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ronefx

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I know this is a basic question, but I am wondering what sites I need to select in order to hear the talkgroups I want to listen to? Do you normally select the sites closest to the area or do I need to select all of them? I am using Freescan with a 996xt. I am new the trunking side of scanning so I don't want to add unnecessary freqs if I don't need to.

Thanks for your time.
 

ka3jjz

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You will have to be a lot more specific about what system you're monitoring and where you are (county/state is fine). Under nuormal conditions (and using the radio as a base in the home) you would only want the site closest to you; however there are some systems that carry only certain talkgroups on a given tower. As a mobile that question becomes more complex.

In such a case you would have to do a lot more programming...Mike
 

ronefx

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Thanks, I am in Montgomery County Texas, but near Walker county. I have been able to pickup sites in Houston( Harris County) which is why I was asking. I just never thought it would pick up that far. I am using it as a base unit. On another topic, I have programmed the scanner, but I am still trying to get used not having "banks" to separate different depts(police, fire,ems) like my other scanners. I know there is a way to separate the talkgroups,but I am still trying to figure it out. Thanks again for the reply.
 

captclint

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Thanks, I am in Montgomery County Texas, but near Walker county. I have been able to pickup sites in Houston( Harris County) which is why I was asking. I just never thought it would pick up that far. I am using it as a base unit. On another topic, I have programmed the scanner, but I am still trying to get used not having "banks" to separate different depts(police, fire,ems) like my other scanners. I know there is a way to separate the talkgroups,but I am still trying to figure it out. Thanks again for the reply.
Substitute Systems for banks. Once you get used to that, then you can do exactly as you did with banks on conventional systems. You can put all the agencies you had in a bank into 1 group, although you can now divide up your functions(FD, PD, EMS, etc ) into separate groups under each system. Think about Systems as main folders on the PC, with groups being like sub folders. Trunking systems are a little different, but still one system=bank, and sites are like sub folders(on the 996XT).
 
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ronefx

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I appreciate the response & it makes sense, but I am still confused about a couple of things.

1- I don't completely understand the quick keys. Do I assign them to the sites or groups?I see in Freescan you have 0-9 in some places & 0 -99 in others. I guess don't understand the difference. I assigned all the sites 0-9, but don't understand how to just scan 1 quick key at time. Like right now on the SO line there is all asterisks but the scanner keeps picking up traffic, which I thought would disable all channels. There are numbers in the grp line which I am just not sure about.

2- I am also trying to understand how talkgroups I didn't select are being scanned, even though I never loaded them. For example I am in Texas & I have certain Montgomery County P25 talkgroups loaded, but I am getting Harris & Liberty County talkgroup traffic showing up under Montgomery Co. I am frustated b/c I just can't figure it out. I can do a permanent l/o on them but everytime I reload the scanner I have to relock them out.

I would like to figure this out b/c its time consuming & I am not enjoying it. I know its simple & I am probably over thinking it.

Any help is appreciated.
 

SCPD

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It's real difficult to answer your question with the lack of information provided. I have lost my psychic ability to read minds so the more info provided, the better we can help.
 

ronefx

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Ok, i thought I went into detail about what I am unsure about & what I trying to accomplish, but I guess not as detailed as I thought.

1- I need to figure out how to filter out talkgroups I did not load & I am not interested in listening to.
2- how do I only scan certain talkgroups ie police, fire, ems?
3- Do I set quick keys for the talkgroups, sites , groups or all 3?

I erased all the sites out of the p25 groups & only loaded the Control Channels for my County & I am still getting other Counties talkgroups traffic.

If this is still not detailed enough please let me know exactly what info you need to help me & I will be glad to provide it.

Thanks,
Ron
Montgomery Co, TX
Uniden 996XT
 

W8RMH

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Ok, i thought I went into detail about what I am unsure about & what I trying to accomplish, but I guess not as detailed as I thought.

1- I need to figure out how to filter out talkgroups I did not load & I am not interested in listening to.
2- how do I only scan certain talkgroups ie police, fire, ems?
3- Do I set quick keys for the talkgroups, sites , groups or all 3?

I erased all the sites out of the p25 groups & only loaded the Control Channels for my County & I am still getting other Counties talkgroups traffic.

If this is still not detailed enough please let me know exactly what info you need to help me & I will be glad to provide it.

Thanks,
Ron
Montgomery Co, TX
Uniden 996XT

With trunked systems it's better to assign the quick key to the site instead of the system.

If you scan in the "Search" mode you will received ALL talk groups in use by the system.

If you scan in the "Scan" mode you will only receive the TGs you have programmed and not locked out.

To switch between scan and search press function then scan/search. It will show
ID SCAN or ID SEARCH on the display.

There are SQKs, System Quick Keys - for systems/sites 0-99.

There are GQKs, Group Quick Keys - for groups of talkgroups 0-9 in each system.

Example: Police TGs on GQK 1, Fire on GQK 2, EMS on GQK 3. Your county system/site is SQK 1.

Press 1 to scan your system. Press the function knob and press 1 to turn on and off the police GQK, or 2 for fire, etc.

Think of SQKs as banks that you change the number of the bank. Instead of programming frequencies into banks you program them into the scanner then assign them a bank number.

Think of GQKs as "groups" of channels (talk groups) that you can change the channel number.
There is no quick key to turn on and off individual talk groups. If you press manual to stop scanning, then scroll through the talk groups you can lock them out, or unlock them individually.

Here is a great manual that explains it all in great detail:

Easier to Read BCD996XT Digital Scanner Manual
 
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Blackink

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1- I don't completely understand the quick keys. Do I assign them to the sites or groups?I see in Freescan you have 0-9 in some places & 0 -99 in others. I guess don't understand the difference. I assigned all the sites 0-9, but don't understand how to just scan 1 quick key at time. Like right now on the SO line there is all asterisks but the scanner keeps picking up traffic, which I thought would disable all channels. There are numbers in the grp line which I am just not sure about.

2- I am also trying to understand how talkgroups I didn't select are being scanned, even though I never loaded them. For example I am in Texas & I have certain Montgomery County P25 talkgroups loaded, but I am getting Harris & Liberty County talkgroup traffic showing up under Montgomery Co. I am frustated b/c I just can't figure it out. I can do a permanent l/o on them but everytime I reload the scanner I have to relock them out.

I would like to figure this out b/c its time consuming & I am not enjoying it. I know its simple & I am probably over thinking it.

Any help is appreciated.

Is there a preprogrammed system that your scanner is scanning that you're not aware of? Here's a little piece from the Easier to Read manual for that scanner which brings me to that assumption:

Turning on the Scanner and Setting the Squelch
Note: this applies to a fresh scanner right out of the box or one that has been reset with the preprogrammed systems reloaded.

Rotate VOL clockwise to turn on the scanner and set the volume to around 6-8. The scanner should start scanning one of the preprogrammed systems after the welcome screen disappears. Press Hold. Find a comfortable volume level. Rotate the SQ knob counter-clockwise all the way then clockwise until the noise stops, then one notch more. Press Hold to resume scanning.

Right away you may want to check these settings in the 'Settings' menu. Set Backlight/Dimmer, Adjust Key Beep, Adjust Contrast, and Set Serial Port (if you plan to upload/download).

The only things you will be able to scan right out of the box are the preprogrammed systems in the scanner. You will also be able to do a service search, custom search, weather scan, auto search and store, close call search, or close call auto store.


Maybe it's the preprogrammed systems that your hearing which might be why you can lock them all out but when you turn your scanner on again, it starts back up again?
I don't own one of these scanners but maybe, and hopefully you're overlooking a simple fix...
 

ronefx

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I appreciate the feedback but I have completely wiped the system & reinstalled what I choose with Freescan.

W8RMH helped me out alot with the id search/ scan setting which fixed my issue with the unwanted traffic.

I am now just trying to figure out the quick keys, which I got the basics of how they should work, but I am having difficulty making them. I am just illiterate with this scanner. I have read the easy to read manual, but am clueless on how to make the qk work right. I have pretty much given up & just locking out the groups I am not interested in hearing at the time.

Thanks for the replies, again I really appreciate the help.
 

SCPD

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... I have read the easy to read manual, but am clueless on how to make the qk work right. I have pretty much given up & just locking out the groups I am not interested in hearing at the time.
....

If you are using FreeSCAN it's easy to assign Quick Keys. There is a drop down menu near the top of the screen on the System or Site pages that will let it pick a free QK, or you can pick one, or none. In fact you can assign the same QK to two or more systems or groups if you want.
 

ronefx

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Ed,

Thanks for the reply.

I have the quick keys assigned or at least I think I do. I just don't understand how to enable /disable them on the scanner. I have tried pushing the # & the func + #, sometimes I get a beep & other times I get the error beep when I feel I shouldn't. I just can't tell what i am doing.
On the SO-S9 line numbers are flashing there are * & -. On the GRP line numbers doing the same thing. I know it should be simple but I am confused. I will eventually get it figured out but I have not yet. Sometimes I just do better when someone demonstrates things to me than trying to read how to do it.
 

SCPD

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On the SO line you can enable or disable by pressing the dot/no key followed by 01 to toggle the QK 1. Same for all the rest up to 99.
"./no 99"
The group ones I really don't do much with them and I would have to refer to the Easier online manual. :)
 

ronefx

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Ok thanks yall I think I finally figured it out. I am messing around with it now to make sure I got it down.

Thanks for the help.
 
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