Advice on Monitoring Greene County System

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Bluestreak66

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Looking for advice from anyone monitoring the Green County trunked system. I used to have a Uniden BCD996P2 but got rid of it out of frustration. I recently picked up a BCT15X for cheap to give it another go. I primarily listen to the Greene County system, the issue is there are so many talk groups. When listening there is so much going on in different talk groups you have to pretty much isolate it down to a few to get most of the conversation. What scanners do people use for these large systems? Both the Unidens have a large amount of "System" quick keys to toggle systems but only 10 "Group" quick keys, It seems the opposite would be more useful in my case. I find myself using the "Hold" function and just reprogramming using Freescan for certain talk groups every time there is something going on.
 

wbloss

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I'm a bit confused. Are you listening by talkgroup or just by frequency? If you have al the TGs programmed you can lock out ones like the jail or electric dept.
 

Bluestreak66

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By talk group. I have all the groups programmed (pulled from Radio Reference with FreeSCAN plus added a few the scanner found) I've used the lockout feature but it gets cumbersome to lock and unlock the individual talk groups because there are so many. But there doesn't seem to be enough group keys to properly manage all the talk groups. I was just curious how everyone else uses / programs them or if there was a better scanner for these types of systems.

I had been experimenting with putting each department under it's own "System" and then each talkgroup under "Group" and then assigning it a key. For instance I have "SpringfieldPD" setup as a "System" with a "Group" for "SPD South Z1" with a groups quick key of 1, "SPD North Z2" with a group key of 2, etc. and separate "System" for "Springfield Fire" with separate groups for Ops channels with corresponding quick keys, etc. It seems to work well but just seems inefficient. This only works if you have ID scan on, if ID search is on all the talkgroups come through anyway. It took me a little bit to figure that out.

This enables me to just look at the screen and know whats currently being scanned as opposed to locking out talkgroups and forgetting that I had done that. Maybe I just don't understand how to use the scanner properly or maybe I'm just expecting to much. I should say the user interface on both the Unidens suck. So maybe there is a better option out there.
 

Bluestreak66

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By talk group. I have all the groups programmed (pulled from Radio Reference with FreeSCAN plus added a few the scanner found) I've used the lockout feature but it gets cumbersome to lock and unlock the individual talk groups because there are so many. But there doesn't seem to be enough group keys to properly manage all the talk groups. I was just curious how everyone else uses / programs them or if there was a better scanner for these types of systems.

I had been experimenting with putting each department under it's own "System" and then each talkgroup under "Group" and then assigning it a key. For instance I have "SpringfieldPD" setup as a "System" with a "Group" for "SPD South Z1" with a groups quick key of 1, "SPD North Z2" with a group key of 2, etc. and separate "System" for "Springfield Fire" with separate groups for Ops channels with corresponding quick keys, etc. It seems to work well but just seems inefficient. This only works if you have ID scan on, if ID search is on all the talkgroups come through anyway. It took me a little bit to figure that out.

This enables me to just look at the screen and know whats currently being scanned as opposed to locking out talkgroups and forgetting that I had done that. Maybe I just don't understand how to use the scanner properly or maybe I'm just expecting to much. I should say the user interface on both the Unidens suck. So maybe there is a better option out there.

I think the gist of this long winded explanation is I'm wanting quick keys for talkgroups but that doesn't seem to exist with any scanners I know of.
 

scannerowner

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I had my BCD996T programmed by MSHP region. Each region had it's own Ststem Key, and if I really narrowed it down I could have done different group keys by service type.

For Greene County, I heard they may go P25 soon. Depending on what you want to listen to, I'd keep it simple. Program one system in, and all the talkgroups you want to listen to. If you put law in one group, you can turn on and off if you want to scan just fire in a different group. It all depends what you want to listen to.

I currently have one scanner recording my local law, fire and EMS. Another is scanning MOSWIN. I'd like to add another to scan both MOSWIN and surrounding counties.
 

scanman1958

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Once you get the hang of it you can group you TG's together. You can have a group for fire. One for EMS. One for PD. ONE sheriff, etc. You will get the hang of it. And the temporary L/O is a GREAT feature.
 

PVPD730

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Next year they are replacing the system. Also planning to join as a zone of MOSWIN from my understanding.
They will be replacing and going P25. One of my contacts at the Sheriff's Office said it will likely be a Harris system. LE is pushing for encryption (not sure about fire). For anyone thinking about replacing scanner equipment, I'd hold off until we see how it all shakes out.
 

scanman1958

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Without being enc shamed here I will say that it could really put a damper on the "scanning as entertainment" for Greene Co. Broadcastify is always alerting me to Springfield listeners. It is one of the busiest online feeds around. And the popularity of Live Rescue on cable has done a lot for public relations for the county (positive I think). Don't think any of the episodes mention scanner use to evade police. As usual it will be another sad day if they go quiet. IMHO
 

Cameron314

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They will be replacing and going P25. One of my contacts at the Sheriff's Office said it will likely be a Harris system. LE is pushing for encryption (not sure about fire). For anyone thinking about replacing scanner equipment, I'd hold off until we see how it all shakes out.
Be interesting to hear why they think it would be a Harris system, as far as I know they haven't gone out to bid on this yet and the County/Sheriff won't have a lot to do with that. The system is a three way partnership between the County, City of Springfield and City Utilities but CU operates the system and will be the one buying the new system.
 

PVPD730

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Be interesting to hear why they think it would be a Harris system, as far as I know they haven't gone out to bid on this yet and the County/Sheriff won't have a lot to do with that. The system is a three way partnership between the County, City of Springfield and City Utilities but CU operates the system and will be the one buying the new system.

I'm not certain how they came across the information, nor did I ask. My contact is very reliable and active in the radio community.
 

Cameron314

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Looking at the MOU CU's Board signed with MOSWIN it sounds like it will be staying Motorola. The system will be Zone 4 of the MOSWIN system, at least for a 3 year trail.
 

PVPD730

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Looking at the MOU CU's Board signed with MOSWIN it sounds like it will be staying Motorola. The system will be Zone 4 of the MOSWIN system, at least for a 3 year trail.

Interesting. Thanks for the update.
 
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