Is there an Alpha Tag Limit.

[wise871]

I was wondering if there was an Alpha Tag submission limit?
When I submit new data, I try to use between 12 and 16 characters since that is the limit of most alpha tag scanners and it makes things simple when users download from Radio Reference.

 

[rdale]

The Alpha Tag should be the actual tag on the radio that the "real users" use. So whatever they use, it what should be submitted.

 

[wise871]

Thanks, I always add the tags from the actual radio if I know it but there are times when either departments have the basic channel # listing (1,2,3,etc) or were unable to verify the actual display on the radio. That’s why I was asking about a text limit.

 

[lowboy654]

12 would be the number.

 

[lowboy654]

I just rechecked and it is 12 as the 96 and other's only do 12 so this was decided sometime ago the 12 would be the number.

 

[Highpockets]

I'd like to see the limit upped to 16 to match the new scanners, that's only my opinion, to me here is a excellent example of how a data base should look. With Upper and lower case in the alpha tags.

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=601

 

[lowboy654]

Well the ADmins here and the Webmaster have talked about this in great detail and 12 is what it will be at this point. sorry power user's here have more than enough knowledge to set up there scanners the why that they want them, in the mean time 12 is the number as far as this site goes.

 

[blantonl]

The Alpha Tag should be the actual tag on the radio that the "real users" use. So whatever they use, it what should be submitted.

Actually, that isn't entirely correct. The Alpha tag *should* be a 12 character descriptive tag for the talkgroup or frequency. That is what the official RR Admin policy is.

 

[Starcom21]

To be a little more clearer, according to what I've seen (and you can research) in previous messages on here.

Most people think that a "mixture" of upper and lower case work the best.
Some people think that ALL CAPS is the best way to go, possibly, in the way that the "actual" radio from the said agency displays on their radio.

If it is Wishobogo County Sheriff Dispatch, Channel 1, you can put
-- Wish Shrf F-1
-- Wish Sheriff (often F-1 is inferred on the Dispatch Channel, or it doesn't matter if there is no other dispatch channel)
-- Wish SD Disp1
(as long as "Wish" does not interfere with another nearby county or city name, it is easy to tell what the name means)

The choice is yours, but, not necessarily what you think is best, but what will tell the person whom is programming their scanner from the database.

They could be local people or from out of town.

You have to make it easy, simple to understand but also tell the user what they are listening too.

Bad examples, in my opinion are.
-- 44 Sheriff (as in saying 44 is the state ID for Wishobogo County)
-- SHRF DISP (doesnt have the county in the ALPHA TAG anywhere)
-- SHERIFF (same, and even more bland)
-- WSHBGOSHRF (like a run-on sentence and hard to read-to most people) (WshbgoShrf is much easier to comprehend)

Again, not every-one on here has the same opinion, and as Lyndsay said, there are some slight rules layed down on this.

In the end, you have to think of the person whom has just programmed their scanner using the RadioReference Web Service (the server that allows scanner programming utilities to access the RR Database) and has the said description pop-up on the screen.

Like always, ask if you have any more questions AND be sure to SEARCH this forum for previously talked-about issues like this. There are a lot of question already answered.

Some of the newer scanners, like the BCT-396T (and depending on the software used to program them) --- will put the "Agency ID" in the Top Line of the description therefore noteing that the freq's programmed are for that county, but you have to still think that older scanners like the PRO-2055 don't have per say "Systems" but banks & channels where you therefore are needed to include the master ID (or county) in the frequency name.

When it comes to TRS's (Trunked systems) the rules may change differently according to the scanner you are using. Often when the TG IDs (Talk Group IDs) are stored in the radios memory, when they display the TG Group ("Talk Group *GROUP*) are displayed, then you know that the ID belongs to the TG Group and you may not have to be as specific.

If you have any ideas how to more understand this, just simply go to other state/counties in the database and see what other Admins have done. Again, not saying that one way is better than the other, but you can see differences between them and possibly more understanding what you need to do.

Hopefully that is not too confusing!

Terry