Getting started

[Razorback210]

This is a new hobby. So far it has been a whole lot of research. To be honest, I did buy a scanner to be more aware of what's going on out there and was looking to monitor police, ems, fire department. So, I went and bought a scanner with little to no research before hand. And in the course of learning how to use my scanner I learned about provoice and realized that I could not do what I intended to do. But in the course of research I found there is a whole lot more and it has kept my attention and am pursuing the knowledge needed to engage this hobby. At this point I have a RadioShack pro-651. I have not connected it to my computer for any programming and am learning and utilizing it as is out of the box so far. This site has been very useful in my endeavors to learn so I thought I would register and become a member. So, here I am. Hello everyone. I look forward to reading and posting.

 

[W8RMH]

Welcome to the hobby. The fun part is the learning. Imagine what it was like before this site or any resources like this. We had to find the frequencies, learn the unit numbers, codes, etc. Did a lot of searching back in those days.

 

[737mech]

Welcome

Welcome to the scanner hobby Razorback. So far you are doing great with a Pro-651. That will do many things. As far as computer interface it will save time programing. Look into WIN500 You can also get the benefit of logging from the pcif. And then there's the Pro96comm program that can analyze stuff. Lot's you can do with that scanner.

 

[puzzleriddle]

Scanner Programming Software - The RadioReference.com Forums

 

[fourthhorseman]

Joining was a good move,This site is immensely valuable to aid in the hobby..The WIKI is immense and its database is expansive..

Welcome and enjoy!

 

[Razorback210]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. Every door I open I see 10 more...on and on lol. I am gonna stick with the scanner and do with it what I can get done ie: learn how to navigate it so on so fourth, learn the terminology associated with the scanner....eventually I will level out and expand to getting programs that have been mentioned. I don't know....its kinda turned into a project....and at the end of the project will begin the hobby. I'm starting at ground level, I am totally new to this arena. I up graded the antenna to 800MHz. I am not even sure what the stock was at. And I realize that I can go bigger with antennas(that will happen eventually) I wish I knew the range of this antenna. i'll get there. I'm in the potranco 151 area. Picking up chatter in the 444.000000 frequency ranges. There are a lot of towers up potranco past 1604. Not sure of there names or what systems they use. Or if my antenna is capable of reaching them. Like I said open one door and I see 10 more. Thanks again for the welcome.

 

[Razorback210]

Trunking attempt

I have a RadioShack Pro-651. I have been familiarizing my self with it. I know using programs can help cut thru things faster but I want to learn how to do it my self with out program assistance first before taking the short cut with programs. I think it will get me more in tune with my scanner in how to navigate thru its functions. Thou I have tons of questions on various things. I have become familiar enough to attempt a TRGP . I got on utube and found a step by step. Found it when I first started but did not understand. Now after researching, tinkering and looking at it again and again... I feel confident to do a first attempt at a TRGP. I know where to find need information(on this web site) to program a TRGP ie: establishing system type for the county, look at the frequency portion and look at the tower sites and pick one and plug in the frequencies...ect ect program info into scanner as I go.

Person states to pick the nearest tower from the list then plug in the frequencies. I have no idea what towers are nearest me. Even picking from a list which is given....I don't know which is nearest me. I see several up Potranco(FM1957) past 1604 as I have driven past them on many occasion. But again I don't know the tower names. I don't know exactly where to acquire tower names and there locations to pick what's nearest me. Be sure I have researched. But being new to this...it is quite the struggle.

I live in San Antonio TX, very near where Potranco intersects with 151. Can anyone enlighten me as to how or where to get tower site locations and names that are in san Antonio so that I know what towers are nearest me? Secondly, due to "provoice" I cant do a TGRP for what I want. Any suggestions on who or what to make my first attempt at establishing a TGRP.? I just want to go thru the steps and be successful knowing that I can get it done. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Razorback210]

Scanner straight out of the box

RadioShack Pro-651....Having not programmed it in any way. Thru the "Srch Ham" I run into people conversing. There are about 3 frequencies that this will happen on a daily basis. Other stuff I run into must be some sort of business. What I want to know is......am I just catching the frequencys like a CB does ie: catching whats in range of my duck antenna?. Or is the scanner connecting automatically to nearest tower site and receiving it that way? I am so new at this I don't know the answer to such a simple question. Before this scanner, my only experience was a regular CB. Even then, I didn't know what I know now I know now what the exact frequency is for for each individual Channel of the CB. These past couple of days have been a blur of info.

 

[mikewazowski]

Thread hijack posts deleted.

 

[ecps92]

420-450 is Amateur Radio Range.
Amateur Radio Band Descriptions - The RadioReference Wiki

Ham = Amateur Radio

Thanks for the welcome everyone. Every door I open I see 10 more...on and on lol. I am gonna stick with the scanner and do with it what I can get done ie: learn how to navigate it so on so fourth, learn the terminology associated with the scanner....eventually I will level out and expand to getting programs that have been mentioned. I don't know....its kinda turned into a project....and at the end of the project will begin the hobby. I'm starting at ground level, I am totally new to this arena. I up graded the antenna to 800MHz. I am not even sure what the stock was at. And I realize that I can go bigger with antennas(that will happen eventually) I wish I knew the range of this antenna. i'll get there. I'm in the potranco 151 area. Picking up chatter in the 444.000000 frequency ranges. There are a lot of towers up potranco past 1604. Not sure of there names or what systems they use. Or if my antenna is capable of reaching them. Like I said open one door and I see 10 more. Thanks again for the welcome.

 

[Razorback210]

420-450 is Amateur Radio Range.
Amateur Radio Band Descriptions - The RadioReference Wiki

Ham = Amateur Radio

Thanks for your response. It was useful.

 

[Razorback210]

From what I gather, tower sites and repeater sites are one and the same. If so, I found a couple of web sites that did not give specific locations but allowed a search as far as distance from where I am located and the names of the repeater. Problem solved.

I'm not sure if I did something incorrect but I thought I made 2 separate threads "scanner straight out of the box" and "Trunking attempt" . Or maybe I am not familiar with the structure of this web site. But both got lumped into my initial thread. Moderator can you clarify for me as I am uncertain what happened.

 

[Spitfire8520]

Person states to pick the nearest tower from the list then plug in the frequencies. I have no idea what towers are nearest me. Even picking from a list which is given....I don't know which is nearest me.
...
I live in San Antonio TX, very near where Potranco intersects with 151. Can anyone enlighten me as to how or where to get tower site locations and names that are in san Antonio so that I know what towers are nearest me?

There's a button located between the section named System Frequencies and the Site Information that's called RR Locations. Normally this is a good way of finding out the site locations, however I assume you are trying to follow San Antonio/Bexar County EDACS and it looks like the DB admin didn't put in any of the site locations for the system. The secondary method is to use the FCC Callsigns map, however you would need to then figure out which site uses that callsign by clicking on each one of them and looking at their Site FCC Licenses. Generally, the Simulcasts will have the greatest area of coverage as they are several towers linked together to act as one site.

Secondly, due to "provoice" I cant do a TGRP for what I want. Any suggestions on who or what to make my first attempt at establishing a TGRP.?

I would say programming it as a wildcard would be useful for testing your programming skills. You can still change the Tag: without changing the ID: to make it a wildcard. It will allow you to hear anything that's still being broadcasted in analog. This will let you test out and learn how to halfway program a TGRP.

At some point, if you haven't done so already, you might want to check out Texas Radio Discussion Forum if you ever have questions that might be related to your geographic location as they will have better information for you. Right now, your questions are general enough to be handled here.

 

[Razorback210]

There's a button located between the section named System Frequencies and the Site Information that's called RR Locations. Normally this is a good way of finding out the site locations, however I assume you are trying to follow San Antonio/Bexar County EDACS and it looks like the DB admin didn't put in any of the site locations for the system. The secondary method is to use the FCC Callsigns map, however you would need to then figure out which site uses that callsign by clicking on each one of them and looking at their Site FCC Licenses. Generally, the Simulcasts will have the greatest area of coverage as they are several towers linked together to act as one site.



I would say programming it as a wildcard would be useful for testing your programming skills. You can still change the Tag: without changing the ID: to make it a wildcard. It will allow you to hear anything that's still being broadcasted in analog. This will let you test out and learn how to halfway program a TGRP.

At some point, if you haven't done so already, you might want to check out Texas Radio Discussion Forum if you ever have questions that might be related to your geographic location as they will have better information for you. Right now, your questions are general enough to be handled here.

Thanks for your advice and direction and link. I had seen provoice on my initial research and gave it up for dead but I did not know analog was mixed in there. I am going to have some experimenting to do. I will find something. And get better at it as I go. Thanks again

 

[Razorback210]

Making a TGRP (trunking) over and over I think I got it down. But what it has taught me in turn is how the distance limitation of my just above stock duck antenna bits. Seeing that most of my hobby time will be in house. I am limited to what repeater sites that are within my antenna's reach. Not only did this come to light,.....systems(MOT 800/900,Mot VHF/UHF,P25 Manual,P25 Auto, EDACS STD, EDACS Narrow, LTR) my scanner is capable of also came clear.

 

[Razorback210]

But for a start, its all good

 

[Razorback210]

I am going to look into what setup/riging I can do antenna wise that can be done that will work with my Pro-651. Somthin I can put a top of my chimney and run down to my man cave and plug into my scanner. Or something I can put a top of my shelf that will get me further out there.

 

[Razorback210]

Spitfire8520.....your post got me looking a little harder at what was in front of my face all along. It was just a matter of time before that light bulb popped up above my head and I was like....waaaaiit a minute whats this here, whats that there. Being a noob it like every step is a discovery lol. I'm re-inventing the wheel at every turn lol. I suppose all who get into it and have the will to stick with it go thru.

 

[Razorback210]

ecpsaz...... that link to the chart you posted up makes scence of the tech talk over the HAM frequencies that I am hearing.

 

[Razorback210]

okay...So I have learned how to look into the database and utilize the info in order to program my scanner to monitor what ever it is I am looking to monitor. I have read how people are connecting there scanners to the computer and using programs. This I do not understand. What does using programs do for the scanner? I feel like I am missing out on something. What is the benefit of what ever program going to do other than maybe making plugging in the info from the data base more convenient/quicker.? Someone please shed some light on this for me.