Indiana PSR-500 Owners, Let's Network!

[KC9NEG]

I live near Eagle Creek Airpark and have a PSR-500 pre-ordered. Anyone from central IN want to network (using WIN500) to get the most out of the new radio? Maybe we could use this thread to share ideas/files--or is there a better way?

Looking forward to hooking up with other central IN PSR-500 owners...
Todd/Indy

 

[bacon]

Sure. I will be ordering my PSR-500 the first week of November. Would have pre-ordered but I didn't want to put it on credit and I only get paid on the last day of every month. One paycheck a month really sucks sometimes, especially like now when I realy would like to have my PSR-500 ASAP.

 

[IndyEmsGuy]

I will be getting my PSR-500 here soon. I would love to see about networking. When we all get em then we can see what we can do.

 

[afdscan]

I now have my PSR-500. I'm having some difficulty programming SAFE-T systems. Do I use the MOT 800/900, P25 MANUAL, or the P25 AUTO when entering system type? In addition, do I need to enter all of the Control Channels or just the ones for my immediate area?

 

[Viper43]

Not sure but since it's analog and digital I'd say Auto.

V

 

[jerk]

I now have my PSR-500. I'm having some difficulty programming SAFE-T systems. Do I use the MOT 800/900, P25 MANUAL, or the P25 AUTO when entering system type? In addition, do I need to enter all of the Control Channels or just the ones for my immediate area?

Use MOT 800/900 and Control Channels only will work fine.
AL

 

[afdscan]

Thanks... I used the MOT 800/900 CC only and it works fine.

 

[GTO_04]

Thanks... I used the MOT 800/900 CC only and it works fine.

We will be very interested in seeing how it works on SAFE-T. Users in other states are reporting some problems with decoding Motorola digital systems.

GTO_04

 

[bacon]

PSR-500: Limited Multi-Site TrunkTracking Capability

Well below is the link to some interesting news (bad news for me concerning SAFE-T) that I just found out about. It's a PSR-500's limitation that became evident after taking a look at the PSREdit software that was just released. The reply to a question about the PSREdit software from the designer about how many control channels can be entered in a system for multi-site trunking rally devestated me. I was really hoping to at least to be able to program all control channels for a SAFE-T zone. (PSR-500: Once again the old saying 'If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.' is as true as ever. DARN IT!)

I have to say I am starting to reevaluate my decision to purchase a PSR-500. I need to decide if the benefit of "some" multisite capability is worth the cost of adding a third digital scanner to my collection.

Here is the link: http://radioreference.com/forums/showpost.php?p=632565&postcount=33

 

[KC9NEG]

I don't think the 32-channel limit is a big deal if you program the four SAFE-T zones separately and carefully choose what sites to program/omit. Testing needed, but I don't traverse the entire state enough to do so.

Todd/Indy

 

[scannerfreak]

Well below is the link to some interesting news (bad news for me concerning SAFE-T) that I just found out about. It's a PSR-500's limitation that became evident after taking a look at the PSREdit software that was just released. The reply to a question about the PSREdit software from the designer about how many control channels can be entered in a system for multi-site trunking rally devestated me. I was really hoping to at least to be able to program all control channels for a SAFE-T zone. (PSR-500: Once again the old saying 'If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.' is as true as ever. DARN IT!)

I have to say I am starting to reevaluate my decision to purchase a PSR-500. I need to decide if the benefit of "some" multisite capability is worth the cost of adding a third digital scanner to my collection.

Here is the link: http://radioreference.com/forums/showpost.php?p=632565&postcount=33

You can easily program all control channels in a zone . You just can't have both Primary and Alternates. This is no big deal because SAFE-T doesn't alternate CC's unless there is a problem with the primary and then it doesn't stay that way for long. So really programming the alternate is useless. Remember, There are not very many systems out there that have and use as many unique CC's as SAFE-T. In fact, I bet it has the most for any one State.

 

[Viper43]

The sites I monitor change CC's all the time, either 12 or 24 hours depending on the site, and it's SAFET

V

 

[afdscan]

I have programmed the SAFE-T system with ISP Districts 25, 51 & 41 and have found the audio and the reception to be superior to my BC396. There is absolutely no machine gunning that was almost constant on my uniden radios. For me, the PSR500 was a great choice.

 

[KC9NEG]

I had a 396 for a few days. I loved to form factor/build quality, but it drove me nuts with machine-gunning and "underwater" sounding audio on SAFE-T. I returned it in favor of my trusty Pro-96. I was out of state over the weekend and heven't as much time to compare/contrast the 500 vs. the 96. But machine gunning is not a problem at all with the 500, I'm happy to say. I plan to play tonight after the Colts vs. Jags game.

Todd/Indy

 

[scannerfreak]

The sites I monitor change CC's all the time, either 12 or 24 hours depending on the site, and it's SAFET

V

Really?? Which ones? I didn't think any of them actively rotated CC's.

 

[bacon]

SAFE-T: Alternating CCs?

The sites I monitor change CC's all the time, either 12 or 24 hours depending on the site, and it's SAFET

V

I was comming into the forum just to ask about just that. Please share with us which SAFE-T sites alternate CC frequencies.

1. Does anyone monitor SAFE-T sites that do alternate their CCs?

2. If so, what SAFE-T sites are they and how often do they rotate?

Since finding out only 32 channels are allowed for a trunked system, I've had to rethink my previously planned configurations for the PSR-500. I have basically decided to go with zones and fit in as many TGs and CCs from the bodreing zone counties as possible. Of course now alternating CCs will just add more difficulty into figuring out a workable configuration.

 

[jerk]

Really?? Which ones? I didn't think any of them actively rotated CC's.

I don't see any rotation down in Southern Indiana, only changes I've seen is when they first come active, and if a new tower goes active, a CC might change to something new.

AL

 

[Viper43]

A better setup for the PSR may be to use this instead of 5 districts as it will allow up to the 32 frequencies using the ISP Mutual aid districts instead as there are more mutual aid districts than ISP districts. Just an idea to avoid the limits.

http://www.in.gov/ipsc/safe-t/update/mutual-aid-options.pdf

V

 

[bacon]

A better setup for the PSR may be to use this instead of 5 districts as it will allow up to the 32 frequencies using the ISP Mutual aid districts instead as there are more mutual aid districts than ISP districts. Just an idea to avoid the limits.

http://www.in.gov/ipsc/safe-t/update/mutual-aid-options.pdf

V

Thanks for the advice on setting up the PSR-500. My original plan was to setup V-Folders by ISP areas (I, II, III, IV, and V) but I still would have run into the CC limitation issue if I wanted to program in the secondary CCs. It looks like I will be able to fit a ISP areas or a whole zone in a V-Folder if I only use primary CCs. That is why I'm trying to make sure they don't alternate once the SAFE-T site is established. I understand I may have to sacrifice some SAFE-T or other TRS TGs but I can live with that. My biggest concern was with not being able to fit in all the secondary CCs which ever way I decide to set up the multi-site tracking. I really don’t want to go to smaller than an ISP area per V-Folder because I don’t want to have to be constantly searching for and/or pushing buttons to change V-Folders while traveling.

I do fully understand now why the frequency list is limited to 32 per system I remember correctly how Motorola Type II SmartZone Omnilink systems like SAFE-T are setup. They can have up to 4 zone controllers with a maximum of 128 CCs. That’s 32 CCs per zones. Doing the math; dividing 128 CCs by 4 zones you get 32 CCS per zone (ergo 32 CCs per TRS system in the PSR-500). DUH!

I just wish GRE would have compensated for secondary CCs. Maybe (but I doubt it) this is something that can be addressed later with a firmware update. I think I am leaning toward buying a PSR-500 again. After all, I’ve been getting all my systems and objects ready for it. I think I have the biggest and baddest SAFE-T Excel spreadsheet in the state of Indiana.

 

[Viper43]

Thanks for the advice on setting up the PSR-500. . I think I have the biggest and baddest SAFE-T Excel spreadsheet in the state of Indiana.

No problem, I thought of it as soon as I saw that map and this thread popped into mind

Ummm, you have the TG's in a spread sheet? I knew I should have asked if anyone did that... lol

Tonight I started another list, will finish it tomorrow night but it will have all the needed CC's and who uses them just to get an idea of whats really required. Each county will be red or blue as in the RR DB. that way users can decide which frequency they want to use. I am 3/4 of the way through entering the frequecies and the counties. I started the TG xls the other night but haven't gotten very far..... I'm slow typing

V