536HP Mobile on a long trip with GPS

[WX4JCW]

I’m an OTR driver and I use it everyday from west coast to east coast , I love it


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Jason WX4JCW
Unication G4, BCD536HP

 

[AuntEnvy]

State police, yes. County and city level police, fire, and EMS, no.

I assumed that would be one of the main things he would be looking for while traveling and I wasn't sure how familiar he was with this unit.

 

[AuntEnvy]

I’m an OTR driver and I use it everyday from west coast to east coast , I love it

Sounds like you would be the perfect candidate to offer up some tips and tricks!

 

[03msc]

First off, I know this thread is a few months old since the last post but this is a relevant question so I thought I'd tack it on here.

Question -

I recently added the GPS to my 536 and had my first 'trip' with it the first part of this week.

I noticed a few things that I'm wondering if I have a setting wrong or if this is just how it is based on RR db data it pulls in:

1) I noticed I was getting several stops on 'digital noise' instead of hearing the audio - in other words, it'd stop on a channel that was DMR but it was as if I was listening to it with an analog radio, just the digital noise. Will the scanner not automatically decode the DMR audio??? Or am I hearing it because the db shows it as analog instead of DMR?

2) I had my range set to 2.0 miles but would still hear things from 2 counties away (mostly on a trunked P25 system). Is this likely because the 'range' data for the talkgroups is set larger than it should be in the db?

2) b) If the answer to 2) is yes, can I edit the "full database" in Sentinel before I import it to lessen these ranges? Or do I have to add them to a FL and then edit? I would think they should only be set to a range within and maybe slightly over the border of the county and not big enough that it's turning those TGs on when I'm 2 counties away.

Otherwise, other than tweaking some service types settings, it was pretty amazing!

 

[jonwienke]

1. If the freq is listed as analog and tagged as analog search, then you will hear digital noise if it is actually digital. Submit a correction to RR to fix.

2. If the range data for a site or department is inappropriately large, the only way to edit it is to submit a correction to RR. That will fix the problem for everyone else, not just you.

 

[ShyFlyer]

You cannot edit the Full Database in Sentinel. You'll have to append to a FL and then edit as you see fit.

Keep in mind that, at the current time, the RR database doesn't support rectangular service areas. It's all circles around a set of lat/long coordinates. This is also the default within Sentinel, but you can choose set up rectangular areas to more accurately reflect agency and/or geographical boundaries.

 

[03msc]

1. If the freq is listed as analog and tagged as analog search, then you will hear digital noise if it is actually digital. Submit a correction to RR to fix.

2. If the range data for a site or department is inappropriately large, the only way to edit it is to submit a correction to RR. That will fix the problem for everyone else, not just you.

OK, this is as I suspected then. Thanks.

You cannot edit the Full Database in Sentinel. You'll have to append to a FL and then edit as you see fit.

Keep in mind that, at the current time, the RR database doesn't support rectangular service areas. It's all circles around a set of lat/long coordinates. This is also the default within Sentinel, but you can choose set up rectangular areas to more accurately reflect agency and/or geographical boundaries.

Good to know.

 

[ofd8001]

1) I noticed I was getting several stops on 'digital noise' instead of hearing the audio - in other words, it'd stop on a channel that was DMR but it was as if I was listening to it with an analog radio, just the digital noise. Will the scanner not automatically decode the DMR audio??? Or am I hearing it because the db shows it as analog instead of DMR?

You'd have to have purchased the DMR upgrade in order to decode DMR. Same is true for NXDN or ProVoice systems. If you do not have these upgrades, your scanner will "receive" the channel, but all you hear is digital noise.

2) I had my range set to 2.0 miles but would still hear things from 2 counties away (mostly on a trunked P25 system). Is this likely because the 'range' data for the talkgroups is set larger than it should be in the db?

Generally Range values for Departments, such as Counties, are set to cover just their geographic service area. You could be receiving the distant counties because the database is wrong. Or, the service area for the particular county really does cover the larger area due to some interlocal agreements.



Answer to #3 has been posted. Unless you want to build your own Favorites Lists, this is either a "Grin and Bear" or "Avoid Button" situation.

 

[03msc]

Yes, I have the DMR and NXDN upgrades already; I checked and these frequencies are listed as analog FM so I've submitted a note for them to be checked.

I also figured out how to see what the range is set to in the db for the other county in question - it was set way to high (about 160% or more than it's actual size) so I submitted info in that regard, as well.

As long as I've been on here you'd think I wouldn't known but I didn't know where I could view the location coordinates and the range listed in the db from a web browser until just a few minutes ago...

You learn something everyday...

Now that I know I'll try to go through and check some things when I have spare time. Ha...spare time, what's that!?!

 

[jonwienke]

ProScan lets you view location data as a google map overlay. It makes spotting and correcting errors a lot easier. Makes fitting the circle or rectangle to the county a lot easier.

 

[soberone14]

I am also a OTR driver and use it from coast to coast and Canada and I love it.