programming RWC sites

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AZ165

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Need some guidance on how you guys have your RWC sites programmed. I have entered each site into a system and then the talk groups. Obviously, it scans each group/talk group under each site... this takes forever! Would there be an issue if I programmed each control channel under one site? Depending on where I am, would the scanner select the proper site's control channel?
 

radiochuck

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Need some guidance on how you guys have your RWC sites programmed. I have entered each site into a system and then the talk groups. Obviously, it scans each group/talk group under each site... this takes forever! Would there be an issue if I programmed each control channel under one site? Depending on where I am, would the scanner select the proper site's control channel?


I found this to be quite helpful…

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Phoenix_Area_Trunked_Radio_System_Quick_Guide


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AZ165

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thank you! I'm not new to scanning at all, but we all know how much trouble the RWC is for scanners. I've never seen this wiki link before.
 

radiochuck

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thank you! I'm not new to scanning at all, but we all know how much trouble the RWC is for scanners. I've never seen this wiki link before.



You’re welcome! I was in the same boat when I first moved to Phoenix. Many years of scanning experience, but not really familiar with how that system was set up. That page was a big help to me. I hope it is for you, as well.


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KB7MIB

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The number of talkgroups you're scanning is irrelevant, because scanners don't check each individual talkgroup for activity, they check the control channels for talkpath requests and grants. It's the number of different sites, and therefore the number of different control channels, that impacts scanning speed.

The more systems you group together (Simulcasts A, B, and G, for example) the longer it will take to check all of the active control channels.

Which RWC sites you need to program in will depend on exactly which agency or agencies you want to monitor.

Looking at the link above, I see some of the information is outdated or just plain incorrect, and should be updated.

As for the LSM issues that plague the monitoring of the simulcast sites, Uniden's soon to be released SDS-100 scanner should alleviate those problems. Whistler has also announced two new scanners that should also better handle LSM issues, which are supposed to be released sometime between October and December of this year. Hopefully by this time next year, we will have at least 3 scanners capable of actually monitoring the simulcast sites.

Who do you want to listen to?

John
Peoria
 

troymail

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Generically, how a multi-site system is scanned will depend on many factors - the primary being (a) what scanner you are using and (b) how you programmed it.

Some scanners will attempt to find and hold onto what it considers is the best single site (based on decode quality, etc.). Of course, the site it selects may not be the one you want (nor the best one).

Other scanners attempt to scan each and every site that you have programmed. Of course, the downside here is how long it might take to scan every site (even more so in a large statewide system) even though most of those sites are not even in range for you to receive them.

Then there are some scanners that provide an "option" for you to tell the scanner - try scanning every site/frequencies/control channel on each scan cycle.

It sounds from you post that you may have programmed you scanner with each RWC site as a separate system. This is a good technique to use to provide you with more positive control over what you try to scan but only if you put each copy into different scanlists that you can enable and disable on demand.
 

rwier

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...............................................

It sounds from you post that you may have programmed you scanner with each RWC site as a separate system. This is a good technique to use to provide you with more positive control over what you try to scan but only if you put each copy into different scanlists that you can enable and disable on demand.

Agree completely! In my experience, single site scanlists solve half of the RWC's simulcast "problems". That, coupled with a VERY STRONG signal, and the RWC's reception "problems" just fade away, lol.
 

radiochuck

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It sounds from you post that you may have programmed you scanner with each RWC site as a separate system. This is a good technique to use to provide you with more positive control over what you try to scan but only if you put each copy into different scanlists that you can enable and disable on demand.

That's how I setup my BCD325P2. My results were excellent. I just setup each site as a separate system and only use each "system" to monitor groups that considered that site to be it's home site. I do the same here in California, with pretty satisfactory results.
 

radiochuck

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Looking at the link above, I see some of the information is outdated or just plain incorrect, and should be updated.

Hopefully someone can update that wiki page then. I'm no longer living in Arizona (sadly), so I can't be much help.
 

KB7MIB

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Agree completely! In my experience, single site scanlists solve half of the RWC's simulcast "problems". That, coupled with a VERY STRONG signal, and the RWC's reception "problems" just fade away, lol.

I have single simulcast system scan lists. Just Simulcast A. Just Simulcast B. Just Simulcast C. Etcetera.
The multi-path issues do not just fade away.

Unless you are advantageously located near just one transmitter location in a simulcast system, or can use a directional antenna to null out all but one transmitter location in a simulcast system, which can't be done while mobile or portable, you will have multi-path issues.

John
Peoria
 
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