BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Service type mystery

[Samos2]

I live in Toronto ... and have set the location to Toronto's Postal/Zip code (M5R) ... and a 20 mile distance setting ...so why am I getting New York State railroads when I scan ...
And why am I getting railroads at all if I havent set RRs as one of my service types.
I also am scanning Custom categories for some reason, even though Ive not included them in my Service types.

And finally, will my location setting be there next time I turn on the scanner ... or do I have to re-set it each time.

Thanks again, everyone. You're very patient.

 

[Voyager]

Because the radius for them covers Toronto (which as you know sits right on the USA/Canada border).

Some RR frequencies use other Service Types - such as Police for RR PD.

Yes, what is loaded should be reloaded next time you power on.

When you say "custom categories", can you clarify what you mean? Custom Searches?

 

[Samos2]

Because the radius for them covers Toronto (which as you know sits right on the USA/Canada border).

Some RR frequencies use other Service Types - such as Police for RR PD.

Yes, what is loaded should be reloaded next time you power on.

When you say "custom categories", can you clarify what you mean? Custom Searches?

when i go to "select service type" ... it lists airports, business, corrections etc .... then at the very bottom theres a list of "custom" categories ... listed as custom 1, custom 2 etc., i dont want those scanned and i dont know how to stop it (or even whats in there).

 

[ofd8001]

I do not believe that the RR database assigns channels to a "Custom x" Service Type. Therefore, even if enabled nothing pertaining to a "Custom" service type is being scanned.

You can turn these "Custom X" Service Types off by two ways. One is on the scanner: Menu>Select Service Types, scroll to the "Custom X" and press E. (If you see three dashes off to the right, there is nothing assigned to that Service Type).

The second way is in Sentinel and edit the applicable Profile. In the Service Types tab, look on the right pane. Uncheck any boxes with "Custom". Then do a write to scanner to commit these changes.

Having said this, in Sentinel, if you have created Favorites Lists you have the ability to re-assign a channel to a "Custom X" service type if you wish. I suspect this was designed to give many options (whether used or not).

Admitting I do things that may be convoluted from time to time, here is how I use this option. Occasionally I'll monitor both Favorites Lists and the full database. While I may be interested in listening to Public Works channels for my local area, I'm not for adjacent communities.

So what I've done is in my Favorites Lists, I've reassigned these local public works channels from "Public Works to "Custom 1" as the Service Type. Then I'll turn on the "Custom 1" Service Type and leave off, the Public Works Service Type. That gets me where I want to be - listening only to my local Public Works.

 

[drdispatch]

Also any frequency you enter "manually" will default to "Custom 1".

 

[dave3825]

Samos2


Have you updated sentinel's database and then updated whats in the scanner since you got it?

 

[Samos2]

Service Type mystery

Samos2


Have you updated sentinel's database and then updated whats in the scanner since you got it?

yes ... i updated both. should i not have done that?

 

[phask]

When you hear one of these Railroad - pause it and see what the freq. , system, dept (some way of id'ng it) and what the service type is.

It may be an error - but probably some type of RR "related" comms.

 

[Samos2]

rr frequency

When you hear one of these Railroad - pause it and see what the freq. , system, dept (some way of id'ng it) and what the service type is.

It may be an error - but probably some type of RR "related" comms.

ok. i havent heard it since yesterday, but ill keep you posted. thanks again

 

[Voyager]

Something else to keep in mind with railroads - many use CSQ, so you can hear users many miles away in addition to your local co-frequency users. Setting the range does not limit the reception of signals - it only limits what is programmed, and if a distant user uses the same frequency, you will hear them if they are in radio range.

 

[Samos2]

service type mystery

Something else to keep in mind with railroads - many use CSQ, so you can hear users many miles away in addition to your local co-frequency users. Setting the range does not limit the reception of signals - it only limits what is programmed, and if a distant user uses the same frequency, you will hear them if they are in radio range.

thanks.
havent heard it it well over a day. so maybe its moved on.

 

[dave3825]

The day you posted, I told my 436 I was in your zip code and set a 20 mile range with the rail road service type set to off. I did not have any ny rail or any other rail for that matter load.

I then went into sentinel and added channels on range based on the same above, your zip, no rail service type set and 20 mile range. Same result, Did not have any rr come up at all.

I also looked thru and there was like 3 or 4 freqs in NY Railroads that had a service tag other than railroad. They were rail police with tag Law Dispatch. I looked at the location data and none of them came close to you let alone overlapped your 20 mile range.

 

[dave3825]

Something else to keep in mind with railroads - many use CSQ, so you can hear users many miles away in addition to your local co-frequency users. Setting the range does not limit the reception of signals - it only limits what is programmed, and if a distant user uses the same frequency, you will hear them if they are in radio range.

He stated his railroad service type was off. How would another user that may use the same freq trigger the ny railroads freqs to come up if that service type is off and rails should not even load?


I sometimes hear suffolk county trs users on nys police conventional freqs because the state police do not have a dcs or pl tone on the 2 freqs they share with the trunked system. Kinda annoying.

 

[Voyager]

How would another user that may use the same freq trigger the ny railroads freqs to come up if that service type is off and rails should not even load?

How could it happen? Well, quoting your post 12...
"I also looked thru and there was like 3 or 4 freqs in NY Railroads that had a service tag other than railroad. They were rail police with tag Law Dispatch."

If they are using CSQ channels, you may well be able to pick up non-RRPD users from distant areas.

 

[dave3825]

Ok but, being that the 3 rail police tagged as law dispatch that are listed in NY Railroads are no where near him, how would another freq listed under something else trigger a freq in NY Rail Roads to display?

So your saying if agency abc police dept is using a freq that's shared with a ny railroads pd freq, both csq, and both tagged law dispatch, that it would come up and scan under NY railroads instead of what that freq is listed under, abc police dept?

 

[Voyager]

It would scan it with the tag showing the local user even if the scanner is actually receiving the distant user.

 

[dave3825]

I would have thought that if he was scanning a law dispatch service type with a 20 mile range, that those freqs listed do not come close to overlapping his 20 mile radius would not have even come up in his scan. I know before database admins JPH and W2LIE did work on the NY railroads, there was some Long Island rail road pd freqs that had a 215 mile range that possibly overlapped his 20 mile range but that was fixed in July. That's why I asked if he updated his data base in sentinel and in his radio.

When I first did add channels on range just using the full db, I did not see any NY rail come up. But when I did add channels on range using full db and my fav lists, it picked up the old railroad data and had the MTA police with a 215 mile range. But that was all fixed.

So as of now, location data for the 3 rail pd freqs in NY railroads that are tagged law dispatch not come anywhere close to overlapping his 20 mile range. I am not understanding how it would have been scanning those and showing NY Railroads.


Sub-Category Details: Police
Name: Metropolitan Transportation Authority > Police
Unique ID: 76159
Latitude: N 40.910295333901
Longitude: W -73.475573728792
Range: 35 Miles

Sub-Category Details: Sunnyside Yard

Name: Amtrak > Sunnyside Yard
Unique ID: 76108
Latitude: N 40.74774757355638
Longitude: W -73.9323938349844
Range: 1 Miles

Sub-Category Details: Pennsylvania Station

Name: Amtrak > Pennsylvania Station
Unique ID: 76142
Latitude: N 40.750587785734
Longitude: W -73.993204879816
Range: 1 Miles

I am guessing something in his radio was not set properly because If you do an add channels on range now, with a 50 mile range from M5R, with every service type EXCEPT railroads, NY Railroads does not appear. Nor do the 3 tagged law dispatch that reside in tat heading..

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[Voyager]

Because if the same frequency and CTCSS/CDCSS/NAC/CSQ is used locally and by a distant user in receiver range, and it loads the local user, you will hear both users. The scanner cannot receive the same frequency+tone/code without receiving the same frequency+tone/code from a distant user in radio range.

It has nothing to do with service types aside from the fact the users may be classified under more than one service type, but they can only be assigned one, so if the RRPD is tagged "law enforcement" they will not be disabled by disabling the RR service type. So, you may still have RR frequencies being scanned even though the RR service type is disabled.

There is no perfect solution to users who qualify as more than one service type unless RadioReference establishes a priority policy such as all RR frequencies are assigned the RR service type regardless if they are RRPD or other RR users.