Scanner

[Unlimited]

Ok, so I used my Radio Shack scanner for quite some time and and I was wondering if an antenna could be an issue for it not being clear like the live feed is. My scanner cuts in and out and has something else I can't really explain. Is there anyway I can make the audio clear while listen to it?

[bwca44]

Are you listening to the SD digital system, and listening in Sioux Falls? With digital you either hear it or you dont (usually) so it sounds like an antenna issue.. with more info we can help ya. Thanks

[Unlimited]

Yea I found out it was the antenna issue. What would be the best one to use to get a good signal for both talk-groups digital and the conventional freq.? I listen to the Sioux Falls digital system as well as the railroads.

[Unlimited]

Sorry for re-posting, I had another question and didn't want to spam the forum section.

Anyway: With the towers in the State of South Dakota. Say I'm listening to the Turner Co. tower and I have Sioux Falls Fire/EMS/Police scanning as well will I pick up signals from them as well? Or so I need to program the frequencies from the Sioux Falls tower to hear them as well or can you only hear them for the county you are in?

Thanks

[kb0nly]

You need to program all the towers in. The way it works is by association of the users, if all the users in the area are affiliated with the Sioux Falls tower then the surrounding county towers will not handle that traffic unless someone on that other tower is affiliated with it on that talkgroup.

For example... I hear units from Brookings go down to Sioux Falls, as they drive and affiliate with different towers the talkgroup follows them, so unless a user is on that tower you won't hear the traffic.

I feed for Deuel, Brookings, Moody counties here. I have to scan all three towers.

[Unlimited]

Alright, so say I'm in Turner Co. and if there isn't a Sioux Falls Fire radio or truck down there using that tower, you will not hear it? But if a truck is out there for an mutual aid or something then you will?

[kb0nly]

Correct! The tower only carries the talkgroups that has radios affiliated to.

[Unlimited]

Alright, thanks.

Also, why do some towers have like ten frequencies and others still have only four?

[B_Mitchell]

from what I understand, all the tower sites have at least four frequencies.
one frequency for a control channel, three for voice channels.
the larger areas have a need for additional voice channels, thus a need for
additional frequencies.

[kb0nly]

Mitchell is correct... Its based on usage. Sites like the ones around Sioux Falls have more voice channels to handle more simultaneous traffic. Its the same here in MN on our ARMER system, most sites have a minimum of four, one control, three voice, one of the voice channels even double as an alternate control channel. Some sites have 4-5 voice channels.

A little background on trunking that may help you to understand. When a user keys up it sends data to the controller on the control channel, the controller then tells the radio which channel it should transmit on as well as telling all other users in that talkgroup what channel their radio should listen to for the transmission. Thats how it handles multiple conversations at once, as they come in the controller sends them off to one of the voice channels, which is why in a densely populated area like Sioux Falls where all the agencies are on the statewide system and could potentially be at the same time they need more voice channels.

This is also why trunk tracking is as sophisticated as it is and the cost of the scanners so high, because they have to handle the data stream the same way the radios do, listen for the talkgroup info and switch to the correct voice channel.

[Unlimited]

Thanks.

Also, does anyone know of a scanner out there that has a loud speaker in it like the actual radios that are used?

And what type of antenna do you recommend for scanning digital talkgroups and conventional freqs?

[Unlimited]

Sorry for double posting..not sure how to edit my last post.

Is there any scanner that you can put on a recharging bay like radios do?

[bbtkd]

I have a Uniden BCD396XT and a GRE PSR800. I like them both and both have decent volume though the Uniden is louder. No digital handheld scanner uses a drop-in charger. Probably going to sell the GRE since I never seem to use it.