Location search for sites(suggestion)

dracer777 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 10:03 PM

Hello, if this has been asked or is available, sorry for bringing it up, I couldn't find anything on it.

For a large trunking system (like the statewide DTRS in CO), it would be nice to be able to search for towers in a specific county, city, ZIP, etc...

I arranged my 396xt in counties and want the corresponding sites to be scanned and it would be nice if i could just search for sites in a specific location.

I hope that makes sense, thanks guys.

DickH · #2 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dracer777

Hello, if this has been asked or is available, sorry for bringing it up, I couldn't find anything on it.

For a large trunking system (like the statewide DTRS in CO), it would be nice to be able to search for towers in a specific county, city, ZIP, etc...

I arranged my 396xt in counties and want the corresponding sites to be scanned and it would be nice if i could just search for sites in a specific location.

I hope that makes sense, thanks guys.

The Colorado forum might be a better place to ask. But be specific. List the counties in question.

loumaag · #3 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 12:26 PM

Dick, I think he was asking in general and using the CO DTRS as an example.

dracer777:
Be a little more explicit. How would you envision this? I mean would you have the counties, which contain sites, listed; would you have each site say what county it is in (they do already BTW); in other words, be a bit more forthcoming on how you see this working. I am not saying we can do it, but first let's hear your idea in a bit more detail.

dracer777 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 02:16 PM

I was using the CO DTRS as an example, sorry for the confusion.

I envision a search engine, maybe like the premium membership frequency location search.

The info is already entered for loacation(lat and long, county, and I think city level.

Basically, a simple search feature that would either (a). Search these specific fields and organize it into a list. For example, say I want to know what sites are in Weld County in Colorado, I want to be able to go to the appropriate search field and type Weld(or from a drop down list) and have the search engine show me what sites are in that county(or city). And possibly use a google map that the system would use to look up the county boundaries so I could also use a range feature. For another example, i want to know about sites that are in Weld county AND that are within 20 miles outside county boundaries.

Tell me if you would like to explain things further.

Have a great day(or try to)

loumaag · #5 (**permalink**) 10-11-2009, 09:56 AM

dracer777:
Okay I think I understand what you are asking for; however, consider this, currently if you are the (using your example) Weld Co., CO page you already have a list of all TRSs that have sites in the county. Granted, when you look at the specific TRS, it does not show what site is in what county from an overview standpoint.

When considering searches you have to think of what it is that folks look for. If you start at the county level, then folks want to know what is there, both conventional and trunking. This information is there already, with the caveat that a large TRS doesn't list what site is available there. If you start with a TRS, providing the counties have been properly entered in the site information, then the RR Site Location map seems to partially supply what you are looking for, see the CO DTRS map for an example. In my opinion this map could be improved by including the site number on the site markers in addition to the site description, county and notes that are already there. In addition, as a premium member you can download various CSV files, including (for TRS) a site/frequency one. This particular one (I just noticed) has a problem now that we have included zones, as there may be more than one site 14 for example and the CSV file does not differentiate, I will address this in an internal bug report and suggest that in addition to that correction an additional field be added to include the county of the site. Although not a "search" feature, it would (if implemented) certainly supply the information that you were looking for.

dracer777 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 09:12 PM

Wirelessly posted (MOT-QA30/00.72 UP.Browser/7.2.7.5.610 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Yes, I see what you are saying, and I would be happy with a single file that has site locations, like county, and the site names in a single page, all the sites. So I could just CTRL+F for the county in question, and select which sites I want that way, thanks for the info/recommendations.

loumaag · #7 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 05:24 PM

The adjustments previously mentioned in the thread have been made to the Site/Frequency CSV download for TRS systems. There are additional columns for zone, hex site #, and county of the site included. The structure of the CSV has obviously changed and is laid out as follows:

Zone # | Dec Site # | Hex Site # | Site Name | County | Freq1 | Freq2 | etc.

Thanks for the suggestion.

dracer777 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-15-2009, 06:48 PM

Wirelessly posted (MOT-QA30/00.72 UP.Browser/7.2.7.5.610 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

Quote:

Originally Posted by loumaag

The adjustments previously mentioned in the thread have been made to the Site/Frequency CSV download for TRS systems. There are additional columns for zone, hex site #, and county of the site included. The structure of the CSV has obviously changed and is laid out as follows:

Zone # | Dec Site # | Hex Site # | Site Name | County | Freq1 | Freq2 | etc.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Hey, thanks for listening and acting on the recommendations!

And thanks everyone else. Also, through some searches, found a google map with all towers for the CO DTRS, but can't find it from the DTRS main page[or any other page for that matter], would it be possible to have the google map on the DTRS page or have it linked to from that page?

loumaag · #9 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dracer777

...Also, through some searches, found a google map with all towers for the CO DTRS, but can't find it from the DTRS main page[or any other page for that matter], would it be possible to have the google map on the DTRS page or have it linked to from that page?

Um, the link I supplied earlier in the thread is the google map of DTRS tower locations based on the RR DB. Both that map and a map based on the FCC license information are linked from every TRS in the DB, so I am a little confused by your comment quoted above. Unless you are overlooking the links; look at the top of the frequency table of any TRS, far right just below where it says "System Frequencies".

DickH · #10 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loumaag

Um, the link I supplied earlier in the thread is the google map of DTRS tower locations based on the RR DB. Both that map and a map based on the FCC license information are linked from every TRS in the DB, so I am a little confused by your comment quoted above. Unless you are overlooking the links; look at the top of the frequency table of any TRS, far right just below where it says "System Frequencies".

That seems like a nice feature. I didn't notice it before because I know where all of our (Portland, OR) sites are, but just for fun I clicked on them. FCC Callsigns shows 11 sites and RR Locations shows 7 sites.
Our system comprises 4 simulcast sites and 9 Intellirepeater sites. I wonder why there is such a discrepancy?

loumaag · #11 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DickH

That seems like a nice feature. I didn't notice it before because I know where all of our (Portland, OR) sites are, but just for fun I clicked on them. FCC Callsigns shows 11 sites and RR Locations shows 7 sites.
Our system comprises 4 simulcast sites and 9 Intellirepeater sites. I wonder why there is such a discrepancy?

Well it took a bit to (1) get to the right system, then (2) figure out which sites were the problem.

It would appear that 3 separate sites have the same coordinates, which of course is bound to be an error. The problem sites are the main simulcast site, Arrowood, and PDX Airport. They are all entered as the same coordinates. The coordinates of the simulcast site should be centered of the coverage area intended for the simulcast sites. The others should be their actual locations. Why don't you submit an update ticket about this so the DB Admin for the area can fix this. Thanks for finding this and pointing it out.

There are also, I'm sure, TRS systems and sites in the DB that don't have the location information at all. The intent, when this was added, was to sweep through the DB and add such information, but obviously humans make mistakes.

qlajlu · #12 (**permalink**) 10-16-2009, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loumaag

The intent, when this was added, was to sweep through the DB and add such information, but obviously humans make mistakes.

Mistakes or not, this is a very nice feature that I was unaware of. I have known that "pin maps" existed for our UCAN system transmitter sites, but the only way I have ever been able to access our local system's map was through UCAN's Web site. This is a very nice feature indeed.

Of course, you can see the individual sites by clicking on the site's name in the frequency list, which is also a very nice feature. A lot of work has gone into this by the RR staff. Kudos.