? on loading multiple trunked areas to a Pro-162

[justjack]

Got my scanner and cable, had a local guy load Sacramento and try to teach me the process.
At least I got Sacramento....
My question is this , when I get a hold of the SF freqs (that's funny) I'm looking for (SFPD & FD) do I just plug it in and let it do its thing finding open bank/ channel spots to fill in or will they roll on over the Sacramento inputs deleteing them. I guess the simpler way to ask this is can I load more than one area on the scanner and if so is there a special process I have to go thru. Thanks , Jack

[DickH]

Originally Posted by justjack

Got my scanner and cable, had a local guy load Sacramento and try to teach me the process.
At least I got Sacramento....
My question is this , when I get a hold of the SF freqs (that's funny) I'm looking for (SFPD & FD) do I just plug it in and let it do its thing finding open bank/ channel spots to fill in or will they roll on over the Sacramento inputs deleteing them. I guess the simpler way to ask this is can I load more than one area on the scanner and if so is there a special process I have to go thru. Thanks , Jack

What program are you using? You can't load anything without a program.

[AlabamaRS]

try putting them in a different bank

[NWtoSFO]

Alabama's right. You can have as many trunking systems as you want, within reason. But I find it best to just put each one in a different bank. You've got 20 of 'em with the 162, so it really isn't a problem. If fact you can actually put two different trunking systems in the same bank and hear them both just fine as long as none of the I.D.'s aren't duplicated.

Matthew

[justjack]

Sounds good, i'm trying it all. Actually had some luck with puttig in just control channels- not so bad when they separate them into categories like public works-- public service.
Oh and sorry about he cross posting. I'm new , wanted the info and didn't see it as a big deal. won't happen again.

[Chauffeur6]

Originally Posted by NWtoSFO

If fact you can actually put two different trunking systems in the same bank and hear them both just fine as long as none of the I.D.'s aren't duplicated

That statement is a little misleading and confusing. If both systems are "active", meaning you can receive them simultaneously from any given location you're likely to be in, you will not be able to monitor both of them if they're programmed into the same bank. The scanner will lock onto the first active CC it finds in any given bank, and that's the system it will monitor. The "two systems in one bank" trick only works if the systems aren't in range of each other and there's no chance of the scanner receiving both CC's simultaneously. That trick is great for people who travel long distances and want to make the most of the bank space. The downside of it is that you are limited to 100 TGID's per bank, so on large systems you may run out of space trying to program them all for two systems. Also, if the two systems use identical TGID's with different descriptions, you won't be able to duplicate them properly in the same bank. The scanner will show the TGID for System A instead of System B, even if the descriptions are completely different, because the scanner has no idea what system they should be assigned to. But, we're getting way off the OP's question here!

Back to the OP's question: The 162 has 20 banks of 50 channels each, which means you can have up to 20 different trunked systems in that scanner. Just stick to the "one trunked system per bank" rule, and you'll be fine. You can mix conventional frequencies and trunked systems in the same bank if you wish. Although if you don't plan on filling up all 20 banks, I would recommend you keep the conventional frequencies and trunked systems in separate banks.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Chauffeur6

... I would recommend you keep the conventional frequencies and trunked systems in separate banks.

Not neccessarily. Most trunked systems have conventional freqs. that are used for surveillance or in marginal reception areas. In my city we use the simplex freqs. often when we have fires in downtown buildings because the portables can't reach the repeaters from inside those buildings.

[Chauffeur6]

Originally Posted by DickH

Not neccessarily. Most trunked systems have conventional freqs. that are used for surveillance or in marginal reception areas. In my city we use the simplex freqs. often when we have fires in downtown buildings because the portables can't reach the repeaters from inside those buildings.

An overall radio plan/system may well use a mixture of trunked and conventional modes, but there is no such thing as a "trunked system with conventional frequencies" as it were. Trunked is trunked, conventional is conventional...the frequencies will be used for either mode, but not both.

In any case, I understand where you're coming from keeping everything in the same bank, but I think there are pros and cons to doing it that way. If you are only going to program a limited amount of trunked systems and conventional frequencies into a scanner like the 160/162 that features 20 banks of 50 channels each, there is an advantage to keeping the trunked and conventional frequencies separate. Let's say for the sake of example that XYZ Fire Dept is normally dispatched and responds on a TRS, but uses conventional frequencies for fireground ops, which is a very common scenario. You may want to listen to only the fireground action without having the TRS interrupt you with dispatches for neighboring depts going to BS alarms. If you had the frequencies mixed in the same bank, you'd have to scramble to lock out certain frequencies, or you'd have to pause on a single conventional frequency when there may be multiple in use. By keeping the TRS in one bank, and the fireground frequencies in another bank, you can simply lock out the TRS bank temporarily and continue to monitor the fireground frequencies.

Why not make the best use of all 20 banks if you're only going to load in one or two TRS and nowhere near 1,000 frequencies?

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Chauffeur6

An overall radio plan/system may well use a mixture of trunked and conventional modes, but there is no such thing as a "trunked system with conventional frequencies" as it were. Trunked is trunked, conventional is conventional...the frequencies will be used for either mode, but not both.

In any case, I understand where you're coming from keeping everything in the same bank, but I think there are pros and cons to doing it that way. If you are only going to program a limited amount of trunked systems and conventional frequencies into a scanner like the 160/162 that features 20 banks of 50 channels each, there is an advantage to keeping the trunked and conventional frequencies separate. Let's say for the sake of example that XYZ Fire Dept is normally dispatched and responds on a TRS, but uses conventional frequencies for fireground ops, which is a very common scenario. You may want to listen to only the fireground action without having the TRS interrupt you with dispatches for neighboring depts going to BS alarms. If you had the frequencies mixed in the same bank, you'd have to scramble to lock out certain frequencies, or you'd have to pause on a single conventional frequency when there may be multiple in use. By keeping the TRS in one bank, and the fireground frequencies in another bank, you can simply lock out the TRS bank temporarily and continue to monitor the fireground frequencies.

Why not make the best use of all 20 banks if you're only going to load in one or two TRS and nowhere near 1,000 frequencies?

It's not nearly so complicated in my city. When I get to a fire where they say "Switch to Simplex 4", I just hit HOLD and it stays on Simplex 4. Pretty simple.