Display character length

mancow · #1 (**permalink**) 09-14-2012, 11:39 AM

I would like to offer a suggestion that the display description field in the database be limited to 12 characters max. This would accommodate the GRE units that max out at 12 and still display nicely on Unidens. As it is now it becomes extremely frustrating to import a large system such as the MOSWIN system and half of the text is cut off.

Chauffeur6 · #2 (**permalink**) 09-14-2012, 11:49 AM

Are you talking about the Alpha Tag or Description field, or some other field?

mancow · #3 (**permalink**) 09-14-2012, 11:58 AM

Alpha tag section

Chauffeur6 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-14-2012, 12:06 PM

There is already a 12 character limit for alpha tags.

mancow · #5 (**permalink**) 09-14-2012, 12:14 PM

Ahhh I'm getting terms mixed up sorry. I meant the site name not the talkgroup alpha tags. If you notice as with this system Missouri Statewide Wireless Interoperable Network (MOSWIN) Trunking System, Statewide*, Missouri - Scanner Frequencies the sites have huge description fields. When they are imported you get at the most half of some of them so it appears something like

Ashland (Fut

loumaag · #6 (**permalink**) 09-16-2012, 7:29 AM

Yeah, I don't think that is going to happen. Alpha Tags make sense since it tells you who is talking on your radio, the site name is nice to know but not critical (most scanners don't even display it) to your monitoring. Yes, when using software it would be nice but since you are in interactive mode (you should be looking at the RR site) while importing stuff you can adjust the site name to whatever you fancy. For those scanners that are pre-programmed and updated via the manufacturer based on the DB, enough of the site name shows up so that you know where the signal is coming from, full on the HP-1 and 16 chars on GRE models.

For display purposes, in the database, more is better when it comes to site descriptions. Although, based on a donnybrook that took place recently in a California forum, one would have thought the world would come to an end if it wasn't done "just so".

RUSTY_SHACKAFORD · #7 (**permalink**) 10-06-2012, 1:37 PM

Quote:

For display purposes, in the database, more is better when it comes to site descriptions.

I have to agree with that but what I don't understand is why Abbreviations are used in the description line. ie. Frederick Md P25 system

HTML Code:

DEC    HEX    Mode        Alpha Tag        Description             Tag  
5497   1579   D           FredCoDUSWM1     DUSWM1                  Public Works 
5498   157a   D           FredCoDUSWM2     DUSWM2                  Public Works 
5573   15c5   D           FredCiFCCA       FCCA                    Public Works

Can anyone tell me what DUSWM stands for? And how about FCCA, It could be Forestry Conservation Communications Association or Federal Court Clerks Association and from Wikki FCCA Public Safety System. You can see that someone could spend hours trying to understand what the Abbreviations are that the Database Admin has put in the description line.

1.description, verbal description(noun)
a statement that represents something in words

JoeyC · #8 (**permalink**) 10-06-2012, 1:46 PM

The Division of Utilities and Solid Waste Management

loumaag · #9 (**permalink**) 10-06-2012, 3:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RUSTY_SHACKAFORD

... but what I don't understand is why Abbreviations are used in the description line. ie. Frederick Md P25 system

HTML Code:

DEC    HEX    Mode        Alpha Tag        Description             Tag  
5497   1579   D           FredCoDUSWM1     DUSWM1                  Public Works 
5498   157a   D           FredCoDUSWM2     DUSWM2                  Public Works 
5573   15c5   D           FredCiFCCA       FCCA                    Public Works

...

Yeah, that doesn't make much sense to me either.

RUSTY_SHACKAFORD · #10 (**permalink**) 10-06-2012, 6:54 PM

Thanks JoeyC and loumaag.

ericcarlson · #11 (**permalink**) 10-08-2012, 10:43 PM

You should not normally see abbreviations in the description field. However, you will certainly see them when the abbreviation is submitted without its translation and we don't know what it means. If you have clarifications, please submit them so that we can clarify the entries.

mancow · #12 (**permalink**) 10-08-2012, 10:59 PM

That makes sense to me now. Thanks for the clarification. I hadn't thought about the HP-1 since I don't own one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by loumaag

Yeah, I don't think that is going to happen. Alpha Tags make sense since it tells you who is talking on your radio, the site name is nice to know but not critical (most scanners don't even display it) to your monitoring. Yes, when using software it would be nice but since you are in interactive mode (you should be looking at the RR site) while importing stuff you can adjust the site name to whatever you fancy. For those scanners that are pre-programmed and updated via the manufacturer based on the DB, enough of the site name shows up so that you know where the signal is coming from, full on the HP-1 and 16 chars on GRE models.

For display purposes, in the database, more is better when it comes to site descriptions. Although, based on a donnybrook that took place recently in a California forum, one would have thought the world would come to an end if it wasn't done "just so".

Jay911 · #13 (**permalink**) 10-09-2012, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loumaag

For those scanners that are pre-programmed and updated via the manufacturer based on the DB, enough of the site name shows up so that you know where the signal is coming from, full on the HP-1 and 16 chars on GRE models.

For display purposes, in the database, more is better when it comes to site descriptions.

Two comments about sites and how they are entered in the RRDB:

One - Can we please eliminate, for now and forever, "Confirmed LCN"? That tells you absolutely nothing about the geographic location of the site. One should be able to assume that it's confirmed LCN order, since RR only accepts confirmed data.

Two - IMO a little bit more care should be put into what a site's text field contains. More might be better, but when you put "Smithville - Zone A", "Smithville - Zone B", etc., which I have seen in some fashion in various places before, all you get on a 16-character display like on, say, a 396XT or a PSR500 is "Smithville - Zon" for both (all) of those sites. Makes it completely useless.

Chauffeur6 · #14 (**permalink**) 10-09-2012, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay911

One - Can we please eliminate, for now and forever, "Confirmed LCN"? That tells you absolutely nothing about the geographic location of the site. One should be able to assume that it's confirmed LCN order, since RR only accepts confirmed data.

Well no, not quite. Right from the DB Admin Handbook:

Quote:

Always indicate whether frequencies for an LCN-based system are confirmed or unconfirmed. Create separate sites within each system for confirmed LCNs and unconfirmed LCNs – never mix both in one site. If the system is a single-site system, then site 1 should be “Confirmed LCN” and site 2 should be “Unconfirmed LCN” (if applicable). If the system is a multi-site system, then indicate in the site notes whether or not the LCNs are confirmed for that site. Always be sure to remove any unconfirmed LCNs from an unconfirmed LCN site once the LCNs are confirmed.

There is a "Site Location" field in the extended site information where the geographic location can be noted, in addition to the geolocation data that should be associated with the site in the first place. If it's a single site for a system, how difficult is it really to figure out the geographic location to begin with?