Boston Metro Scanning Advice

[MedTek]

Hi all,
Just wondering if some of the veterans in the Boston area could lend some advice on some setups. I work for a non-profit in the city and I’m in need of some advice primarily on the best way to set up MSP and BAPERN scanning in conjunction with our BPD, BFD, BEMS scanning. We’re setting up the first of some new vehicles with three SDS200’s and I’m ripping my hair out on trying to program these scanners in a way that makes sense, since previously we didn’t include MSP or any out of city resources and therefor I don’t really have an understanding of the way MSP’s radio network is setup and functions. Feel free to DM me or however, any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[garys]

What kind of non profit?

Does each vehicle have three SDS200s, or is it three vehicles each with one scanner?

By "BAPERN" do you just mean the interop frequencies or do you want the operations channels for cities and towns around Boston?

What do you want to listen to on MSP?

Do you need to listen to MassPort?

The more you tell us, the better we can help.

 

[MedTek]

It’s a 501(c)(3) - Live Boston 617, Inc. (Which should give you a much better idea of how we’re using the scanners)

Each vehicle, or at the very least this vehicle, has 3 SDS200’s.
For BAPERN we’re only really worried about interops and we have a history of listening to them lightly.

MSP we very lightly listen to already for anything we know is going on within city limits, generally just BFD out for accidents on 93 and 90 and we’ll turn on MSP, but now we are expanding with MSP and need to start monitoring from the start, and beyond city limits. Mostly, Suffolk/Essex/Middlesex County and occasionally Springfield.

Good thought on MassPort, it slipped my mind. I’d say 99% of the time we’d be turning on MassPort for an incident we’re already aware of, and not so much monitoring it from the start.

On a side note, anyone know the tone freq’s used for BFD 5 Station Alert..? I’m not familiar enough with it to know if we can setup the tone-out for that or not.

 

[garys]

Got it. Since you're using three SDS200s (nice set up), you'd probably want BPD in one, BEMS/BFD in the second, and MSP/BAPERN and MassPort in the third. You can keep MassPort locked out unless there is something going on there. If there is something going on there beyond the regular medical calls, you'll hear about it on BFD and BEMS.

This is the easier to read SDS200 manual. Read up about Favorite Lists and Systems. Since you are going to be loading the scanners very lightly, you probably don't have to worry about Start Up Keys.

 

[garys]

Oops, forgot the link.

Easier to Read SDS100/200 Digital Scanner Manual

 

[KEWB-N1EXA]

Cant he just run the SDS 200 using a Boston Zip Code and run off the data Base and just select the range to say 10 miles ?
I don't own A data base scanner I have fleet of 15x and 996s and just run the MASP off of the Smart Zone i'm Nearest to.
But I would think that would be the easy way to set up the SDS 200 For the Boston Area.
As for BAPERN It just a group of T band Frequencies they should be in the Data Base.

Pete N1EXA

 

[garys]

He can, but the RRDB is horribly inaccurate and out of date. He's much better off using the data at Scan New England.

W1KNE will hate me for that, but the truth is that the data at SNE is 10x better than what's here.

 

[fxdscon]

He can, but the RRDB is horribly inaccurate and out of date. He's much better off using the data at Scan New England.

W1KNE will hate me for that, but the truth is that the data at SNE is 10x better than what's here.

-
The RR database is a user supported resource. Perhaps if you were to submit corrections to the RR database entries that you know are outdated or inaccurate, that wouldn't be the case.

 

[W1KNE]

He can, but the RRDB is horribly inaccurate and out of date. He's much better off using the data at Scan New England.

W1KNE will hate me for that, but the truth is that the data at SNE is 10x better than what's here.

You're wrong Gary. To say the DB here is "inaccurate and out of date" is incredibly wrong. And you know it.

 

[W1KNE]

To further clarify from that previous peanut gallery comment, I can assure you that the DB for Southern New England, and New York states are both incredibly accurate and up to date. As both the owner of Scan New England and having been a DB admin here for 10 years now, I have cleaned out and cleaned up a lot of the older and outdated information. So you can be assured that the DB information in the areas I edit are accurate.

 

[StoliRaz]

the data at SNE is 10x better than what's here.

I haven't noticed any inaccurate data but I have noticed there is much MORE data on SNE than there is on here. The ICE system is a good example. Way more talk groups listed on SNE than on here. I've been manually entering them into a Sentinel file. My fingers hurt-lol

 

[garys]

I want to clarify that my comments weren't directed at W1KNE. He's done a lot to improve the New England sections of the RRDB. I still maintain that the SNE Wiki is more accurate and up to date.