GPS and the 996T

[RFsponge]

I have just spent four days cramming all the data I could into my shiny, new 996T for the Colorado statewide DTRS. I have used 63% of the radio's memory, which is a formidable amount of information. The GPS feature has proven to be extremely useful for an area of operation that is 350 miles wide and 400 miles long!

However...

Does anyone know of a more efficent method of mining the FCC database for tower coordinates than the one I have been using? I am having to enter control frequencies, one by one, into the DB and then match the site name to the coordinates given. Very slow and meticulous. Better yet: Does anyone know where an offical list exists?

I know I've already screwed up at least once because I'm pegging the signal meter on the radio (in Denver) with a site that is supposed to be just inside New Mexico (at least, I labeled it that way) A distance of about 200 miles. The scanner's good, but not that good.

Thank you in advance for any assistance. Much appreciated.

 

[DaveIN]

Colorado statewide is in System Quick Key #28 all the GPS data should be there.

Going to the FCC data via the tower link in the Radioreference database will speed things up if the sites are correctly linked to a callsign, but there are no lists.

 

[UPMan]

RF Sponge:

You are doing exactly what I did for the preload. Many of the site locations are documented here: http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/BCD996T_Lat-Lon

 

[DaveIN]

RF Sponge:

You are doing exactly what I did for the preload. Many of the site locations are documented here: http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/BCD996T_Lat-Lon

Thanks, couldn't find the link to that, and thought it was removed.

 

[RFsponge]

Additional site coordinates

Ah! Thanks to you both! That list is something I couldn't generate out of the clunky, unweilding Uniden software. No matter how much cutting and pasting I did. If it helps you guys out: Thanks to the RR database for the Colorado DTRS, there are 15 extra sites that weren't included in the preload and I found the coordinates thru the FCC DB. You'll still have to convert them to DMS for entry into the scanner, but they're working. I've also submitted them to RR for use in the DTRS forum. Thanks again!

P.S. The FCC DB dosen't have a listing, anywhere in the country, for the control frequency 774.79375 used in Hoyt. (Site 351) Not sure why. I simply used Google Earth, put the cursor in what appears to be the center of town, and guessed those coordinates were close enough. It's in eastern Adams county so the terrain should be forgiving if I'm off by a few miles.

P.P.S. I also tried to space these out in this reply, but this software dosen't seem to recognize tabs or even 3 spaces in a line. Sorry.


SITE PRI FREQ TOWER LOCATION COUNTY LAT / LONG

127 MT. CARMEL 867.8000 17.6km E of Campo Baca 37-04-29.6 N, 102-22-46.3 W
153 SHEEP MTN. 868.6500 Huerfano Co. Courthouse Huerfano 37-41-48.0 N, 105-11-47.0 W
223 SMELTER MTN. 868.1375 .5 mi SW Durango La Plata 37-15-45.0 N, 107-53-28.8 W
229 RASBERRY RDG. 868.9375 19 mi ENE of Nucla Montrose 38-18-52.0 N, 108-11-48.3 W
234 TV HILL - PAONIA 868.9875 3.4 mi N of Paonia Delta 38-55-40.0 N, 107-36-05.0 W
240 SAN LUIS 867.4375 .5 mi NW of San Luis Costila 37-12-16.5 N, 105-25-40.8 W
243 LEES POINT 867.8375 3.2 mi SW of Gateway Mesa 39-38-40.9 N, 109-00-35.4 W
246 GOBBLERS KNOB 867.7375 6.7 mi W of Nucla Montrose 38-15-19.0 N, 108-41-19.0 W
248 RICO 868.9625 Rico Firehouse Dolores 37-41-35.9 N, 108-01-59.7 W
260 MESA POINT 867.6875 34.7 mi WSW of Pueblo Pueblo 38-02-29.0 N, 105-11-07.0 W
261 MONTE VISTA 867.3500 Water treatment plant Rio Grande 37-34-52.1 N, 106-08-57.6 W
328 PEETZ 868.4875 9 mi SW of Peetz Logan 40-53-30.7 N, 103-13-47.0 W
329 PAWNEE 867.8625 5.4 mi SW of Brush Morgan 40-12-13.9 N, 103-41-47.8 W
331 IDALIA 868.7000 10.5 mi WNW of Idalia Yuma 39-43-50.0 N, 102-28-58.0 W
351 HOYT 774.79375 (GPS: center of town) Adams 40-00-07.9 N, 103-35-32.8 W

 

[UPMan]

You could add them to the wiki (anyone can edit it).

It is my understanding that the 700 MHz frequencies are licensed by block, so the FCC db won't have specific freqeuncy entries for them.

 

[CrewRest]

They real question is why load the tower Lat Long? Why not use a map progam to find the Lat Long of center point radius that covers the area that you want. The tower might cover more area than you want.

 

[UPMan]

Both methods have their place. On statewide systems, towers are placed for coverage, so making the tower location the center of lat/lon is generally OK (exceptions being towers on one or the other side of a mountain arranged for non-uniform coverage). For example, Texas DPS towers generally have circular coverage areas with some overlap to adjascent towers.

On local systems, tailoring the lat/lon and range to fit the political boundaries of the system (which could be much smaller than the RF coverage area) could make sense (and is how I program my local cities).