When I go to RR page for the system frequencies for a P25 system, I might have 75 control and alternate frequencies to enter. For example, the Regional Wireless Cooperative in Phoenix. Do you enter all of them or just the radio transmission towers close to you? The folks in the AZ forum have answered it for Phoenix, where I live, but this is an in general question.
How Many System Frequencies?
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If you roam alot within the system then you need to enter the whole system in, however if its simulcast and you stay in one place then just enter in the ones nearest, however, if it is not simulcast then you mest enter all of them even if you aren't moving. One way to cut the number of freqs down is to put them in excel, go to data tab, and select: delete duplicates, that should cut some of them away as usually large systems have identical CC's
WA0CBW
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As jhal94 said you need to put in the sites your radio can receive. In simulcast systems the frequencies are the same at all sites. If it is not a simulcast system the frequencies at each site will be different, however in large systems frequencies can be re-used at locations where their coverage areas don't overlap. In a home based scanner it does no good to put in frequencies from a site that your scanner can't hear.
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On scanners that allow you to enter each site separately (all trunked scanners currently in production do this), you should not put all the control channel frequencies into one site. It might appear to simplify things, but the scanner is only going to scan the frequencies until it hits a control channel, then it will use that control channel, and only that control channel, to scan the system. That control channel could be to a site you have marginal reception on, making all received comms iffy. Or, the system could be managed such that certain talk groups are "zoned out" of certain sites (i.e. they are not allowed to affiliate on certain sites). In this case, you could miss active comms in your area by only scanning from the single control channel found.
Understand, thank you!
In the Regional Wireless Cooperative of Phoenix, they have Simulcast in their system. However, with a few exceptions, each simulcast site has it's own control and system frequencies. If I am scanning from one location, I use the control and alternate frequencies from the simulcast site nearest me. If I roam throughout the simulcast system, I would need to enter each site's control and alternate frequencies. Correct?
I understand the rest of your answer. Thank you!
I understand your answer completely. Thank you.
WA0CBW
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Simulcast systems usually consist of a number of sites all utilizing the same frequencies (including the control channels). A radio "system" could consist of several simulcast systems. You would need to program the scanner with the control channel from each of the simulcast groups. And as UPMAN said it would be better to program each simulcast group in its own site in the scanner. That way you can let it scan all simulcast groups automatically or you can enable/disable each group of sites on/off as you travel throughout the system.
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KB7MIB
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This, unfortunately, takes up multiple scan lists, limiting what else you can hear. The RWC has 7 simulcast systems and 8 IR's, covering 11+ cities. The 3 city TOPAZ RWC adds another simulcast, 2 IR's and a mobile system to that list.
This, unfortunately, takes up multiple scan lists, limiting what else you can hear. The RWC has 7 simulcast systems and 8 IR's, covering 11+ cities. The 3 city TOPAZ RWC adds another simulcast, 2 IR's and a mobile system to that list.
Thanks for the clear answer. I also appreciate the definition of "site" as in "site in the scanner." I can't tell sometimes if someone means a radio tower site or a site on the scanner.
In general, I take the term "site" as "radio tower site" or "scanner site" being synonymous. The special case being simulcast systems, where there are multiple radio towers behaving like a single site (they are all transmitting the same signals on the same frequencies at the same time).
Got it. Is it good practice for non-simulcast systems to only program one radio tower site on one site in the scanner?
That is best practice. The scanner is only going to monitor based on the first (not necessarily the closest or best received) control channel it detects for a programmed site. If you have 3 tower sites programmed into one scanner site, and the frequency for the worst-received site happens to be the first one the scanner detects, then you'll be stuck with the worst-received of the 3 sites.
Thanks!
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