ASTRO Smartzone System Programming

[matthewperez]

Hello there,

Are there any experts (or just those who know) who can help me program the following system into a Uniden BC246T portable scanner?


Gainesville / Alachua County Trunking System, Gainesville, Florida - Scanner Frequencies


In case you cant copy and open the link, here are the specs from Radio Reference:


Thank you very much.



Gainesville / Alachua County

System Name: Gainesville / Alachua County
Location: Gainesville, FL
County: Alachua
System Type: Motorola Type II SmartZone
System Voice: Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface
Last Updated: August 13, 2010, 4:14 pm (Updated Talkgroups (8 Updated))
Collaborate

For more information about this trunked system please see this entity's Wiki page:
•Gainesville / Alachua County Wiki Page
To discuss information online about please see these forums(s) in the RadioReference.com Forums:
•Florida Radio Discussion Forum



Important Rebanded Note


One or more sites for this trunking system have gone through the 800 MHz rebanding process. Your scanner may be incompatible, require a firmware update or require special programming to track these sites. Please visit the RR Wiki Rebanding page for additional information.

System ID List

System ID Connect Tone
7B2D Unknown




Misc System Information

All of Alachua County and the City of Gainesville Public Safety has moved to this ASTRO Smartzone system. Most if not all communications on this system are in APCO-25 Digital mode. The system is actually run by the Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU).



To be able to monitor this rebanded system with Uniden scanners (996T, 396T, 396XT, etc), you MUST use a custom Band Plan. The default settings recommended by Uniden work: program in the control channels, then edit the band plans by setting Band Plan 1 and Band Plan 2 to this (BOTH band plans MUST be entered): Band Plan 1: - Base (lower) = 851.025 - Base (upper) = 854.000 - Offset = 440 - Polarity = + - Spacing = 25-KHz Band Plan 2: - Base (lower) = 851.0125 - Base (upper) = 868.9875 - Offset = 0 - Polarity = + - Spacing = 25-KHz Without these settings, the scanner will not go to the correct voice channels, especially when the control channel itself is on a splinter frequency (like 853.775).




System Frequencies
Red (c) are primary control channels | Blue (a) are alternate control channels | Site Map(s): FCC Callsigns RR Locations

Site Hex Name Freqs
001 1 Simulcast 851.08750 851.13750 851.18750 851.41250 851.63750 851.66250 851.77500 851.91250
852.05000 852.18750 852.27500 852.30000 852.41250 852.56250 852.68750 852.77500
852.81250 853.06250 853.11250 853.18750 853.31250 853.36250 853.52500 853.56250a
853.67500a 853.77500a 853.81250c 853.86250

 

[bezking]

Moved to the Uniden forum. Please remember to post your question in the correct forum.

Keep in mind - you will not be able to monitor the ASTRO talkgroups (Mode type D) on that scanner, only those talkgroups that have an A in the Mode column.

 

[matthewperez]

OK. Thx. What scanners does anyone know of that will work for this system to scan even the digital voice channels? Perhaps, the most economical...

 

[ka3jjz]

'Digital' and 'economical' are 2 words which are diametrically opposed, unfortunately.

You might want to ask in the Florida forum about the performance of these scanners in your area, but the RS Pro-2096, RS Pro-96, BC296D or BC796D might do the job. However, take care to note that you will need to take rebanding into account here. The Pro-2096 and Pro-96 will need software (ARC96 or Win96) to apply the necessary changes; the 296D and 796D will need a firmware change in addition to adding the correct tables (some packages will add the correct tables automatically if you download from our databases - which requires a premium subscription which you can read about by clicking the blue text).

Whichever way you go our wiki details the necessary changes; the Uniden TWiki has the details for the upgrades for the 296 and 796.

These are all older scanners, not in current production, so you might find them on the used market.

73 (best regards) Mike