Pro-162 and trunking

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Engine104

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Hi guys,

I recently purchased a used Pro-162 off eBay. I'm very happy with the radio.

I know that this radio was manufactured by Uniden for RS, but I did have one question that I hope someone can answer in this forum. Is it normal for the radio to stop for about one second on the CC of a local (Orange Co. California) MOT trunked system? It doesn't break squelch and I've checked to be sure I don't have a delay or priority set for the trunked bank's frequencies or TGs. The Pro-162 is the handheld version of the Pro-160 base/mobile.

I'm using ARC-160 for programming and I posted in the Southern California thread to see if I had the correct settings from RR for that system. I apparently do, though ARC-160 wants to set a base freq and offsets, whereas the same system imported to Win 96 (For my Pro-96) shows those fields greyed out.

It's not a major issue, because I'm mainly using the Pro-162 for aircraft and local FDs. This is a great analog scanner and I am very glad I bought it.

Thanks,

-Larry
 

KC5EIB

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Is the control channel signal strong? Is there any interference? Maybe the radio is having a problem decoding the control channel data.
 

Engine104

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Is the control channel signal strong? Is there any interference? Maybe the radio is having a problem decoding the control channel data.

That could be. This is an 800MHz system about 50 miles from me, so interference on the CC is a possibility, though I tried uploading a more local 800 MHz system (ICIS) and had the same problem. It's not a big problem, I have my Pro-96 for trunking, and this only delays the scan rate by about a second.
 

GTR8000

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Is this a system you actually have programmed in the system to monitor? If yes, are you receiving the system well otherwise?

It's normal behavior for the 160/162 to "pause" on the active CC in trunked mode as it scans through the banks. It will pause on the CC for about 2 seconds to "lock" onto it and check for TG activity. If it finds none, it will continue scanning the rest of the banks/channels.

The delay setting has no bearing on this behavior. In fact, you probably want to leave delay On for the trunked bank and TG's, so that you don't miss any transmissions while listening to the system.
 

Engine104

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Is this a system you actually have programmed in the system to monitor? If yes, are you receiving the system well otherwise?

It's normal behavior for the 160/162 to "pause" on the active CC in trunked mode as it scans through the banks. It will pause on the CC for about 2 seconds to "lock" onto it and check for TG activity. If it finds none, it will continue scanning the rest of the banks/channels.

The delay setting has no bearing on this behavior. In fact, you probably want to leave delay On for the trunked bank and TG's, so that you don't miss any transmissions while listening to the system.

Hi Chauffeur6,

It is a programmed system on my 162, via ARC-160 and the RR download. I receive it well, using the Radio Shack 800 MHz duck.

Ok, that is great news! I suspected that it must be normal behavior for the radio, but I wasn't sure because my 96 doesn't do that. Good to know.

I really like this radio. It's gone from being a backup and milair handheld to being my main scanner. I'm using the 96 mainly for APCO 25 now.

Thanks again to everyone for your help.

-Larry
 

DickH

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Is it normal for the radio to stop for about one second on the CC of a local (Orange Co. California) MOT trunked system?

I have a PRO-162 and there are 4 Motorola trunked systems in the area and it never stops like that. Re-do the programming?


ARC-160 wants to set a base freq and offsets,
In the Trunk Settings box, base freq & offsets are for VHF/UHF systems, not 800MHz systems.
 

Engine104

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Is it normal for the radio to stop for about one second on the CC of a local (Orange Co. California) MOT trunked system?

I have a PRO-162 and there are 4 Motorola trunked systems in the area and it never stops like that. Re-do the programming?


ARC-160 wants to set a base freq and offsets,
In the Trunk Settings box, base freq & offsets are for VHF/UHF systems, not 800MHz systems.

Hi Dick,

Interesting...I'm assuming these are also MOT Type 2 TRS?

Are the trunk settings in ARC-160 different for 800MHz TRS? That makes sense because obviously the 406.00 MHz base freq wouldn't be applicable to that. What settings do you have for your 800 MHz TRS'?

Now, I have one guy saying this is normal and you saying it is not...

I also posted this over on the RR California scanning section and had a few responses, but nothing conclusive. One guy did post a screen capture of his setting for this system in ARC-160 and they were the same as mine, with all the boxes checked and the same freqs, offsets, etc.

Thanks also for your reply.

-Larry
 

GTR8000

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Dick is incorrect. Normal behavior for the 160/162 is to indeed pause momentarily on the active CC while it scans for activity on the TRS. The reason for the squelch not opening is simple, because it's in trunked mode, not conventional mode.

I'd be happy to make a short video of mine scanning MOT and EDACS systems showing this behavior, which is the same for both types of systems.

Taken directly from the 160/162 user guide:

After the scanner is finished checking activity in the trunked system, it scans other conventional frequencies in the bank.

If a system is inactive for 1 second and there are no conventional channels in the bank, the scanner starts scanning the next selected trunk bank. If you turned DELAY on, the scanner starts scanning the next trunk bank after about 2 seconds.

I answered your question about the ARC160 settings in your other thread.
 
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Engine104

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Dick is incorrect. Normal behavior for the 160/162 is to indeed pause momentarily on the active CC while it scans for activity on the TRS. The reason for the squelch not opening is simple, because it's in trunked mode, not conventional mode.

I'd be happy to make a short video of mine scanning MOT and EDACS systems showing this behavior, which is the same for both types of systems.

Taken directly from the 160/162 user guide:



If you would like a screenshot of the optimum settings for an 800 MHz Moto system in ARC160, let me know and I'll post one.

Hi Chauffeur6,

That seems pretty conclusive to me. I was going to look in the manual tonight to see if I could find anything. Thanks for finding that.

A screen shot of the ARC-160 settings for an 800 MHz TRS would be great, if it's not too much trouble, just so I can tweak this properly.

Thanks again,

-Larry
 

GTR8000

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No problem, glad to help. The 160/162 are great scanners, even though they're pretty basic models, the reception is outstanding.
 

Engine104

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No problem, glad to help. The 160/162 are great scanners, even though they're pretty basic models, the reception is outstanding.

That they are. As I wrote earlier, I purchased the radio used off eBay a few weeks ago. I originally bought it to be a milair handheld and an analog backup to my Pro-96. I like it so much that it's now my primary scanner and the 96 is used mainly for APCO 25.

Best,

-Larry (KG6EJT)
 

DickH

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Dick is incorrect. Normal behavior for the 160/162 is to indeed pause momentarily on the active CC while it scans for activity on the TRS. The reason for the squelch not opening is simple, because it's in trunked mode, not conventional mode.
...

Yes, that's right. I misunderstood his question. Also, I seldom use that scanner so I had forgotten about that phenomnon. I just turned it on and saw it. - DUH! :)
 

Engine104

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Yes, that's right. I misunderstood his question. Also, I seldom use that scanner so I had forgotten about that phenomnon. I just turned it on and saw it. - DUH! :)

No worries Dick...I appreciate your tying to help.

Thanks again,

-Larry (KG6EJT)
 

DickH

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Hi Dick,
Are the trunk settings in ARC-160 different for 800MHz TRS? That makes sense because obviously the 406.00 MHz base freq wouldn't be applicable to that. What settings do you have for your 800 MHz TRS'? ...

Here are two screen shots. One is the list of freqs. for Portland in Bank 1. My Banks 2, 3 & 4 are the other 3 adjacent counties. They are similar, but with their own 4 control channel freqs. The simplex freqs. and MAY DAY are common to all 4 counties.
http://dickh.zenfolio.com/img/v33/p400831027-4.jpg

The second one shows my Trunk Settings, identical for all 4 systems.
http://dickh.zenfolio.com/img/v34/p487533058-4.jpg

The Portland system has 4 simulcast sites using 24 freqs. All freqs. at each site are the same, of course. There are also 9 Intellirepeater sites to fill in marginal areas. Most have 5 freqs. although one has 10 freqs. Most scanner users do not need to monitor those sites.
 

Engine104

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Hi Dick,

Thanks for posting those. The settings are the same as mine.

Regarding frequencies, I think, though, that you don't need to leave channel 0 blank for a MOT TRS. That would only apply to EDACS.

Thanks again,

-Larry (KG6EJT)
 

GTR8000

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Regarding frequencies, I think, though, that you don't need to leave channel 0 blank for a MOT TRS. That would only apply to EDACS.

That is 100% correct. MOTO systems don't care about channel positions in the scanner, i.e. LCN order. Only EDACS and LTR systems must have the frequencies in the proper LCN order corresponding with the channel #'s, always skipping 0 or 00.

For MOTO systems, you need only program the system's CC's and make sure the "Control Channel Only" option is set to "Yes". If you're dealing with a rebanded system, you'd have to setup a custom 800 MHz trunking table to compensate for the new Moto Channel #'s.
 

DickH

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Hi Dick,

Thanks for posting those. The settings are the same as mine.

Regarding frequencies, I think, though, that you don't need to leave channel 0 blank for a MOT TRS. That would only apply to EDACS.

Thanks again,

-Larry (KG6EJT)

Yeah, I know. I just like to start things at "1". :)
 
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