Figuring out what I can receive

[paulmohr]

I am going to try and explain this the best I can, so hang in there lol.

Is there a way to use the database to figure out what groups or specific channels (I guess they are called ID's?) a trunked site location can pick up?

For instance, I live in Adrian MI, close to the ohio border. When I pull up Michigans Public Safety System it lists 197 sites and 355 groups. This is obviously for the whole state of MI. I can pick up ONE, the Adrian site. So how would I go about determining what groups I can get on that particular site, or specific ID's.

As an example, I can get Lenawee county agencies and some of Monroe county, Like their Sheriff, EMS and that State Highway Patrol post in Monroe. However under those groups it lists a lot of ID's for outlying towns and areas in Monroe. It also lists several State Police Troops. I programmed them all in just for the beans of it. Some of them I get, some of them I do not. Like I only get Monroe County Sheriff and EMS and one State Post.

So my question is, is there a way to look at the database and tell what specific groups and ID's the Adrian trunking tower can actually receive. That way I don't have to program in and scan channels I have no hope of hearing.

Or do I just have to kind of play it by ear and delete the ones I never pick up as I figure it out?

I am building a high gain 850mhz yagi antenna today to see if I can grab monroe's tower, but my expectations are not high lol.

 

[marksmith]

The short answer is no.

Since it is a statewide system, there are a significant number of agencies that could conceivably use that site.

Other city or town groups not local to you probably are not granted permission to affiliate a radio on your site.

Entering just your site, and all of the potential groups is the way to go, and learn for yourself.

If you use an SD card radio, this should not be a problem to even include all groups and see what shows up.

536/436/ws1095/996p2/996xt/325p2/396xt/psr800/396t/HP-1/HP-2 & others

 

[paulmohr]

Nope, no SD card. I have a 325P2 and am using FreeScan software. So I am just pulling up the database menu and kind of guessing. I have no problem with my county (Lenawee) I can get everything listed for it. It is the bordering stuff and statewide agencies I have to guess at. Like I said I can get some stuff from counties around me, but not all of it. Like last night I followed a police chase that started in Monroe and they chased the guy into Detriot. I could follow the Monroe sheriff, who had the lead, and finally a State Highway Patrol that ended it (pitted him I guess). But I could not hear any of the local city departments that were joining in and trying to deploy stop sticks and the like. Had the same problem with a chase that started in Lenawee county the other day. I could follow the Lenawee Sheriff all the way into Toledo, but when they handed the pursuit off to Ohio it was dead air.

I have also discovered they must have the ability to turn this on or off, or increase the range at will. I have noticed that during emergencies they do have the ability to communicate with each other. There was an accident just outside of Detriot and the local Highway Patrol and Sheriffs were caught up in something else (suicide attempt I think?). So they were talking to Lenawee and Monroe county sheriffs that were handling it until they were freed up.

And most of the statewide ops stuff is pretty quiet, but I assume if something happened they could and would use those channels.

Thanks for the help. I will just have to wing it I guess.

 

[marksmith]

Yes. The 325 p2 is a good radio but still has a difficult memory situation of the XT series. A max of 500 records per system entry (record = a frequency, talkgroup, or unit ID)

One way to add additional talkgroup memory is to enter the system a second time, or multiple times, with different talkgroups. This is not the best at scanning efficiency though.

The other recommendation I would make is to just enter the ones you KNOW are active on the site, and then run the radio in SEARCH instead of SCAN mode.

The radio will display your talkgroup info if it is one you have programmed, but only show the talkgroup ID if it hits on one you don't have programmed.

This way you can look up the new talkgroups that are being received and add them, by being able to see what comes in.

In SEARCH mode, any active talkgroup will be received, whether programmed or not.

In SCAN mode, only those programmed will be received.

536/436/ws1095/996p2/996xt/325p2/396xt/psr800/396t/HP-1/HP-2 & others

 

[paulmohr]

Ah, thanks for the tip.

I took apart an old UHF yagi TV antenna I had laying around. Used the plans off K7MEM's website to reconstruct what should be a 850mhz yagi with 12db of gain. After programming in several trunked towers around me I took it outside and gave it a whirl, literally. I put it on a 15 foot pole and aimed it in different directions where the towers should be. Not one hit. I re enabled my local tower and it came to life lol. So no joy on picking up any nearby towers except the one in town. I think the next closest tower is like 20 miles away. I guess I will just have to live with the limitations of what I can get with my home made OCFD, which works pretty well actually.