VIPER Statewide Radio System Discussion

RaleighGuy

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Raleigh, NC
If I'm listening to VIPER and interested in Raleigh EMS, when I'm programming the scanner do I include both the Raleigh Durant AND the Raleigh Holly Springs listings? Are those the towers?

Are you able to pu any of the Raleigh towers (West Raleigh or NCSHP Training Center)? The best way is to try the towers from Wake Co and watch which ones you are getting traffic on, then lock out the rest.
 

JohnDistai

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Sep 10, 2010
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My mistake on where Raleigh EMS is located. If I look at the NC Viper list, how do I identify the towers? If I'm looking at the database, I see the following in the tree:

NC VIPER > Wake North Durant
NC VIPER > Wake South Holly Springs

Are those towers?
If the "Type" is "Site", are those towers?

Does limiting the towers reduce simulcast distortion?
 

RaleighGuy

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Raleigh, NC
If I look at the NC Viper list, how do I identify the towers? If I'm looking at the database, I see the following in the tree:
NC VIPER > Wake North Durant
NC VIPER > Wake South Holly Springs
Are those towers?
If the "Type" is "Site", are those towers?

These are the towers/sites in VIPER, just look for the Wake County towers. Again, it is hard to say what is best for you which is why I suggested you try the different towers (except for Wendell which you probably won't get there). Also, remember, not all traffic is carried on every tower, I monitor three towers and while there is some overlap there is also a lot of different traffic.

Screenshot 2020-04-29 11.19.03.png

Does limiting the towers reduce simulcast distortion?

VIPER does not have an issue with simulcast but the WAKE TRS does. So, to answer your question, NO.
 

gtdail

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Sep 12, 2019
Messages
1
I've got a Home Patrol 2, I've paid for the upgrade and have advanced controls. NC viper shows all the towers statewide, I just figured out that I could delete them. It seems to take a long time to scan as opposed to the old analog scanners. Is it scanning all towers for each local channel I've saved? I have sentinel and a paid proscan I believe but my laptop is at my shop. How far from my location should I keep the viper towers if I shouldn't be scanning them.
 

RaleighGuy

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Raleigh, NC
Busy day for the Viper event channels and RRT responders out there, Alpha 1 in Hyde Co for over turned tanker with LP gas leaking into creek, Alpha 3 Jackson Co for man that went over the falls, and non-RRT related Foxtrot 1 for State Capital Police/Raleigh PD/SHP during protests at State Capital
 

Randy_Vick

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May 13, 2017
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Location
Suffolk, VA
This is more of a scanner related than VIPER question, but since my problem is related to VIPER - I have a BCD396XT with internal GPS. I have the "local" sites and talkgroups already live. I'm having difficulty trying to download and install statewide coverage. ProScan warns sites and talkgroups exceed the limits. I've tried to relatively arbitrarily divide sites and talkgroups, but I always wind up with too many, and in creating new scanner "groups," I'm afraid I won't have the relative talkgroups and sites together.

Does anyone have a suggestion for creating groups that won't exceed the limits, or an even greater blessing, a file to share?

I broke VIPER sites and counties apart by NCSHP troop geography. I've attached the ProScan dB file if anyone is interested.
 

Attachments

  • VIPER By NCSHP Troop.txt
    197.7 KB · Views: 50

jake_Braker

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Somewhere in NC
Busy day for the Viper event channels and RRT responders out there, Alpha 1 in Hyde Co for over turned tanker with LP gas leaking into creek, Alpha 3 Jackson Co for man that went over the falls, and non-RRT related Foxtrot 1 for State Capital Police/Raleigh PD/SHP during protests at State Capital
Holy crap! I was wondering why so many event channels were active. Thanks for that!
 

NightF0x

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May 2, 2020
Messages
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Location
Columbus, NC
I'm still pretty green to the newer scanners. What is the easiest way to get the radio id's programmed? I found the NC Viper radio id list in the Wiki. Is there a way to dump all of those into the scanner at once or do I need to program each line separately? I did try copy and paste but Sentinel didn't like that.
 

jake_Braker

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Somewhere in NC
I'm still pretty green to the newer scanners. What is the easiest way to get the radio id's programmed? I found the NC Viper radio id list in the Wiki. Is there a way to dump all of those into the scanner at once or do I need to program each line separately? I did try copy and paste but Sentinel didn't like that.
You should be able to import RR lists through sentinel but you need a premium subscription (which I see you have)
 

RaleighGuy

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Raleigh, NC
You should be able to import RR lists through sentinel but you need a premium subscription (which I see you have)
He's talking about the UID/RID list in the Wiki, not the RR database that can be imported.

I'm still pretty green to the newer scanners. What is the easiest way to get the radio id's programmed? I found the NC Viper radio id list in the Wiki. Is there a way to dump all of those into the scanner at once or do I need to program each line separately? I did try copy and paste but Sentinel didn't like that.
It takes a little work, you'd have to copy and paste the list and convert it to a CSV file to import it (if Sentinel allows it, I don't use it so I don't know). That means adding commas between the UID/RID and changing the Alpha tag to fit
 

NightF0x

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Columbus, NC
He's talking about the UID/RID list in the Wiki, not the RR database that can be imported.


It takes a little work, you'd have to copy and paste the list and convert it to a CSV file to import it (if Sentinel allows it, I don't use it so I don't know). That means adding commas between the UID/RID and changing the Alpha tag to fit

Thanks, I'll give that a shot and see how well it works.
 

jtdude100

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Joined
Nov 26, 2019
Messages
8
Location
Raleigh, NC
Hey y'all, super noob question:

Do transmissions on VIPER repeat between towers? I.E. if I'm in Wake County in the middle of the state, and I wanted to listen to VIPER activity in Ashville in the western part of the state, do I need to be near+listening to a tower where that activity is happening (i.e. White Fawn), or can I just listen to tower local to me (i.e. Archdale Building)? Is there any separate programming that needs to be done to listen to different sites (right now I just import RR premium tables into FreeScan, don't usually change anything except talkgroup names)?

Reference: RR VIPER Page VIPER Site Map 2019
 

reconrider8

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Dec 26, 2007
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Eastern, NC
Depends on the tgid and where you are. Statewide channels can be used throughout the state ie events channels and sw calling channels. Your local tgids have a 1 County buffer so they can be used on towers 1 County over and the home county but none else
 

RaleighGuy

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Raleigh, NC
Two new TGs caught on audio recordings I wanted to throw out there and see if anyone else has any information. Neither had RIDs on the recordings.

60696 Keyup only no voice
60809 Encrypted traffic, two messages each about 30-40 seconds
 

RaleighGuy

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Jul 15, 2014
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Raleigh, NC
Does anyone know why I can't get Cleveland Co. SHP on my towers (CMVFD, Belmont, Kings Mt. South)?

That's really hard to answer not knowing the bigger picture, such as antenna, direction of antenna, your programming, where you are in relationship to the tower, and a slew of other things that might interfere with the reception between you and the tower. Kind of like asking do you know when the post office is going to deliver my mail. Not the answer you hoped for I'm sure, but it is an honest response.
 

trumpetman

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Mar 24, 2007
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Location
Charlotte, NC
Probably due to patching that your scanner can't follow. Put it in search and look for any SHP TGs that come up. I know H3 & H5 are typically patched and I think H1 & H4 are patched along with H2 & H6. It really depends on who is working the consoles and how the districts are staffed. If H1 & H4 are patched and the supergroup is based off H1 then you're hearing both district TGs while your scanner only displays H1. There is a slight chance that there's no one working the east side and not affiliated to Kings Mtn as well. Check your lock-outs as well, you may have locked out one of the talkgroups.
 
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