396T and Bell Fleetnet

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Crazy_flyer8

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Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding the programing of the Bell Fleetnet system. I am really still new to the whole programing of scanners as I used to have someone who gave me there files and I just loaded them in, but now I have decided to learn for my self. I have read all the stickies and stuff and thus far have not had many issues, but one that I am having is programing the different towers and stuff.

So let me explain. I was programing (or at least trying to) Zone 1 and Zone 2. The only problem that I am having is that while listening to my scanner it will stop on a zone 2 programed channel and I am clearly in Zone 1 (near Whitby tower). I am guessing that this is because some of the control channels are the same or something?!?!

Also will it work if I just go Zone1 one then have one site with all the control channels or do I have to have a separate site for each Tower? Will this fix the problem of the scanner stopping a a zone two channel/ talkgroup with the same TGID?

If this is not clear just say so and I will try to explain better.

BTW I am using Freescan to program this thing.

Thanks ahead of time.
 

EJB

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Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding the programing of the Bell Fleetnet system. I am really still new to the whole programing of scanners as I used to have someone who gave me there files and I just loaded them in, but now I have decided to learn for my self. I have read all the stickies and stuff and thus far have not had many issues, but one that I am having is programing the different towers and stuff.

So let me explain. I was programing (or at least trying to) Zone 1 and Zone 2. The only problem that I am having is that while listening to my scanner it will stop on a zone 2 programed channel and I am clearly in Zone 1 (near Whitby tower). I am guessing that this is because some of the control channels are the same or something?!?!

Also will it work if I just go Zone1 one then have one site with all the control channels or do I have to have a separate site for each Tower? Will this fix the problem of the scanner stopping a a zone two channel/ talkgroup with the same TGID?

If this is not clear just say so and I will try to explain better.

BTW I am using Freescan to program this thing.

Thanks ahead of time.

I am not sure when you say that the scanner is stopping on a Zone 2 channel, this you mean control channel? Which control channels is your scanner stopping on? Are you close to the border between Zone 1 & 2? (East of Duram Region I guess?)
Frequencies in Zone 1 are often the same as the ones in Zone 2 and 3. As an example you will notice that the control channel for Mississauga (Brittania) is 141.420. London has the same CC.
Dyers Bay in Bruce Co. has a control channel of 142.7250 as does Primrose 200 Km's away in Dufferin Co.


There are many ways to program your scanner. You can load up all the control channels in a bank and let 'er rip. Your scanner will stop on the first CC it hears.
You can also program your scanner by tower i.e. create a different system for many (or all) of the towers listed. Your scanner can hold a great deal of info.
 

Crazy_flyer8

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What I mean by stops on Zone 2 is my scanner we be going along and stop on a talkgroup like 8720 which says it should be 2OPS32 Frontenac - 3Romeo/Napanee - 3Juliet/Prince Edward - 3Oscar but instead if you listen it is the Toronto units talking. I get that it is because the the CC is the same but is there a way to make it choose the right tower instead.

Right now I have a Zone 1 system with all the tower sites and the CC under that one system programed as separate sites then all the talk groups only problem is when it exports to the scanner it has to copy over every group onto its own system which takes up a lot of memory.

Does that make sense? Is it better to just copy every control channel under one site for the towers I want and then just let it rip?
 

torontokris

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Yes there are shared frequencies between the zones (and even 2 or 3 in the same zone). That's why your seeing what your seeing.
Turn off the zone your not in (zone 2) and the weird instances will stop.

Also if your scanning all zone 1 it's a waste and you'll miss some things. Either FUNC hold on on tower or only turn on your local 2 or 3 towers.

You wont get all of zone 1 and zone 2 in it the 396T can't handle all of those zones runs out of memory if you put everything in (multi site on the XT solves this)

Program the towers your going to visit/drive by or program them all but be in ID SEARCH (no groups added to save memory)
 
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EJB

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What I mean by stops on Zone 2 is my scanner we be going along and stop on a talkgroup like 8720 which says it should be 2OPS32 Frontenac - 3Romeo/Napanee - 3Juliet/Prince Edward - 3Oscar but instead if you listen it is the Toronto units talking. I get that it is because the the CC is the same but is there a way to make it choose the right tower instead.

Right now I have a Zone 1 system with all the tower sites and the CC under that one system programed as separate sites then all the talk groups only problem is when it exports to the scanner it has to copy over every group onto its own system which takes up a lot of memory.

Does that make sense? Is it better to just copy every control channel under one site for the towers I want and then just let it rip?

If you are close to Toronto and are hearing T/G 8720 it is because your scanner is stopping on a local control channel and 8720 afiliates with it.
I have already suggested entering a site at a time but if you dont want to do that you can just lock out the offending CC on your Zone 1 configuration and let 'er rip.
 

Crazy_flyer8

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Thanks guys that clears things up a bunch.

So if I am traveling to a place in St. Catharines I only need to program the Towers right along the 401/ 403/406 and it should be good enough? Program each tower on its own system and have the same groups under each and I should be good to go, or should I just put the towers I want under one and let it scan and i will find the right CC. I am guessing not as it finds the first one and never looks at any others after that correct? Only the XT products do that. I am looking to by one for the car but I have to wait for a little more money!

Thanks again!
 

torontokris

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Yes the proper way in the 396T is to make each tower its own system and have the same talkgroups for each.

Depending where you are starting from you should have more then enough memory to do a few towers along that route.


Im not sure if the "multi-site trick" (putting multiple control channels under one system) works on the 396T maybe someone else can advise on that.


Yes the 996T and XT's have the multi-site programming feature (saves memory etc), but if you program in all of zone 1 & 2 youd spend useless time scanning all the other sites and miss most of the action where you are.






Thanks guys that clears things up a bunch.

So if I am traveling to a place in St. Catharines I only need to program the Towers right along the 401/ 403/406 and it should be good enough? Program each tower on its own system and have the same groups under each and I should be good to go, or should I just put the towers I want under one and let it scan and i will find the right CC. I am guessing not as it finds the first one and never looks at any others after that correct? Only the XT products do that. I am looking to by one for the car but I have to wait for a little more money!

Thanks again!
 

danimac67

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Ontario
What I do is put each tower on a seperate system with just the control channels.
Put the system on search (instead of scan) and let it scan.
You will soon get lots of unknown tgid's
Then go to RR database and check what you have, and if you have a program like freescan you can load it into your 396t.
 

IdleMonitor

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This will work as long as the control channels are at sites that are far enough apart from each other so as you travel it just picks up the next tower.

Say you got 4 towers that are along your route you plan to travel. And they're in sequence like, 1, 2 , 3 and 4

I would put site 1 in with Site 3 and 2 in with 4 as long as they're far enough away, you should be able to travel with seemless coverage.


Im not sure if the "multi-site trick" (putting multiple control channels under one system) works on the 396T maybe someone else can advise on that.
 

EJB

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Thanks guys that clears things up a bunch.

So if I am traveling to a place in St. Catharines I only need to program the Towers right along the 401/ 403/406 and it should be good enough? Program each tower on its own system and have the same groups under each and I should be good to go, or should I just put the towers I want under one and let it scan and i will find the right CC. I am guessing not as it finds the first one and never looks at any others after that correct? Only the XT products do that. I am looking to by one for the car but I have to wait for a little more money!

Thanks again!

You have more than enough memory to put in each of the fleetnet towers you want: I have probably 80 systems in my 396 and have used up only 78% of memory.

I travel the same route to and from Burl and T.O. daily and you will notice that there are some basic rules for OPP talkgroups per tower (Downsview/Whitby patch until Mississauga, never really hear them west of there) but either run them in search (because every now and then there are interesting patches put 2gether) or just enter in all the area talkgroups in with all the area systems.
 
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