G5 programming Ohio MARCS

[lifeson]

Hi group,
I am just wondering how people are programming their radios.
Im in Franklin County in Ohio the way I have mine program right now with MARCS ,I have all 12 frequencies Columbus city,Columbus MARCS ,Franklin county. Then I just have the different site numbers all in the same group. Is this a good way of doing it or should I have them in separate groups? I am listening to Columbus Pd,Franklin county sheriff . Also I am not sure what frequencies to program for Ohio State highway patrol.
Thanks for info!
Danny

 

[phask]

You would get a quicker reply in the Ohio forum - you should request it be moved. (the red triangle, upper right )

 

[lifeson]

You would get a quicker reply in the Ohio forum - you should request it be moved. (the red triangle, upper right )

Oh okay! Thank you!

 

[W8RMH]

You should only program one site per knob position. If you program multiple sites the radio will lock onto the first control channel it receives and remain there, only monitoring that one site, until you change knob positions or turn the radio off.

 

[lifeson]

You should only program one site per knob position. If you program multiple sites the radio will lock onto the first control channel it receives and remain there, only monitoring that one site, until you change knob positions or turn the radio off.

thanks for the info!
i will change my MARCS set-up when i get home tonight.
I think i may be okay on COIRS for NorthWest FD and Hilliard PD on the same knob?
Do you know which MARCS freqs to use for local OSP?
Thank you again for all your help!!

 

[W8RMH]

thanks for the info!
i will change my MARCS set-up when i get home tonight.
I think i may be okay on COIRS for NorthWest FD and Hilliard PD on the same knob?
Do you know which MARCS freqs to use for local OSP?
Thank you again for all your help!!

The control channels for Columbus MARCS.

773.53125-773.78125-774.03125-774.28125

Set up a Zone for Hilliard, put fire in 1, police disp in 2, tac 1 in 3, tac 2 in 4, etc.

 

[W8RMH]

Here is my current settup. I am still experimenting with it. Sorry it's so big.

So if I'm in Hilliard I can listen to Fire only, Police only, both, or everything on COIRS-Dub-Wor. CPD 1 PD Zone at a time, all, just the ABC tac channels, or SWAT Ops.

CFD each Batallion's FG channels or Dispatch only. I listen to fire dispatch and when there is a fire I can switch to that battalion's channels.

I have another zone not shown for when at work down which is a combo of CFD, CPD FCSO, and Grove City.

 

[lifeson]

Here is my current settup. I am still experimenting with it. Sorry it's so big.

So if I'm in Hilliard I can listen to Fire only, Police only, both, or everything on COIRS-Dub-Wor. CPD 1 PD Zone at a time, all, just the ABC tac channels, or SWAT Ops.

CFD each Batallion's FG channels or Dispatch only. I listen to fire dispatch and when there is a fire I can switch to that battalion's channels.

I have another zone not shown for when at work down which is a combo of CFD, CPD FCSO, and Grove City.

thank you for showing me! i like the way you have it set up! i didnt even think to change the zone names either.
i am going to change mine ..
i love this radio and learning about it!

 

[lifeson]

I am setting up mine sort of like yours. what are the groups you are using for columbus police abc? PTAC 1A Patrol tactical 1A ? are you only doing the abc of each group?
I am still tweaking I copied and pasted . Do I have two of the same channels.i am going to figure something out with them. My parents live in Gallipolis ,so I have that city when I visit.
Thanks for helping me!

 

[W8RMH]

I just use the PTAC ABC of each zone. D&E are rarely used.

It looks like 2&5 and 3&4 are duplicates.

 

[lifeson]

I just use the PTAC ABC of each zone. D&E are rarely used.

It looks like 2&5 and 3&4 are duplicates.

Yea i changed 4 to hilliard dispatch only.
okay thanks for the info on d and e
i couldnt figure out what you have for NW all . i just have nw fd channels there. you have 34 and i just have 18. do you have hilliard in yours too?

 

[W8RMH]

My NW ALL is fire and police.

 

[lifeson]

okay thank you!

 

[gibby289]

Programming

I live between Lancaster and Pickerington. I just purchased the Unication G5 w/VHF. Couple of questions please. I'm wondering if I made a mistake getting the VHF Model as I see that the Fairfield Co. Sheriff might all be UHF? I've been using the PPS and I can't fiqure out how to get the OSP talkgroups program. Do you use the HEC number for the WACN ID? Also not seeing where you got the break down for CPD talkgroups. Thanks in advance. Didn't think it would be that difficult

 

[W8RMH]

Fairfield County Sheriff is on MARCS now. There may be some multicast on UHF/DMR but it is on it's way out.

You should have got the UHF model. Lancaster Police and Fire are UHF conventional P25. You won't hear them on the VHF model. Pickerington PD is UHF too, but I believe they are switching to MARCS (but they may keep the UHF system as a backup).

You program the OSP talk groups like any other talk groups. You then add them to the Zones / Knob positions, along with the correct site.

Check out the video below for tips on using the PPS software.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuF2kn9MJE

You also may want to read over the thread below:

https://forums.radioreference.com/ohio-radio-discussion-forum/366381-fairfield-co-lancaster.html

 

[gibby289]

Thanks for the links to the video and the other thread. I saw on the video the gentlemen used BEE00 for the WACN ID. What would I use for OSP and Col. PD MARCs on the System List? I understand the Control CH. Then on the Site List, where are those numbers? Again, I appreciate your time and help.

 

[tabull]

Hey! Were you able to get OSP set up? I just got a G4 and have Columbus and Metro areas working great but I've not heard a word on the OSP group I've got set up...and I put in all TG's as suggested in an other forum. Thanks for any suggestions you have!

 

[wa8pyr]

Hey! Were you able to get OSP set up? I just got a G4 and have Columbus and Metro areas working great but I've not heard a word on the OSP group I've got set up...and I put in all TG's as suggested in an other forum. Thanks for any suggestions you have!

The Unication pagers don't scan multiple sites (yet), only one at a time, so make sure you have talkgroups for OSP and other state agencies associated with the Columbus MARCS tower, not Franklin County or Columbus City. They won't show up on the County or City sites.

You might have to create a system with only that site, and put it on a new knob position.

 

[tabull]

The Unication pagers don't scan multiple sites (yet), only one at a time, so make sure you have talkgroups for OSP and other state agencies associated with the Columbus MARCS tower, not Franklin County or Columbus City. They won't show up on the County or City sites.

You might have to create a system with only that site, and put it on a new knob position.

Thanks Tom! That did the trick. I had already set it up as a different zone with different site info but when entering the freqs I entered the city's primary and all the alternates for MARCS. UGH!
Really appreciate the help!

 

[mike4nzix]

Fairfield County Sheriff is on MARCS now. There may be some multicast on UHF/DMR but it is on it's way out.

You should have got the UHF model. Lancaster Police and Fire are UHF conventional P25. You won't hear them on the VHF model. Pickerington PD is UHF too, but I believe they are switching to MARCS (but they may keep the UHF system as a backup).

You program the OSP talk groups like any other talk groups. You then add them to the Zones / Knob positions, along with the correct site.

Check out the video below for tips on using the PPS software.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuF2kn9MJE

You also may want to read over the thread below:

https://forums.radioreference.com/ohio-radio-discussion-forum/366381-fairfield-co-lancaster.html

Please excuse my ignorance if these are stupid questions, but can FCSO be monitored on a G4/G5?

According to this link, FCSO is on DMR:
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=2062

Is the utilization of DMR pre-MARCS IP? I have always monitored FCSO on an analog Pro-107 prior to their switch to MARCS-IP, so I don't understand the DMR reference on the source above. Is MARCS-IP DMR? I wouldn't think so, as I've read that the G4 can monitor Columbus PD.

Unless the specs are incorrect at this link, the G4/G5 are incompatible with DMR:
https://www.zipscanners.com/unication-pager-g4-g5.html

I'm looking at buying the G5 400-470 UHF model so I can hear CPD, FCSO, Reynoldsburg, Pickerington, Lancaster, etc. I'm in Violet Township, and my TRX-1 isn't up to par.

Any guidance is appreciated.