Woodbridge CT PD - Garbled transmissions

[PD47JD]

During the past 24 hours Woodbridge PD is being received as severely garbled, but somewhat understandable. It's not "e". Sounds like the gain has been adjusted
somewhere along the line. FD which is also p25 UHF has no such issue. Any thoughts?

 

[JethrowJohnson]

Have you heard anything about them switching to a simulcast system maybe?

 

[tvengr]

Have you heard anything about them switching to a simulcast system maybe?

That is quite possible. WRV713 shows 6 sites using 453.375. Simulcast distortion can cause garbled audio. Try turning on the attenuator to see if it helps.

 

[PD47JD]

Thread watched? Who is the "watcher"?

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Thread watched? Who is the "watcher"?

You?

 

[Firebuff66]

During the past 24 hours Woodbridge PD is being received as severely garbled, but somewhat understandable. It's not "e". Sounds like the gain has been adjusted
somewhere along the line. FD which is also p25 UHF has no such issue. Any thoughts?

In the last 2 hours of listening, they only talked twice but sounded ok, They have always been sort of overmodulated.
They and Fire are both on the same sites, Both LSM (CQPSK) modulation and use the same connectivity
Fire has always sounded much better than PD, the difference is how the subscriber's audio settings are programmed

 

[PD47JD]

Best time to listen is during shift change when the officers announce vehicle mileage. Otherwise, there is very little in terms of radio activity.

 

[PD47JD]

That is quite possible. WRV713 shows 6 sites using 453.375. Simulcast distortion can cause garbled audio. Try turning on the attenuator to see if it helps.

No luck. The issue persists. Does anyone else have any other thoughts?

 

[PD47JD]

Have you heard anything about them switching to a simulcast system maybe?

No, not a word or rumor.

 

[Firebuff66]

They are a 6-site simulcast system and have been for well over 10 years, they just did a complete upgrade of all the sites last year and went P25 LSM (CQPSK) simulcast.
I have been listing and it sounds like the dispatcher is now louder than they used to be but other than that sounds ok.
I listen with a 996P2 scanner with no issues

 

[PD47JD]

They are a 6-site simulcast system and have been for well over 10 years, they just did a complete upgrade of all the sites last year and went P25 LSM (CQPSK) simulcast.
I have been listing and it sounds like the dispatcher is now louder than they used to be but other than that sounds ok.
I listen with a 996P2 scanner with no issues

1) Question is: Where are you listening from relative to Woodbridge?
2) "They are a 6-site simulcast system and have been for well over 10 years, they just did a complete upgrade of all the sites last year and went P25 LSM (CQPSK) simulcast." Thank you, I was aware of that, but nevertheless most appreciative of your feedback.
3) Somewhat off topic, but I was around when Dan Fanelli (Woodbridge) was shot on Greenway Road, Bob Sires (Orange) was the subject of a near fatal assault on the Post Road (Orange) and when Jim Wilson (Woodbridge) was struck by an evading vehicle on Litchfield Turnpike, In each instance there was a MAJOR dispatcher/ communications error. Listening to the civilian dispatchers in Woodbridge, one cannot help but wonder whether a sad history is destined to repeat itself. YIKES! Don't they receive any APCO grade training? Radio comm protocol: Barely exists. I speak from experience, the difference between a bad field encounter and a tragic field encounter is the dispatcher. Average dispatcher answer time to a radio transmission in Woodbridge: 3 min 40 seconds. A nice radio system is one thing, but the human element is the essential component. Not to mention at least one the dispatchers wears his/her attitude relative to the nature of call on their sleeve. It's not what you say, but how you say it. Not to mention woefully incomplete information relative to a BOLO or some such other information of consequence not being completely (who, what, where and when) relayed to the cars on the road.

 

[Firebuff66]

I'm about 2 miles out of woodbridge in ansonia, I was in Woodbridge the other day for about 3 hours 50 yards from the PD and was listening with An APX6000 and Unication G5 and both sounded as good as they could with the audio settings PD uses
There were 30-40 transmissions between FD & PD and the dispatcher answered with in 5-10 seconds every time
I was in Seymour (Where one of the woodbridge sites is) and Listened with a 996P2 & G5 no issues.
I don't have any names to drop, but If you are not hearing a reply from the dispatcher for over 3 min you might want to check your equipment

 

[PD47JD]

I'm about 2 miles out of woodbridge in ansonia, I was in Woodbridge the other day for about 3 hours 50 yards from the PD and was listening with An APX6000 and Unication G5 and both sounded as good as they could with the audio settings PD uses
There were 30-40 transmissions between FD & PD and the dispatcher answered with in 5-10 seconds every time
I was in Seymour (Where one of the woodbridge sites is) and Listened with a 996P2 & G5 no issues.
I don't have any names to drop, but If you are not hearing a reply from the dispatcher for over 3 min you might want to check your equipment

Thank you for your input as it is greatly appreciated.
As to dispatch...not saying that it is a constant issue with answering transmissions in a timely manner. But when it does happen with one civilian in particular, it is concerning. Surprised the Union Local has not addressed the issue. Why flirt with the risk?
There are two individuals who excel in what they do...don't speak before starting to transmit and finish speaking before ending the transmission ( "cutting" themselves off) and are fairly responsive to incoming transmissions. But, that's not always so.
I suppose you haven't heard of the instance wherein the civilian disp. sent the FD to the wrong address on an active call or the instance wherein Ansonia had a very active BOLO on the hotline? The officer had to inquire four times for details from the Civ. Disp., finally the info. was transmitted in bits and pieces. It turns out the vehicle in question was last seen heading into town and was registered to an individual in New Haven (DUH!) Or...the officer (solo) en route priority to an active disturbance who had two ask twice and wait for an interminable three minutes before an answer to his question was received. Which was to the effect of: What do we have on record for this location? Nothing like walking into a location with a history of violent activity, eh? Been there an done that.

Bottom line: This isn't Mayberry RFD.

Post script: My equipment is, to put it politely, state-of-the-art.
You: APX6000? Unication G5? Either you are a hard core monitor fan or "on the job"

 

[Firebuff66]

Post script: My equipment is, to put it politely, state-of-the-art.
You: APX6000? Unication G5? Either you are a hard core monitor fan or "on the job"

It does sound like they have some work to do in their dispatch center.
Attached is a picture of my home office, I dabble in monitoring stuff

 

[W1KNE]

So back to the original topic, if you are hearing simulcast distortion from your location, what are you monitoring it on specifically?
So many reasons why it can suddenly crop up, including "outside influences".

 

[PD47JD]

It does sound like they have some work to do in their dispatch center.
Attached is a picture of my home office, I dabble in monitoring stuff

View attachment 144827

 

[PD47JD]

Simply amazing. WOW! Totally impressed to say the very least.

 

[PD47JD]

So back to the original topic, if you are hearing simulcast distortion from your location, what are you monitoring it on specifically?
So many reasons why it can suddenly crop up, including "outside influences".

Long story short: Three plus weeks ago painters finished painting the exterior of my house. In doing so they, with my permission removed three antennas & mounts to facilitate the painting of that particular side of the house. All was replaced..but not quite as it should have been. I remounted the antennas but in my rush ailed to check the coax connetions. Ultimately I checked the connections to the RG 8U coax cables leading into the house. Connections were loose...very loose. Issue found and addressed. Shame on me.
As to equipment..Ha! Let's start with the eight Plectrons..remember them? (local FDs) and work up to 3x BCD996P2, Home Patrol 1 & 2, Multiple Motorola HT1000, Sabers, MTX (oldies, but goodies), XTS & APX plus Motorola single channel UHF monitors (New Haven only) and other misc. receivers.
BTW: When I was "On the job" I designed and implemented a civilian dispatcher program for the department. Chief was dead set against it. But it got through and today, many years later it remains a top shelf operation. Hence, my keen interest in the dispatch practices in any number of departments/entities

 

[Ct_Pirate]

It does sound like they have some work to do in their dispatch center.
Attached is a picture of my home office, I dabble in monitoring stuff

View attachment 144827

Ummmm Firebuff, I think you need an intervention. LOL Man VERY IMPRESSIVE!!!!!