Home Patrol question about talkgroups

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kd5pck

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Forgive me if this has already been asked/answered.
The way I understand it is that the Home Patrol will only scan and display the information contained in the databases here at RadioReference.com. To phrase it another way, if I tell the Home Patrol to scan the LWIN system from Louisiana, it will only stop on listings that I see in the database. If there is a talkgroup on this system that is not listed in the database, the scanner will not stop on it. Is this correct?
I haven't read too much about the features of the Extreme Upgrade yet to see if this would do it or not.
Thanks!
 

flaw101

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I just got the HP-1 a couple of days ago. Very nice radio. If I understand this correctly, Uniden queries the RR database every week, then does some filtering of frequencies/talkgroups that are for instance shown as encrypted. So, if a talkgroup is tagged as encrypted, it will be filtered out and not downloaded to the radio.

I'm going to make a favorites list for a couple of systems that have encrypted talkgroups just for grins. I've heard the P25 systems are hit and miss when it comes to encryption. A number of factors can contribute to traffic being transmitted in the clear on those talkgroups.

And go for the extreme update if you can. Limit scan, discovery mode make it all worthwhile.
 

UPMan

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In Sentinel, you can move the system to a Favorites List and make it scan in "ID Search" mode. In this mode, it will stop on all channels, not just those in the database.

As flaw notes, the Extreme Upgrade has some enhanced tools for finding new/undiscovered channels. See HomePatrolExtreme < HomePatrol < TWiki
 

captaincraig44

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You can use the free Sentinel software to add any TG's, freqs, and alpha tags you want. Otherwise, yes, it will only use the info contained in the database revision loaded on the radio.
 

kd5pck

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Mar 21, 2002
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Mandeville, LA
Thanks for all the replies.

I've had my HP1 for about a week now, but haven't had much time to play around with it. I have to admit it's a pretty impressive scanner. I have been scanning for about 20 years and have never had a scanner up and running so quickly. Just to see if everything I read was true, I performed a little experiment as soon as I opened the package. I was curious if the claims that anyone could have it up and running in a matter of minutes were accurate. I purposely didn't read any of the documentation that came with it. Instead, I popped in the batteries and turned it on. Within two minutes, I had it scanning the LWIN system here in Louisiana. Yes, I timed it. This impressed the hell out of me. Good job Uniden.

Anyway, I suppose I just need to set aside some time to play around with the Sentinel software and figure things out. There's a couple of local agencies that I know are on the LWIN system that are not yet identified in the database. I hope to figure them out.

Thanks again for the responses.
 

celsasser

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yes...

Yes, I too was blown away at how easy it was to get he HP-1 up and running for the first time. I had mine going in ~60 seconds; but before I even got to screwing in the antenna. Oh yeah, I was amazed that the HP-1 was receiving IL StarCom21 towers even before I had the antenna connected. :lol:

It took me significantly longer to get the BCD996XT up and running. I had to read the improved manual, load Freescan software, make a few different attempts at downloading systems, learn what I was doing, etc. before I got it right. :roll:
 

flaw101

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Mar 11, 2012
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Fruit Cove, FL
Yeah....this is a cool radio. The real beauty for the experienced scanner op is the ability to explore and discover very quickly, without all the fuss. And it's sensitive.

I use scanners on the commute and certain areas scream with intermod. I drive through these same areas now listening to comms without a hint of intermod. Impressive!
 
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