Tarrant Co. Newbee

[poppafred]

I just moved into Tarrant Co from Arkansas. Been scanning for decades, mainly Western Arkansas and occasionally Tarrant Co. when I came to visit my daughters.

Came down with Covid in January and my girls made me move to Texas to be closer to them so here i sit.

I'm in Northwest Tarrant, Azle to be exact, and all attempts to monitor with my Uniden BCD536HP have been fruitless so far.
I drug out my old RS Pro-197 and plugged in some local frequencies and I'm at least hearing Texas DPS at times now.

Any tips or hints would be sincerely appreciated.

 

[mass-man]

Your close enuf you want to include Parker Co TRS in your scanning…
When I get home later I’ll send you what I setup for NETarrant Co for the 536s at work!

 

[mass-man]

Tarrant SO, Azle PS and the Reno area FD are all on the NTIRN , the large trunked system that covers Tarrant Co! As you are a Premium member download those for starters…

 

[KI5IRE]

Just sent you a PM.

 

[hiegtx]

I just moved into Tarrant Co from Arkansas. Been scanning for decades, mainly Western Arkansas and occasionally Tarrant Co. when I came to visit my daughters.

Came down with Covid in January and my girls made me move to Texas to be closer to them so here i sit.

I'm in Northwest Tarrant, Azle to be exact, and all attempts to monitor with my Uniden BCD536HP have been fruitless so far.
I drug out my old RS Pro-197 and plugged in some local frequencies and I'm at least hearing Texas DPS at times now.

Any tips or hints would be sincerely appreciated.

Besides what Cleve has noted, you are likely in range for the conventional channels used in Wise County. There's an outside chance that you might also pickup the Denton County system; however, that system is P25 Phase II, which your Pro-197 cannot decode. You would need to use the 536HP.

I presume that the Tx DPS channels you are hearing may be the conventional channels used by the Mineral Wells dispatch office, and their remote repeater located near Aledo, just west of the Tarrant/Parker County boarder.

The two major portions of the NTIRN system that cover Tarrant County are both simulcast. Simulcast can be an issue for many scanners, including the 536HP.

 

[KI5IRE]

Working on helping you put together a scan list of the NTIRN for all of the sites you'd most likely be able to hear from Azle based on my experience from when I lived in Tarrant County. Pretty much you won't be able to hear the Ellis County, Irving or Grand Prairie, Midlo, SW Johnson or TMS sites due to them being pretty concentrated to those geographical areas. Not sure how far the Dallas simulcast sites reach, as I haven't been back to DFW since they went online.

I was able to hear the Parker County VHF P25 system when I lived in the HEB area, and even as far east as Irving and Dallas, and as far south as Johnson County.

Denton County P25 was really hard to hear for whatever reason south of Western Center.

Wise County was kinda hit or miss, even with an attic discone in NE Tarrant, but I'd imagine you'd be able to hear them in up in Azle.

 

[poppafred]

Your close enuf you want to include Parker Co TRS in your scanning…
When I get home later I’ll send you what I setup for NETarrant Co for the 536s at work!

Thanks, Cleve! I appreciate the help!

 

[Harold]

Just remember when programming the 536. The talkgroups are Site Specific. Program the talkgroups assigned to each site in your Favorites list and leave the other sites out. The three reasons folks don't hear anything on the system 1. Scanning too many sites. 2. Squelched out. or 3. Simulcast.

 

[mass-man]

Thanks, Cleve! I appreciate the help!

You should also add Eagle Mt fire…busy on lake patrol on the weekends!

 

[mass-man]

My luck with the 536 and simulcast has been very good! I programmed 10 of them, mostly on NTIRN and we seem to miss very little!