NYC Transit Authority

[gonzalu]

Am I doing something wrong?

Anyway, I had my BCD996XT set to SCAN the Talkgroups in the NYC Transit Authority system I programmed straight from RR db. I decided to switch it over to SEARCH and see what I picked up. I am picking up a lot of TG IDs not in the db. Did I do something wrong and am actually picking up existing TGs that are unidentified?

So, here is how I have my scanner set up ...

System Setup:
Type: Mot Type II / P25
Use Motorola End Code - ON
Use Digital Motorola End Code - ON
Enable I-Call - ON
ID Mode - ID Search

Site Setup:
Site Type: Mot 800MHZ Standard (Type II)
Control Channel Only - ON

Trunk Frequencies:
Frequency LCN L/O Vol Adj Num Tag
859.38750 1 False 0 NONE
859.41250 2 False 0 NONE
860.38750 3 False 0 NONE
860.41250 4 False 0 NONE

The TGs I have been hearing so far (new ones) are:

45
79
20000
12466
13971
15055
16317
16820
16087
10364
47026
47034
47126
49034

Any idea what these are or where I can get information on TG ranges assignments etc? Thank you

[Chauffeur6]

It's very possible there are TG's used on the system that are not in the database. Remember, the database is merely a collection of information that users like yourself have submitted after listening and confirming what they are hearing over a period of time.

One thing I notice is that some of the TG's you list are status bits, not the base TG. Make sure you have Set Status Bit on Ignore in the scanner settings for that system. A base TG for a Motorola Type II system is always evenly divisible by 16.

[gonzalu]

OK thanks Chauffeur6 ... I am still learning all the different settings :-) my System Settings for the NYC Transit Authority are listed above and I will repeat here with the setting on the other options.. again,, from the FreeSCAN GUI, not the radio... although I just verified it on the radio itself just in case.

System Setup:
Type: Mot Type II / P25
Use Motorola Status Bit - OFF
Use Motorola End Code - ON
Use Digital Motorola End Code - ON
Enable I-Call - ON
EDACS ID Format - Decimal
ID Mode - ID Search

Site Setup:
Site Type: Mot 800MHZ Standard (Type II)
Control Channel Only - ON

Under Trunk Frequencies, I am always unsure (ignorant) about how to set the LCN column (for this system site I have the numerically 1, 2, 3, 4) or the Number Tag column (NONE for all right now)

Also, what about the P25 wait time timer and the AGC options?
Thank you for your help

[Chauffeur6]

Your settings look good.

For Motorola Type II and P25 systems, the LCN column is irrelevant. You can put the frequencies in whatever order you want, the scanner doesn't care about specific LCN order except for EDACS and LTR systems.

P25 wait time and AGC aren't relevant to this system, because it's a Motorola Type II with analog voice...there is no P25 (digital) in play here.

[gonzalu]

Ah, good to know, thanks once again :-)

[gonzalu]

Here is what it looks like on my radio screen...

[Chauffeur6]

Ah okay, now I see what you're seeing. Those are not talkgroups, those are I-Calls (individual calls, aka radio to radio). Anytime you see a lowercase i in front of the ID, it's an I-Call.

[gonzalu]

THANK YOU for resolving my mystery! It was driving me crazy not knowing what I was seeing, especially after what you told me re: the divisibility of the TGs by /16 ;-)

While I knew what iCalls were, I did not know how to figure out what they were when they were happening.