Washington County Changes

[joescanner]

Yes, council crest bye-bye. Original 10 channels in use but at the new 7 sites with all new equipment. The other 6 will not become active until Portland completes their seemingly never ending reprogramming process. The 6 new frequencie that will bring the main WCCCA simulcast up to a total of 16 are considered "new rebanded" frequencies. If Portland ever finishes, presumably this fall, those will simply be "turned on". Otherwise, interoperability would be compromised.

Thanks, Fix.

Just out of curiosity, though, since all of the "new" "rebanded" channels numbers are within the limits of the pre-rebanding channel plan, why are they waiting for portland to finish reprogramming?

Ooops. Disregard, there are a couple that end in "0" that are in the 440 range, aren't there. Still, and all, they could have at least turned the "compatible" ones on with little risk to interop, couldn't they?

I'm sure you've probably been busy with this project, but good to see you're still with us.

 

[Baker845]

The freqs listed in data base now for site 1 Washington County are those now in service or the old 10 freqs still in use?

 

[joescanner]

The freqs listed in data base now for site 1 Washington County are those now in service or the old 10 freqs still in use for day?

For now, it's just the 10 legacy frequencies due to technical issues relating to interoperability.

Depending on what scanner you have, if you are all set for rebanding (in other words, you have a custom 800MHz band plan set for the washington county system) you don't need to do anything else. If you choose to input all the frequencies, I'd leave the existing ten in place and just add the 8 new ones.

Paul Opitz recently posted an update for the BCD396XT (a nice radio, by the way) that removed the 'Control Channel Only' feature as it is used by default now. Most current production scanners likely operate the same way regardless of that setting (where it exists).

joe

 

[Baker845]

Sounds good thank you.Glad to hear the swich this morning is working. Any Idea when Clackamas county part of the system will be done?

 

[radiotweester]

The new 852/853 freqs were being used on the Washington Co side of the TRS about 0300-0400 this morning. Radio techs were on as well. I just turned it on now and use of the new freqs has ceased. I'm guessing they were testing when traffic was at the lowest???

 

[joescanner]

The new 852/853 freqs were being used on the Washington Co side of the TRS about 0300-0400 this morning. Radio techs were on as well. I just turned it on now and use of the new freqs has ceased. I'm guessing they were testing when traffic was at the lowest???

I think they were just testing (supposedly will be doing so again tomorrow -- stay tuned), but that those frequencies are currently disabled in the zone controller due to the fact that there are still radios running around that haven't been reprogrammed for rebanding (Portland).

 

[KE7JFF]

I think they were just testing (supposedly will be doing so again tomorrow -- stay tuned), but that those frequencies are currently disabled in the zone controller due to the fact that there are still radios running around that haven't been reprogrammed for rebanding (Portland).

So in other words, everything is Portland's fault?

 

[Baker845]

Portland is slowing it down yes, but its not there fault with all radios on Portland system it takes time to get all the moblies and Hts reprogrammed and or reflashed.

 

[KE7JFF]

Just for clarification, right now the frequencies in RR are just the 10 legacy systems minus Council Crest, correct? And the system is not 100% rebanded yet?

The reason I ask is that a buddy of mine who I gave my old PRO-97 scanner to is able to still track WCCCA.

 

[joescanner]

Just for clarification, right now the frequencies in RR are just the 10 legacy systems minus Council Crest, correct? And the system is not 100% rebanded yet?

The reason I ask is that a buddy of mine who I gave my old PRO-97 scanner to is able to still track WCCCA.

Correct. Presently the legacy programming will continue to work. In the database, you'll find 18 frequencies, which include the 8 frequencies that will continue in operation, the two legacy frequencies that will be discontinued, plus the 8 new frequencies that will complete the build-out to 16 frequencies when they get to the point that they can.

I suspect we'll see Portland rebanded before Washington County or Clackamas County. But that's just my opinion.

 

[K7MRT]

So, no one rebands, until Portland rebands. Is that what I'm reading here?

 

[RDCat]

As near as I can tell, this will result in simulcast sites at the following locations:
Parrett Mountain 45.32261111 -122.8645556
Bald Peak 45.38922222 -123.0508611
Tigard 45.41341667 -122.7836111
SW Beaverton 45.47330556 -122.8432222
Hillsboro 45.49430556 -122.9451944
NE Beaverton 45.50736111 -122.7809722
Gales Peak 45.53802778 -123.2119167

It is my understanding that the entire system will complete rebanding at the same time as these sites become active.

It looks like two frequencies will be abandoned or otherwise repurposed: 854.9875 and 855.2375.

Additionally, it looks like 8 new frequencies will be added: 852.7000, 852.8875, 852.9625, 853.2375, 853.2875, 853.4875, 853.5375, 853.7875.

Washington County has been licensed on the Region 35 Interop Channels (OROPS1-OROPS5), WQCZ750. 851.3250, 851.3875, 851.7500, 851.7750, 851.8000

The three "legacy" simulcast sites (Bald Peak, Gales Peak, and Parrett Mtn) also have these frequencies assigned: 855.2125, 855.4625, 855.4875, 855.7125, 855.7375.
QUOTE]

may i ask? what mtn reapters are close to whatcom county??

 

[Baker845]

None of those site are close to Whatcom county. The radio systems and sites that are being talked about here are in Oregon. Whatcom County is in Washingon state.

 

[DickH]

Certainly not full quieting out here in east county anymore, but still readable, when I can get the freakin' radio to pull the signal in. My trunker data stream is down to about 50% quality now but still tracking.

Joe, if you have not put up an antenna yet, this one seems like it should work well for you.
It has a 50 Ohm impedance and 13db gain @ 855MHz. $69.95 w/free shipping.
Wilson Yagi Cellular Antenna 301111 - Free Shipping.

 

[Jack_Daniels_68]

scanning in Washington Cnty

I live in Michigan and have a friend that has requested me to set-up a scanner (BC898T) for a relative of his in Hillsburo. Haven't programmed any Motorola Type II Smartzone systems to date. My county in Michigan has recently changed over to use the MPSCS, which is P25 digital system.

Do I need to use all of the tower frequencing when setting up this scanner or just the control channel frequencies?

I have also been reading and waiting for this rebanding before this scanner is sent to Oregon.

Due to the rebanding, are the frequencies listed in the database the ones I need to use?
If not, what tower frequencies are the correct ones?

Any pointers/tips for setting up this scanner would be greatly appreciated.

My appoligies if this is not the correct forum for these questions, just thought the people in this area would be the most knowledgable.

Thanks again!

 

[joescanner]

Do I need to use all of the tower frequencing when setting up this scanner or just the control channel frequencies?

As near as I can tell, the 898T needs all frequencies programmed in to operate on a Motorola System.

I have also been reading and waiting for this rebanding before this scanner is sent to Oregon.

Due to the rebanding, are the frequencies listed in the database the ones I need to use?
If not, what tower frequencies are the correct ones?

The 898T requires a firmware update to operate correctly on rebanded motorola systems. See http://www.radioreference.com/forum...56-bc898t-rebanding-update-now-available.html for details.

The frequencies listed in the database for the Washington County portion of the system will be correct for when rebanding actually occurs, but two will be deleted eventually (will not affect trunktracking).

 

[Jack_Daniels_68]

Thank you very much for the info on Washington County.

I just need to get a programming cable so I can upload the firmware update.

 

[radiotweester]

Heard the techs say that the new Parrett Mountain Site is now ACTIVE.
45°18'22.86"N, 122°53'40.03"W - Google Maps

Five licenses popped up in the DB that are new as of today; four listed for WCCCA and one listed for CCOM; all are special temporary.
WQKH472 - WCCCA
WQKH476 - WCCCA
WQKH473 - WCCCA
WQKH474 - WCCCA
WQKH397 - CCOM

I've also had four new TGID's pop up over the last two days:
59824 - Unknown Agency
62160 - Unknown Agency
62352 - Probably Clean Water services...it SOUNDED like a public works operation of sorts
65296 - No audio

I heard a radio test once this afternoon on 65296 then nothing.