Feature Request

[jonesyxvii]

While driving home last night I heard local police talking about a manhunt near the railway tracks, and that they had requested trains be slowed through the area. Tune into the railway and sure enough there's talk of the same thing. But here was my problem: local police and railway are in two different systems on my 396XT. Local police is broken into five districts and umpteen other use-specific talkgroups. I wanted to hold on just the relevant district, but also wanted to be able to hear the railway. To go through the police system and lockout all the non-relevant talkgroups would have taken forever; not to mention unlocking them later. So...

I'd like to see a feature whereby I could temporarily lockout all the other frequencies or talkgroups in a system EXCEPT for the frequency or talkgroup I'm currently holding on. That way I could have held on the police district I wanted, used the feature to temporarily lockout everything else in that system, then unhold to be able to scan that one police talkgroup AND the railway programmed into another system.

My two cents...

 

[pathalogical]

Since you were driving, it would have made things a bit difficult. Getting the most out of our scanners often requires a bit of thumb work. You could have made that conventional rail frequency a Priority, and the police TG could have stayed on HOLD. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your 396 would then get all your police activity and check the Priority every 2 seconds. I have a Pro 106, which has a FAVourite list. You could instantly assign as many objects to that list with just a couple of key presses. Then you activate the FAV button and it scans only those that you have in that list. It could be a mix of whatever you have in your radio. No locking things out.

 

[Viper43]

Yes, the RR could have been made a priority and hold on the TGID to hear both with the 396XT

V

 

[KE4ZNR]

In a roundabout way there is already a couple of current XT features that do this for you:

1) System Hold--While on a system long press the "Hold" button and the scanner will hold on the current system and not scan any other active systems until system hold is Long pressed again.

2) System/Channel Number Tags- provides rapid access to a specific system or channel.

A lot of people forget about the System/Channel Number Tags but it is a feature that I use everyday.

Example: Wake County here in Central NC uses Public Safety "TAC" Talkgroups numbered 13-39.
I have these PS TAC TGs stored in a system that is tagged with System Number Tag #99.
I also have the individual TGs stored with a Channel Number tag that matches the PS TAC TG number. So PS TAC 21 has the Channel Number Tag of 21.
So to quickly recall PS TAC 21 no matter which other systems are active all I have to do is Press HOLD+99.21+Menu and Boom I am on PS TAC 21.
Same for PS TAC 28. HOLD+99.28+Menu.

These are a couple of the features available that you can mold to work for you in some form or fashion.
Marshall KE4ZNR

While driving home last night I heard local police talking about a manhunt near the railway tracks, and that they had requested trains be slowed through the area. Tune into the railway and sure enough there's talk of the same thing. But here was my problem: local police and railway are in two different systems on my 396XT. Local police is broken into five districts and umpteen other use-specific talkgroups. I wanted to hold on just the relevant district, but also wanted to be able to hear the railway. To go through the police system and lockout all the non-relevant talkgroups would have taken forever; not to mention unlocking them later. So...

I'd like to see a feature whereby I could temporarily lockout all the other frequencies or talkgroups in a system EXCEPT for the frequency or talkgroup I'm currently holding on. That way I could have held on the police district I wanted, used the feature to temporarily lockout everything else in that system, then unhold to be able to scan that one police talkgroup AND the railway programmed into another system.

My two cents...

 

[DaveIN]

You could also try close call since you were in the area. Chances are you would hear them both and have a close call system to listen to once they became a hit for Close Call.

 

[JHNA2005]

One very underused feature of the 396XT (that I can see by reading theses posts) is the startup configuration.
I had the radio for over one year before I finally learned how to use this feature. You could set up one or two systems with local important emergency frequencies and assign them a unique start up key. When something big is going on, you turn off the scanner, then turn it back on while pressing the appropriate start-up key, only those systems go on, all the others are locked out.
With a little planning and computer programming, I found it is like having four or five different scanners with only the services I need when I need them. This feature, coupled with temporary lockout make this the best scanner I have ever owned, ( and in 35 yrs of scanning, I have had quite a few).

 

[DesertRatt]

I agree with you JHNA2005. I use startup keys extensively. I mainly use them for geographic locations. It is like a having a different scanner for every geographic area I visit or a particular stretch of highway I travel. I also have a startup key for a local emergency event. If something big happens I can turn off my 396XT, turn it back on activating the designated startup key and monitor only the systems that matter.