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scanguy0823

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Seems free scan and pro scan are two different beast. Ones showing one thing and the other another. I'm downloading obion county TN and Fulton KY. Which should I use ? Also anyone from this area that has theirs working properly? Mine kinda cuts some of the transmission out. I'll miss the first couple seconds
 

jtwalker

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Here are my thoughts ...

Which programming software you use has nothing to do with missing the first couple of seconds of a transmission. The scanner is ... well ... scanning the list of frequencies you have programmed. So it is listening to frequency 1, then 2, then 3, etc. while a transmission begins on frequency 10.

The net result of any programming software is (mostly) the same on the radio. The user interface, and overall usability (frustration index) will be the differences.

If you are missing stuff that is important to you, you probably need to scan less channels/frequencies or have more than one scanner.
 

hiegtx

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Seems free scan and pro scan are two different beast. Ones showing one thing and the other another. I'm downloading obion county TN and Fulton KY. Which should I use ? Also anyone from this area that has theirs working properly? Mine kinda cuts some of the transmission out. I'll miss the first couple seconds
Looking at Obion County in the database, the county Sheriff's Office Dispatch, and South Fulton PD Dispatch, both use NXDN. FreeSCAN cannot program NXDN at all, either manually or via import. ProScan does correctly handle NXDN, though to receive that mode, your scanner would need to have the NXDN upgrade.
 

scanguy0823

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I have the upgrades and just got pro scan. Thank you for your help guys.

Also the pro voice upgrade.... is it worth it ?
 

jtwalker

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I have the upgrades and just got pro scan. Thank you for your help guys.

Also the pro voice upgrade.... is it worth it ?
ProVoice is an end-of-life technology, so probably not. Check the database here at radioreference.com for your area and see if any list ProVoice shows up in mode column (conventional) or type column (trunked). I don't know how it would show, as I don't think I've ever seen a PV listing, but hopefully it will stand out.
 

hiegtx

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ProVoice is an end-of-life technology, so probably not. Check the database here at radioreference.com for your area and see if any list ProVoice shows up in mode column (conventional) or type column (trunked). I don't know how it would show, as I don't think I've ever seen a PV listing, but hopefully it will stand out.
Look at this system:

If the EDACS system uses ProVoice, you'd see this note:
1610740280369.png
On a ProVoice capable system, talkgroups labeled with a D in the Mode column would be using ProVoice. If the mode is instead listed as an A, then that is a normal analog talkgroup & the ProVoice upgrade is not needed.

I have the upgrades and just got pro scan. Thank you for your help guys.

Also the pro voice upgrade.... is it worth it ?
Looking at your county (Obion) and your state (Tennessee), I do not see any ProVoice systems in your county, nor your state. A quick look at the closest counties in your neighboring states does not show any ProVoice systems either. As jt has already noted, ProVoice is a dying system type. In most areas, these are being replaced by P25 systems, quite often P25 Phase II. Unless you travel often to an area that still uses ProVoice, and you can confirm that there is not a current plan to replace ProVoice, I would not purchase that upgrade. When the upgrade first became available, I purchased it for one of my 436HPs, because DFW Airport was ProVoice. A couple of years later, the airport transitioned to a P25 system, and the other ProVoice system in my region in Texas (Abilene) has also moved to a P25 system.
 

Whiskey3JMC

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Mine kinda cuts some of the transmission out. I'll miss the first couple seconds
You never mentioned what scanner you're using but I'll take a shot in the dark and say it's not either an SDS100 or 200. Obion County contains simulcast sites. Have a read about simulcast distortion. Seems like what you're describing fits it to a T
 

hiegtx

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You never mentioned what scanner you're using but I'll take a shot in the dark and say it's not either an SDS100 or 200. Obion County contains simulcast sites. Have a read about simulcast distortion. Seems like what you're describing fits it to a T
That system, which does indicate a simulcast site, is a Motorola Type II (analog) system. While we all know that P25 systems with simulcast sites can be a major handicap to listening, there are not nearly as many complaints for the older Motorola systems.

What is not clear, and would best be answered in the Tennessee state forum, is whether the county primarily uses the conventional frequencies listed in the database, including the NXDN dispatch listing, or is mostly on the Moto Type II system, with the conventional channels maintained for backup.
 

scanguy0823

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I'm sorry I did forget to mention that. I'm using BCD996P2. With the upgrade nxdn
 
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