Whistler TRX 2 programming question

[BN203]

My TRX2 in Ohio has a few issues not related to simulcast. Western Ohio, have sites programmed in Clark, Champaign, Shelby, Auglaize, Miami, Greene, Montgomery, Madison. Many times in Clark and champaign counties, the unit (used as a mobile) will lock on sites and you get a lot of digital garbage instead of clear voice. I assume its r=trying to lock on 2 sites at the same time. Looking at the Trunking sites tab, there is a setting for digital AGC which is set to OFF. Would togging this to ON help with this situation or is there another setting that would? I have tried various squelch settings that do not seem to help. Any other ideas are welcome. My SDS 100 & BCD536HP do not have these issues with similar programming.

 

[tvengr]

I doubt the digital AGC setting will make a difference. Clark County has a lot of encrypted talkgroups on the MARCS trunked system. Your Uniden scanners skip over encrypted talkgroups. In the EZ Scan software, go to the Advanced Features and Audio Options tabs. If Set Encrypted Digital Audio Settings is set to Digital Noise, change it to Audio Tone. If you hear a busy signal, you are receiving encrypted talkgroups. Identify and delete the offending talkgroups. If you set Encrypted Digital Audio Settings to Silence, the scanner will still stop on the encrypted talkgroups and may cause you to miss other transmissions.

 

[BN203]

Just checked that setting and it is set to audio tone at -28dbm. I still get what I call digital scramble when it tries receiving P25 unencrypted talk groups. I have also taken my SDS100 with me when travelling this area and sometimes get the very same digital scramble noise when it tries receiving talk groups. At first I believed it was due to transitioning from one tower to another but now I am not sure if that is the cause, Now that I confirmed it does it on the TRX2 as well as the SDS100, not sure what settings I may need to adjust if any.

What I have noticed is that the SDS100 with its Remtronix antenna will pick up talk groups that the TRX2 with a mobile 700/800 antenna will not. I do have encrypted channels programmed in the TRX2 but are locked out. Do I need to just delete these.

Also I have two sets of sites programmed identically. I talked with someone recently who recommended that I consider adding a site group for each site versus one site group with 10 towers in it. Could this be a source of my issue? Both sets of tower groups have 10 towers each programmed. My goa; was to add 10 tower groups with one tower each in it. Thought this might speed up the scanning and missed signals. MY thought process may not be correct.

 

[tvengr]

Under Site Options, are the Trunking Tables for the Clark and Champaign County sites set to Auto Fill? The Whistler scanners often have a problem with the receiver overloading. Try turning on the attenuator to see if it makes a difference. According to the database, the sites in those 2 counties are not simulcast so that should not be a problem. Please attach your CDAT programming file so we can take a look at it. Click on Attach files and open the file.

 

[BN203]

Here is the latest file I am using in the TRX-2. Maybe this will help unlock some issues.

 

[tvengr]

Here is the latest file I am using in the TRX-2. Maybe this will help unlock some issues.

My first thought is that you have too many sites programmed. Try locking out all of the sites except those in your local and surrounding counties. It is no wonder that the scanner is having problems finding a usable site when searching through 142 to find one.

 

[BN203]

When I look at sites, it shows 10. How do you see 142 and I agree if this is the issue I will delete all but the 10 sites I want to monitor! The EZ scan software is not as user friendly as ARCPRO FOR uNIDEN!

 

[BN203]

I just looked at the program again and the scan list sets were set for set 1, scan lists 1-200. I only use 1-4, so i reset this, hoping it helps.

 

[tvengr]

When I look at sites, it shows 10. How do you see 142

I just looked at the program again and the scan list sets were set for set 1, scan lists 1-200. I only use 1-4, so i reset this, hoping it helps.

My apology, I opened the wrong file. It is OK that the scan set shows scan lists 1-200. That will cover all scan lists. I am checking the new file now.

 

[tvengr]

I don't see any problems with the programming. If the problem occurs only when moving around Clark and Champaign Counties, you may have the receiver overloading when you are close to a tower. Check if the problem always occurs in the same locations. Receiver overload is a common problem with Whistler scanners. You could also have interference from cell towers, FM broadcast stations, and TV stations. If you have good signal strength, try turning on the attenuator.