Talkgroup - site programming near Columbus

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creeg2

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Hi all. This is a novice question but I can't seem to find the answer in the forums. How do I determine what site to program for a particular talk group? Is there a list that correlates talkgroups with sites? I don't think all talk groups are available on all sites, so how do I determine which sites to scan?

For instance, in the Columbus area, I have the Franklin county, Columbus city, and Columbus MARCS sites. Not to mention Riverview, Johnstown and Pataskala sites which are probably in range. I know most of my talkgroups I'm interested in are on the Columbus City site (Columbus fire, police etc), but what is on all the other sites?

Maybe I'm not asking the right questions. Thanks for the help! I'm using a BCD436HP.
 

W8RMH

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I don't know of a list but I can give you a little basic info based on my own experience. Some talk groups may be found on more than one site or some agencies may have roaming capability to other sites. The first two numbers in the TG may help you too but they vary.

Columbus MARCS Site - is the original state site. All state agencies such as OSHP, ODOT, DNR, DRC (51XXX-54XXX talk groups), The Ohio State University (63XXX talk groups), and the following local 'PD' agencies who joined MARCS prior to Franklin County and Columbus coming on board, such as Bexley, Whitehall, Gahanna, and New Albany (17XXX talk groups). *Their fire departments are dispatched by MECC on the Columbus Site. (Bexley fire/EMS services are provided by Columbus Fire). Grandview PD, who came onboard late, uses 17XXX talk groups but I believe they are on the Columbus City Site. Grandview fire is dispatched by Columbus.

Columbus City Site - All Columbus city services, all of Grove City PD, as well as Jackson, Pleasant, and Prairie Township Fire (who are dispatched by Grove City PD), county fire agencies such as Clinton, Hamilton, and Madison Townships, Airport Authority PD and Fire (John Glenn & Rickenbacker), Westerville PD and Fire, and MECC Fire (57XXX and 61XXX talk groups).

Franklin County Site - All Sheriff, county agencies, and suburban PD agencies, (mostly 61XXX talk groups, but others may be used). Columbus PD and Grove City TGs may roam to the county site as well.

Central Ohio Interoperable Radio System (COIRS), separate from MARCS, used by Dublin, Hilliard, Upper Arlington, and Worthington, (site 002), as well as Delaware County (site 001). Both COIRS and MARCS have some interop talk groups to talk on each system.
 
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troymail

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Generically - the talkgroups heard on any given site varies from system to system based on how the system admins has restricted talkgroups. Some talkgroups (like statewide TGs) can be used/heard on every site of a system while others (county police or fire) might be limited to sites in or near the intended county and perhaps each neighboring county.

Trying to program specific talkgroups tied to specific sites can be futile.

Best bet is to simply program all of the talkgroups and maybe even run in "ID Search" mode (looking for any new/undocumented talkgroups). You can always lock out talkgroups or entire departments that you are not interested in hearing.

Having said that - if you use any type of location control (GPS, zip code, etc.), the radio will attempt to restrict things (sites, departments/talkgroups, etc.) - perhaps to your liking - but maybe not.
 

jonwienke

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Hi all. This is a novice question but I can't seem to find the answer in the forums. How do I determine what site to program for a particular talk group? Is there a list that correlates talkgroups with sites? I don't think all talk groups are available on all sites, so how do I determine which sites to scan?

...

Thanks for the help! I'm using a BCD436HP.

If you're using a 436 or any other scanner in the same family, just program the entire system. Programming additional talkgroups does NOT slow down scanning, because in a trunked system, sites are what get scanned not talkgroups. You can program as many talkgroups as you want, and scan speed is not affected.

As others have said, there is no concrete mapping between sites and talkgroups. The system administrators have 3 options:

1. Talkgroup is broadcast from all sites. This is very rarely used, because it would quickly overload the system if very many talkgroups were configured this way. It's mainly used for system test and emergency announcement talkgroups.

2. Talkgroup is broadcast from a specific list of sites. The site(s) are selected to cover the specific area the talkgroup is used. This option is commonly used when the talkgroup is intended for a specific geographic area, such as county garbage trucks.

3. Roaming. Any site can broadcast the talkgroup, but will only do so if an authorized user of the talkgroup is using the site. This option is used for talkgroups whose users don't have a fixed geographic location, like a state governor's security detail. They could be anywhere on a statewide system, but there's no reason to brodcast their traffic on every site in the state all the time.

System admins can change the configuration of a talkgroup at any time for any reason, and are not required to disclose such changes publicly. So there is no reliable way for scanner users to map talkgroups to particular sites, and given the fact that talkgroups aren't scanned, there's no real reason to. Also, the 436 doesn't have any way to program an explicit link between a site and a talkgroup.

Your best strategy is to program all known talkgroups in the system, scan all nearby sites you can receive clearly (Location Control generally works well to do this), and use Service Types and Avoids to block traffic you don't want to hear. If you use ID Search, programming all known talkgroups is particularly important, because the scanner can't tell the difference between a new talkgroup and on one you didn't program because it isn't interesting. All traffic from unprogrammed talkgroups will be played--you can't Avoid a talkgroup if it isn't programmed. You can save an unknown talkgroup by pressing E/Yes when it is active, and then avoid it.

Scan speed is determined by the number of sites you scan; each site takes 1-2 seconds, depending on the information being broadcast by the control channel.
 

wa8pyr

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Columbus City Site - All Columbus city services, all of Grove City PD, as well as Jackson, Pleasant, and Prairie Township Fire (who are dispatched by Grove City PD), county fire agencies such as Clinton, Hamilton, and Madison Townships, Airport Authority PD and Fire (John Glenn & Rickenbacker), Westerville PD and Fire, and MECC Fire (57XXX and 61XXX talk groups).

Franklin County Site - All Sheriff, county agencies, and suburban PD agencies, (mostly 61XXX talk groups, but others may be used). Columbus PD and Grove City TGs may roam to the county site as well.

Actually, Grove City and their associated fire departments are primary on the Franklin County sites. They can roam to the Columbus site but may not always be there. They will always be on the Discovery site.

Ditto the Airport, although their Public Safety folks show up on the City tower more than anything else.

Columbus PD may or may not show up on the Franklin County site, and only the dispatch talkgroups.
 

creeg2

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Thanks for the replies all. That clears things up significantly. Sounds like a little bit of trial and error at times but thats ok. Time to go exploring.
 

Davey1

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Is Columbus MARCS a simulcast site? The Columbus City site and the Franklin County site are listed as such in the database, but the Columbus MARCS site does not indicate that it is.
 

phask

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Is Columbus MARCS a simulcast site? The Columbus City site and the Franklin County site are listed as such in the database, but the Columbus MARCS site does not indicate that it is.




yes - System Location: Various, Ohio
 

UPMan

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A little clarification to Jon's post. Even if a TG is set to be allowed on all sites on the system, the traffic will only be carried on a particular site if there is a subscriber unit (i.e. mobile or handheld radio that is part of the system) set to that TG that has affiliated with that particular site. I don't know of any case where a TG will be transmitted on every site in the system if there are no subscriber radios set to that TG and affiliated with every site in the system (rare for statewide systems).
 

wa8pyr

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A little clarification to Jon's post. Even if a TG is set to be allowed on all sites on the system, the traffic will only be carried on a particular site if there is a subscriber unit (i.e. mobile or handheld radio that is part of the system) set to that TG that has affiliated with that particular site. I don't know of any case where a TG will be transmitted on every site in the system if there are no subscriber radios set to that TG and affiliated with every site in the system (rare for statewide systems).

That would be the "Systemwide" group, which is rarely used.

Talkgroups can be set to key up on multiple sites automatically, which is becoming more common on some systems (Ohio MARCS for sure) as more fire departments resort to a dedicated "paging" talkgroup specific to their agency.

Not my idea of efficient use of site resources (or dispatcher efficiency), but it is what it is.
 
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