WMFR Tac-6 (auto-announcer) turned way down??

[natedawg1604]

For the last week it seems like the West Metro Fire Auto-dispatch announcer voice on WMFR Tac-6 has been really, really quiet. All the other channels are fine, only WMFR Tac-6 seems to have been "turned down". Anyone know what's going on?

 

[natedawg1604]

Well, WMFR TAC-6 is still having the same issues, not sure what's going on. Maybe WMFR units don't really need to hear the auto-announcer on their radios, perhaps they have a separate feed at the stations tied to hard-wire connections or something...

 

[Toneslider12]

Well, WMFR TAC-6 is still having the same issues, not sure what's going on. Maybe WMFR units don't really need to hear the auto-announcer on their radios, perhaps they have a separate feed at the stations tied to hard-wire connections or something...

The system transmits via a typical mobile radio that is wired to the Locution controller. A T-1 sends data to the fire station which triggers the lights, pre-alert tone, message boards and finally opens the PA to accept the incoming radio message. My guess is the dispatch transmission volume was turned down. Many FD's are purchasing decibel sensing speakers for the stations that will increase or decrease volume on their own based on the current ambient noise.

 

[natedawg1604]

Update: after reviewing Pro96Com logs from MARC today I just realized that neither Wheat Ridge Fire nor West Metro Fire units even use AutoVoc channels on their general inventory of mobiles/portables. They must be using AutoVoc TG's with a very small number of radios at fixed locations, probably the fire stations as was noted earlier.

 

[PC1309]

It was lower then the voice, but hearing it just fine up to a few nights ago.

 

[lazierfan]

It was lower then the voice, but hearing it just fine up to a few nights ago.

Found the new ID, its now 185. You should be able to hear it on the feed now!

 

[natedawg1604]

Found the new ID, its now 185. You should be able to hear it on the feed now!

Actually, TGs 100-199 are dynamically-assigned patch TG's. I would bet you heard a Wheat Ridge Fire or Fairmount Fire Call. For most Wheatridge Fire or Fairmount Fire calls, West Metro Dispatch patches various Fire TG's together, and the "supergroup" is always a "SAID" (system assigned ID) patch TG between 100-199. Unfortunately there is no way to predict which SAID TG's will be patched to which "regular" TG's or when.

Unless you have a scanner that recognizes P-25 Harris patch data, you might have some difficulties. Can anyone confirm whether a PSR-800, or other scanner, recognizes patch data from a Harris P-25 system?

 

[lazierfan]

OK, sorry. This new information is very informative and educational, but it doesn't help my feed.
Well, short of just tuning to the wildcard and walking away, I'll yield the floor to the more experienced and/or wait for it to go back to TAC-6.

 

[natedawg1604]

Update: Going back to the original topic of this thread, after recent changes the West Metro Auto-Announce TG is now at "normal" volume again.

 

[lazierfan]

I've had another radio locked on the wildcard (pro-106), since Thursday. No autoannounce on any TG.

 

[natedawg1604]

I've had another radio locked on the wildcard (pro-106), since Thursday. No autoannounce on any TG.

I'm definitely hearing it with my 396XT, not sure what might be going on. For most West Metro fire calls the Auto Announce TG is not patched; they only initiate patches for Wheat Ridge Fire and some Fairmount Fire calls. (However, after the dispatch console ID's changed last week I've not yet heard a Fairmount Fire call appear on the MARC system, not sure what's going on there yet)

 

[Spitfire8520]

I've had another radio locked on the wildcard (pro-106), since Thursday. No autoannounce on any TG.

Do you happen to have any talkgroup locked out on the Pro-106? I believe that the TG lockout on the Pro-106 overrides the wildcard and won't follow those TGs.

 

[lazierfan]

Do you happen to have any talkgroup locked out on the Pro-106? I believe that the TG lockout on the Pro-106 overrides the wildcard and won't follow those TGs.

Hmmm, no lock-outs in that ID group at all in Win500. and I don't press the l/o button on the radio except for annoying VHF simplex. Thanks for the ideas.
Just as I typed this, a call on Skyline Drive was on the 185 patch with auto-announce. So only patches for me; no standard operation West Metro yet.

 

[Spitfire8520]

Can anyone confirm whether a PSR-800, or other scanner, recognizes patch data from a Harris P-25 system?

I had to do some forum searching to confirm some of what I have seen posted over the years, but I believe any of the GRE P25 Scanners (RS Pro-106/197 & GRE PSR-500/600/800) since CPU Firmware 1.8 has allowed for accurate following of patches on any P25 system. I haven't had a chance to personally test my Pro-106 on MARC for patching to confirm the functionality with a Harris built system, but I don't remember seeing complaints.

From previous forum posts, it sounds like the Uniden models (regardless of how new) have some issues with properly decoding patch data for P25 systems in general. I don't own a Uniden scanner, so I really do not have an ability to compare the patching functionality between the two brands.

 

[lazierfan]

Just a small interjection here; I've always had WM, Wheat Ridge and Fairmount Auto-Announce on my PSR-500 and Pro-106 equipment until last week when listeners to my feed posted here that it dropped.

 

[natedawg1604]

...
From previous forum posts, it sounds like the Uniden models (regardless of how new) have some issues with properly decoding patch data for P25 systems in general. I don't own a Uniden scanner, so I really do not have an ability to compare the patching functionality between the two brands.

The newer Uniden Scanners, either XT or the very newest, do not follow P-25 patch data at all. That doesn't mean you can't hear patched TG's, it just means you must program any TG that might be used as a patch supergroup. It's pretty easy with DTRS or FRCC because they always use a "regular" agency TG as a patch supergroup. However, Harris systems such as MARC use separate dynamically-assigned (SAID) TG's as patch supergroups, so you also need to program all possible SAID TG's. Luckily the MARC system only uses approx. 100. For the MARC system I created a spreadsheet with all 99 SAID patch TG's, imported the data into Freescan and dumped them in my scanner. It's not a big deal for day-to-day listening, and you can always check Pro96Com if you want to see patch data (assuming you're nearby a computer, of course).

 

[natedawg1604]

I've had another radio locked on the wildcard (pro-106), since Thursday. No autoannounce on any TG.

Can you program TG's 100-199 into your scanner, or would that exceed a capacity limit?

 

[lazierfan]

Can you program TG's 100-199 into your scanner, or would that exceed a capacity limit?

Good idea; I have programmed 100-199 into the PSR-500, each with tag "WM LOLA DISP".

 

[lazierfan]

This will be a test only; if patches for LPD TAC or detectives come through it will be disabled.

Good idea; I have programmed 100-199 into the PSR-500, each with tag "WM LOLA DISP".

 

[PC1309]

I haven't seen any updates, so just letting Lazierfan know that WMFR Auto Anounce is working again on channel taged "WMFR ALERTING" and only hearing PD in the ones taged "LOLA". Thanks again for a great feed!!!