Rangecast FAQ
[FAQ-1189] Error message: NO TRANSMISSIONS (Code 25)


Page Type: SYMPTOM


OVERVIEW

If a feed site has not received any transmissions for 16 hours, the sender raises an alert that no transmissions are being received. This may occur if the channels assigned may not be receivable from that location, or the channels assigned are deprecated (no longer in use), or the antenna may be disconnected or inadequate for receiving signals.


METHOD

This error code (NO TRANSMISSIONS) indicates that no transmissions are being received, but does not identify why this is the case. (Note - a different error code is provided if no channels are assigned to the scanner.) In general, the assigned channels are either inactive (broadcast channels may be retired from service), or cannot be received from this location with the existing hardware configuration (e.g. antenna, filter, etc.)

A common cause of this error message is that all traffic received from this location was relocated to other scanners based on signal survey results indicating clearer reception from other locations. In this circumstance, all utilization of a scanner may simply evaporate without there being any actual hardware problem to resolve, and the correct action is to reassign this scanner to some other function within the Rangecast system.

(This phenomenon can also result in all channels being eliminated from the scanner's programming, which results in a NO PROGRAMMING error message instead of NO TRANSMISSIONS. If this results in NO TRANSMISSIONS then some channels remain in the scanner's programming, but these may be channels that were never received or never active, and therefore not shifted by the signal survey. In this case, it is reasonable to eliminate these remaining channels when reassigning the scanner to some other function within Rangecast.)

If you previously were receiving traffic on this scanner, and there have been no programming changes moving this traffic elsewhere, a possible explanation is that something happened to the antenna, coax, multicoupler or some other component that completely eliminates all possibility of reception. Check the hardware.

Alternatively, the agency/agencies you had programmed may have switched to a new radio system. You can re-save programming to the scanners, to push updates from the national frequency database. (However, if the change is very recent, it may take a week or more for the correct frequency information to be added to the database, and therefore available for reprogramming the scanners.) Be aware that the new system may not be receivable on the same scanners, depending on the performance characteristics of the particular model of scanner, the physical location relative to the new broadcast site, and the configuration of local antennas and filters. In this circumstance, it is recommended that a signal survey be performed to evaluate reception on the new broadcast frequencies.

If a change at the broadcasting agency is not to the frequencies, but some other characteristic (such as reducing power, or changing something about their antenna transmission pattern) then you may be no longer able to receive the signal. If this is the case, then trying different things like higher gain antennas or filters may help, but it is a complicated issue and there is no guarantee of success. You may just need a closer receive site. Note that this is an unlikely occurrence. 

There is a small possibility that it could be a temporary problem with a radio broadcast system. You might wish to wait a couple of days to see if it restores itself. This is fairly unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to wait.


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