Washington, MO Police & Fire

[W0ACT]

Appears they have now switched over to the Franklin County talk-group in the MOSWIN P25 system in the last few days from what I am hearing.

Anybody else in the area hearing the same?

 

[stlouisx50]

Appears they have now switched over to the Franklin County talk-group in the MOSWIN P25 system in the last few days from what I am hearing.

Anybody else in the area hearing the same?

I heard Washington PD on digital for a while now. Union was still on VHF non digital this AM and I believe St. Clair PD as well.

Franklin Co Sheriff's Dept was analog as of last week. I'll check tomorrow to verify on our way through.

 

[stlouisx50]

Franklin Co Sheriff is on 151.340 146.2 PL
Franklin Co Fire Response 151.010 110.9 PL

 

[SirtifiedIdiot]

To my knowledge Franklin County does not have any intention on switching to P25 at this time. This is only City of Washington. They dispatch themselves. Franklin County also dispatches for St. Clair PD and Union PD therefore unless they started dispatching themselves I don't see them switching either until and or if Franklin County does.

 

[rbritton1201]

I'm not hearing anything from Washington PD lately. I could monitor them easily on VHF from my location in Union, Missouri before the PD's supposed switch over to digital, but haven't heard anything off of the Washington 700 tower.

Is anybody hearing traffic from Washington PD, digital or otherwise? If digital, what are your data base settings (ie: talk groups, site ID settings, frequencies, NAC, etc...) The Washington PD s "System" IS turned ON within my favorites programming. I would like to compare what I have programmed to what is working for you.

I'm still not receiving any control channel signal indicator on my scanner off the Washington 700 tower site, thinking that perhaps it's a range issue, which prompted me to check the range of the Washington 700 tower within the State's MOSWIN documentation, and it says it's only 12 miles, which is rather limited in comparison to other tower ranges (most have a theoretical 25 mile range circle). But ,the Washington 700 tower, even at only a 12 mile range, should theoretically be well within range of my location, since Union, Missouri, where I'm located, is well within the range circle. I'm just 6 miles from Washington, Missouri, and when Washington PD was on VHF, I had no problem receiving their transmissions off my unchanged antenna system.

I turned on the "ID SEARCH" on the Washington 700" tower site within Sentinel programming, double checked the talk groups, site ID, frequencies, etc...and the ones for Washington PD are there in Favorites programming, at least based on what Radio Reference says are the settings for Washington PD. Now all that remains is to listen for some voice traffic. With respect to Washington Fire, I can receive their signals on VHF at my location in Union, Missouri, no problem. But, after the supposed PDs switch over to digital, nothing...

Appears they have now switched over to the Franklin County talk-group in the MOSWIN P25 system in the last few days from what I am hearing.

Anybody else in the area hearing the same?

 

[W0ACT]

I had the same problem and found this.

Starting in the Radio Reference Missouri data base:

Select Franklin County

Go all the way to the bottom of the page and select "Missouri Statewide Wireless Interoperable Network (MOSWIN)" under the "All Trunked Radio Systems In Franklin County"

Scroll down until you get to "Franklin County Talkgroups"

I loaded that up and it is now working again but it sounds a lot different sound wise compared to what I was used too.

I do hear a little bit of Washington Fire Department once in a great while on the old system.

I too agree, Washington & State are the only police departments around here that are on P25

Thanks for the feedback !

 

[W0ACT]

Franklin Co Sheriff is on 151.340 146.2 PL
Franklin Co Fire Response 151.010 110.9 PL

Franklin Co Sheriff is on 151.340 146.2 PL
Franklin Co Fire Response 151.010 110.9 PL

I agree and also have 151.34 79.7 PL and 151.01 79.7PL loaded up as well.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[rbritton1201]

I had just two talk groups entered into programming on the SDS200 for Law Enforcement, which are the two in Radio Reference that are indicated as "Law Enforcement" talk groups, TGID 4803 and TGID 4806. I have a BCD536HP dedicated to Fire frequencies, and wanted only the Law Enforcement channels programmed into the SDS200.

But, after reading your post, I thought that perhaps the PD was using the other TGIDs that are earmarked in Radio Reference as Fire TGIDs. So I just finished reprogramming the Washington Favorites list to contain all the TGIDs, both PD and Fire that are earmarked in Radio Reference. The MOSWIN tower that Washington is programmed to in my SDS200 is the MOSWIN "Washington 700" tower. I doubted the inclusion of these additional TGIDs in programming would remedy my reception issue, since I have never seen a signal indicator from the Washington 700 tower, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Unfortunately, after making these changes, I'm still not receiving any signal strength indication from the control channel from the "Washington 700" tower, and consequently no voice transmissions are heard either with the inclusion of all the TGIDs for Washington that are earmarked in Radio Reference. It's hard to accept that my being only 6 miles away from Washington, I wouldn't be receiving control channel signals off the Washington 700 tower, especially when I'm receiving control channel signals off of several other MOSWIN towers both near and far, one in particular being the Shirley tower, which has to be at least 40 miles away from me.

I'm beginning to wonder if the output power on Washington 700 tower is reduced compared to some of these other towers I'm receiving well that are much further away than the "Washington 700" tower, such as the Shirley, Weldon Spring, and the Imperial. I can't understand it, but I'm forced to accept it...very frustrating!

You mentioned their digital signals sound different since the change over to digital, and while that's typical of digital compared to analog, I wonder if something more is going on. I wonder if there's more to it with respect to the different quality of sound you mentioned hearing, and whether there might be other intentionally limiting factors with respect to the way Washington 700 is set up at the tower site, its output power, antenna elevation, etc...which is influencing my lack of reception as close as Union, Missouri. Some have mentioned not being able to receive signals from the Washington 700 tower when they're as close as I44 just South of Highway 50.

I agree and also have 151.34 79.7 PL and 151.01 79.7PL loaded up as well.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[stlouisx50]

I had just two talk groups entered into programming on the SDS200 for Law Enforcement, which are the two in Radio Reference that are indicated as "Law Enforcement" talk groups, TGID 4803 and TGID 4806. I have a BCD536HP dedicated to Fire frequencies, and wanted only the Law Enforcement channels programmed into the SDS200.

But, after reading your post, I thought that perhaps the PD was using the other TGIDs that are earmarked in Radio Reference as Fire TGIDs. So I just finished reprogramming the Washington Favorites list to contain all the TGIDs, both PD and Fire that are earmarked in Radio Reference. The MOSWIN tower that Washington is programmed to in my SDS200 is the MOSWIN "Washington 700" tower. I doubted the inclusion of these additional TGIDs in programming would remedy my reception issue, since I have never seen a signal indicator from the Washington 700 tower, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Unfortunately, after making these changes, I'm still not receiving any signal strength indication from the control channel from the "Washington 700" tower, and consequently no voice transmissions are heard either with the inclusion of all the TGIDs for Washington that are earmarked in Radio Reference. It's hard to accept that my being only 6 miles away from Washington, I wouldn't be receiving control channel signals off the Washington 700 tower, especially when I'm receiving control channel signals off of several other MOSWIN towers both near and far, one in particular being the Shirley tower, which has to be at least 40 miles away from me.

I'm beginning to wonder if the output power on Washington 700 tower is reduced compared to some of these other towers I'm receiving well that are much further away than the "Washington 700" tower, such as the Shirley, Weldon Spring, and the Imperial. I can't understand it, but I'm forced to accept it...very frustrating!

You mentioned their digital signals sound different since the change over to digital, and while that's typical of digital compared to analog, I wonder if something more is going on. I wonder if there's more to it with respect to the different quality of sound you mentioned hearing, and whether there might be other intentionally limiting factors with respect to the way Washington 700 is set up at the tower site, its output power, antenna elevation, etc...which is influencing my lack of reception as close as Union, Missouri. Some have mentioned not being able to receive signals from the Washington 700 tower when they're as close as I44 just South of Highway 50.

I have traveled I44 from Rolla to St. Clair and up MO47 to Warrenton and can tell you this...
On I44 reception of the Washington County Tower is awesome from Sullivan to Just south of Union. They likely wouldn't have Washington city on their tower though. Same issue I have near me.

Franklin Co site and Gasconade Co have a slight section of i44 just west of MO47. Again likely no luck of Washington on there.

Weldon Spring site did have Washington City a few months ago though. You likely can pick the site up if you live near Washington, but it will take you needing to be up 94 some ways to hear the site again or near 109.

Washington city site is active however I have the bad news that it's just a poor site to pick up.
You can hear it just north of Union to near Marthasville. A few miles north of Marthasville and it's gone. That includes getting higher up in elevation too.
The truth is the MOSWIN towers were placed to suit the best of dead zones, we unfortunately just get to hear what we are lucky to hear since it seems they have the system fairly directional if you watch your signal meter. If you don't have to of the line radios or antennas, these systems can cause your scanner to be mute due to all the digital errors.

 

[rbritton1201]

I'm receiving signals from Weldon Spring's tower, including the control channel signal, versus nothing whatsoever off of the "Washington 700" tower site, which is in the ciity of Washington.

I wonder if I could add the Weldon Spring tower site, and just the Washington talk groups to the Washington PD Favorites List using Sentinel? Since I'm getting a control channel signal off the Weldon Spring tower, I might just be able to pickup Washington PD off the Weldon Spring tower if Washington PD is subscribed there?

If you're hearing Washington PD off the Weldon Spring tower, I wonder if that same scenario might work if TGIDs for Washington PD were added to the next closest tower, which would be the St. Clair tower. I'm receiving control channel signals and voice traffic off both Weldon Spring and St. Clair towers. I guess it would depend on whether Washington PD is also subscribed to the St. Clair tower.

I'm not sure I can manually program TGIDs to these tower sites...

Weldon Spring site did have Washington City a few months ago though. You likely can pick the site up if you live near Washington, but it will take you needing to be up 94 some ways to hear the site again or near 109.

 

[stlouisx50]

The main site for Washington PD is Washington 700. I'm not sure if when I picked them up on the Weldon Springs site they were roaming onto the site or not. It's worth a try.

 

[W0ACT]

I had just two talk groups entered into programming on the SDS200 for Law Enforcement, which are the two in Radio Reference that are indicated as "Law Enforcement" talk groups, TGID 4803 and TGID 4806. I have a BCD536HP dedicated to Fire frequencies, and wanted only the Law Enforcement channels programmed into the SDS200.

But, after reading your post, I thought that perhaps the PD was using the other TGIDs that are earmarked in Radio Reference as Fire TGIDs. So I just finished reprogramming the Washington Favorites list to contain all the TGIDs, both PD and Fire that are earmarked in Radio Reference. The MOSWIN tower that Washington is programmed to in my SDS200 is the MOSWIN "Washington 700" tower. I doubted the inclusion of these additional TGIDs in programming would remedy my reception issue, since I have never seen a signal indicator from the Washington 700 tower, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Unfortunately, after making these changes, I'm still not receiving any signal strength indication from the control channel from the "Washington 700" tower, and consequently no voice transmissions are heard either with the inclusion of all the TGIDs for Washington that are earmarked in Radio Reference. It's hard to accept that my being only 6 miles away from Washington, I wouldn't be receiving control channel signals off the Washington 700 tower, especially when I'm receiving control channel signals off of several other MOSWIN towers both near and far, one in particular being the Shirley tower, which has to be at least 40 miles away from me.

I'm beginning to wonder if the output power on Washington 700 tower is reduced compared to some of these other towers I'm receiving well that are much further away than the "Washington 700" tower, such as the Shirley, Weldon Spring, and the Imperial. I can't understand it, but I'm forced to accept it...very frustrating!

You mentioned their digital signals sound different since the change over to digital, and while that's typical of digital compared to analog, I wonder if something more is going on. I wonder if there's more to it with respect to the different quality of sound you mentioned hearing, and whether there might be other intentionally limiting factors with respect to the way Washington 700 is set up at the tower site, its output power, antenna elevation, etc...which is influencing my lack of reception as close as Union, Missouri. Some have mentioned not being able to receive signals from the Washington 700 tower when they're as close as I44 just South of Highway 50.

That SDS200 is a very nice scanner!



I would like to get one after upgrading my ham station, but currently using a BCD525 & BCD436.



I have the BCD536 hooked up to a Diamond D-130 discone antenna, which I hate to admit is currently located at the ceiling of my basement and using a Watson W801 portable antenna on the HP436 which is also located in my shack in the basement.



I am still getting used to these new P25 system’s and miss the good days of my Bearcat 101.



I have the following talk-groups programed.



4801 -

4802 -

4803 - Believe UID 56996 & 56997 & 56998 are all police dispatch from what I am hearing

4806 -

4807 -

4808 - I am hearing fire dispatched but have not paid too much attention not UID#’s

4809 – Heard fire truck driver training yesterday as they were moving trucks around orange cones practicing

4810 - Heard fire truck driver training yesterday as they were moving trucks around orange cones practicing



I might have heard more on different talk-groups but have not paid much attention to be honest.



I am running Butel ARC536PRO software and can run virtual control for a couple of 24/7 days and see what the log shows and report back here.



Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks!

I had just two talk groups entered into programming on the SDS200 for Law Enforcement, which are the two in Radio Reference that are indicated as "Law Enforcement" talk groups, TGID 4803 and TGID 4806. I have a BCD536HP dedicated to Fire frequencies, and wanted only the Law Enforcement channels programmed into the SDS200.

But, after reading your post, I thought that perhaps the PD was using the other TGIDs that are earmarked in Radio Reference as Fire TGIDs. So I just finished reprogramming the Washington Favorites list to contain all the TGIDs, both PD and Fire that are earmarked in Radio Reference. The MOSWIN tower that Washington is programmed to in my SDS200 is the MOSWIN "Washington 700" tower. I doubted the inclusion of these additional TGIDs in programming would remedy my reception issue, since I have never seen a signal indicator from the Washington 700 tower, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Unfortunately, after making these changes, I'm still not receiving any signal strength indication from the control channel from the "Washington 700" tower, and consequently no voice transmissions are heard either with the inclusion of all the TGIDs for Washington that are earmarked in Radio Reference. It's hard to accept that my being only 6 miles away from Washington, I wouldn't be receiving control channel signals off the Washington 700 tower, especially when I'm receiving control channel signals off of several other MOSWIN towers both near and far, one in particular being the Shirley tower, which has to be at least 40 miles away from me.

I'm beginning to wonder if the output power on Washington 700 tower is reduced compared to some of these other towers I'm receiving well that are much further away than the "Washington 700" tower, such as the Shirley, Weldon Spring, and the Imperial. I can't understand it, but I'm forced to accept it...very frustrating!

You mentioned their digital signals sound different since the change over to digital, and while that's typical of digital compared to analog, I wonder if something more is going on. I wonder if there's more to it with respect to the different quality of sound you mentioned hearing, and whether there might be other intentionally limiting factors with respect to the way Washington 700 is set up at the tower site, its output power, antenna elevation, etc...which is influencing my lack of reception as close as Union, Missouri. Some have mentioned not being able to receive signals from the Washington 700 tower when they're as close as I44 just South of Highway 50.

The main site for Washington PD is Washington 700. I'm not sure if when I picked them up on the Weldon Springs site they were roaming onto the site or not. It's worth a try.

That SDS200 is a very nice scanner!

I would like to get one after upgrading my ham station, but currently using a BCD525 & BCD436.

I have the BCD536 hooked up to a Diamond D-130 discone antenna, which I hate to admit is currently located at the ceiling of my basement and using a Watson W801 portable antenna on the HP436 which is also located in my shack in the basement.

I am still getting used to these new P25 system’s and miss the good days of my Bearcat 101.

I have the following talk-groups programed.

4801 -
4802 -
4803 - Believe UID 56996 & 56997 & 56998 are all police dispatch from what I am hearing
4806 -
4807 -
4808 - I am hearing fire dispatched but have not paid too much attention to UID#’s
4809 – Heard fire truck driver training yesterday as they were moving trucks around orange cones practicing
4810 - Heard fire truck driver training yesterday as they were moving trucks around orange cones practicing
I might have heard more on different talk-groups but have not paid much attention to be honest.

I am running Butel ARC536PRO software and can run virtual control for a couple of 24/7 days and see what the log shows and report back here.

Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
W0ACT
73

 

[W0ACT]

Results form last night are.

Note: Excel for some reason keeps adding a digit to the Washington 700 group but it tis all the Washington 700 system.
I must be doing something wrong transposing.

TYPE	FREQUENCY	TALKGROUP ID	CHANNEL TAG	SUBTONE	UID	SYSTEM	DEPARTMENT	HITCOUNT
LOG	158.895		Fire- EMS Dispatch	C100.0		Franklin County	Washington	40
LOG	773.5312	4803	Wash Police			Washington 700	Franklin County	72
UID		4803	Wash Police		51073	Washington 701	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51077	Washington 702	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51082	Washington 703	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51083	Washington 704	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51088	Washington 705	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51101	Washington 706	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51190	Washington 707	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51191	Washington 708	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51196	Washington 709	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51209	Washington 710	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		51203	Washington 711	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		56996	Washington 712	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		56997	Washington 713	Franklin County
UID		4803	Wash Police		56998	Washington 714	Franklin County

 

[rbritton1201]

My issue must be related to not being able to receive their transmissions where I'm located, some kind of geographical obstruction.

I have a subscription to Broadcastify, which I had hoped I could listen to in order to receive Washington PD, but I don't see where Washington PD can be specifically selected within Broadcastify, it seems to be omitted from their Franklin County feed. I think Radio Reference is the parent company to Broadcastify, if I'm not mistaken. So, apparently there aren't any feeds from other subscribers that include Washington PD...I guess there must be many others that can't receive their signals either. I guess to receive their signals you would neted to either live in Washington, or have a pretty decent antenna system, or be in the perfect geographical position to receive their transmissions if outside of Washington city limits.

 

[W0ACT]

I am on the eastern edge of town but do find it interesting they are still using the old system for fire.
I hear fire on the new system over the weekend during a training exercise.

 

[kruser]

My issue must be related to not being able to receive their transmissions where I'm located, some kind of geographical obstruction.

I have a subscription to Broadcastify, which I had hoped I could listen to in order to receive Washington PD, but I don't see where Washington PD can be specifically selected within Broadcastify, it seems to be omitted from their Franklin County feed. I think Radio Reference is the parent company to Broadcastify, if I'm not mistaken. So, apparently there aren't any feeds from other subscribers that include Washington PD...I guess there must be many others that can't receive their signals either. I guess to receive their signals you would neted to either live in Washington, or have a pretty decent antenna system, or be in the perfect geographical position to receive their transmissions if outside of Washington city limits.

Add the Weldon Spring VHF site 316 into your site list. It carries some Washington City PD traffic as long as there is a Washington city users radio affiliated with the Weldon Spring tower on the PD talkgroup 4803. I've been monitoring Washington PD via the Weldon Spring VHF site for a couple weeks now.

For your Washington 700 site problem, do a test if your up to it! Take your 536 model outdoors and power it with an extension cord or something. Plug in the telescopic antenna that came with your 536 or the SDS200. Don't use your discone at all.
Enter in the Washington 700 sites control channel frequency as an Analog conventional channel. Don't worry about setting it as digital or P25 or anything, just a regular old analog conventional entry.
The Washington 700 sites control channel is on 773.03125 which is what you need to enter in.
After you do that, make sure your 536 is sitting on that channel and see if the 536 shows a signal.

This may help rule out signal and/or programming issues if you do see a signal indication on the 536's screen.
It will probably mute the audio if it does get a signal as it will detect the control channel data. That's not a problem, it's just the signal indication I'm hoping you will see.

 

[kruser]

I am on the eastern edge of town but do find it interesting they are still using the old system for fire.
I hear fire on the new system over the weekend during a training exercise.

When Washington City was issued radios several months ago, I monitored the fire users on their talkgroups. They were doing a LOT of testing around the city. One of the common locations was inside Mercy Hospital.
They had tons of radio issues during most of the tests, especially when inside the hospital building.
You could hear the frustration in their voices it was so bad. The testing lasted a week or two and then they went mostly silent and I rarely heard them again while monitoring Moswin. Like you said, it seems that fire is only heard now while doing training.
I don't know if they worked out the Moswin radio issues or gave up and decided to stay on the reliable analog system.

Then finally after a couple months or more, Washington City PD showed up on Moswin and they have been very active ever since.

 

[rbritton1201]

Hello Kruser,

Good idea, and I'll try to give that a shot, as I always enjoy experimenting to arrive at a solution.

I've been considering a BCD436HP or an SDS100 for Christmas, and I could use it for experimentation for times that I'm up in Washington, which is often. Might be a decent excuse to give my wife for an addition to the radio collection She keeps asking me for a gift list, and she's getting a $600 semi-pro baking mixer she has been wanting.

But, I really don't need a BCD436HP or an SDS-100 because except for Washington PD, I have all other agencies I'm interested in monitoring that are available to monitor remotely on my cell phone via my SDS200 (designated to Law Enforcement monitoring), and my BCD536HP (Dedicated to Fire/EMS monitoring), both of which seem to have pretty decent reception from both scanners location in Union, Missouri, working off of the Discone antenna.

I don't like the footprint of the SDS100, too bulky for my tastes. I would prefer the BCD436HP, as it's ergomics seem better to me, and I'm already familiar with it's cousin, the BCD536HP, with respect to functions, operation, programming, etc...

I'm kind of reluctant to go that route with the BCD436HP or the SDS100 because it only addresses times when I'm in Washington city limits, and not when I'm anywhere else in the County, including when I'm in my shack. Plus, the idea of spending $450 to $700 to "experiment" doesn"t seem justified to me, nor does it resolve my base station reception issues over Washington PD. Plus, what if I spend that kind of money for a more portable scanner than the BCD536HP, and the issue turns out to be just a programming mistake on my part. Kind of expensive just to learn it's my own fault with respect to programming (which I seriously doubt, but anything's possible).

Your idea to experiment with the BCD536HP is preferable to me, certainly less expensive, and it might at least answer some questions. But, it might be a while before I 'm able to experiment...I went o the Emergency Room yesterday due to severe Rotator Cuff pain, 10 out of 10. It just came on all of a sudden, over a half hour, no falls or anything. I suspect it's probably a very old Law Enforcement related injury flaring up, one I sustained about twenty-five years ago. So, I'll give it a few weeks in a sling, hoping it'll heal up sooner than later, before getting out there to experiment as you suggested. Right now, one arm's in a sling, further limiting my mobility, but at least the pain has substantially subsided.

Add the Weldon Spring VHF site 316 into your site list...Take your 536 model outdoors and power it with an extension cord or something. Plug in the telescopic antenna that came with your 536 or the SDS200. Don't use your discone at all.
Enter in the Washington 700 sites control channel frequency as an Analog conventional channel. Don't worry about setting it as digital or P25 or anything, just a regular old analog conventional entry.

 

[kruser]

But, it might be a while before I 'm able to experiment...I went o the Emergency Room yesterday due to severe Rotator Cuff pain, 10 out of 10. It just came on all of a sudden, over a half hour, no falls or anything. I suspect it's probably a very old Law Enforcement related injury flaring up, one I sustained about twenty-five years ago. So, I'll give it a few weeks in a sling, hoping it'll heal up sooner than later, before getting out there to experiment as you suggested. Right now, one arm's in a sling, further limiting my mobility, but at least the pain has substantially subsided.

Take care of yourself.
Hopefully you'll be back to normal in no time!

If your not going to go to areas with simulcast systems, the 436HP would probably be the better choice over the SDS100. The SDS models are known to have reception issues with VHF systems and analog systems. The SDS models shine however for fixing issues due to simulcast or LSM whichever you prefer to call it.
I do find my SDS200 seems to do better with some of the distant 700 MHz Moswin sites over the 4/536HP models. Even though those Moswin sites are not simulcast, the SDS200 seems to hear the control channel in many cases where the 436 or 536 will not even give a hint there's a 700 MHz signal there.
I also hate the size of the SDS100. I ended up getting the small original size battery and battery door from ScannerMaster for my SDS100 due to the large size with the large battery. Of course the runtime was cut in half if using the 100 as a true portable on battery power. That did not really bother me as I rarely use the 100 on battery for more than 30 minutes or so anyway. Of course the small battery and needed door for it were not cheap. So far, my spare large battery and the newer small battery have not swelled up like some other have reported so I keep my fingers crossed they will both last!

When you do get back to feeling good, please do report back here and let us know the results of the test with the 536.