Control Frequencies for Morris County Trunking

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ScannerSky

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Hey all,

What zone should I use from the Morris County Trunking System, Morris County, New Jersey - Scanner Frequencies system in the Mendham area? Also, should I be programming all of the system frequencies in from that zone or only the control frequencies? I noticed that my signal is a little choppy sometimes - maybe the reason this is happening is because I entered in all of the control frequencies for Zone 1 rather than just the control frequencies in red.

Thanks!
 

RocketNJ

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Use Zone 1. Try programming all the frequencies. Check your squelch level and you might want to use a better antenna if the signal is still weak.
 

robbinsj2

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The Pro-106 is a control channel only mode (CCOM) scanner. Programming non-control channel frequencies for Motorola trunked systems provides absolutely no advantage in CCOM and only slows things down, provides opportunity for interference, etc.

Having them programmed or not, though, would not affect signal quality. (Interference from programming voice channels in CCOM would be if another trunked system uses some of those voice channels as its own control, in which case you would receive that whole trunked system/site as well.)

Jim
 

W2SJW

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Motorola trunk systems only use a maximum of 4 frequencies per site for the control channels, and they are specifically notated as such in the radio's codeplug. I agree with Jim 100% - putting any more than the 4 frequencies already noted for either the north or south main simulcast sites is a waste of channel objects in that type of scanner (coulda swore I wrote that exact same paragraph within a month-and-a-half ago about the NJSP).
 

ScannerSky

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I think I may try to program only the 4 control channels into my Pro-106 for the Morris County, NJ Zone 1 trunking system. Since I have all of them in right now in my scanner, it may cause some of the transmissions to cut out or be missed since it is looking through all 9 rather than just the 4, right? So I should only program the four frequencies in red?

476.55000c
476.62500c
477.00000c
477.87500c

These are the frequencies in Zone 1 that are red (control channels), so are these the only ones I should program rather than all 9? Just confirming :)

Thanks!
 
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robbinsj2

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I think I may try to program only the 4 control channels into my Pro-106 for the Morris County, NJ Zone 1 trunking system. Since I have all of them in right now in my scanner, it may cause some of the transmissions to cut out or be missed since it is looking through all 9 rather than just the 4, right?
Sort-of. The interference would manifest a bit differently than "cut-outs" but in order to not confuse you further, let's say Yes* (experts will understand the asterisk).
So I should only program the four frequencies in red?
Yes.
These are the frequencies in Zone 1 that are red (control channels), so are these the only ones I should program rather than all 9? Just confirming
Yes. Once again, the Pro-106 doesn't care about any system frequencies other than the control channels for Motorola systems so it is pointless to program anything else. Some other scanners are different but the Pro-106 doesn't care.
 

ScannerSky

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Sort-of. The interference would manifest a bit differently than "cut-outs" but in order to not confuse you further, let's say Yes* (experts will understand the asterisk).

Yes.

Yes. Once again, the Pro-106 doesn't care about any system frequencies other than the control channels for Motorola systems so it is pointless to program anything else. Some other scanners are different but the Pro-106 doesn't care.

Do you think I will notice a difference in clarity/reception? What is the advantage to doing this? If the control frequencies change, then what happens?

Thanks! Will try that tonight!
 

W2SJW

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Control frequencies will NOT chnage. The system admin would have to re-program every radio on the system to look for/use different frequencies as the control.
 

RocketNJ

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The advantage of programming only the control channel frequencies is the scanner will lock onto the control channel when scanning multiple trunked systems or trunked systems and conventional channels. There will not be any advantage if scanning only one system.

As far as improving clarity or reducing digital artifacting, make sure the scanner has the latest firmware update. Also an external antenna made for UHF will help with reception. The antenna that comes with the scanner is made for a broader range of frequencies and is not as efficient as a antenna tuned for UHF. If you are using the scanner at home most of the time maybe invest in a discone antenna with decent cable.
 
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ScannerSky

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Control frequencies will NOT chnage. The system admin would have to re-program every radio on the system to look for/use different frequencies as the control.

Thank you! :)

The advantage of programming only the control channel frequencies is the scanner will lock onto the control channel when scanning multiple trunked systems or trunked systems and conventional channels. There will not be any advantage if scanning only one system.

As far as improving clarity or reducing digital artifacting, make sure the scanner has the latest firmware update. Also an external antenna made for UHF will help with reception. The antenna that comes with the scanner is made for a broader range of frequencies and is not as efficient as a antenna tuned for UHF. If you are using the scanner at home most of the time maybe invest in a discone antenna with decent cable.

I usually just scan my "Favorites" which consist of a couple talkgroups from the Morris County, NJ trunking system along with one other conventional frequency, so I may hear a difference.

Do you know where I can upgrade my firmware for my Pro-106? I have never done that before since I got it, nor have I heard of doing such a thing.

Thanks again!
 

ScannerSky

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***UPDATE***

I programmed only the four control channels into my scanenr and boy can I see a difference already! The trunking signal is much more consistent rather than jumping all over the place looking for a good frequency. Now, my question is this. What are the other frequencies used for?
 

robbinsj2

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The other channels (including the three possible control channels which don't currently have the data stream) have the voice transmissions that you're hearing on your scanner. To keep it simple, the Pro-106 figures out what those channel frequencies are based on the four control channels, the data it's receiving over the control channel, and the base/offset/step data that you've programmed in. It does this figuring whether or not they're already programmed into memory.

Certain other scanners may or may not need all the system frequencies programmed in depending on what option is selected, and some older scanners always need all the frequencies programmed. That's why they're listed in the database. Plus it's good to be able to look up the parent system if I stumble upon a voice channel while searching the bands.
 

ScannerSky

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The other channels (including the three possible control channels which don't currently have the data stream) have the voice transmissions that you're hearing on your scanner. To keep it simple, the Pro-106 figures out what those channel frequencies are based on the four control channels, the data it's receiving over the control channel, and the base/offset/step data that you've programmed in. It does this figuring whether or not they're already programmed into memory.

Certain other scanners may or may not need all the system frequencies programmed in depending on what option is selected, and some older scanners always need all the frequencies programmed. That's why they're listed in the database. Plus it's good to be able to look up the parent system if I stumble upon a voice channel while searching the bands.

Is it possible that they will add more control channels? I am worried I will miss transmissions now that I only have four of the control channels programmed and nothing else...I should be okay, right? Seems to be scanning much better!

Also, if I want to see the Radio ID's of the person talking on the radio, is that possible? I know there was a list someone made up somewhere on here, so if I programmed that into my Pro-106, would I be able to see who is talking and when?

Thank you! :)
 

robbinsj2

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We keep guiding you what to do and you keep asking questions. I'm generally happy to answer them once except 1) it seems to take a number of repeats for the message to get through; and 2) full detailed answers are only going to confuse you further with more info than you really need to program and scan.

W2SJW's two posts in this same thread already answered your latest question about control channels. Scroll up.

As for radio IDs, the Pro-106 will display the numeric IDs on trunked systems. There is a setting to turn this on or off, consult your manual for more information on it. The Pro-106 will not accept aliases for these numeric IDs so there is nothing to program, and you can't scan only select IDs making group calls. Other scanners and/or scanning setups permit this but not the Pro-106 stand-alone.

Particularly useful resources for you are archives of this forum (especially for system-specific matters), the trunking forum, and the RS and GRE fora; the wiki here; and Google in general.
 

ScannerSky

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We keep guiding you what to do and you keep asking questions. I'm generally happy to answer them once except 1) it seems to take a number of repeats for the message to get through; and 2) full detailed answers are only going to confuse you further with more info than you really need to program and scan.

W2SJW's two posts in this same thread already answered your latest question about control channels. Scroll up.

As for radio IDs, the Pro-106 will display the numeric IDs on trunked systems. There is a setting to turn this on or off, consult your manual for more information on it. The Pro-106 will not accept aliases for these numeric IDs so there is nothing to program, and you can't scan only select IDs making group calls. Other scanners and/or scanning setups permit this but not the Pro-106 stand-alone.

Particularly useful resources for you are archives of this forum (especially for system-specific matters), the trunking forum, and the RS and GRE fora; the wiki here; and Google in general.

I appreciate it! Thank you! Just to confirm - I promise, last time I will ask lol - programming only the control channels will be fine? I just don't like the idea of having other channels out there not programmed, but they aren't in use, so why have them on my scanner, right?

As for the ID's, I won't bother with that then. I appreciate it! You are very helpful! :) My second Diamond RH77CA antenna is going to be delivered tomorrow so I am going to hook it up to my Pro-79 - it's a Diamond Antenna family! :) haha
 

ScannerSky

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The advantage of programming only the control channel frequencies is the scanner will lock onto the control channel when scanning multiple trunked systems or trunked systems and conventional channels. There will not be any advantage if scanning only one system.

As far as improving clarity or reducing digital artifacting, make sure the scanner has the latest firmware update. Also an external antenna made for UHF will help with reception. The antenna that comes with the scanner is made for a broader range of frequencies and is not as efficient as a antenna tuned for UHF. If you are using the scanner at home most of the time maybe invest in a discone antenna with decent cable.

I upgraded my firmware just now to 1.7! I didn't even know there was one available! lol I had 1.6 before - I don't see a difference yet but it's always a good idea to be up-to-date! :)

Thanks!!!
 
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