396XT in NE Mpls I believe my mind turned to Brick!!

[mjcoll]

I've had this radio for some time now, I just haven't been able to "Really" spend the time/effort to get it working in the manner I believe it will.
I'm able to listen to most all of the Metro area, but I think I'm still kinda stuck from the old
"Bank" memory as opposed to this DMA system.
I use both ARC XT Pro, & Free-Scan with mixed results, mostly due to my ignorance of what I'm trying to do.
Q: can I select multiple "Sites" for one System, Then have multiple Groups in that same System?

Seems like if I place St. Paul PD into a Mpls Site, I get better Reception than St Paul on a Ramsey Co (St. Paul) Site, but I could be completely mistaken since I have "Butchered" my programming & at times I'm not exactly sure which tower I'm on...!!??
Thx for ANY direction I can get!!

 

[ofd8001]

Q: can I select multiple "Sites" for one System, Then have multiple Groups in that same System?

Yes you can. With the Minnesota ARMER system you probably should.

It's pretty much academic which site a given talkgroup is using. With the ARMER system, there are fluctuating conditions where a certain talkgroup could be using different sites.

Talkgroups are the things you want to listen to. Sites are where the talkgroups are having their conversations. Talkgroups are assigned to Groups for organizational purposes as you wish to best suit your preferences.

In an over-simplified nutshell, here's what is happening. Your scanner will listen to a site and note which talkgroups are having conversations. The scanner then looks into your list of talkgroups. If it sees a match, it does some internal things and allows you to hear the conversation.

If there is no match, then the scanner moves on to the next site and so on.

 

[NDRADIONUT]

I think there are some metro 396 files that have been posted in past threads that may help you out...