Just got a PRO 106, have question

[event3horizon]

I've just getting used to this nice scanner. I'm not a scanner newb I've setup analog trunking before but this is a bit different.

I've got it though, my area has APCO-25 and I chose APCO-25 auto on the TSYS setup but I was wondering why I wasn't getting anything. So after looking, turns out my area uses mixed digital analog and that I need to set the system to 800/900 MOT. And it worked!! now I'm learning talkgroups and scanlists so it's all good.

My question is, sometimes when it's scanning, it seems to get "stuck" on a talkgroup even though there's no transmission. And when it scans, it justs "flickers" from scanning to some talkgroup and back and forth. But this happens sometimes. My signal to the control channel is 99 percent. I've tweaked squelch with a bit of success but again, intermittent success. Also, sometimes while scanning it goes from DG to VC, DG to VC, and there's static. Even though squelch is almost closed. Weird!

How can I "stabilize" this stuff? Any options to tweak/check?

I'm scanning sarasota county public system, FL by the way.

Thanks

 

[krokus]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.973 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

If Sarasota's system is a simulcast P25 system, the 106, and the PSR-500 it is based on, have issues decoding those signals.

There is also the chance that those transmissions are encrypted, which the radio mutes. (It would be gibberish anyway.)

 

[detroit780]

106 tg

The Pro-106 does not Mute an encrypted signal. The only GRE radio that does that is the PSR-800. If it's encrypted it will be scrambled audio.

If it sticks on a TG it may just be someone keyed up and not talking or the end of a transmission that you tuned in late for. Since it does not happen all the time I suspect one of the above.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.973 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

If Sarasota's system is a simulcast P25 system, the 106, and the PSR-500 it is based on, have issues decoding those signals.

There is also the chance that those transmissions are encrypted, which the radio mutes. (It would be gibberish anyway.)

 

[DonS]

If you're programming this Sarasota system:

1. It's a rebanded system. Did you program the custom trunking tables? The symptom you describe ("sometimes when it's scanning, it seems to get "stuck" on a talkgroup even though there's no transmission. And when it scans, it justs "flickers" from scanning to some talkgroup and back and forth. But this happens sometimes.") indicates to me that you didn't program the rebanded tables.

2. The PRO-106 should skip encrypted comms on this system, as long as the control channel has the "encrypted" bit set in the status bits.

 

[RoninJoliet]

"Don" is correct, here in my city with a Motorola Type11 REBANDED analog system every time the VC on a 853.xxxx freqy came up all it did was flicker cause its choosing the WRONG Motorola #ing freqy until the "tables" were entered.....

 

[event3horizon]

If you're programming this Sarasota system:

1. It's a rebanded system. Did you program the custom trunking tables? The symptom you describe ("sometimes when it's scanning, it seems to get "stuck" on a talkgroup even though there's no transmission. And when it scans, it justs "flickers" from scanning to some talkgroup and back and forth. But this happens sometimes.") indicates to me that you didn't program the rebanded tables.

2. The PRO-106 should skip encrypted comms on this system, as long as the control channel has the "encrypted" bit set in the status bits.

Well, I didn't know anything about rebanding. Just assumed that the scanner will get the correct frequencies. So no I have not done rebanding. And the firmware is 1.3. I understand there's 1.9 now.

Do i *have* to have the programming cable to do what I need for rebanding? Or can I do it manually.
It's slightly annoying to spend 30-35 on a cable. Thank you all for the responses.

 

[DonS]

You can enter the required tables directly from the scanner's keypad. No software or programming cable is required.

See this web page, and look at the two table entries after the images of the programming software.

 

[fmon]

You can enter the required tables directly from the scanner's keypad. No software or programming cable is required.

See this web page, and look at the two table entries after the images of the programming software.

Aren't those frequencies from 866-869 and need to use all 6 tables?

and

Whats this--Location: Franktown, CO

 

[event3horizon]

alright i said hell with it and ran to RS and got the programming cable. I updated to 1.9 firmware. And I clicked that "800 rebanded" and uploaded it back. Sooo now I'm testing. I'm not sure if choosing rebanded affected anything.

 

[event3horizon]

feels like it's much better now, but I still get that flickering from time to time. Is this motorboating? what the heck is that (other than the real definition, lol)

I'm still pondering on how IN band sq timeout affects things as well as digital detect timeout. I have in band sq at 7, digital detect at 20. RF SQ fade timeout 10.

 

[Forts]

The Pro-106 does not Mute an encrypted signal. The only GRE radio that does that is the PSR-800. If it's encrypted it will be scrambled audio.

If it's a Type II system it will mute encrypted audio. On a true P25 system however it will not.

 

[Forts]

feels like it's much better now, but I still get that flickering from time to time. Is this motorboating? what the heck is that (other than the real definition, lol)

'Motorboating' is when you hear digital gibberish at the beginning of a transmission before the scanner can lock onto it and decode it properly. From my own experience this happens far FAR more often on Uniden scanners (especially the 'T' models). On my 396XT with digital talkgroups set to 'digital only' this rarely happens. The only time I typically hear motorboating on my Pro-96, Pro-106 or Pro-197 is during weak signal conditions. Unfortunately this motorboating has nothing to do with boobs

 

[DonS]

Aren't those frequencies from 866-869 and need to use all 6 tables?

The system in question only uses frequencies below 854MHz - the first two table entries (covering channels 0-719) will take care of it.

and

Whats this--Location: Franktown, CO

We got the h#$^ out of California back in August.

 

[fmon]

If it's a Type II system it will mute encrypted audio

I don't have any ENC of the 10 type II's in this area and 3 of them are smartzone's but recall several years ago in Jax FL that my 96/2096 ignored those ENC TG's. My 785D did not. The PSR-500 family may also ignore rather then mute ENC.

 

[DonS]

I don't have any ENC of the 10 type II's in this area and 3 of them are smartzone's but recall several years ago in Jax FL that my 96/2096 ignored those ENC TG's. My 785D did not. The PSR-500 family may also ignore rather then mute ENC.

Correct. The PSR-500 family (i.e. PSR-500/600, PRO-106/197) ignores calls on Mot 3600 systems where the full (16-bit) TGID from the control channel has the "encrypted" status bit set.

Same for the PSR-700 and PSR-800 families. I'd expect the PSR-310/410 to behave the same way, since they're based on the PSR-500 code.

 

[fmon]

Correct. The PSR-500 family (i.e. PSR-500/600, PRO-106/197) ignores calls on Mot 3600 systems where the full (16-bit) TGID from the control channel has the "encrypted" status bit set.

Same for the PSR-700 and PSR-800 families. I'd expect the PSR-310/410 to behave the same way, since they're based on the PSR-500 code.

The 800 has an option to "Ignore" or "Use" Status Bits: Don't know but suspect the 700 may have a similar option.

 

[DonS]

The 800 has an option to "Ignore" or "Use" Status Bits: Don't know but suspect the 700 may have a similar option.

The PSR-700 doesn't have the option.

In the PSR-800, that option tells the scanner how to treat TGIDs with status bits set vs. those without them. For example, if the option is set to "Use", TGID 48 would be considered different from TGIDs 49 through 63; if set to "Ignore", TGID 48 is considered the same as TGIDs 49 through 63. (In the scanner's "Settings" menu, this is the "M36 Status Bits" item: checked = "Use", unchecked = "Ignore".)

However, the scanners I mentioned above still explicitly look at the "encrypted" status bit - ignoring call grants/updates if that bit is set. The "Ignore" vs. "Use" setting in the PSR-800 has no effect on this behavior.

EDIT:

<tgid> = full, 16-bit value from CC's call grant/update message
// store the status bits for later
<statusbits> = <tgid> & 0x000F

// PSR-800 family only
    if ( Status Bits option set to "Ignore" )
      // mask out the status bits from the 16-bit TGID
      <tgid> = <tgid> & 0xFFF0
// end PSR-800 family only

// PSR-500 family only
    // always mask out the status bits
    <tgid> = <tgid> & 0xFFF0
// end PSR-500 family only

// Result:
// PSR-500 always ignores status bits
// PSR-700 always uses status bits
// PSR-800 is user-selectable

if ( <statusbits> has "encrypted bit" set )
  ignore this call grant/update
else
if ( <tgid> is interesting ("programmed") )
  handle the call

 

[event3horizon]

well It's working pretty damn good now thanks for all the help. I used Win500 and selected the "rebanded" preset. I think all channels come in good now and doesn't seem to miss any convos.