Utah switching to P25 phase II in 3 to 4 months.

tsalmrsystemtech

Active Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
1,600
I see alot of changes and additions to the Db. More and more frequencies added to all the sites. Seems to keeps pushing forward.

Nice.
 

snowpython

Newbie
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 18, 2020
Messages
1
I see alot of changes and additions to the Db. More and more frequencies added to all the sites. Seems to keeps pushing forward.

Nice.
Are there any p25 channels that have traffic.
I am using sdrtrunk however whenever I add channels I see it idel and not showing any traffic.
I suspect because it's not in use yet. I saw the church and kennecott have p25 channels. However nothing to test if my setup is working properly
 

gldavis

KE7MQF
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 17, 2002
Messages
1,449
Location
Bountiful, UT
There is limited traffic on the UCA P25 system at this time. So far all I've "caught" is traffic between the Maintenance Techs as they bring the sites up.
 

hazrat8990

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 12, 2013
Messages
420
Location
Wyoming
Are there any p25 channels that have traffic.
I am using sdrtrunk however whenever I add channels I see it idel and not showing any traffic.
I suspect because it's not in use yet. I saw the church and kennecott have p25 channels. However nothing to test if my setup is working properly
The actual control channels for each site are already active and have been for a while. I was able to mess around a bit with sdrtrunk while I was visiting family last July, and had no trouble at all with receive. I was using one of those crappy dipoles that came with the RTL-SDR's and had it hooked up to my Airspy. I was able to see control channel activity on several sites with the gain set at 15.

You should probably check the gain settings for your tuner and also use the waterfall to see where the control channel activity is. At the top of the screen you will see either a red, or green line. Those lines are the frequencies in your playlist. The green ones are the sites (channels) that are currently playing, and the red ones are the sites that aren't selected. The solid red lines that streak down the waterfall are the control frequencies that are active. Anything that's showing as "idle" is out of range.

The status will be highlighted and display "control" when you are receiving the control channel good enough for it to be decoded. Additionally, you will be able to see exactly which frequencies are being used for primary and secondary control, as well as info about the site neighbors when you click on the details tab.

Screenshot 2024-09-17 082202.png
 

hazrat8990

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 12, 2013
Messages
420
Location
Wyoming
I am using sdrtrunk however whenever I add channels I see it idel and not showing any traffic.
Just out of curiosity, how did you set up the channels in your playlist? Did you add them as FDMA, or TDMA? If you set them up as phase 2 TDMA, they won't decode at all. I know it sounds wrong, but try setting them up again as phase 1, and I bet they will decode properly. I do remember having this issue back in July.
Screenshot 2024-09-17 110004.png
 

bbrady86

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 30, 2024
Messages
12
Well, it seems as though things have gone live here in Iron County. Barely hearing any traffic on the SDS100 though and it's just a small amount of dispatch responses and EMS/Fire tones and codes coming across on VHF. Oddly enough, I was able to catch some P25 chatter back and forth with SDRTrunk when I was able to get my laptop out to an area with no obstructions, so at least I know the system's functional. I programmed everything into the SDS100 using Sentinel and the P25 channels are scanning, but nothing comes through. I have seen "Data" listed at the top of the screen when it has a decent signal, so I know it's at least trying to receive. Any of you more seasoned users have any idea why the SDS100 isn't receiving anything P25 related? I even tried to add a new favorites list of all of single site's 700mhz P25 frequencies that I know I should receive good signal from and unfortunately, the SDS100 just said there's nothing to scan since there aren't any service types built into the profile to select. I was quite surprised that SDRTrunk was actually functional and the SDS100 is somewhat useless right now. What do you guys think might be the issue? Is it possibly something on Sentinel's end that it's just not quite updated yet like the Radio Reference database used for SDRTrunk, or some odd decoding issue on the SDS? It's definitely been discouraging trying to troubleshoot it. I hope the SDS won't end up becoming an expensive paperweight.
 

gedunks1

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
7
Weber county will be switching in the early part of November. There are a few counties that have switched but it’s still will have bugs in the system.
 

gedunks1

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
7
Good to hear I will be redoing my favorites lists soon on my bcd436hp I got in August been great to usec& listen with.
 

enosjones

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
2,010
Location
Price, Utah
the full database programmed into the scanner updates once a week and only will ID scan not ID search, the system will need to be added as a favorite either by hand programming or the faster solution is sentinel. several setting will stop it from scanning or picking up anything, is it is set to location only after telling it your zip code, without giving it the location by GPS. also in the favorites list it may need a quick key. that has to be on, also if u are programming it from sentinel then writing to scanner afterwards. u also need to right click on the list so it has monitor and download list is set to on. the scan lists to monitor setting in the scanner if lists kinda does the same thing too. also check service types if a certain service type isn't set like law dispatch and its set to custom, but the scanner has this service type off cuz it only is set to scan law dispatch that would also stop it from scanning...and turn on they quick keys if any are set...01.01.01 example...
 

enosjones

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
2,010
Location
Price, Utah
system option settings u can select ID search on or off, this must be on to receive any talkgroups that are not currently in the database such as new talkgroups. now because iron county was just added it will take to til Monday to be added to the uniden database from radioreference.com database, then it can be updated in the scanner, (be sure u save the changes on the scanner to the pc before writing to the scanner or it will overwrite anything changed in the scanner with what the pc has) . so read scanner, save, then write to scanner after. u will lose any programming done to the scanner if u don't do it in that order.
 

bbrady86

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 30, 2024
Messages
12
I also realized after I was able to get it partially working that a MAJOR limitation is going to be antenna reception indoors. I'm going to fiddle with a bunch of different sites and manual programming for the time being to see if I can get a stronger signal in the house with my REM-820S and REM-842S. So far, I've actually found the stock antenna on the SDS100 is nearly equivalent to the 842S and the 820S actually wasn't receiving anything, nor was my Spectrumforce wideband antenna. My RSSI numbers were well into the -90dbm/-100dbm range with the Remtronix antennas, so that was a big component of why there wasn't anything coming through. Until I know how things pan out encryption-wise, I won't be purchasing any additional antennas. Supposedly, word on the street is that Washington County has gone encrypted already, so it may just only be a short timeframe until the switch is flipped pretty much everywhere and we're SOL.
 

enosjones

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
2,010
Location
Price, Utah
u can cheat if u have a magnet mount antenna, and something metal to attach it too. someone in st george is streaming Washington county fire and ems. and iron and Kane County. even though Washington county Units are encrypted, doesn't mean everything is and i wouldn't assume so.. UDOT and several other entities that were using 800 will use 700 i assume.
 

enosjones

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
2,010
Location
Price, Utah
the magnet mount antenna u could attach a TV tray, the side of your house or a patio or a balcony, u can get creative . depending on your location you can see what sites are within your area and which are the closest...
 

bbrady86

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 30, 2024
Messages
12
the magnet mount antenna u could attach a TV tray, the side of your house or a patio or a balcony, u can get creative . depending on your location you can see what sites are within your area and which are the closest...
Oh yeah! I've been experimenting with it! :ROFLMAO:
 

gedunks1

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
7
Wow I just got finished with reprogramming my scanner bcd436hp for the new p25 phase 2 getting more ids now than before. Still need to wait for highway patrol frequencies?
 

gedunks1

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
7
u can cheat if u have a magnet mount antenna, and something metal to attach it too. someone in st george is streaming Washington county fire and ems. and iron and Kane County. even though Washington county Units are encrypted, doesn't mean everything is and i wouldn't assume so.. UDOT and several other entities that were using 800 will use 700 i assume.
Yes they will
 

gedunks1

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
7
Weber county has gone dark switched to the p25 phase 2. possibly by the end of the year all of Utah will be encrypted?
 
Top