Talkgroup problems. Any insight?

[TXDispatcher1]

I listen to a number of feeds on different talkgroups: GATRRS (Austin area) NITRN (North Texas), TxWarn, etc. With many of these feeds (Austin DPS, UT Austin PD, many feeds on TxWarn and others) the feed will be talking away and working normally, and then will suddenly quit talking, or will talk intermittently. Sometimes, like right now, the feeds from an entire area are down-for example, almost none of the feeds from the Austin area have worked in over a week. Does anyone have an idea as to why it's like that, or what can be done about it? It's really annoying when you get used to listening to a feed and then it, or feeds from an entire area, just evaporate. Somehow I get the idea that most of you guys aren't as clueless as I am about this and probably have an answer to this.

 

[Enforcer52]

Weather and atmospheric conditions right now have been causing a lot of reception issues in my area. Two of the towers I monitor have been dropping out intermittently the last few days, but one is about 30 miles away and one 40 miles away so the bad weather has really caused some problems on my own feed.

I have also noticed this on some of the feeds I listen too.

 

[TXDispatcher1]

Weather and atmospheric conditions right now have been causing a lot of reception issues in my area. Two of the towers I monitor have been dropping out intermittently the last few days, but one is about 30 miles away and one 40 miles away so the bad weather has really caused some problems on my own feed.

I have also noticed this on some of the feeds I listen too.

Ok, so all of these feeds are provided by regular scanner listeners that are monitoring these channels, so weather conditions could be affecting them, but also if feeds are down in an entire area (like Austin is now) is it possible that the feed provider has some technical problem or they went on vacation, or something like that? With these talkgroup feeds there doesn't seem to be any way to submit a problem report. It's hard for me to imagine that the weather or atmospheric conditions would cause reception in an entire area to be down, especially for over a week.

 

[Enforcer52]

OK the two main feeds (both regular and Calls) for Austin are down "for maintenance" according to the listings. The Travis County Law Enforcement feed is working.

 

[TXDispatcher1]

Ok, I'm specifically talking about feeds like this (UT Austin PD which hasn't talked in a week): UT PD Ch 1 - Operations/University of Texas at Austin Group Calls Live and this one (DPS Austin, which also hasn't talked in a week): DPS Dispatch ATC 1/Texas DPS Region 6B Austin Group Calls Live

I wasn't aware of the feed you provided the link to-it must be fairly new

 

[Enforcer52]

You can always check on a county's feeds in the listing on Broadcastify and submit a report, except for the Calls Platform.

Texas Live Audio Feeds

Texas Live Audio Feeds

www.broadcastify.com

 

[TXDispatcher1]

Yea, but those feeds seem to be a completely different setup than the talkgroup feeds that I was talking about. There are a lot of feeds that are in the talkgroups that are not in the regular feeds like the ones you sent links to

 

[TXDispatcher1]

For example, here's a list of all the feeds in the Austin area talkgroup that have talked in the last 24 hours: Talkgroups Seen on System: Greater Austin/Travis Regional Radio System (GATRRS)

 

[TXDispatcher1]

And those in North Texas: Talkgroups Seen on System: North Texas Interoperable Radio Network (NTIRN)

That's where I'm accessing these feeds through

 

[Enforcer52]

You are listening to feeds of combined providers anyone of which can be having problems with their feed having drop outs. The first provider by time stamp is what gets feed to the calls platform no matter how many people are feeding a particular freq or talkgroup. So no way of knowing who the provider for a particular transmission is or how to contact them.

 

[TXDispatcher1]

Oh....ok. I think I get it....... So, these feed providers on the talkgroups are not the same as the ones that are providing the regular feeds, like the Travis County LE feed that you posted a link to?

 

[TXDispatcher1]

For example, this feed for Dallas County SO: Patrol Dispatch/Dallas County Sheriff/Constables (Dallas Layer 2) Group Calls Live doesn't show up on the regular Broadcastify page for Dallas County.

 

[hiegtx]

No one is feeding that channel, except through the "Calls" platform. The only thing listed, individually, on the Broadcastify Live Audio page is, I believe, for scanner based feeds from a specific provider. A TGID that is only available under Calls would not show on the specific county page, though you could find it if using the 'show coverage' link on that page, but that will take you to a page based solely on the Calls platform.

 

[Enforcer52]

Calls Platform feeds do not always show up in regular Broadcastify listings. I have searched for the two calls ID's you have provided and can not find them listed. Are these custom ID numbers, or where did you find them. Now you got me wondering!

 

[TXDispatcher1]

No one is feeding that channel, except through the "Calls" platform. The only thing listed, individually, on the Broadcastify Live Audio page is, I believe, for scanner based feeds from a specific provider. A TGID that is only available under Calls would not show on the specific county page, though you could find it if using the 'show coverage' link on that page, but that will take you to a page based solely on the Calls platform.
View attachment 177978

Hmmmm.....I didn't know about the "show coverage" feature. That's interesting, but it doesn't have nearly as many channels as the talkgroups do. However, it has a lot more than what is on the regular county page

 

[TXDispatcher1]

Calls Platform feeds do not always show up in regular Broadcastify listings. I have searched for the two calls ID's you have provided and can not find them listed. Are these custom ID numbers, or where did you find them. Now you got me wondering!

I found the talkgroups by searching around and doing a little detective work, but I honestly can't remember exactly how I did it. I think I need to write it down so it won't be so hard to do the next time I'm looking for one. Those talkgroups have a gold mine of stuff, although some feeds don't really work and some are reserved for broadcasters and administrators. Still, there's a lot of stuff in them!

 

[TXDispatcher1]

Ok, now I remember how I found the talkgroups. For example, go to a playlist that you find on a particular county page, for example this one on the Dallas County page: Dallas Public Safety Dispatch

Then, for each call that is listed that was received, right next to the time it was received, is a group number. Pick any group number, and click on that group number. You'll then see a tab and click on "listen live" The channel will then open up (for example, DPD SW Patrol). Then, in the upper right hand corner you'll see "North Texas Interoperable Radio Network (NTIRN)". Click on that and it will take you to the talkgroup. Don't click on the big "North Texas Interoperable Radio Network (NTIRN)" that's right above the description of the channel because it will take you somewhere else. It works this way for any playlist that you'll find. This way you can find the talkgroup for that part of the state that feeds that playlist

 

[Enforcer52]

Thanks that explains it, very much appreciated.

 

[TXDispatcher1]

Thanks that explains it, very much appreciated.

Actually, I just edited my post to make it more understandable. I didn't correctly explain exactly the way it works the first time. I was just fiddling around out of curiosity and too much time on my hands and kind of accidentally figured out how that works a few months ago