all the way up in Macedonia (doubt it but possible) or the 855.5875 is truly now part of the simulcast system and I'm hearing it off Twinsburg or Richfield. (rock solid decode too)
 

mszabo2000

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The (3) ASR sites (Clinton, Barberton, Fairlawn) were designed to cover specific areas of the county which were not well served by the 3600 simulcast system with the intent they would become part of the new 9600 simulcast system. They were not intended to provide county wide or greater coverage. Once the users are moved to the new 9600 simulcast system you should be able to monitor them without difficulty.
 

northernsummit

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The (3) ASR sites (Clinton, Barberton, Fairlawn) were designed to cover specific areas of the county which were not well served by the 3600 simulcast system with the intent they would become part of the new 9600 simulcast system. They were not intended to provide county wide or greater coverage. Once the users are moved to the new 9600 simulcast system you should be able to monitor them without difficulty.

I knew I should have just waited for you to respond correctly :)
 

amanaman1

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Thanks guys for the response and clarification. I figured it was probably just a range issue but the coverage maps made me wonder since they were showing much larger areas. So then does that mean that the P25 simulcast is also currently set up the same way with limited range because I get about the same reception off of that as well.

Sorry for the noob questions but still learning this newer digital stuff!
 

mszabo2000

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Overall coverage is limited to FCC rules. Above line "A" there are further restrictions due to our proximity to Canada. The county system covers about 50% of the surrounding counties.


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amanaman1

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I can hear Copley, Bath, Fairlawn, New Franklin and something else off this system in Macedonia on a PSR-600 using the same antenna you speak of inside my attic. I've not put much effort into trying to determine if I'm hearing the simulcast site or the Fairlawn site (I threw them all in one night in a hurry). I have a very solid copy of the Simulcast control channel 858.7125, but I'm hearing Copley PD tonight on 855.5875 almost exclusively.

So either the P25 system frequencies are accurate and I'm hearing the Fairlawn tower all the way up in Macedonia (doubt it but possible) or the 855.5875 is truly now part of the simulcast system and I'm hearing it off Twinsburg or Richfield. (rock solid decode too)

The last two days I was in Barberton I was of course getting Barberton, Norton, Fairlawn, New Franklin, Copley, on their respective Summit P25 TGs and frequencies as expected but wasn't getting anything at all on the P25 simulcast frequencies. If that's the case then seems like you probably were hearing them off their own ASD towers? QUESTION.....Maybe I'm not fully understanding how the simulcast works but if you were hearing Fairlawn from the simulcast wouldn't it have shown on your unit as one of the listed simulcast frequencies and not 855.5875?

Interestingly, from home tonight I am hearing on Summit 800 Barberton PD TG44432, Norton TG34320, Fairlawn PD TG38864, and Copley Twp Fire TG40624 on their respective backup TGIDs. So, they are indeed being simulcast on Summit 800 but I never heard them at home before tonight. I did reprogram some stuff early so maybe that was my error before. At any rate I am hearing them from home off Summit 800 now. Go figure.
 

fpo701

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The P25 simulcast site is still in testing. The engineers are working on individual simulcast sites. Early last week, I received nothing from Ellet, while testing was being conducted off the Copley road tower.

As for the 800 (non-P25) traffic... The 800 traffic from the P25 system is caused by roaming. You;ll only hear traffic on a given talkgroup when a radio roams away from their traditional site. At that point, the non-P25 simulcast site carries him through the rest of the county. For example, a Bath med unit at AGMC would cause Bath FD traffic to be transmitted over both the Bath P25 site and SCA8RRS.
 

amanaman1

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Thanks Frank. That makes sense why the P25 simulcast is quiet.

I understand what you're saying about the roaming issue and then being picked up on the Sum800 system but why was I hearing Fairlawn Dispatch, Barberton Dispatch, and Copley Dispatch on Sum800 when those are not mobile and not roaming? Or was that because they had mobile units within range of Sum800 and I was hearing both dispatch and mobile units via that same link? Hmmm.......nevermind I think I just answered my own question!
 

mszabo2000

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The SmartX only bridges traffic between 6F4 and 8D27 if a radio is affiliated on the same talkgroup on both systems. Either some of their radios were affiliated with 8D27 or you were hearing traffic on a channel that was recently moved from 8D27 to the new 6F4 simulcast system.


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amanaman1

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The SmartX only bridges traffic between 6F4 and 8D27 if a radio is affiliated on the same talkgroup on both systems. Either some of their radios were affiliated with 8D27 or you were hearing traffic on a channel that was recently moved from 8D27 to the new 6F4 simulcast system.

Got it. Well for whatever its worth, I have not heard a peep from any of the same TGs on 8d27 all day today and this evening so whatever they were doing last night, they're not doing it now! I'm just not gonna worry about it anymore and if I hear them I hear them! LOL
 
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