Has anyone played around with when the scanner switches sites on the roam setting? I haven't been able to use this feature yet and would like to know if anyone has messed with the settings for better coverage.
PSR-500 multi-site roam settings
- Thread starter scanfan03
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I have but only from a fixed location. I can monitor 6 CCs on the statewide Indiana SAFE-T system from where I live and I have witnessed the PSR-500 sampling the available CCs while in the process of finding the one with the strongest signal to settle on.scanfan03 said:
DiGiTaLD
Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2005
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I saw this feature and am interested in it as well, although I don't yet own a 500. I'm curious as to how often it samples decode quality of other control channels once it has found one with good decode quality, and at what point it starts looking for better decode quality once decode quality on the site it's listening to starts to drop.
This has the potential to be a great feature when listening to a wide area SmartZone Omnilink system or similar networked systems.
This has the potential to be a great feature when listening to a wide area SmartZone Omnilink system or similar networked systems.
Statevillian
Member
I have tested mine in stat and roam. They seem to work better when I add conventional frequencies to the same scanlist. I end up with more hits on different control channels. I have found this to work on the IL statewide Starcom21 700/800Mhz trunked system. I have no fewer than 7 sites in my work and home areas and I am very satisfied with it. Now if there was only a way to find out what all the expert settings do exactly. That would be great.
Well if the scanner does as 'advertised', in the roam mode, it will stop on the first CC that meets the threshold values you set. If the CC falls below the low end value, it will search for a CC which meets the threshold values.
If it doesn't find one, then I am not sure what it will do. Anyone???
If it doesn't find one, then I am not sure what it will do. Anyone???
unitcharlie
a Kentucky DB Admin...
Statevillian said:
How did you place the conventional freqs... I have two EDACS systems, one with three sites, the other two.... there are also conventional freqs that are used by both jurisdicitions. Thanx...
Multisite roam & stat
For 700 and 800 systems, the default thresholds are probably good for most folks. We've had to make some alterations in Virginia where our STARS system has a quirk that keeps apparent RSSI levels artificially low.
I'm using 'stat' mode for a local multi-locality SmartZone system with good success.
73/Allen (N4JRI)
For 700 and 800 systems, the default thresholds are probably good for most folks. We've had to make some alterations in Virginia where our STARS system has a quirk that keeps apparent RSSI levels artificially low.
I'm using 'stat' mode for a local multi-locality SmartZone system with good success.
73/Allen (N4JRI)
Statevillian
Member
unitcharlie said:
I merely added the conventional freqs to the scanlist with the Tgs for the 700/800 Mhz P25 trunked system. It works well when I am mobile and have access to a few strong CC signals. It seems to make it move. I have my values set a little different than the default mode. I have the low end set a little higher. If there is one (CC) I know I want to specifically lock onto, I switch it over to roam. Otherwise in stat it seemed like I wouldn't get enough of a variety from various sites. Both simulcast and regular tower sites. I hope that helps?....
unitcharlie said:
I'm pretty positive that the multi site feature only works with Motorola systems. But I could be wrong.
DonS
Member
It works with the radio's "MOT" and "P25" system types.scanfan03 said:
unitcharlie
a Kentucky DB Admin...
So how do I enter a multi site EDACS TRS... each site has different freqs.... currently I am monitoring using three different banks on the 96 and 97.... thanx for bearing withme as I learn this radio....DonS said:
mikey60
Member
unitcharlie said:
You have to create each site as a separate TSYS object, and duplicate the TGRP objects to each. You can then assign all of those TGRP objects to a single scanlist if you like to have similar multi-site functionality.
It takes up more memory since everything is duplicated but it does work.
Mike
Yep...couldn't resist it
My intention is to do it for comparison, but I'm definitely liking the fact that I don't need extra lockouts to keep the wildcards calmed down. I am a little concerned that it seems to be favoring Chesterfield, but a lot of innocent things could cause that. It's particularly interesting to see University of Richmond bounce around the different zones.
I had an interesting glitch when I first combined the systems. For some reason, the radio quit tracking the trunk if I put a TG on 'manual.' This was only true in stat mode, and the radio did fine when multisite was set to 'off' or 'roam.' The same problem occurred in my three separate TSYS's as well.
I tried other Mot 800/900 systems and no problem. So, I loaded at the TG's to my clipboard, erased the old TSYS object, made a new TSYS, and then pasted the TGRP's back on. No problem since.
Have you had anything funky happen with this system?
73/Allen (N4JRI)
rvawatch said:
My intention is to do it for comparison, but I'm definitely liking the fact that I don't need extra lockouts to keep the wildcards calmed down. I am a little concerned that it seems to be favoring Chesterfield, but a lot of innocent things could cause that. It's particularly interesting to see University of Richmond bounce around the different zones.
I had an interesting glitch when I first combined the systems. For some reason, the radio quit tracking the trunk if I put a TG on 'manual.' This was only true in stat mode, and the radio did fine when multisite was set to 'off' or 'roam.' The same problem occurred in my three separate TSYS's as well.
I tried other Mot 800/900 systems and no problem. So, I loaded at the TG's to my clipboard, erased the old TSYS object, made a new TSYS, and then pasted the TGRP's back on. No problem since.
Have you had anything funky happen with this system?
73/Allen (N4JRI)
Multi Site FYI
Something interesting that I noticed is that when monitoring a Trunked System (TSYS) is if you hold on a Talkgroup (TGRP) using the Pause (PSE) button the radio will hold on the TGRP *AND* SITE that was active when you pressed PSE. If you press Manual (MAN) to hold on a TGRP the radio will hold the TGRP but continue to look for that TGRP on other the Control Channels that you have programmed for that system. This is especially usefull for IntelliRepeaters and Sites that may carry the traffic when you held on the TGRP but then the unit moved to another site and it's not on the original site where you first held.
Food for thought!
PSE = Hold on Talkgroup AND Site
MAN = Hold on Talkgroup but continue checking for TGRP on other Sites
J in Phoenix
Something interesting that I noticed is that when monitoring a Trunked System (TSYS) is if you hold on a Talkgroup (TGRP) using the Pause (PSE) button the radio will hold on the TGRP *AND* SITE that was active when you pressed PSE. If you press Manual (MAN) to hold on a TGRP the radio will hold the TGRP but continue to look for that TGRP on other the Control Channels that you have programmed for that system. This is especially usefull for IntelliRepeaters and Sites that may carry the traffic when you held on the TGRP but then the unit moved to another site and it's not on the original site where you first held.
Food for thought!
PSE = Hold on Talkgroup AND Site
MAN = Hold on Talkgroup but continue checking for TGRP on other Sites
J in Phoenix
Stick0413
Member
unitcharlie said:
You have to have seperate TSYS objects for each site. Then you would duplicate the talkgroups. Once you do that you can put all three into one scanlist though.
Yes, that is in fact a VERY neat and useful feature that I use on a daily basis.wupatki said:
rickak
Member
I use the roam feature on the CO state system when I do the drive a couple of times a week between Fort Collins and Denver (about 80 miles). I programmed in about 5 wide coverage sites along the route, thresholds at 80/70. I found the default thresholds werent really reasonable considering that you still get solid reception above 80 so why change.
It works very well. It changes sites along the way as I would expect it to, and I hear the local traffic along the way. Pretty cool. It would be better if we could put more CCs in, but that's another topic
. I have not hooked it to a laptop yet mobile to watch how the CCs are actually changing though.
The advantage over STAT is you dont get those annoying weak signals that drop out and go digital on you while you are driving along. The 800Mhz sites on the CO state system can vary quite a bit as you drive along.
Rick
It works very well. It changes sites along the way as I would expect it to, and I hear the local traffic along the way. Pretty cool. It would be better if we could put more CCs in, but that's another topic
. I have not hooked it to a laptop yet mobile to watch how the CCs are actually changing though.The advantage over STAT is you dont get those annoying weak signals that drop out and go digital on you while you are driving along. The 800Mhz sites on the CO state system can vary quite a bit as you drive along.
Rick
Well now that I'm in Houston, I've been using 90/80, just so it doesn't switch towers so much. I'm might end up changing it to 95/85 to see how well that works.
rickak said:
If you are in ROAM, in an area with multiple sites, and the scanner locks in on the cc of the best site, aren't you potentially missing traffic on other sites that STAT would likely find? I understand your stating you don't mind missing marginal or weak traffic, but I don't think I would want my scanner to park on site A and potentially pick up nothing, and miss what was going on on sites B, C, and D, all in my listening area. One could miss a ton of traffic.
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