system and sites. need all sites? whistler scanner

[Jhernan488]

i have the whistler trx-1. do i need to import all the sites of a system? if i select only some sites do i need to select certain talk groups instead of all also? my area is here; https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=848 Chandler would be my system for my area. so would i really need all talk groups? how do i know what correct talkgroup to import? and when im programming do i put the red and blue control channels first? or put the control channels as listed in order?

 

[troymail]

Probably a question for the Whistler scanner forum v.s database....

However...

As far as sites - if stationary (like at home), you only need the site(s) closest to you. If you travel around, you might want more sites. Either way, in theory, the TRX will look through the site information you have programmed and it will attempt to find a site that is of sufficient quality to receive and it will lock onto that site. It will stay locked to that site until the signal quality drops and then it will look for something better (note: there is a slight exception to this but don't worry about those details right now).

As for talkgroups - I tend to program ALL of them if putting the talkgroups in a single scanlist... call me lazy but that is the easiest way to go (unless you get into alot of custom scanlist programming). When the radio starts scanning, if you hear something you don't care about (like the dog catcher, etc.), just press SKIP to lockout that talkgroup.

There is no "one size fits all" answer for "which talkgroups are associated with which site"... in most cases, I wouldn't even try to think about that question...but if you choose to do so, the best thing is to try programming all talkgroups and monitor different sites one at a time for your area to get some sense of the answer (but it's usually not worth it).

 

[KB7MIB]

For MCSO, the Thompson Peak, Central Courts and White Tank Mtn's sites are the primary sites. Any other site is only a full in, that may not carry any talkgroups unless a deputy's radio affiliates with that particular site.

If you're in Chandler, you want the Thompson Peak and the Central Courts sites. It won't hurt to add in the Chandler local site as well, but don't use it as your only site.

The 4 East talkgroups are the main channels you want to listen to for MCSO patrol. The 2 Lakes talkgroups are for the Salt River recreation area as well as the various recreational lakes.

John
Peoria, AZ

 

[Jhernan488]

Probably a question for the Whistler scanner forum v.s database....

However...

As far as sites - if stationary (like at home), you only need the site(s) closest to you. If you travel around, you might want more sites. Either way, in theory, the TRX will look through the site information you have programmed and it will attempt to find a site that is of sufficient quality to receive and it will lock onto that site. It will stay locked to that site until the signal quality drops and then it will look for something better (note: there is a slight exception to this but don't worry about those details right now).

As for talkgroups - I tend to program ALL of them if putting the talkgroups in a single scanlist... call me lazy but that is the easiest way to go (unless you get into alot of custom scanlist programming). When the radio starts scanning, if you hear something you don't care about (like the dog catcher, etc.), just press SKIP to lockout that talkgroup.

There is no "one size fits all" answer for "which talkgroups are associated with which site"... in most cases, I wouldn't even try to think about that question...but if you choose to do so, the best thing is to try programming all talkgroups and monitor different sites one at a time for your area to get some sense of the answer (but it's usually not worth it).

well thanks for the info and i just realized that i posted in the wrong thread. whops.

 

[Jhernan488]

For MCSO, the Thompson Peak, Central Courts and White Tank Mtn's sites are the primary sites. Any other site is only a full in, that may not carry any talkgroups unless a deputy's radio affiliates with that particular site.

If you're in Chandler, you want the Thompson Peak and the Central Courts sites. It won't hurt to add in the Chandler local site as well, but don't use it as your only site.

The 4 East talkgroups are the main channels you want to listen to for MCSO patrol. The 2 Lakes talkgroups are for the Salt River recreation area as well as the various recreational lakes.

John
Peoria, AZ

Okay, thanks for the info. It’s just really confusing on how the talk groups line up with the sites.

 

[KB7MIB]

Other than the main MCSO talkgroups (East, West, Lakes, Central, Information) some of the others will not show up on every site, even the 3 main sites.
For example, MCSO provides deputies inside Chase Field for Diamondbacks home games. They operate on Special Detail 1C (TG 7120), which is only carried on the Central Courts site during that time. You won't hear them if you're listening to the Thompson Peak or White Tank Mtn's sites.

During NASCAR races at PIR, or whatever it's called now, in Avondale, deputies and posse use one of the Special Detail xC TG's for traffic control along several roads leading to & from the track, and they can only be heard on the White Tank Mtn's site, and not the Central Courts or Thompson Peak sites.

I don't know if you can receive the White Tank Mtn's site from Chandler, but if you can, go ahead and include it along with the Thompson Peak and Central Courts sites.

You could always make one or more seperate scan lists with the secondary fill in sites that help cover the East Valley. They include:
Bronco Butte (near Apache Lake, off AZ 88)
Mt. Ord (near Payson, off AZ 87)
Humboldt Mtn (between Carefree/Cave Creek and Horseshoe Lake, I can hear this one at my home with just the Radio Shack 800 MHz duck antenna on my PSR-500)
Southeast Center (Southeast Regional Courts Center, near Baseline Rd and McQueen Rd, Mesa)
Chandler
South Scottsdale

If you do make multiple scan lists, you can program in a wildcard and discover what TG's come up on each site. I have a V-Scanner set up on my PSR-500 to do just this, but since I don't get over to the East Valley much, many of those sites are unpopulated with talkgroups in my scanner.

John
Peoria, AZ

 

[Jhernan488]

Other than the main MCSO talkgroups (East, West, Lakes, Central, Information) some of the others will not show up on every site, even the 3 main sites.
For example, MCSO provides deputies inside Chase Field for Diamondbacks home games. They operate on Special Detail 1C (TG 7120), which is only carried on the Central Courts site during that time. You won't hear them if you're listening to the Thompson Peak or White Tank Mtn's sites.

During NASCAR races at PIR, or whatever it's called now, in Avondale, deputies and posse use one of the Special Detail xC TG's for traffic control along several roads leading to & from the track, and they can only be heard on the White Tank Mtn's site, and not the Central Courts or Thompson Peak sites.

I don't know if you can receive the White Tank Mtn's site from Chandler, but if you can, go ahead and include it along with the Thompson Peak and Central Courts sites.

You could always make one or more seperate scan lists with the secondary fill in sites that help cover the East Valley. They include:
Bronco Butte (near Apache Lake, off AZ 88)
Mt. Ord (near Payson, off AZ 87)
Humboldt Mtn (between Carefree/Cave Creek and Horseshoe Lake, I can hear this one at my home with just the Radio Shack 800 MHz duck antenna on my PSR-500)
Southeast Center (Southeast Regional Courts Center, near Baseline Rd and McQueen Rd, Mesa)
Chandler
South Scottsdale

If you do make multiple scan lists, you can program in a wildcard and discover what TG's come up on each site. I have a V-Scanner set up on my PSR-500 to do just this, but since I don't get over to the East Valley much, many of those sites are unpopulated with talkgroups in my scanner.

John
Peoria, AZ

thanks for all the info man! a lot of help understanding this digital mess.

I still have yet to figure out how the scan sets and the scan list work together. i get that i can make it so i select only mesa and chandler compared to all police that i have programmed for travel reasons. i just don't know how i would set that up to make that happen; confused.


And since you are slightly in the same area. what do you have your DSPLevelAdapt, ADC Gain, and DAC Gain set to?

 

[KB7MIB]

My levels are set to the defaults. I've played around with some of the levels in the past, trying to get better decode on the RWC system, but with no luck. I content myself with what I can hear off of the High sites, rather than the simulcast sites. Fortunately, Peoria PD is on the White Tank Mtn's IR High site.

The Maricopa County system is easy to hear, it isn't simulcast, so there are no simulcast issues. However, Maricopa County is currently building out a new system that will have simulcast, and may become difficult to monitor without the new Uniden scanner or the yet to be released new Whistler scanners.

The RWC and TOPAZ RWC are the difficult ones to monitor due to simulcast issues.

John
Peoria, AZ