Location mapping for towers

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poltergeisty

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It's always been a guess as to which towers to program. In Colorado thankfully there are maps, but other areas don't have that in the database. I think there should be another interactive map to show the towers in that area for you to program. Does this make sense?
 

KC8ESL

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Its a bit chaotic but I've successfully used antennasearch.com to find freqs off of towers close to my work and home qth's.

I definetely understand that you're talking about a map on here, with specific locations of towers for specific TRS's. I would love to have a tower plot of the Ohio MARCS system.
 

loumaag

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I'm Flummoxed

I'm not sure what else we can do. For the TRSs in the DB, we not only provide a description of the sites by location (providing there is more than one) and the FCC license information on a map, but we also provide a map of sites based on user input. What else could you want?

I just, at random, picked a statewide system, the Virginia Statewide Agencies Radio System, by clicking the FCC Callsigns map you get this, and by clicking the RR Locations map you get this. How much more information do you need? :confused:
 

GTR8000

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Understand that there are two site maps available for trunked systems on RR:

FCC Callsigns - This site map is automatically created based on the FCC license data. We (the DB Admins) have no control over this, except to make sure the list of call signs for the system is accurate. Beyond that, the map is going to show site locations based on whatever data is contained on the FCC license, which might not be correct or accurate.

Another issue with the FCC Callsigns site map is that some of these statewide 700 MHz systems do not have individual licenses, instead they fall under a blanket SL statewide license that does not list the individual sites. In that case, you're not going to see anything, or you may see an incomplete map of the sites depending on whether regular FCC licenses are mixed into the system also.


RR Locations - This site map is created based off of the coordinates we enter for each site in a system. We have full control over this map, and it could well vary from the FCC Callsigns site map depending on whether there are inaccuracies on the FCC license that we have compensated for (i.e. the incorrect coordinates are listed on the FCC license, which we corrected)

One issue with the RR Locations site map is that simulcast systems/zones will only show a single placemarker, which is generally placed in the geographic center of the simulcast zone. This means that systems that have a single simulcast site composed of multiple subsites are only going to show a single placemarker.
 

poltergeisty

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Okay, say I live in Fort Collins Colorado. I see all the talk groups I want to program and then I see a giant list of towers. Which tower would I use? I see there is a RR map, but clicking a balloon doesn't give me the CC and system frequencies. The FCC map gives me a whole list of frequencies with inputs and no indication of what is a CC or system frequency.

Basically what would be great is that you first click on a state, then a county, then a town and from there all the towers that cover that town will be listed. Or you click a county and all the towers that cover that county will be given.
 
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GTR8000

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If you live in Fort Collins, CO...you presumably would know that you live in Larimer County. Each site for the DTRS system is assigned to a county, they are listed right on the main page for the system in the column next to the site name. If you CTRL+F in your browser, you can search for Larimer County on the page, as well as neighboring counties if you're near the county line, and make a note of the sites around you. You can then click on the name of each site to bring up a map of where that particular site is located.

If for whatever reason the geodata is not accurate for a particular site, you can make a database submission to have the location corrected.

It's really not that complicated.
 

Spitfire8520

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In addition to things already mentioned, the balloons include the site name under the the Description category, at least for DTRS (this may not be applicable to other system databases). You can then use the browser find function (Ctrl + F as mentioned by Chauffeur) and look up the site name for the details. In addition to this, the Notes section of the balloons also include the RFSS and Site IDs in hexadecimal form. The database is organized first by RFSS followed by Site ID in numerical order, with hexadecimal values located in the parentheses, so you can bypass needing to use the find feature. I once inquired on the Colorado Forums on whether or not a decimal form of this could be added, but I don't recall getting a response. It's formatted so it will show TXXYY (XX being RFSS and YY being Site ID).

So if you click on balloon (for example, the one in North Fort Collins), you'll see the following:

Description: PVH Fort Collins
County: Larmier
Notes: T033C

03 indicates RFSS: 3 (3) and 3C is Site ID: 060 (3C) for the site PVH Fort Collins in the database.
 
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loumaag

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How many people are going to know to hit CTL + F? Why not just make a tower map for DTRS site locations in specific areas and when you click the tower all the CCs and system frequencies show up.
I'd guess the percentage of folks using the internet to look at this site that understands how to search a web page for a specific item would be about 95%. The other 5% would just sort the frequencies by county.

Exactly what is your purpose in this thread? Your question in the OP apparently showed you were unaware that what you asked for was already there. After telling you about it, it now seems that you are looking for a way to snipe at the answers you were given. Is there something you are trying to accomplish here, or you just looking to see if you can get a rise out of members?
 

poltergeisty

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FFS! This is a suggestion forum, is it NOT? When I click a state then a county it should list just the towers for that county only instead of a giant list. I'm just trying to make things better. If I had a site that's how I'd do it. And the counties should be named on the map instead of a popup otherwise you have to scroll all over hell. If one will be traveling you may not know where that county is without a name.

Good grief!
 
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GTR8000

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When I click a state then a county it should list just the towers for that county only instead of a giant list.

The structure of the database does not allow for that to be an option.


And the counties should be named on the map instead of a popup otherwise you have to scroll all over hell.

Now you're talking about something besides trunked system maps? I assume you mean the maps on the state or county pages?

If so, the maps are too small to have county name labels on them. If you hover over them, the county name pops up.

If you need to find where a county is in a state, click on the county name from the dropdown menu and it will take you there, then will highlight the selected county on the map.


Take the attitude down a few notches.
 

loumaag

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Thread Closed

poltergeisty:

It is not often that I find a user that can't manage to understand the simplest concepts. You know, like civility, saying "thank you", or showing appreciation for folks trying to explain something that you should have known. You have been a member of this site for over nine years and those maps were added during the time you were here and announced.

I am closing this thread before it becomes a blood bath. I would suggest the next time you decide to cop an attitude, you think before you press that enter button.
 
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