InterceptRadio.com Forums

I don't seem to be able to receive the Pierce Co trunk system on the Tacoma Simulcast from the South Bellevue area, which surprises me a bit as I would think it would be in range. Does this system transmit with lower power or with more distant sites than say the Snoh County system that I can monitor with no difficulty?

I'm running a Uniden 996XT with the standard, out-of-the-box antenna.

If it's simply out of range, that's cool - I'm just worried I've programmed it incorrectly (though I've double checked everything).

Any insight?

Many thanks.

I'm on a hilltop in SE Bellevue and still can't hear it on my discone antenna. I have use my bigger VHF/UHF antenna. Even then I only hear the dispatcher on N Pierce.

I still need to program my 996XT with WSP to verify I can get reception from mobile.

LOL. That makes me feel a lot better! :)

I guess I'll have to take a run down there this weekend to see if my programming works.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that so many talk groups are digital? No idea - I'm a beginner - just speculating.

Well, it's the frequency range. VHF doesn't bounce as much as UHF. The conventional FPS P25 frequencies (410 Mhz) seem to travel quite well around the Seattle area.

700/800 Mhz travels even better with less energy, so that's why it's recommended for public safety. Works well in urban areas, etc.

I have trouble receiving it in Olympia with an 800MHz antenna on any of my scanners. I can pick up south King County better off the McDonald and Grass sites than I can any of the Tacoma sites.

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Pro-97|Pro-106|Pro-107|Pro-508|BCT15X|BC346XT|Satellit 750|S450DLX
Thurston County, WA

The Pierce Co/Tacoma phantom!

I'll roll down there this weekend with a mobile 996-XT to validate. I presume freqs/TG's are good as published here and elsewhere, but can anyone explain why the range of the Pierce Co trunk system is so limited

Many thanks.

The freqs/TGs seem to be valid when I drive through Pierce Co. I have the same issue receiving Grays Harbor from Olympia. My discone can receive VHF/UHF in Snohomish, Port Townsend, etc but not Grays Harbor. I'm assuming this is because of the hills to the west of Oly.

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Pro-97|Pro-106|Pro-107|Pro-508|BCT15X|BC346XT|Satellit 750|S450DLX
Thurston County, WA

The hills are likely part of it, but the intended system design could also be part of it. Specifically, the coverage patterns of the system antennas could very well reduce coverage to where you are trying to receive.

Most likely they have designed their system / coverage in such a way that the coverage is emphasized in Grays Harbor County, and not Pierce or Thurston Counties etc...

Most system engineering doesn't look at achieving correct simulcast overlap in areas outside the intended county. Ive found Grays Harbor to be one of those systems. Especially being a VHF system which is harder to simulcast with acceptable overlap, in the first place.

Though their overlap inside the county seems to be very useable.

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"A well regulated breakfast, being necessary to the healthy start of the day, the right of the people to keep and eat food shall not be infringed."

Are you talking about the tacoma/puyallup 800 SZ system, or the preliminary 700 Mhz system for the county?

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Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

Mix of existing 800 system (Tacoma, Puyallup), 700 (Pierce Transit started it), and VHF for outlying areas and interops. Don't worry, though, as it'll be unmonitorable like the future King County system, P25 phase 2 and completely encrypted.

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President-in-Exile, Seattle Area Radio Communications And Scanner Traffic Intercept Crew (SARCASTIC)
Don't feel bad if you can't use your STD100/200; there are still people using Digital Frequency Search!
Bunnery definition for the under-fives

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President-in-Exile, Seattle Area Radio Communications And Scanner Traffic Intercept Crew (SARCASTIC)
Don't feel bad if you can't use your STD100/200; there are still people using Digital Frequency Search!
Bunnery definition for the under-fives

Why would anyone want a trunk radio anyway?

What if you're away from your car, or have an emergency and you need a radio right there?

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Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!

John, sometimes we don't see eye to eye, but that was funny!

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President-in-Exile, Seattle Area Radio Communications And Scanner Traffic Intercept Crew (SARCASTIC)
Don't feel bad if you can't use your STD100/200; there are still people using Digital Frequency Search!
Bunnery definition for the under-fives

I try.

:mrgreen:

Most of my stuff is inspired from real convos.

Had a guy ask me what he need to monitor DC, when I lived back there.... They had just switched to their 460 OBT system..

I told him he needed a 'trunked scanner', and his response was something along the lines of 'I don't want something that big, I just want something I can carry around, portable'

That convo came about as I was talking to an MPDC officer, who swore that, because his radio was digital (IMBE/ P25 CAI) that it was encrypted, and no one could listen to it... :lol:

anyway, back on topic...

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Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!