I'll try this forum instead :-)

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SigNiner

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I posted in Wa State forum and not 1 answer, so either I'm asking a stupid question or ......................
I'll delete it from the other forum and post it here.



Hey there,

I am confused and need some professional help ;-) If you go here ------>http://www.radioreference.com/module...ame=RR&sid=604
and under SYSTEM FREQUENCIES you see site/description/frequencies....Seattle simulcast.....apple Cove....and on down to ......King County/Valleycom Simulcast
and all these frequencies (851.08750 851.16250 851.36250 851.81250* 852.11250 852.61250 852.86250 853.31250 853.61250
854.08750 854.28750 866.38750 866.93750 866.96250 867.33750 867.43750 867.83750 ) with this one being called the control frequency ------>851.81250*

What do I do with this information? When I scan I pick up the frequencies and very clear by the way......but If I hold on one...I wont follow the traffic right? I just need some insight into what is going on. I don't have a scanner/ham store where I live to drop in and ask questions.

Just using the King County/ValleyCom information can anyone tell me step by step how to set my scanner to correctly follow the communication? I have a BCD396t

Thanks in advance ;-) Oh, I also have UASD
 

rattlerbb01

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OK, This is a Motorola Type II System. I don't have a BCD396T, so someone needs to follow me up on this one. Look in the RR Wiki and find the BCD396T page and it should have information on entering this type of system into your scanner, and then scanning it properly in trunk mode to hear individual talkgroups regardless of which frequency they are on.
 

hiegtx

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SigNiner said:
I posted in Wa State forum and not 1 answer, so either I'm asking a stupid question or ......................
I'll delete it from the other forum and post it here.



Hey there,

I am confused and need some professional help ;-) If you go here ------>http://www.radioreference.com/module...ame=RR&sid=604
and under SYSTEM FREQUENCIES you see site/description/frequencies....Seattle simulcast.....apple Cove....and on down to ......King County/Valleycom Simulcast
and all these frequencies (851.08750 851.16250 851.36250 851.81250* 852.11250 852.61250 852.86250 853.31250 853.61250
854.08750 854.28750 866.38750 866.93750 866.96250 867.33750 867.43750 867.83750 ) with this one being called the control frequency ------>851.81250*

What do I do with this information? When I scan I pick up the frequencies and very clear by the way......but If I hold on one...I wont follow the traffic right? I just need some insight into what is going on. I don't have a scanner/ham store where I live to drop in and ask questions.

Just using the King County/ValleyCom information can anyone tell me step by step how to set my scanner to correctly follow the communication? I have a BCD396t

Thanks in advance ;-) Oh, I also have UASD
Your link did not save correctly. Try this one.

You can program that as control channel only, using only the one frequency (in red). As rattlerbb01 indicated, it is a Motorola Type II system.

I have some errands to run this afternoon. If you want to shoot me a pm, I'll walk you through the system later this evening. Think about which talkgroup IDs you want to listen to (PD, FD, etc).
 

SigNiner

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Thx Rattlerbb01, I looked at the Wiki and I see Features, Reviews etc.....not seeing programming info though....hmmmmm. Sooooo at the top of the page I linked to WA/King County in my first post.....there are those frequencies with control channels in RED, and down below are alot of trunked talk id channels. are those frequencies being used with all those talk ID channels below? Or are the frequencies their own seperate "channels" or "systems" at the top of the page and the long list of talkID's, a separate thing all together?
 

SigNiner

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Oh hey hiegtx, you slipped in there when I was posting :) ok, I'll look for you later on and try to figure this out. Thx
 

loumaag

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While waiting for the contact, cruise over the RR Wiki and review the trunking information, especially Trunking Basics so that you understand how trunking works. :)
 

SigNiner

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Ok I got it now :)

By using the UASD software, I figured it out. I saw under the Trunking Options, 14 of the control channels. I added 3 more and then added 20 more talk groups.
I found some county action later on, and in the conversation they said, switch to Tac-3 so I went to that Tac-3 I just added earlier and there they were. .... Bingo :)
 

hiegtx

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SigNiner said:
Ok I got it now :)

By using the UASD software, I figured it out. I saw under the Trunking Options, 14 of the control channels. I added 3 more and then added 20 more talk groups.
I found some county action later on, and in the conversation they said, switch to Tac-3 so I went to that Tac-3 I just added earlier and there they were. .... Bingo :)
On the 396. and any Uniden scanner other than the BCD996T, it will not check multiple system control channels for activity. Once it hits the first active control channel, it will check for the talk groups you've entered (if you are scanning in ID Scan mode). If it finds one active, it will stop on that conversation. If you set a delay in the system, it will wait the specified time for replies (after the first transmission ends). If no reply is received, it will shortly move on to the next system without checking to see if any of the other control channels you entered are active. If you set a system hold time, the scanner will remain in that system for the specified time before moving to the next programmed system (in quick key order). It still will not check the other control channels. [In ID Search mode, the scanner will stop on any active talkgroup. Those that you've entered, with text tags, will display the text. Those not entered will be received & only display the talkgroup being received. Hitting the SCAN key while scanning a system toggles the scanner between ID Scan & ID Search on that system.]

To ensure that the other control channels are checked, they need to be in a separate system, with their own set of talkgroups. This is something that Uniden changed on the 996, but on the 396, that is what needs to be done. The only sites that you might consider advantageous combining in one system are the ones that are so separated by distance or by topography (large hills, mountains, or ridge lines), that it is impossible to pick up both sites at the same time.
 

SigNiner

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hiegtx, So right now I have a system (king County) with 50 talk groups in it.
In the trunk options area are 17 control channels. You're saying this isn't really a good setup huh. the default was 14 control channels and 32 talk groups btw.
So I need to set up 17 systems with 1 control channel in each and duplicate the 50 talk groups?
 

loumaag

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SigNiner said:
hiegtx, So right now I have a system (king County) with 50 talk groups in it.
In the trunk options area are 17 control channels. You're saying this isn't really a good setup huh. the default was 14 control channels and 32 talk groups btw.
So I need to set up 17 systems with 1 control channel in each and duplicate the 50 talk groups?
Okay, if you are talking about the Seattle-King County Public Safety System, then I am confused since the numbers 17 & 14 don't seem to relate to it any way I can see. However in general, take this advice. Until you are really comfortable with the way the scanner works, just use one system and put the control channels in the one system from all the sites. Put the site that you are closest to or the one you think you want to monitor the most at the top of the list of frequencies as you program them. Remember, the 396 will grab and hold the 1st CCh it comes across that it can decode.

I own this radio along with others, I am well aware of what some consider a limitation. In my own experience this is not a limitation at all. Why do you want the radio scanning systems (read separate CCh's) for sites that are not local to where you are. Note that it takes real time to go through each system. Maybe some people want that, but I am more interested in what is happening around me than what is happening 20 miles away. In my current situation, by monitoring the Downtown site of the STARNet system here in Houston, I can hear 95% of all communications on the entire system anyway, why you ask, well because the dispatch center, the emergency ops center and the local transportation coordination office all use radios that affiliate with the downtown site, so all the communications (at least the ones I am interested in) even from the surrounding counties, show up on the downtown site. Each system is different, first start monitoring then decide how to set it up for you.
 

hiegtx

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What Lou is referring makes sense, in suggesting putting your 'home' site's control channel at the top. There is no point having 17 systems. The point I was trying to get across (not very well) was that the 396 will only use the first active control channel it can receive. STARNET is a muti-site systm, spanning several counties in the Houston, TX metro area. There are zero comparable systems here in the Dallas-Ft Worth metro area. Closest one to us is the ETMC system. I can barely hear one site, from an adjoining county. It's biggest base is about 70 miles east of the Dallas area.
 
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