York Area and Simulcast

[greggk]

Hello All. Recently moved from Illinois to my old home town of York. Never had any scanning issues in the past in other places I've lived. Now I am in York, Spring Garden Township, and having some unknown issues with my 436 and 536. A very respected and knowledgeable guy on these forums suggested Simulcast Issues could be the cause.

What I get is I go from Nothing on one scanner then next thing you know it is just everything. Sometimes it will affect both radios, others only one, and others none. Nothing is for sure at any given time...And I HATE "unsure." Either it must all work or not work, but I cannot handle off and on.

So, I want to see if anyone in this area has any info about this? I'm in the area of Suburban High School. (Thats the best you'll going to get)

Any help please? Thanks. Greg

 

[W8RMH]

What you describe definitely sounds like simulcast distortion. All four York sites are simulcast. Time to upgrade to a SDS100/200 or a Unication G series pager.

 

[greggk]

Thanks for the info. Would a SDS 100 actually correct this.?

 

[u2brent]

Thanks for the info. Would a SDS 100 actually correct this.?

The SDS100 will definitely increase your chances of hearing everything in your LSM/high RF environment.
The loss of decode/signal seen with the x36 would likely not occur on the SDS series scanner, all things being equal.
Plus it's so dog gone good to look at and displays so much more info and has so many more flexible user selected options.

If you can afford one, you wouldn't be let down with the upgrade/tradeup.

Edit: I have 2 436's and my SDS100 does circles around them, the 436's can be silent for hours while the SDS100 doesn't miss much, all from the same location using same antennas.

 

[scan-pa]

Can Confirm the SDS 100 / 200 work great for the York County 700mhz p25 system

 

[greggk]

Thanks and Thanks. Yesterday I had no intention of buying an SDS. Now the city/county of York may help me with this. Thanks York !

 

[W3DMV]

I use a SDS200 and a Unication G5. Both work very well
when I drive through and at my house in Gettysburg.
The 436 I had and Whistler 1098 and 1088 all failed..
I'll try to attach a little home made map showing the
site locations and you can see the big picture.. Good luck.

 

[maus92]

You can sell your old radios on eBay. The SDS 100/200 or Unication radios are the way to go.

 

[ka3aaa]

i have several 996p2's working in york including in a fire house and they work just fine.

 

[jonwienke]

i have several 996p2's working in york including in a fire house and they work just fine.

There is no guarantee that they will work "just fine" in another location, given the nature of the simulcast problem. Doing mobile testing comparing the 436HP and the SDS100, going from one side of a Wal-Mart parking lot to the other made the difference between the 436 getting nothing, and picking up 100% of the traffic the SDS1100 received the whole time.

 

[maus92]

i have several 996p2's working in york including in a fire house and they work just fine.

The OP's 436 and 536 don't work, thus it is extremely likely a 996P2 will not work either.

 

[Twister_2]

SDS200 confirmed to work on the York system with no issues. I did have to change the filter to optimize reception. This is the only system I've monitored thus far where the default filter was not the best. But it's SDR so even if you have tough signal conditions you have a very good (almost guaranteed) chance to get it working.

 

[greggk]

From my house, less than 1 mile, are three huge towers on a hill. Each had assorted antennas, microwaves, and more.
I do not want to spend $700 on a SDS to discover it will not work. Several people here have stated that the SDS breaks thru all the clutter. If anyone in my area want's to come by and test their SDS just send me PM. I would be glad to see it working. Thanks. Greg.

 

[maus92]

That's a good strategy. You could also order a SDS radio from a retailer that accepts returns with no restocking fee and test it.