996 GPS lockout use

[Kirk]

I'm getting ready to implement GPS scanning on my already-installed 996, and have what I hope is my last question on the matter.

If a system is GPS enabled but locked out, does going in range unlock this system? This is how I assume it works... GPS unlocks and locks as you go in and out of range. What happens if the GPS is powered off? You get whatever status it was left in, or it's automatically off, or ?

I guess my goal is to have systems that are locked out and arn't scanned when the GPS is off. When the GPS is on, they're scanned. If the GPS says scan but I decide I want to lock the system out, then what? Turn off GPS on that system, or will a manual lockout override the GPS?

 

[ex8010]

Maybe try putting the systems in different startup keys (see manual) I have mine set up this way. I have systems for gps scanning in startup key 9, and for non gps mode I have systems programmed in startup 1. Naturally many frequencies of these systems are redundant. I'm not using the gps mode as much as I thought that I would, I think it would be more useful to have individual channels or groups gps activeted rather than whole systems.

 

[soncorn]

A system that is locked out will not be unlocked by GPS. The GPS uses a temporary lock out of sorts, but if you disconnect it, all active systems start getting scanned. The best way to handle this is through the use of quick keys.

 

[wm8s]

A system that is locked out not be unlocked by GPS. The GPS uses a temporary lock out of sorts, but if you disconnect it, all active systems start getting scanned. The best way to handle this is through the use of quick keys.

This is only partly true, I think. A system that is permanently locked out will be unlocked by GPS (that's kind of the whole point). That unlock is permanent. A system that is unlocked (either by GPS or by you) will be temporarily locked when you drive out of range (but a system that is permanently locked that you never get in range of, and hence never gets unlocked, stays permanently unlocked).

Sadly, GPS does not use temporary unlocks, because the radio doesn't have one. Let's assume you have a system with GPS enabled and a location entered. If GPS is connected and you are in range of that system, the radio will unlock it, no matter whether you have it locked perm or temp (but do not confuse this with enabling and disabling a system by quickkey; there is of course a big difference; GPS does not use the quickkey enable / disable feature). If you are out of range and the system is unlocked, the radio temp locks the system out. If you manually try to override GPS, you will lose the battle (i.e., if you manually lockout a system you're in range of, GPS will quickly re-unlock it, and vice-versa).

The down side of this is that when you lose GPS and turn the radio back on, all the temp locks clear, so every system you ever drove through is now unlocked. The workaround is, as noted, to assign systems to startup keys. Whenever I return home from a long trip, I do a StartupKey-1 to return the locks to the way I want them.

If I have this wrong, somebody correct me, but I use GPS every day, and this has been my observation.

...R

 

[Kirk]

I think I'm more confused now than before I started.

Here's a hypothetical:

I live in Alpha County. Adam, Boy and Charles are cities in Alpha County. I live in Adam, and work in Boy. About once a month I go shopping in Charles.

I have systems for Alpha, Adam, Boy and Charles. Alpha has a large radius, and encompasses all of Adam, Boy and Charles, plus rural areas. All systems are programmed w/GPS enabled, and are unlocked.

When I turn on my scanner and GPS in my driveway in Adam, GPS locks and what gets scanned? I figured since I'm in range of both Alpha and Adam, I'd get those, but Boy and Charles would be L/Oed. Not true? It sounds like I'd actually have to drive to Boy and then leave Boy in order for Boy to L/O?

So your solution is to lockout Boy and Charles and set them to startup key = none, and set Alpha and Adam to startup key = 1. Then every time I turn my scanner on, I need to press one?

Am I going in circles yet?

 

[UPMan]

Prior to GPS lock, the scanner will scan whichever systems were either unlocked or temp locked and on activated SQK's prior to shutdown.

Upon GPS lock, the scanner will spend some time (how long depends on how many geocoded systems are in your scanner on the currently enabled SQK's) going through the systems and either unlocking them or temp L/O'ing them depending on the coordinates and range you entered.

Shorter answer: Prior to GPS lock, Boy and Charles will likely be scanned (because GPS does a temp l/o on systems as you move out of range). Upon GPS lock, Boy and Charles will be temp L/O'd.

I have all the local DFW systems heavily geocoded (down to the patrol districts, with overlapping "sites" positioned to provide the irregular service areas...darned PD refuses to make their districts perfect circles). When I get in the car, I turn on the scanner, turn on the GPS, and within a minute or so am only scanning the local PD dispatch. All of these geocoded systems are assigned to startup key 1.

When I get to the office, though, if I need to use the scanner going through all of those rudundent sites (which are U/L upon power up) is too much. Instead, I have a seperate set of systems that are not geocoded and are not split up by district and are assigned to startup key 2.

When I take the scanner into the office, I hold 2 during power up to lockout (permanent) the geocoded systems and unlock the simpler-programmed systems. When I take the scanner back out to the car, I hold 1 during power up to do the reverse.

For Arlington alone, I have about 25 different sites set up in 4 geocoded systems (North, South, East, West PD districts). Each of those systems only had the PD talkgroups associated with those districts (plus EMS and FD are repeated in each system since they are dispatched city wide). For the non-geocoded version, there is only 1 site, and the system contains all PD and other TG's.