ProScan: Adding ALL Talkgroups

I have a BCD325P2 on the way, should be here Friday.

After playing with the different software I have settled on ProScan.

I live in Kansas and have been asking questions in the Kansas forum, but there is one thing I cannot seem to find a clear answer on.

Based on a post in the Kansas forum I understand things as this:

1) Talkgroups and towers are independent of each other.

2) You can listen to any tower that is within range of your receiver. Each tower transmits all traffic from all system radios that it can hear, regardless of talkgroup.

3) Talkgroups aren't tied to any specific transmitter site/tower, they are tied to specific radios or users.

So I select the transmitter sites/towers that are within range of my location and in the area I want to monitor. Then, select the talkgroups/agencies I want to monitor.

4) A radio tied to a talkgroup from a distant part of the state may travel through my area. As long as that radio is within range of one of "my" towers, I will be able to hear everything on that talkgroup...even though the people talking are actually quite far away...provided I have selected that talkgroup for monitoring.

The last sentence: "provided I have selected that talkgroup for monitoring" is where I am lost.

So I will have no idea what talkgroup might travel through my area, so if I want to catch that traffic I need to add ALL the talkgroups, 1,500+ in the case of Kansas.

This seems wrong... can anyone explain?

Talkgroups and towers are apples and oranges.
A talkgroup is a communications pathway or "channel"
A tower is the transmitter.

Each tower transmits radio traffic from talkgroups the system administrator has permitted on the site. It does not transmit all system radios regardless of talkgroup. If the talkgroup the radio has selected isn't configured/permitted on the site/tower, then the system radio will not transmit through it.

A talkgroup may be permitted on sites/towers across large geographic areas, for instance a state police talkgroup may be allowed to roam as they are a statewide agency. However the city animal control talkgroup in the Wichita area would likely not be permitted on towers in distant parts of the state. The only reason you would hear the local traffic from Wichita in Kansas City is because someone in Kansas City has tuned their radio to a permitted talkgroup and the radio has affiliated to your local Kansas City area site.

If you want to listen to ANY traffic that comes across your tower/site, you would run the scanner in ID SEARCH mode vs ID SCAN. This does not guarantee you will hear any distant radio traffic though.

JoeyC said:

If you want to listen to ANY traffic that comes across your tower/site, you would run the scanner in ID SEARCH mode vs ID SCAN. This does not guarantee you will hear any distant radio traffic though.

Click to expand...

Thanks Joey!!

Is there a noticeable difference in scan rate when in search mode? I assume it is not like a conventional search which is very slow.

There is no scanning when ID Searching, (or ID Scanning for that matter). The radio will open squelch when a talkgroup that is not locked out has traffic on it.

JoeyC said:

If you want to listen to ANY traffic that comes across your tower/site, you would run the scanner in ID SEARCH mode vs ID SCAN. This does not guarantee you will hear any distant radio traffic though.

Click to expand...

OK last dumb question... if I run the scanner in ID SEARCH mode do I only need to program the Site freq's?

I don't need to add any Talkgroups?

Yes, and you'll get every talkgroup the site carries as long as you haven't locked it out.
There will be no alpha tags if you do not program talkgroups - only numbers.

JoeyC said:

Yes, and you'll get every talkgroup the site carries as long as you haven't locked it out.
There will be no alpha tags if you do not program talkgroups - only numbers.

Click to expand...

Thank you!! This seems like a quick way to get an idea of what a site can receive.

So if I create a ProScan file with Systems, Sites and Talkgroups but run in ID SEARCH mode I will see my programed Talkgroups (Alpha Tags) and then the Talkgroup numbers for anything else that the site may receive.

And if I run in ID SCAN mode I will only see my programed Talkgroups correct?

fredg said:

Thank you!! This seems like a quick way to get an idea of what a site can receive.

So if I create a ProScan file with Systems, Sites and Talkgroups but run in ID SEARCH mode I will see my programed Talkgroups (Alpha Tags) and then the Talkgroup numbers for anything else that the site may receive.

And if I run in ID SCAN mode I will only see my programed Talkgroups correct?

Click to expand...

Correct