CSP programming help for 796D

[dispatcher812]

Plan is set to OFF.
I can't remember if I ever set any APCO volume so i wouldn't worry about it.
If you go to the active control channel, do you hear the control channel noise?
Do you see anything that would indicate it is working or not working? When you hear the data channel noise, you should see a "M" just before the channel number. When scanning, it should say
ID SCAN (or SEARCH)
853.3375 NFM
LIST 1234567890

chris

Ok I will set it to off. I don't hear any noise but it does scan the ID. I see what you have above.

 

[cg]

The scanner is programmed and is scanning the system. Do you ever see it stopping and changing frequencies (stop scanning any other channels for now)?
Ensure the APCO card is turned on, MENU, 3, 0, 1

chris

 

[dispatcher812]

The scanner is programmed and is scanning the system. Do you ever see it stopping and changing frequencies (stop scanning any other channels for now)?
Ensure the APCO card is turned on, MENU, 3, 0, 1

chris

Yes I see it switching back form scanning the regular banks to the ID search with 853.3375. God point on the Apco card. Never did check that. Do they go bad?

 

[cg]

You can program the voice channels in manually to test the digital reception.
By scanning only the CSP, you should be able to see the scanner jump to another freq when the control channel tells it to. Two of Troop E's voice channels rely on the correct bandplan so if there is a problem with that, you may hear some traffic.
Press the SEARCH key to go to talkgroup search, that may help too.

chris

 

[dispatcher812]

You can program the voice channels in manually to test the digital reception.
By scanning only the CSP, you should be able to see the scanner jump to another freq when the control channel tells it to. Two of Troop E's voice channels rely on the correct bandplan so if there is a problem with that, you may hear some traffic.
Press the SEARCH key to go to talkgroup search, that may help too.

chris

The voice channels are the 853.3375 etc? How would I hear anything with out the TG? This is why i hate Digital. I am not very radio savy, as you can tell. When I program it, do i need all 6 frequencies in?

 

[cg]

You can hear the traffic but it will not be "organized". When the Zone is busy, you may hear Troop E call a car and then hear Statewide Com 2 testing a radio all on the same channel. The computer tells each radio which frequency to switch to based on which talkgroup they are assigned to.
There is one active Control Channel and the remainder are available as Voice channels.
853.3375
852.6250
851.8250
852.1625
851.1125

 

[dispatcher812]

Chris I do appreciate your help with this.

So these six frequencies, are they just for E or are the for ALL troops? I saw on the data base that some had just 2 or three but they were not the same as what E has.

 

[cg]

The 5 freqs I listed are the ones used by Zone 8 which serves the Troop E area. A trunked system works by only sending traffic where it is needed. This prevents the Zones from being overloaded. When a radio is turned on, it "affiliates" with the main computer telling it what talkgroup the radio is set to. The computer determines where the radio is based on what tower site it heard the radio on. Traffic for that talkgroup is then routed to that tower (and any others in that Zone). The radio is monitoring the Control Channel and when there is traffic for that TGID, the radio tunes to the channel number it is told to and opens squelch to hear the message. After the call, it returns to the Control Channel to listen to the computer again. The whole idea is efficient frequency reuse and the ability to control the radio system.
Some Zones are only to cover a very small area and as it is not likely to have a lot of simultaneous users, it only needs 2 voice channels (+ the control channel).

chris

 

[dispatcher812]

hmm. ok so I should load all five for Troop E?

 

[cg]

you can, then lock out the control channel. That will tell you that you can hear the digital traffic. If you hear nothing, it is either a card problem or still a programming issue.

chris

 

[dispatcher812]

Ok thanks, I will let you know. Where are you located?

 

[scanningisfun]

Here is something to read:

Motorola Type II SmartZone - The RadioReference Wiki

Also, the reason you have to program the custom band plan is that if you didn't, you wouldn't be able to here traffic on splinter voice frequencies. Splinter frequencies are the ones that end in .000, .025, .050, .750 etc. You only want to enter this plan on rebanded sites as the channel numbers/LCNs are 'borrowed' from 865-869 MHz. If you enter the rebanded band plan on a site that hasn't rebanded, the frequency that your scanner switches to will be like 15 MHz off. No need to worry about this on most P25 systems as they routinely send out messages through the control channel announcing the band plan. Waterford's P25 system does this.

More info on rebanding here:

Rebanding - The RadioReference Wiki

Jacob

 

[dispatcher812]

I did what Chris suggested. I was able to hear them when programmed manually but not when used as a truck with TG ids.

I think I am starting to get this. So, I have the programming software that came with the scanner and trying to do it that way. In the database of the software do I enter in ALL frequencies for EVERY troop and then only add the talk groups I want? Here is a screen shot of how it was programmed before the Narrowband.
MIsc stuff - Fitzsimmons Photography | SmugMug

Should I try to get it to look like that? How does it know what Control Channel to search?

 

[cg]

There is something wrong with the trunking setup then. You said you did the firmware update ok. Verify it by holding 2, 4, & 9 while turning on the scanner. It should say V3.60
I created a Troop E only file for the 796 in Proscan, PM an email address.

chris