Using Location Based Scanning

[garys]

I'm not 100% sure that this is the correct forum, but it seemed to be.

I'm going to be taking a longish road trip from MA to Louisville, KY later this week. I decided not to try to program Favorites Lists for each state I'll be traveling through since it's a lot of work and I'll likely only be doing this trip one time.

So, I decided I'd use Location Based Scanning via GPS and the RR nationwide database. I'll using a 536HP. I plan to use my owned FLs until I get out of the areas I have programmed.

I did test rides in my area with the nationwide DB turned on and my own FLs turned off.

Set up was actually pretty easy. For a GPS, I'm using an ancient Magellan 310 standalone GPS. It still works pretty well and for this trip it should be fine. Set up was easy and it connected to the scanner pretty quickly.

I used Auto Locate, which is where I noticed the first oddity. The scanner gave me two settings. One was a county south of me and the other was a county north of me. It would not find my county, which is not a small one, in the DB. I picked the county north of me, locked out all of my own FLs, and set about scanning while driving around.

The first thing I had to do was shut off all of the "Nationwide" systems. I'm not interested in CB, Marine, Air, or any of the other systems in that part of the DB.

After I figured that out, the scanner worked pretty well. It picked up a lot of the local agencies I usually listen to. It also picked up some agencies and services that I don't listen to. I then found out that the way to fix that was to use Sentinel to set Avoids as needed.

I probably won't do that for this trip, but it's something to keep in mind.

After that, the performance was good, but I found that the 30 mile range setting is way to big an area. I changed that to 20 and will probably further reduce it to 15 before I'm done.

My assessment of Location Based Scanning (or HP mode) is that it's sort of like a GPS. If you're in an area with which you aren't familiar, it's a quick way to be able to listen to scanner traffic. If you're familiar with the area and good at using Sentinel, ARC536, or Freescan, that's probably the better way to scan.

 

[UPMan]

Auto Locate does not use GPS. It is a method used to provide a general location.
If you have a GPS, just use the GPS, as it provides your exact location. I generally set the range to 0 while driving (default for GPS).

 

[garys]

Then I think I'm missing a setting. How do I turn on GPS? I see the Set Up GPS selection, and I did that. I just don't see a button or function to turn activate the GPS. Or does the scanner just go into GPS mode automatically if it senses signal?

Auto Locate does not use GPS. It is a method used to provide a general location.
If you have a GPS, just use the GPS, as it provides your exact location. I generally set the range to 0 while driving (default for GPS).

 

[UPMan]

You don't have to turn it on. If the GPS is feeding NMEA location strings to the scanner, the scanner sees it and uses it automagically.

 

[WX4JCW]

i never use auto locate really i just plug in the GPS and go, also when travelling and depending on the antenna i use i make sure i set the range (i use 5-10 mostly with good success especially for systems like Marcs, Starcom21, Safe-T etc)
make sure you further reduce what you listen to by selecting and deselcting services.
if your gps isnt detected try adjusting the baud rate

 

[garys]

I see that now. I left Set Location alone, made sure that the GPS settings were good, turned on the National Database and turned my own FLs off. Once the GPS determined my location "GPS" appeared on the display and the scanner started working as I expected.

I think that will work out quite well for my trip.

Thank you again.

You don't have to turn it on. If the GPS is feeding NMEA location strings to the scanner, the scanner sees it and uses it automagically.

 

[WX4JCW]

good deal any questions just ask

 

[garys]

It's all working fine now. The first thing I did yesterday was turn all of the "Nationwide" systems to off. I won't go through Sentinel to fine tune systems I'm likely to hear on the way. I did pare down on the Service Types to just the ones I really want to listen to.

I think it will work out fine now that I have the GPS feeding data to the scanner, didn't use Auto Locate, and have the Nationwide systems turned off.

I have an hour long ride tomorrow, so I'll test out the radio during that.

i never use auto locate really i just plug in the GPS and go, also when travelling and depending on the antenna i use i make sure i set the range (i use 5-10 mostly with good success especially for systems like Marcs, Starcom21, Safe-T etc)
make sure you further reduce what you listen to by selecting and deselcting services.
if your gps isnt detected try adjusting the baud rate

 

[marksmith]

I have found 0 to be the best range setting. 0 means 0 miles from the circle range of the system or user. In other words I usually only listen to systems I am in the range of, as opposed to trying to receive them before I get to their database range.

I know many systems can be heard outside their range, but to limit the number of systems being scanned to just the ones I am theoretically in range of, 0 is a good setting.

Killing a ton of service types I have no interest in is also a good thing.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

 

[ofd8001]

I agree with all above comments.

Generally when I'm taking an out of state road trip, I leave Favorites Lists Off and full database On. Most likely anything in a FL will be scanned via the full database. When I'm at my destination, for which I typically with have a Favorites List programmed, the database goes off and Favorites Lists On.

One thing I have noticed is that some places using formats such as NXDN are included in the full database. So when I get in range, the scanner attempts to monitor these, but all I hear is "racket". The Avoid button deals with that.

 

[W8RMH]

Be careful scanning in Kentucky without an amateur license they will confiscate your equipment if they see it.

I will be headed that way too but I just change the zip codes / cities on my HP-2 as I travel.

 

[ofd8001]

Yeah, that's pretty much the primary reason I got my Ham ticket - avoiding unpleasant situations such as that.

Its been decades ago, but I recall the occasion where one of my firefighters had a scanner confiscated even though he wasn't in a vehicle. We fussed a little bit and he got his scanner back.

Laws don't always make the greatest sense. Envision a car crash with a fire: the TV guy going to film the incident can have a scanner. The wrecker driver hauling the debris away can have a scanner, but not the firefighter responding to the incident.

We pointed this issue out to the state lawmakers and got a revision in the law. Now, with appropritate written permissions, responders can have scanners in vehicles. Still the best option is the ham ticket.

 

[garys]

I just have to make sure I have a copy of my ham ticket with me. And of course, it's always better not to have professional contact with the police.

Be careful scanning in Kentucky without an amateur license they will confiscate your equipment if they see it.

I will be headed that way too but I just change the zip codes / cities on my HP-2 as I travel.

 

[garys]

Maybe KY should consider shortening the legislative season. They seem to have too much time on their hands is they have to worry about who has a scanner in their vehicle.

OTOH, KY has some of the best firearms laws in the US.

Yeah, that's pretty much the primary reason I got my Ham ticket - avoiding unpleasant situations such as that.

Its been decades ago, but I recall the occasion where one of my firefighters had a scanner confiscated even though he wasn't in a vehicle. We fussed a little bit and he got his scanner back.

Laws don't always make the greatest sense. Envision a car crash with a fire: the TV guy going to film the incident can have a scanner. The wrecker driver hauling the debris away can have a scanner, but not the firefighter responding to the incident.

We pointed this issue out to the state lawmakers and got a revision in the law. Now, with appropritate written permissions, responders can have scanners in vehicles. Still the best option is the ham ticket.

 

[garys]

After working out a few configuration bugs, this is working very well. I have the GPS attached and working fine. I set the range to 0 and get more than adequate coverage.

Not something I'll use in my own area, but certainly a good option on the road.

 

[garys]

I had GPS scanning running all the way back from Louisville. It worked flawlessly and I plan to use it for other long road trips.

It's a great feature, thanks to Uniden for developing it.

 

[tglendye]

...For a GPS, I'm using an ancient Magellan 310 standalone GPS. It still works pretty well and for this trip it should be fine. Set up was easy and it connected to the scanner pretty quickly.
...

Are there any drawbacks to using this type of GPS? I was thinking about buying Uniden's GPS unit, but felt a little limited by the cords to the puck and power. What cord would I need from GPS to scanner for a GPS unit such as the Magellan?

An old unit such as this using AA's might be the better option for me.

Thanks!

 

[garys]

The Magellan uses a Magellan power/data cable that plugs into the back of the unit. I ran mostly on power from the cigarette lighter. I used to have a similar cable that just did data.

The only drawback, at least for me, was that I was tied to using the RRDB. I could have programmed in my own Favorites, but that was what I wanted to avoid. Using care with selecting Service Types and setting the range to 0 helped a lot.

Are there any drawbacks to using this type of GPS? I was thinking about buying Uniden's GPS unit, but felt a little limited by the cords to the puck and power. What cord would I need from GPS to scanner for a GPS unit such as the Magellan?

An old unit such as this using AA's might be the better option for me.

Thanks!