Home Patrol Questions and Answers- Please # your question

[pwscott]

I thought a thread with questions and answers on the new Home Patrol might be useful, not unlike what they do at Howard Forums and other places on new cell phone launches....

Question #1: Is there not a way to 'move on' from a channel? Like a SCAN key or a HOLD key that can tell the scanner to move on to other channels and come back around? So if I am listening to my local police dispatch channel, and they are reading off the whole operator's number, address, city etc of a car stop, I'd like to be able to just reach over and say keep going and come back after you scan everything else that's not locked out [avoided in Home Patrol speak].
Is my only option to move on from that channel by choosing AVOID and making it TEMPORARY? But then that channel is locked out until I power off and power on the next time. Really? No SCAN button on a scanner?

 

[wise871]

Question #2 Is there an option for setting the hold time? I have my 996XT set to hold on systems for 1 sec for faster scanning.

 

[pwscott]

Answer for Question #1

Answer to question #1 is courtesy of Jeff at the Ham Station who tells me to tap the channel twice...first tap is hold and second tap is move on. Nice!

I thought a thread with questions and answers on the new Home Patrol might be useful, not unlike what they do at Howard Forums and other places on new cell phone launches....

Question #1: Is there not a way to 'move on' from a channel? Like a SCAN key or a HOLD key that can tell the scanner to move on to other channels and come back around? So if I am listening to my local police dispatch channel, and they are reading off the whole operator's number, address, city etc of a car stop, I'd like to be able to just reach over and say keep going and come back after you scan everything else that's not locked out [avoided in Home Patrol speak].
Is my only option to move on from that channel by choosing AVOID and making it TEMPORARY? But then that channel is locked out until I power off and power on the next time. Really? No SCAN button on a scanner?

 

[rckydenver]

Question 3, does the screen go into a power saver mode or does the display always stay on? Just thinking about the display and the batterys if not using the power supply.

 

[pwscott]

Screen Dimming

On Question #3- Yes. Menu > Display > Autodim = ON

Also Menu > Display > Powersave = ON

Question 3, does the screen go into a power saver mode or does the display always stay on? Just thinking about the display and the batterys if not using the power supply.

 

[rckydenver]

Cool

On Question #3- Yes. Menu > Display > Autodim = ON

Also Menu > Display > Powersave = ON

Good feature to have. Of course i can see a question coming up on how long the batterys will last.

 

[trido]

What about programming issue thread

I cant seem to upload a favorite list I get this corrupt file issue.

file \homepatrol\hpdb\washington.hpd is corrupt

Not trying to upload any washington file have no idea what that is?

thanks

 

[KE4ZNR]

I cant seem to upload a favorite list I get this corrupt file issue.

file \homepatrol\hpdb\washington.hpd is corrupt

Not trying to upload any washington file have no idea what that is?

thanks

Jeff--
Navigate to My Documents->Uniden->Home Patrol->FavoriteLists.

Note the way the Favorite Lists are named:
"favorites_0000xx.hpd".

Look for the "washington.hpd" and delete it.
Then you should be able to sync up the favorites lists between Sentinel and your Home Patrol.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[trido]

well this sure is a little dif.For hours I cant figure why on Project Hoosier Safet I was hearing DIST 35 DISP
I am on Henderson Site fine I have range set at 5 miles so I thought well I increase range to 20 well now there is DIST 35 dist.

Paul or someone will have to tell us why range would have anything to do with what talk groups we hear.
Isnt it if I hear the site I should hear all groups affiliated with that site.

DIST 35 isnt even there till I increase range to 20 miles out.

Well I hope we can get this fav up load working,I dont see how anyone tonite can upload any fav to HP-1.

I tried three pc and this WASH file is corrupt I assume from the homepatrol website I did a update HBDB on all three pc and same washinton/hdb file is corrupt.

jeff
there is no washinton file as it is not a fav i made seems to be the state of wash database and is corrupt.
Now havea bigger mess for some reason HP database doesnt have any of the ISP DIST disp talk groups I guess I need some one else in IND to test this

jeff

Jeff--
Navigate to My Documents->Uniden->Home Patrol->FavoriteLists.

Note the way the Favorite Lists are named:
"favorites_0000xx.hpd".

Look for the "washington.hpd" and delete it.
Then you should be able to sync up the favorites lists between Sentinel and your Home Patrol.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[KE4ZNR]

there is no washinton file as it is not a fav i made seems to be the state of wash database and is corrupt.
Now havea bigger mess for some reason HP database doesnt have any of the ISP DIST disp talk groups I guess I need some one else in IND to test this

jeff

Jeff,
Email me at KE4ZNR@radioreference.com. I am sure we can
help you get this fixed
All else fails just do another update database pull in Sentinel.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[pwscott]

Talkgroups and Range

Jeff, I think Talkgroup reception will be affected by the Range setting. Go to your local system in the RRDB and pull up reports and choose the one for talkgroups...does it not have LAT/LON data by TG? Mine does for CSP here in CT:
Connecticut State Police Talkgroup Category Location Data Report

well this sure is a little dif.For hours I cant figure why on Project Hoosier Safet I was hearing DIST 35 DISP
I am on Henderson Site fine I have range set at 5 miles so I thought well I increase range to 20 well now there is DIST 35 dist.

Paul or someone will have to tell us why range would have anything to do with what talk groups we hear.
Isnt it if I hear the site I should hear all groups affiliated with that site.

DIST 35 isnt even there till I increase range to 20 miles out.

Well I hope we can get this fav up load working,I dont see how anyone tonite can upload any fav to HP-1.

I tried three pc and this WASH file is corrupt I assume from the homepatrol website I did a update HBDB on all three pc and same washinton/hdb file is corrupt.

jeff
there is no washinton file as it is not a fav i made seems to be the state of wash database and is corrupt.
Now havea bigger mess for some reason HP database doesnt have any of the ISP DIST disp talk groups I guess I need some one else in IND to test this

jeff

 

[trido]

thanks i have to run but look for your answer I assume you can not via software upload a fav list?
I and Marshall have discovered that washinton.hpd file is corrupt.If you look at it it is 0KB in size.
I sure HOPE Marshall has notified Paul so that file can be replaced TODAY.It keep us from downloading to HP-1/

Jeff, I think Talkgroup reception will be affected by the Range setting. Go to your local system in the RRDB and pull up reports and choose the one for talkgroups...does it not have LAT/LON data by TG? Mine does for CSP here in CT:
Connecticut State Police Talkgroup Category Location Data Report

 

[scanchs]

What would Bob do?

thanks i have to run but look for your answer I assume you can not via software upload a fav list?
I and Marshall have discovered that washinton.hpd file is corrupt.If you look at it it is 0KB in size.
I sure HOPE Marshall has notified Paul so that file can be replaced TODAY.It keep us from downloading to HP-1/

I wonder what Bob would be doing in this circumstance? He may not know about RadioReference.com and wouldn't therefore know how to contact Marshall or Paul. If he's lucky, he might know about HomePatrol.com and could air his concerns there. He might call the dealer he bought his unit from, but wait, Jeff is one of those dealers, and he's having the problem as well. This doesn't bode well for the revolution...

This is just one small example of the danger inherent in only having a single source from which to program this device. I agree with Jeff; I hope Paul hears about this issue and gets it resolved quickly. I have yet to order my HP-1, as I was waiting to hear some of the early reports (to be sure it was going to be everything I had hoped for). Right now, my hopes are being dashed and my earlier fears are starting to return...

BTW, all of the Uniden scanners I do own are working flawlessly this morning...

ScanCHS

 

[trido]

I have to make a big update seems homepatrol servers are not this issue I was about to give for today then it hit me try a DIFFERENT micro SD card, that was it. All working fine I havent tried to format card that came with HP and start over I will now.

Jeff

 

[KE4ZNR]

A clarification or two:
--Jeff's experiences were a unique situation that had nothing to do with Uniden's database or the update process in any way. There was nothing for Paul to fix as it was an issue with Jeff's SD card.
So put down the panic stick as your fears below are unfounded.
I am sure the Bob's of the world will be just fine.
The Revolution is going great and can't wait for others
to post their experiences!
I will let Jeff chime in if he wants to.
Back to answering other questions!
Happy Monitoring (and HPing!)
Marshall KE4ZNR

I wonder what Bob would be doing in this circumstance? He may not know about RadioReference.com and wouldn't therefore know how to contact Marshall or Paul. If he's lucky, he might know about HomePatrol.com and could air his concerns there. He might call the dealer he bought his unit from, but wait, Jeff is one of those dealers, and he's having the problem as well. This doesn't bode well for the revolution...

This is just one small example of the danger inherent in only having a single source from which to program this device. I agree with Jeff; I hope Paul hears about this issue and gets it resolved quickly. I have yet to order my HP-1, as I was waiting to hear some of the early reports (to be sure it was going to be everything I had hoped for). Right now, my hopes are being dashed and my earlier fears are starting to return...

BTW, all of the Uniden scanners I do own are working flawlessly this morning...

ScanCHS

 

[scanchs]

Good answer!

A clarification or two:
--Jeff's experiences were a unique situation that had nothing to do with Uniden's database or the update process in any way. There was nothing for Paul to fix as it was an issue with Jeff's SD card.
So put down the panic stick as your fears below are unfounded.
I am sure the Bob's of the world will be just fine.
The Revolution is going great and can't wait for others
to post their experiences!
I will let Jeff chime in if he wants to.
Back to answering other questions!
Happy Monitoring (and HPing!)
Marshall KE4ZNR

Marshall,

I'm actually pleased to hear that the problem was not the server, and that Bob is doing just fine. Believe it or not, I would really like to see the HomePatrol-1 become a huge success! On with the revolution...

ScanCHS

 

[pwscott]

Question #5 (?)

I took a drive today up to Lentini Communications in central Connecticut from my home in lower CT and I used the eTrex GPS plugged into the HP-1. That seemed to work quite well in that when I approached the edge of the Troop 'G' Area I started to receive Troop 'I' and later Troops 'A' and 'K'. As I passed near Yale University, I started to receive their police and rescue calls.

One odd thing I noted though was that even though for a while I reached over and touched "Connecticut State Police" up on the top line so it would scan only CSP, I saw it switch over a few times and start scanning (only) another system that had become highlighted in yellow...Waterbury PD. Can that be that I went out of range of any CSP TGIDs? I don't think so as I have statewide TGIDs programmed too...I have to guess it's because I lost reception of the control freqs for the site closest to me and the radio held on what?? the next system?

So I guess Question #5 is what is the expected behavior if you're holding on a trunked system and you lose the control channel?

 

[trido]

Yes on that issue. Now to next and this needs to be addressed now by all admin people.Talk group geo tagging.
Example I can see a State 800 Mhz tower however to hear the main ISP DISP talk group I must set range to 20 or more miles? WHY?Most people are going to call Jeff I am not hearing IND state police.I assume and I am emailing Chirs now the range for thse groups need to be increased?

Jeff

A clarification or two:
--Jeff's experiences were a unique situation that had nothing to do with Uniden's database or the update process in any way. There was nothing for Paul to fix as it was an issue with Jeff's SD card.
So put down the panic stick as your fears below are unfounded.
I am sure the Bob's of the world will be just fine.
The Revolution is going great and can't wait for others
to post their experiences!
I will let Jeff chime in if he wants to.
Back to answering other questions!
Happy Monitoring (and HPing!)
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[pwscott]

Question #6 Zero Range??

I wonder about the intent of something else here too. And don;t get me wrong, I am learning the HP-1 from scratch so these are just that- questions- not complaints. Anyway..If I have the HP set to say 5 miles range and I plug in the GPS and get asked "Use GPS?" and I say yes, it appears that the range then gets set to Zero Miles. I imagine that's intentional....what I guess this brings up is that it's defaulting to only systems I can hear right where I am right? IOW, if New Haven CT PD's "Range" in RR DB is set to 30 miles (just guessing) and I am 29 miles from New Haven with my range set to '0' I am going to hear them so they get turned on right? That is it's not that 'range setting' determines I have to be within 5 miles of the center of New Haven....rather I have to be within 5 miles of the 30 mile circle around the LAT/LON of NHPD?? Is that right? Makes sense I think.

Given that it would make sense to set the Range to '0' when you plug in a GPS.

 

[trido]

I was trying to listen to a local PD Special Event Channel today I could manually scroll thru it on the home patrol.
However scanning HP never stopped on it. Then it hit me looked on RRDB online there it was the SPECIAL EVENT talk group is tagged INTEROP.
I checked my Select Service type sure enough I did not have interop checked.
Oh well little things I sure one person learns from my stupid mistakes.
But it is fun.