smartzone coverage/receive problem

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jedi_saber
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smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by jedi_saber »

Have a govt issued 800MHz xts3000 that seems to have receive problems and I want to see if there is an easy fix before I trek to the radioshop (again). This only appears to be an issue when on trunking (both analog and digital trunking, although I have better luck receiving analog traffic).

The radio works fine in conventional simplex/repeater mode in both astro and analog modes.

When monitoring a trunking system (most of which are astro) and are on auto affiliate, I typically get an error bonk and the display reads OUT OF RANGE. When it doesn't give me the error, it won't receive or will only partially receive a transmission that comes in loud and clear on a identically programmed/featureset radio with a stubby antenna (using standard 800 antenna) and then give me an OUT OF RANGE error again at some point...

Any help would be appreciated. Here are the specs:

H09UCF9PW7BN
R7.04.00
DSPN7.03.16
1000004-000000-4
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txshooter
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by txshooter »

Goverment issued and legitimate radio on the system, I would suggest taking it back to your radio shop. There may be a issue in the programming.

Also, I had a tough time decifering which antenna you are using. The normal longer antenna should work much better than the stubby.
Scott B.
"Never argue with seven men when you are carrying a six shooter..."
Einstein
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by Einstein »

I would have the radio aligned, especially if your having issues on the digital side.
RKG
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by RKG »

Assuming you are within range of the system, my guess (and all long-range diagnosis is an exercise in guessing) is that the radio is not programmed with the proper (or all of the proper) control channels.

Note that, usually, a "radio shop" does not do the subscriber unit programming for a trunked system, as the system operator will wish to exert closer control on the required SysKey file. I therefore suggest that, if you are an authorized user (which is implied by your use of auto affiliation), you take the radio to the system admininstrator and have them review the programming.

There are a bunch of esoteric parameters in SmartZone radios that can cause the radio to reject a control channel that is otherwise within its reception range. Usually, system operators use clone files to insure that fleet subscriber units have the parameters that the system engineer has devised.
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jedi_saber
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by jedi_saber »

Yes, definitely a legit radio that is issued and assigned (thus the auto-affiliate). I'll take it to department's radio shop and have them figure it out/replace it.

I was personally curious as to what may cause these issues I was having, and I clearly am aware that I do not know nowhere near enough about trunking systems... Thanks to all the replies!

Good points on the alignment, but I would say that the programming is identical for all radios and hasn't changed in the last year or so.
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jedi_saber
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by jedi_saber »

and yes, it's the standard 7" 800MHz antenna that I am using. I was simply stating that an identically set up radio from the same cache of radios with a stubby one was receiving loud and clear inside the coverage area.
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GEMOTO
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by GEMOTO »

Most likely an RF alignment problem and/or the SmartZone tuning filter constants in CPS.
RocketNJ
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by RocketNJ »

One thing I found that causes missed transmissions/bonks on digital is having the radio set to wide pulse when the system is narrow pulse.

As others have stated, bring it to the system admin and have them reprogram it.
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jedi_saber
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Re: smartzone coverage/receive problem

Post by jedi_saber »

The shop had absolutely no clue what the problem was, so they just gave me a new piece of bling. Problem solved (for me, at least). Thanks for the help, all.
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