BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Priority Scan Conventional channels AND monitor Trunk System at the same time BCD436HP

[elisherer]

Not sure if this is a thing or if I am just forgetting stuff. I have a BCD436HP AND an old BC796D on my desk.

On the BCD436HP:

• I have my local PD, Fire, etc. set as Priority channels in a Favorites List I call "Shoreline Local" (Quick Key 0).
  • Local PD and all Priority channels are Conventional frequencies, and when they "hit" they are fine.
  • The SAME Favorites list includes Trunked State Police channels, NONE of which are set for Priority monitoring.
• I also monitor two other Favorites lists which are simply "wider" versions (wider areas around me, and maybe aircraft frequencies, etc.). But these are SEPARATE Favorites lists (with no Priority Channels).

On the BC796D:

• I have a number of Conventional channels, including Local ones set to Priority Scan... Nothing fancy at all.

The Problem:

• The Conventional Priority channels on the 436HP are NOT getting picked up in the 2-second interval that they should. Example:
  • Yesterday there was a local robbery that I picked up on the 796D, but NOT on the 436HP. No problem, I figured it was a short transmission.
  • But for the next 20 minutes, while Local PD passed off a pursuit to two neighboring towns, the handoffs, and inter-agency stuff were all picked up on the 796D... but it rarely if ever was picked up on the 436HP! Only ONCE did I hear a call about the pursuit on the State Police trunk.
  • I checked all the settings to make sure the local PD (my town and one of the towns next door) were properly set with Priority, etc. All was good, scanning continued. I even saw the little PRI icon on the screen.
• So what am I doing wrong?
  • Is it the fact that I have Conventional AND Trunked systems in my first Favorites list?
  • Is it because I am monitoring three Favorites lists that include Conventional and Trunked systems (and perhaps some of the channels are duplicated)?
  • Have I lost my marbles? (That one is rhetorical... I keep all my marbles in a box on a shelf on a bookcase. If I could only remember which bookcase).

Thanks in advance... I don't post here often, but when I do it's always very informative and helpful!

 

[nessnet]

It is important to remember that when scanning trunking, it scans SITES, not trunkgroups.
So, the radio will 'sit' on EACH trunking site programmed (and within range if location control is being used) for X milliseconds, until it either times out and moves on, or a channel grant comes in and it tunes to that frequency. As it 'sits' on each individual site's control channel, anything else happening anywhere else will not be heard.

How many (trunking) sites are you trying to scan?

 

[ofd8001]

If you have numerous Priority channels, the scanner may be checking them for activity and may miss traffic.

Note that Priority Scanning for conventional is different than with trunked systems. Conventional will preempt transmissions to check for activity on priority channels. However, this does NOT happen with trunked systems. It's something the Uniden product manager says he'd like to change.

I'm not saying for sure, but I think if the scanner is on a trunked system, listening to a conversation, it will check for traffic on conventional priority channels. It does not work the other way around - checking for traffic on priority trunked channels while on a conventional frequency.

 

[elisherer]

It is important to remember that when scanning trunking, it scans SITES, not trunkgroups.
So, the radio will 'sit' on EACH trunking site programmed (and within range if location control is being used) for X milliseconds, until it either times out and moves on, or a channel grant comes in and it tunes to that frequency. As it 'sits' on each individual site's control channel, anything else happening anywhere else will not be heard.

How many (trunking) sites are you trying to scan?

OK, I'm thinking this is the problem... though I don't remember it as much of a problem before.

• My first Favorites list includes All my Local PD, Fire, Etc. plus a local airport and some businesses. ALL of these are Conventional.
• However, this list also includes what the Master Databases calls the Connecticut State Police channels.
  • These include 13 Groups of "Digital" channels (Admin channels, Car-to-car, and more), PLUS,
  • 13 Trunked "Sites" (from your explanation) which the Troup A through Troup H channels, plus Mobile Command Posts and more!
• If I am reading your explanation... My Priority Channels are being "trumped" by the Scanner stopping to read ALL the Trunked Sites (and maybe sift through the Digital Channels as well? Not sure about that.

On top of this, I now realize I'm a bit of a ditz on what I have been doing... since I REPEAT the State Police channels in my SECOND Favorites list, which I think means I am stalling on those Trunked sites TWICE! (Argh!!)

So now I'm trying to figure out how to rearrange my Favorites list to include ONLY the Conventional Channels and my "Local" State Police troop in the First list, in order to winnow down the stalling in the trunked groups... Oh what fun!!

 

[hiegtx]

OK, I'm thinking this is the problem... though I don't remember it as much of a problem before.

• My first Favorites list includes All my Local PD, Fire, Etc. plus a local airport and some businesses. ALL of these are Conventional.
• However, this list also includes what the Master Databases calls the Connecticut State Police channels.
  • These include 13 Groups of "Digital" channels (Admin channels, Car-to-car, and more), PLUS,
  • 13 Trunked "Sites" (from your explanation) which the Troup A through Troup H channels, plus Mobile Command Posts and more!
• If I am reading your explanation... My Priority Channels are being "trumped" by the Scanner stopping to read ALL the Trunked Sites (and maybe sift through the Digital Channels as well? Not sure about that.

On top of this, I now realize I'm a bit of a ditz on what I have been doing... since I REPEAT the State Police channels in my SECOND Favorites list, which I think means I am stalling on those Trunked sites TWICE! (Argh!!)

So now I'm trying to figure out how to rearrange my Favorites list to include ONLY the Conventional Channels and my "Local" State Police troop in the First list, in order to winnow down the stalling in the trunked groups... Oh what fun!!

The scanner only scans trunked systems for priority channels when it is in each system, If you had three separate trunked systems programmed (call them A, B, & C for illustration), priority channels on System A would only be checked when the scanning was focused on that system; designated channels on B & C would not be scanned. When the scanner moves to System B, only it's priority channels are checked; Systems A & C are not in the game.

When the radio is scanning conventional systems, only priority channels in conventional systems are checked for activity, The trunked systems will not be checked until the scanner is back to scanning the trunked systems, one at a time.

The more sites you have active for your State Police system, the longer it will take to wade through the trunked channels before it can get back to your conventional systems. You're better off to only scan the closer sites, which are in range, rather than every site, regardless of whether it is in range or not.

 

[elisherer]

The scanner only scans trunked systems for priority channels when it is in each system, If you had three separate trunked systems programmed (call them A, B, & C for illustration), priority channels on System A would only be checked when the scanning was focused on that system; designated channels on B & C would not be scanned. When the scanner moves to System B, only it's priority channels are checked; Systems A & C are not in the game.

When the radio is scanning conventional systems, only priority channels in conventional systems are checked for activity, The trunked systems will not be checked until the scanner is back to scanning the trunked systems, one at a time.

The more sites you have active for your State Police system, the longer it will take to wade through the trunked channels before it can get back to your conventional systems. You're better off to only scan the closer sites, which are in range, rather than every site, regardless of whether it is in range or not.

Thanks... that's what I was thinking. So I've thinned out the Trunked channels that are "nearer to me" geographically (i.e. important), and moved the other trunked channels to a different Favorites group that I would only use when driving across state.

Thanks!

 

[wtp]

i find one radio for one trunked system will miss very little.