SDS100 cuts off beginning of transmissions

While holding on the MPSCS system I have noticed the beginning of a transmission is not captured, or the start of other replies to that transmission is missed.

When I look at the display of the scanner it seems to be scrolling through all of the frequencies for the entire Statewide system, which is a couple hundred Towers.

Since I'm in Metro Detroit, it makes no sense for the scanner to be spending time on all those other sites, thereby causing me to miss traffic on my local Towers.

Any advice?

Bad programming on your part.

You copied the entire system to a favorite list, but didn't turn on location control. Turn on location control in the favorite list settings, and write to scanner to upload the changes.

Make sure your scanner's location is set accurately.

jonwienke said:

Bad programming on your part.

You copied the entire system to a favorite list, but didn't turn on location control. Turn on location control in the favorite list settings, and write to scanner to upload the changes.

Make sure your scanner's location is set accurately.

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What would be the advantage of location control ON vs OFF. I dont see any problems with that setting off

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racing1 said:

What would be the advantage of location control ON vs OFF. I dont see any problems with that setting off

Click to expand...

Just the scanner trying to scan every MPSCS site in the state--the problem that prompted you to start this thread in the first place. The cause is Location control being OFF in the favorite list you made.

Thanks jonwienke , that seems to have fixed the problem.

You're welcome.

Will the location control then only scan what is within the mileage radius from the zip code that is entered? Why would the database need to be entered as a favorite if thats the case? Isn't that the same as entering in a zip code and having it scan all frequencies within that radius since the same things copied to the favorites list already be in the national database loaded into the scanner?

What I did was copy the entire Michigan MPSCS database into a favorite list that I called Statewide MPSCS and then went through it and removed all of the counties that are outside of mine and left all of the ID tags for the entire system in the list as well as all of the statewide frequencies. I then loaded another favorites list for just my county and then my own created DMR/NXDN frequencies found that are not in the RR database for other entities in my county I want to monitor so when those frequencies show up in the RR database I can remove them from that separate favorite list as a way to control what licenses have been issued that go live. That way, if I don't want to monitor anything on the State level, I can turn it off and only focus on county wide activity.

srpawski said:

Will the location control then only scan what is within the mileage radius from the zip code that is entered?

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Yes, the geographic center of the zip code, or GPS coordinates if you enter those instead.

Why would the database need to be entered as a favorite if thats the case? Isn't that the same as entering in a zip code and having it scan all frequencies within that radius since the same things copied to the favorites list already be in the national database loaded into the scanner?

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It doesn't. You can scan directly from the database if you choose to do so. The only catch is the database doesn't let you adjust any default settings, like Delay. For example, you have to copy the system to a favorite list if you want to change the default channel delay to 5 seconds.

When traveling, the most practical way to scan is to use a GPS to keep your scanner location up to date, and scan the database. The scanner will automatically turn systems and channels on and off as they go in and out of range.

What I did was copy the entire Michigan MPSCS database into a favorite list that I called Statewide MPSCS and then went through it and removed all of the counties that are outside of mine and left all of the ID tags for the entire system in the list as well as all of the statewide frequencies. I then loaded another favorites list for just my county and then my own created DMR/NXDN frequencies found that are not in the RR database for other entities in my county I want to monitor so when those frequencies show up in the RR database I can remove them from that separate favorite list as a way to control what licenses have been issued that go live. That way, if I don't want to monitor anything on the State level, I can turn it off and only focus on county wide activity.

Click to expand...

It is inefficient to scan multiple instances the same trunked system at the same time, and you will miss traffic doing that. State-level and county-level talkgroups are generally in separate Departments. You're better off scanning the entire system (with Location Control active), and using quick keys or department-level Avoids to turn off counties or state-level traffic you don't want to hear. You do not need to set up separate favorite lists.

Using location control and either GPS or zip code is not the best method for scanning - particularly when at home and/or stationary.

Location control tends to cause the radio to (still) try and scan both too much (sites that are out of range) and effectively lock out some things that are in range (small towns/areas). Some of this depends on what information is stored with the systems, sites, and categories ("Departments" in Uniden's lingo) and other parts depend upon your settings - mostly what you range setting is (default is 10 or more miles?) as well as how accurate the method is for determining your current location (GPS is more accurate than zip code). Still, regardless of which method is used for determining your location, the "circles" used for the above can be all over the place - from hundreds of miles down to as small as 1/2 mile (it's worse if a given area like a state if very "tall" or very "wide").

The best method is to create your own favorites lists - keep the systems, sites, and categories you want - verses "letting the computer" do it for you. Using location control against those favorites lists can be a bit of an improvement but you still have the same problems as identified above.

Use of quick keys at various levels is also a good method to control what you monitor at any given time.

I just wished there was a way to get favorites lists to update when frequencies within the entire database that are also saved in a favorites list would also update. I understand, however, why it doesn't.


I plan on getting the GPS for travel. What is the recommended range setting for travel?

srpawski said:

I just wished there was a way to get favorites lists to update when frequencies within the entire database that are also saved in a favorites list would also update. I understand, however, why it doesn't.

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In many cases, there aren't that many "changes" other than new talkgroups being submitted from time to time (but nothing is 100% - obviously, new systems are getting updated more frequently).

I plan on getting the GPS for travel. What is the recommended range setting for travel?

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Depends - like most things, it varies by both your area and usage. I tend to keep mine at 0 (and it still tries scanning things that are not in range). Keep in mind that scanning extra system sites and channels slows the scan rate and overall performance. Therefore, the larger the range, the slow the scan rate (typically).

The good thing is that if the scanner isn't within reach of a system it will skip the control channel of a site with a 100 sites/second rate. If the control channel cannot open the squelch, the hold and delay times doesn't apply. I wouldn't worry too much about scanning too many systems that might be out of reach.

Only if I where totally uninterested of monitoring distant systems would I try and minimize the range, if my local systems where way too busy and important to me to have them being interupted by other systems.

/Ubbe

Ubbe said:

The good thing is that if the scanner isn't within reach of a system it will skip the control channel of a site with a 100 sites/second rate. If the control channel cannot open the squelch, the hold and delay times doesn't apply. I wouldn't worry too much about scanning too many systems that might be out of reach.

Only if I where totally uninterested of monitoring distant systems would I try and minimize the range, if my local systems where way too busy and important to me to have them being interupted by other systems.

/Ubbe

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It's hardly that 'free' to scan and check lots of stuff that is not in range... If that were true, they would be no reason to remove any sites or channels... manually or using using location control... Scanning all that stuff still takes time....