Greenville County PD?

[Grog]

You need to program the bank for trunking, to pick up the City comms.

Pro 2096 wiki page http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Pro-2096

Here is a cheat sheet on how to program the 96/2096 by hand. http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Programming_Shortcut_Pro-96

Here is info on win96, which is a highly recommended computer program to program your scanner. http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Win96

 

[brian]

Program 859.9625 into a bank. Press MODE until the top right corner says MOT. The press TRUNK, and press MODE until it say MOT. Then press scan. See what happens.

You can program conventional and trunked in the same bank, and digital and analog talkgroups in the same bank. The scanner automatically detects a digital signal when it hears one, you don't have to set a special mode for it.

I take it you actually purchased a PRO-2096, instead of the PRO-2026 that you've referred to a couple of times.

Brian

 

[Grog]

I see this from the link you gave me - "54768 d5f D Greenville PD Ch. 3 Dispatch "

How do I translate that into an actual frequency?

If it helps you, I am in the same county as the police dept. I am attempting to monitor.

YOu really need to turn off the scanner, and read the manual (or the quick start link I just posted) and try to understand the trunking system that the city operates on. It's completely different from what the county uses, and will take a little while to fully understand it.

Edit...Or listen to Brian, he's a lot smarter than I am on scanning the Palmetto 800 system

 

[Dolidis]

Yes, you're right Brian. It is the 2096. Sorry for the confusion.

Trying this now.

I programmed in all the 800 freqencies listed on the link Grog gave me, and I *think* I'm getting ONE GCPD channel. I'm also getting a few unknown agencies that I'd prefer not to hear.

Is there anyway to organize this like with the old UHF analog?

An old book I have states the frequencies and their respective channels.
For example:
GCSO dispatch channel 1 460.0125 (Which I in turn programmed channel 1 to, on scanner)
GSCO dispatch channel 2 460.5000, etc.


Anyway, trying your advice now.

 

[Dolidis]

YOu really need to turn off the scanner, and read the manual (or the quick start link I just posted) and try to understand the trunking system that the city operates on. It's completely different from what the county uses, and will take a little while to fully understand it.

This is akin to a 60 year old sitting down in front of a computer for the first time in his life, so yeah...I'll try to make sense of all the jargon in the manual again.

 

[Grog]

I started when the 1st trunktracker scanner came out, and it was a lot LESS advanced than your new toy is It just takes a little time, and you'll be up and running in no time.

 

[Dolidis]

So far I've managed to pick up the PD from a few counties over... :/

 

[Grog]

If you are sure you only want to hear certain users, you can just program the Greenville talkgroups (like 54768), then you can set the bank to "Closed". That will keep you from hearing any talkgroups that are not programmed.

 

[Dolidis]

Program 859.9625 into a bank. Press MODE until the top right corner says MOT. The press TRUNK, and press MODE until it say MOT. Then press scan. See what happens.

You can program conventional and trunked in the same bank, and digital and analog talkgroups in the same bank. The scanner automatically detects a digital signal when it hears one, you don't have to set a special mode for it.

I take it you actually purchased a PRO-2096, instead of the PRO-2026 that you've referred to a couple of times.

Brian

Results after doing what you said.

Getting 1 GCPD channel (Desired)
Multiple other counties that I have no interest in.

Is this GCPD frequency going to be jumping around to different frequencies in the 800 area? Or always on the same frequency like the Sheriff's office, which is UHF.

And if I'm rattling nerves with these ignorant questions, let me know so I won't be sitting around waiting on replies.

 

[Grog]

Is this GCPD frequency going to be jumping around to different frequencies in the 800 area? Or always on the same frequency like the Sheriff's office, which is UHF.

It's best to not worry about freqs except when you are programming the trunked system. The 5 digit number that each "CH" uses (or they can also be 2, 3, or 4 digits as well) are taking the place of the frequencies ( in a way).

Just think of it like this....

Old conventional systems (like your county UHF) = Frequencies
Newer trunked systems (like your city) = talkgroups (or TGs)

 

[Dolidis]

So basically I'll have to listen to a bunch of unwanted chatter from other areas, since the GPD TG is jumping around.

All I want to do is isolate the things I want to hear.

 

[Grog]

No. If you have programmed the scanner propertly, you can just program the talkgroups you want to hear, and after you set that bank as closed, you will only hear what you programmed.

 

[Dolidis]

I'm getting there slowly, I guess.

Just having a hard time determining who's on what.

One minute I'll hear GPD on 867.4500, then 5 seconds later I'll hear another counties' dispatch on it. While GPD switched over to 867.73750, and so on, so forth.

Yeah, RDFM, I know.

 

[Grog]

It sounds like you have it programed as conventional frequinces, instead of trunked.

You're right, read the manual and http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Programming_Shortcut_Pro-96

This is some items from that link.



Pro-96 Cheat Sheet

If system is Motorola Type II start with Programming section.

Storing known trunked frequencies
1. Press MANual, Press three digits to get the bank and channel number desired then Press
MANual again. (Upper left should read Mxxx for your bank and channel number)
2. Press PGM, (upper left should change from M to P)
3. Press TRUNK
4. Press MODE unitl Motorola is displayed.
5. Press PGM
6. Enter the frequency
7. Press Enter
8. Repeat steps 5 through 8 until all frequencies are entered in selected bank.


Motorola requires only the control channels entered.



Storing known Talkgroup ID’s
1. Press PGM
2. Press TRUNK
3. Enter the 5 digit Mot or 4 digit ED ID
4. Press ENTER
5. Press Up button
6. Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 until all are entered.



Storing known Text Tags
1. Press Manual, Press three digits to get the bank and channel number desired then Press
Manual again. (upper left should read Mxxx for your bank and channel number)
2. Press PGM, (upper left should change from M to P)
3. Press Text, the cursor appears on line 3.
4. Using the numbered keys text in the line up to 12 characters. The letters above each number
will help in the selection. Example, POLICE DISP (11 characters counting the space)
The first letter is P, Press the number 7 then the number 1 for P. (7 will open the four
numbers PQRS and by selecting 1 is for the first of these four. A 7 then 2 would get the
letter Q. Presses up or down to move the courser back and fourth or to correct a mistake.
5. Press Enter



Scanning Banks
Turn Radio on, the last bank(s) selected will start scanning.
Note: If the radio was in search mode when turned off, the radio will continue that search
pattern when turned on until Scan or manual is pressed.



To change scanning banks.
1. Press the number associated with desired bank. The number on top line of display will
either be on or off accordingly.



To change from Open Mode to Closed Mode (or the reverse).
1. Press FUNC + 5 (Bank Open or Bank Closed will display).
Note: The scanner will not stop on any TG id’s which are Locked-Out, OPEN or CLOSED modes.
In OPEN mode, all others will be scanned and CLOSED mode only stored (see below) unlocked
id’s will be scanned.



Talk Group ID’s
These are Identification assigned by the manager of the system you desire to scan.

Storing unknown ID’s
When the scanner stops on a conversion, Press Trunk, the bottom line will indicate where
the ID is saved as x-xx, where the first x is the sub-bank number in the bank and the xx
is the the location position in the sub-bank, number 00 to 29.
Note:
1. Each bank has five 30 ID positions for a total of 150 per bank.
2. If an ID was already stored, the bottom line will display ID was saved.

Storing Known Type II or EDACS ID’s
1. Select out all banks except desired bank ie. While scanning press each numbered bank to
deselect it except your desired bank.
2. Press PGM.
3. Press Trunk.
4. Press down until bank 0-0 appears at the top with Id no. 00 on the second line.
5. Press mode, if needed for MOT or ED.
6. Enter the ID number, if necessary use the period for a hyphen. Entry will be on line three.
Note: Pressing TEXT after each ID entry will place the prompt on line three
again for keyboard text entries.
(During scan, these text tags will appear on line four)
7. Press Enter.
8. Press up and repeat 6, 7 and 8 until all are entered.



Motorola Fleetmaps
NON APCO 25 (9600-Baud) Motorola Systems use a fleetmap to help determine Talk Group
information. The most common system is an all Type II, which is the default system on
the Pro-96 and therefore requires no special effort on your part.

This document by Frank Monroe with grateful help from Lou Maag......................and really edited by Grog

 

[Dolidis]

Thanks again Grog.

Also, my apologies for all of these otherwise ignorant questions. I tend to dive into things instead of being patient.

I'll update on my situation.

Thanks everyone.

 

[brian]

In reference to Greenville Co. SD, program their 4 conventional 460MHz frequencies, put an alpha-tag on them, set mode to CT, set CT tone to 127.3 and your done, end of story.

For Greenville PD, program 859.9625 and 859.2625 in MOT mode. Those are the only two frequencies you need. Forget about other frequencies.

You've done that, and you're hearing Greenville PD and other agencies in OPEN mode (that's the + sign that indicates OPEN mode). That's good, that means you're trunk-tracking.

In order to only hear Greenville PD, press Program, then Trunk. Enter the 4 primary Greenville PD talkgroups listed in the database. Enter an alpha-tag if you want. Then press scan, and press Function, then 5. That puts the bank in closed mode, and you'll only hear comms on those 4 talkgroups you just programmed.

When trunk-tracking, the scanner will tune to what-ever frequency the active comm is on, automagically. All you have to program is the control channel (and the alternate, which is used from time to time). You can watch which frequencies it tunes to for your own entertainment, but you shouldn't program the other frequencies.

Once you figure that out, then you can figure out how to program other sites that you might be in range to hear (Anderson, Pickens, Hogback, Laurens, Simpsonville) to see what you can pick up. And you can program other talkgroups that might be of interest to you (Anderson Co. SD, Spartanburg SD and EMS, Medshore Ambulance, SCHP, SLED, etc). Then you'll be on your way toward becoming an experiences scanner listener.

Brian

 

[LarrySC]

Grog

I plug the book because there are people in this world like this poor fellow that needs it. There are those people that can program their own scanner if they had accurate information. I will plug my book anytime someone needs help. Thats what it is for. I sell thru my dealers 1000 books a year. Since 1981 you appear the only one who ever had anything to say about it. I do answer some questions on the forum with a sideways answer in order to make the person asking the question THINK. If everone got a direct answer for every question they would never learn anything. I hope this is something you can understand. Larry

 

[Dolidis]

In reference to Greenville Co. SD, program their 4 conventional 460MHz frequencies, put an alpha-tag on them, set mode to CT, set CT tone to 127.3 and your done, end of story.

For Greenville PD, program 859.9625 and 859.2625 in MOT mode. Those are the only two frequencies you need. Forget about other frequencies.

You've done that, and you're hearing Greenville PD and other agencies in OPEN mode (that's the + sign that indicates OPEN mode). That's good, that means you're trunk-tracking.

In order to only hear Greenville PD, press Program, then Trunk. Enter the 4 primary Greenville PD talkgroups listed in the database. Enter an alpha-tag if you want. Then press scan, and press Function, then 5. That puts the bank in closed mode, and you'll only hear comms on those 4 talkgroups you just programmed.

When trunk-tracking, the scanner will tune to what-ever frequency the active comm is on, automagically. All you have to program is the control channel (and the alternate, which is used from time to time). You can watch which frequencies it tunes to for your own entertainment, but you shouldn't program the other frequencies.

Once you figure that out, then you can figure out how to program other sites that you might be in range to hear (Anderson, Pickens, Hogback, Laurens, Simpsonville) to see what you can pick up. And you can program other talkgroups that might be of interest to you (Anderson Co. SD, Spartanburg SD and EMS, Medshore Ambulance, SCHP, SLED, etc). Then you'll be on your way toward becoming an experiences scanner listener.

Brian

Roger that, Brian. That sounds simple enough.
I'm going to go through the manual and posted links again to refresh and give this another shot.

One question though, I looked through the database and located the primary Greenville PD talkgroups listed in the database, but am a bit confused about what I'm looking at.

Can you look in the database and clarify what 4 GPD talkgroups I am to enter for the sake of simplicity? I'm seeing a few things I could enter from that page.

Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it tremendously.

 

[Dolidis]

Edit - double post.

 

[brian]

Sure.

54736 d5d D Greenville PD Ch. 1 Traffic
54752 d5e D Greenville PD Ch. 2 Talk-around
54768 d5f D Greenville PD Ch. 3 Dispatch
54784 d60 D Greenville PD Ch. 4 Records


The 5-digit integer is the talkgroup. That's what you'll enter into the scanner. You can add an alpha-tag for each one also, a text description of the talkgroup, up to 12 characters. I use Gvl PD 1 Trf or something like that.

The second number is the talkgroup value in hexadecimal, and is only relavent for program professional radios (eg Motorolas). The third "D" indicates that the talkgroup is digital (so you know you can't receive it on a non-digital scanner). And then the description.

A quick explanation of the rest of the information. The lists of frequencies at the top of the page are the frequencies used by the 62 or so sites throughout the state. The red ones are control channels, blue are alternate CCs and the black ones are voice channels. Almost all current trunk-trackers are "control-channel-only" capable, so you don't have to program all the voice channels.

The talkgroup lists are generally separated by county, or agency. These correspond to the "channels" programmed into the subscriber radios (the radios in police cars or ambulances, etc). Most of the commonly used talkgroups are identified, many of the lesser used groups are still un-identified.

So, you figure out the site (or sites) that are close by your location, and program those control channels. With the PRO-2096, you can program multiple sites into a single bank, separated by a channel in FM mode. I generally program at least three tower sites into each one of my banks, sometimes more.

Then pick out the talkgroups of interest. Program them into the ID lists in the bank.

Hope that helps explain how the information in the database is used to program your scanner. Consider downloadning Win96 from Starrsoft.com and purchasing a programming cable from Radio Shack. It'll make understanding how to program the scanner much quicker and easier.

A word about the radioreference.com database: it's by far the most accurate and up-to-date listing of scanning information for our area, period. And the folks in this forum can help you with your questions.

If you get Win96 and the cable, I can send you my configuration file for the Greenville area to look at.

Brian