Bothersome hits on scanner

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fleef

Kristin Cavazos Phoenix Arizona
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Hi- not sure if this post should go under the Uniden Tech forum or this one?

Receiver: Uniden BCD996XT

Antenna: RS scanner expendable, reception excellent

Just got back into scanner monitoring after a break of a few months. For "fun" I deleted my site for "Phoenix PD" and re-entered- using ONLY Law Dispatch TalkGroups (none of the "useless" TGs such as "Operations" etc- only dispatch- the fun stuff) and all "Simulcast A" for Phoenix Police as listed in RR's RWC database to start fresh in case any changes were made in that time- FYI my last site I had programmed I focused on Law Dispatch and that is what I heard over the scanner, few to zero "mystery TGs" would pop in interrupting my scanner listening.

The only stuff I find interesting would be the police calls - I did add TG "1406" for our Light Rail law dispatch and ONE only TG for Sky Harbor 1198 "Emergency Dispatch" - what is DIFFERENT now when I listen is I keep getting very boring hits on the scanner that I did NOT get before! I find TGs that I did not enter- for instance some Solid Waste TGs and some Sky Harbor Operations TGs. I take it these emanated from the Control Channel freqs I entered from the Phoenix PD RR listings? When these pop up I immediately hit L/O to lock them out- unfortunately it happens so fast I miss the freqs they were under- only the TG is shown when I search Locked Outs.

Did something change in RWC database or Phoenix's radio system that is making this happen? I even deleted site, started over- same issue. Lots of "bogus" useless TGs popping up. I didn't add these- they are just popping up out of the blue. They are annoying. One useless TG (sky harbor operations) I noticed showed same frequency as one of those listed for Phoenix PD in the RWC database (I cant remember what it was- I only noticed it when I hit the L/O but only the TG will show in locked out listings sorry)

I don't recall this happening before and I wonder if the frequencies have changed in the past couple months causing this minor annoyance. I only care about Law Dispatch that's it but I keep getting these dumb calls over the scanner nothing to do with law dispatch.

SO like I said- some of the frequencies listed under PHOENIX PD in RWC cause "useless" TGs that are not police calls to pop up in my searches.

Any advice or? not sure if there is anything one can do but these boring non-dispatch calls get old and it's a pain to run up to L/O them each time they happen. When one Locks Out a TG one cannot find out which frequency it was under? I did look at the "Easier To Read" marksscanners online manual and I dont see a workaround for that.

Thanks for any advice hope this makes sense I am rather new to the scanners thing
 

bailly2

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Sounds like you have the wildcard on, disable by pressing function then
Scan/search
 

fleef

Kristin Cavazos Phoenix Arizona
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Sounds like you have the wildcard on, disable by pressing function then
Scan/search

I used "ID Search" instead of "ID Scan" before- and didn't get these bogus hits. I prefer the wildcard otherwise my hits are pretty limited. When I had it programmed before using same parameters I didn't get these useless TGs before. Just seems like something's changed lately.

EDIT: I may just use ID SCAN after all- but I really wanted to remark on all the non-police type calls coming up, just wondered if some database listings need to be changed or ? anyway I found it a little bit interesting thats all.
 

Phoenix805

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I'm not familiar with your specific scanner or how you program it, so I doubt I can give you specific help. But I can tell you that while the database calls it 'Simulcast A: Phoenix PD', Simulcast A has darn near everything in the City in addition to PD. I would agree with Bailly2, it sounds like you have the wildcard active and it's going to stop on anything and everything.

If possible I'd suggest turning on Law-Dispatch and turning off the wildcard.

Good luck!
 

pinballwiz86

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Change your "system" to ID SCAN instead of ID SEARCH.


ID SEARCH will stop on the talk groups you program and any other talk group. ID SCAN will only scan what you have programmed in ONLY.
 

fleef

Kristin Cavazos Phoenix Arizona
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Change your "system" to ID SCAN instead of ID SEARCH.


ID SEARCH will stop on the talk groups you program and any other talk group. ID SCAN will only scan what you have programmed in ONLY.

Oh yeah I am a Noob but I am familiar with the wildcard setting. I prefer ID SEARCH as I get more traffic that way- but the thing is I noticed a change in what I am receiving- on Simulcast A I *used to* get basically law dispatch most of the time. Seems there's lot of "junk" in there now that did not used to be there before. Seems to me I used to get a LOT more dispatch traffic than before. I was kind of wondering if the database needed updates/changes or if Phoenix RWC was changing things around.
 

JoeyC

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There seems to be a profound misunderstanding of terminology and functions of the scanner in here.

There are no WILDCARDS on any Uniden scanner. That is a GRE term and doesn't apply to a 996XT.

What people have been telling you about using ID SCAN is precisely what I read you want to do, provided you have programmed all the interesting talkgroups in. Putting the scanner in ID SEARCH will bypass any talkgroups you've programmed and let any talkgroup with traffic on it carried on the simulcast site come through provided you haven't locked it out.
 

Ghstwolf62

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He is also very confused as to how trunk systems work. I don't know if anyone noticed but he keeps asking about new radio frequencies carrying new traffic not previously on frequencies for the site. As in a new frequency/channel being the cause of the new traffic.


That is not the way it works. He's set it up to find all the annoying stuff and now wants a way to not get it yet not take it off ID search to do that.

I don't know of any way to do that except to do a permanent lock out and make sure its updated in software so he doesn't just write it back to the scanner when he updates.
 

AZScanner

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He is also very confused as to how trunk systems work. I don't know if anyone noticed but he keeps asking about new radio frequencies carrying new traffic not previously on frequencies for the site. As in a new frequency/channel being the cause of the new traffic.

Almost. The RWC is a nightmare to scan, and he's right, adding those CC's and leaving your scanner in ID search will definitely result in a bunch of "boring" traffic. If you keep your scanner only on Simulcast A, you'll get mostly PPD and maybe a few others but not much else besides PPD. But if you add Sky Harbor and Simulcast B, for example, you'll get all sorts of stuff - streets, trash trucks, security guards, the Sky Train, Airport ops, you name it... Add in Simulcast C and F and then you'll really have lots to complain about because you'll start listening to the light rail operators yakking about stuff going on with the trains, and Maricopa PD way out in BFE (my apologies to Maricopa residents in advance, but that's where y'all live).

So - what to do about it? Well....

Option 1. I thought hey, maybe the 996 has service types. But no, I don't think it does. So forget that idea. If you had a HP or x36, then you could use the service types to limit these hits (I love that feature by the way - awesome). So that leaves us with:

Option 2. Only. Scan. Simulcast. A.

Option 3, as you probably know would involve hitting lockout every 30 seconds, and

Option 4 would be to program only the talkgroups you care about, turn OFF ID search and call it a day.

For you, I recommend option 2, unless you really really REALLY want to hear the light rail and the airport, in which case Option 4 is really the only way.

Hope that helped,
-AZ
 

Ghstwolf62

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I don't remember the specifics or what scanner it applied or applies to but didn't you used to be able to Asterisk wildcard RIDs on some scanners?

So if you had PD which used 172001-172494 ID numbers you could enter 172*** and it would only search for IDs starting 172. Same for 1720** etc.

Maybe that was TGs I don't know anymore but something like that.

I know when I was heading to Phoenix with my 600 I'd just add those TGs I wanted and didn't try to search as there was so much non PS stuff on the Phoenix System.

I know what you mean. It is such busy system and when I was there it was before it became encrypted but still, I bet there is a whole lot of stuff to tie up the radio in the best of circumstances.

If I move out there like I've been talking about I want to have at least four or five digital scanners I think.

I also understand what this guy is talking about because when trunking first came about I had to wrap my head around the idea that frequencies and channels were not the same. So it wasn't so and so on this channel using this frequency but multiple agencies using these TG things which roam among frequencies.

I couldn't turn it to channel 5 to listen anymore because that frequency was where channel 5 was at. Channel five might be scattered about on ten different frequencies on one TG.

Coming from Frequency 13 was 39.88 to Frequency 13 was now ten frequencies on TG 13 was a huge changeover.

It really sounds like he's thinking the additional frequencies on the site are other users using those channels for traffic rather than TGs across a range of freqs.

Anyway your suggestion or just select the TGs you want and scan from there across sites to pick them up.
 

fleef

Kristin Cavazos Phoenix Arizona
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There seems to be a profound misunderstanding of terminology and functions of the scanner in here.

There are no WILDCARDS on any Uniden scanner. That is a GRE term and doesn't apply to a 996XT.

What people have been telling you about using ID SCAN is precisely what I read you want to do, provided you have programmed all the interesting talkgroups in. Putting the scanner in ID SEARCH will bypass any talkgroups you've programmed and let any talkgroup with traffic on it carried on the simulcast site come through provided you haven't locked it out.

No, not "confused" profoundly or otherwise (rolling my eyes on that one JEEZ)
I called it "wildcard" for the sake of the argument. Since this is not a Uniden specific forum, the term ID SEARCH and ID SCAN may not be familiar to everyone.

ID SEARCH would be the "wildcard" option or euphemism or catch-phrase I guess.

AHA! Eureka!! THANKS Azscanner and Ghstwolf62...... I think you solved my problem and this was the rub:

**AZSCANNERBut if you add Sky Harbor and Simulcast B, for example, you'll get all sorts of stuff - streets, trash trucks, security guards, the Sky Train, Airport ops, you name it... Add in Simulcast C and F and then you'll really have lots to complain about because you'll start listening to the light rail operators yakking about stuff going on with the trains, and Maricopa PD way out in BFE*** <<<<< This seems to be the problem right here- theSimulcast B and C. I don't think I had those programmed in before. So THAT'S what it was....

PS I program them all in by hand. I am aware of freescan etc I LIKE to do it myself as it teaches me about the scanner as this is my very first digital scanner I've owned.

ID SEARCH is what I *used to* use and did not receive half the useless traffic that I do now. My basic complaint was, that it seems to me a LOT more non-police traffic is occurring than what USED TO occur a few months back. Using "ID SCAN" or, conversely, the "non-wildcard" option, hearing TGs and frequencies I have programmed only was fix. I previously had not used ID SCAN only as I felt I was missing out on a lot of hits. Kind of a Catch 22 situation.

And- I'm a "she" not a "he" but I am not offended I was referred to as a "he", just an FYI.
 
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AZScanner

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And- I'm a "she" not a "he" but I am not offended I was referred to as a "he", just an FYI.

Ahh excellent, another scanner lady here in Phoenix! Welcome! Maybe if enough ladies get into scanning out here I can get my wife into it too. Right now, she just considers the scanner "noisy" while she's trying to watch TV. ;)

Glad we were able to help out. Let us know if you have any other questions, lots of very knowledgeable folks here in the AZ forum.

-AZ
 

fleef

Kristin Cavazos Phoenix Arizona
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Don't need to apologize for the he/she thing no way to tell who's writing here guess I should have chosen Ms Fleef instead. Hey at least you didn't mistake me for a "he" to my face- HAHaHaHa

Yes more women should get on here- I used to run the ShortwaveRadioListeners facebook page where I took it from about 79 fans up to past 700 - and I was STILL the only female (my videos are still up there tho) I don't' run it anymore and dont facebook.

amazing to me more women aren't into it- fascinating hobby- all radio is. I've loved everything "frequency" since I was a little kid when my bigger siblings sent me upstairs to twiddle with the TV antenna so their channels could come in.

Hmm you SURE the wife says the scanner is just "noise" as she claims gosh I feel like I am on the inside, hearing all the neighborhood "gossip". In our house its just the opposite- *I* am the radio person and he could care less. I have the spare room set up as my shack, I have all kinds of receivers stacked up on shelving. I also have a collection of various antennae of all sizes even hobby satellite. Why I am so fascinated by all these things I have no idea but I love taking stuff apart, all kinds of TV and radio dxing. Weird but fun hobby.
 
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Ghstwolf62

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I remember my grandparents had this old radio. It was something you could carry not huge or anything. They had a wire antenna attacked to regular metal one that came with radio and you could get PD/FD in the LA area among others on it. You could also get AM/FM SW and stuff. Could listen to 1070 KNX from up in Oregon or Washington among other states. Picked up 77 KOB and KCBS in SF too on the thing.

I'd tune it and listen to 39.88 for the Sheriff and 154.430 for the Fire dept I believe it was back when I don't even know if they had scanners. I remember a few years later picking up a one of these scanner things with two frequencies capable in them and you had to buy these things called crystals to put in them to listen.

Eventually they even made an 8 channel one. They'd have bins at RS with all the crystals for the area in them and you'd search through them always looking for new ones.

I'd put them in and then switch out one or two for another one or two, listen a while then do it again.

Mostly had 12, 13, Charlie, David, Henry, Edward, LA and Tac 5 for my 8. LOL

My how times have changed.
 
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