I have several BC246T's and when it's scanning a truck system turning the squelch down all the way won't do anything. And as AtomicTaco suggested, it will indeed work when working a conventional system.
King/Seattle DB Questions.
- Thread starter AlmostHandy
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I have several BC246T's and when it's scanning a truck system turning the squelch down all the way won't do anything. And as AtomicTaco suggested, it will indeed work when working a conventional system.
I have what is likely a real dumb basic question.
With the BC246T in mind. If I program more than one control channel for a system, will it use the one with the strongest signal? Or does it just use the first control channel found in the list and use it regardless of the signal strength?
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AlmostHandy
Member
Right on.
That explanation by Atomic Taco is really well written.
That explanation by Atomic Taco is really well written.
Indeed it was. Perhaps he could take a look at this Wiki article (several years old) and see if it could use some updating.
AtomicTaco
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What you're looking for is multi site operations. The 996 will do it, and the soon to be released models are supposed to do it. I believe this it searches for a signal on the first CC, and if nothing is heard it goes to the next, and so on.
I'll see what I can do. And maybe I'll actually read what I wrote.
not sure where the original quote was from so I will quote back to taco.
it will grab the first channel that has data, then hold that channel as long as the "hold" time is set, then move to the next channel and hold there, if none then it just loops.
Absolutely awesome thread. It's all starting to make sense to this newbie... I do have another n00b question though:
I'm using a Radioshack Pro-93 and live in Seattle. I programmed in the following control channels:
Bank 0 Ch 00 868.42500 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 01 867.86250 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 02 851.81250 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 03 868.77500 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 04 868.20000 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 05 868.17500 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 06 851.41250 MOT D
When I scan through them, I virtually always lock in on Ch 05, or Ch 03. So I assume those are the closest repeaters. What I dont understand is what I'm listening to- because I never specified any talkgroup IDs, yet the scanner seems to know quite a few. It seems like all I ever hear is fire and police...
Am I correct in assuming that by default, a scanner will listen to all talkgroups unless otherwise specified?
Thanks,
TJS
I'm using a Radioshack Pro-93 and live in Seattle. I programmed in the following control channels:
Bank 0 Ch 00 868.42500 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 01 867.86250 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 02 851.81250 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 03 868.77500 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 04 868.20000 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 05 868.17500 MOT D
Bank 0 Ch 06 851.41250 MOT D
When I scan through them, I virtually always lock in on Ch 05, or Ch 03. So I assume those are the closest repeaters. What I dont understand is what I'm listening to- because I never specified any talkgroup IDs, yet the scanner seems to know quite a few. It seems like all I ever hear is fire and police...
Am I correct in assuming that by default, a scanner will listen to all talkgroups unless otherwise specified?
Thanks,
TJS
AlmostHandy
Member
So, you have:
Bank 0 Ch 00 868.42500 MOT D KC/Valcom Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 01 867.86250 MOT D K/C/Valcom Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 02 851.81250 MOT D K/C Valcom Control
Bank 0 Ch 03 868.77500 MOT D EPSCA Control
Bank 0 Ch 04 868.20000 MOT D EPSCA Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 05 868.17500 MOT D Seattle Control
Bank 0 Ch 06 851.41250 MOT D Seattle Alternate
That's three different Trunked Radio Systems.
The first three are for the King County/VallyCom System. The next two are for the Eastside. The next two are for Seattle.
They should all be in separate banks. They say you can put multiple trunked systems into one bank (provided they are separated by at least one conventional channel), but it's really a useless feature in this town. There are so many coms on any one of those systems, that trying to hear more than one of them at a time with a single receiver would be a jumbled mess. You would only be hearing pieces of conversations, and miss a lot of stuff.
Note that the Eastside system is Edacs and not Motorola, so frequencies have to start in the second channel of the bank (channels 001,101, 201, etc.), and have to be programmed in LCN (Logical Channel Number) order.
If you still want to monitor all three agencies, it might look like this:
Bank 0 Ch 00 851.81250 MOT D K/C Valcom Control
Bank 0 Ch 01 868.42500 MOT D KC/Valcom Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 02 867.86250 MOT D K/C/Valcom Alternate
Bank 1 Ch 01 868.77500 MOT D EPSCA Control
Bank 1 Ch 02 868.20000 MOT D EPSCA Alternate
Bank 2 Ch 00 868.17500 MOT D Seattle Control
Bank 2 Ch 01 851.41250 MOT D Seattle Alternate
Ok, now onto the talkgroups your hearing.
When the bank you're scanning is set to "Open" mode, you will hear any and all talkgroups that have affiliate with that trunked system. (Check out Post 8 of this thread for an AWESOME explanation of affiliation).
When the bank is set to "Closed" mode, you will only hear the talkgoups that you have programmed (as long as they are affiliated with that particular TRS).
On your radio, you can set a bank to be Open or Closed by quickly press FUNC then 5 while any channel in the bank is displayed or when the cursor blinks under the bank number.
The + or - under the bank number will denote if the bank is open or closed.
Bank 0 Ch 00 868.42500 MOT D KC/Valcom Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 01 867.86250 MOT D K/C/Valcom Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 02 851.81250 MOT D K/C Valcom Control
Bank 0 Ch 03 868.77500 MOT D EPSCA Control
Bank 0 Ch 04 868.20000 MOT D EPSCA Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 05 868.17500 MOT D Seattle Control
Bank 0 Ch 06 851.41250 MOT D Seattle Alternate
That's three different Trunked Radio Systems.
The first three are for the King County/VallyCom System. The next two are for the Eastside. The next two are for Seattle.
They should all be in separate banks. They say you can put multiple trunked systems into one bank (provided they are separated by at least one conventional channel), but it's really a useless feature in this town. There are so many coms on any one of those systems, that trying to hear more than one of them at a time with a single receiver would be a jumbled mess. You would only be hearing pieces of conversations, and miss a lot of stuff.
Note that the Eastside system is Edacs and not Motorola, so frequencies have to start in the second channel of the bank (channels 001,101, 201, etc.), and have to be programmed in LCN (Logical Channel Number) order.
If you still want to monitor all three agencies, it might look like this:
Bank 0 Ch 00 851.81250 MOT D K/C Valcom Control
Bank 0 Ch 01 868.42500 MOT D KC/Valcom Alternate
Bank 0 Ch 02 867.86250 MOT D K/C/Valcom Alternate
Bank 1 Ch 01 868.77500 MOT D EPSCA Control
Bank 1 Ch 02 868.20000 MOT D EPSCA Alternate
Bank 2 Ch 00 868.17500 MOT D Seattle Control
Bank 2 Ch 01 851.41250 MOT D Seattle Alternate
Ok, now onto the talkgroups your hearing.
When the bank you're scanning is set to "Open" mode, you will hear any and all talkgroups that have affiliate with that trunked system. (Check out Post 8 of this thread for an AWESOME explanation of affiliation).
When the bank is set to "Closed" mode, you will only hear the talkgoups that you have programmed (as long as they are affiliated with that particular TRS).
On your radio, you can set a bank to be Open or Closed by quickly press FUNC then 5 while any channel in the bank is displayed or when the cursor blinks under the bank number.
The + or - under the bank number will denote if the bank is open or closed.
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dste
Member
No! All three are the same Motorola SYSID 3D1C. The only EDACS around these parts is the PSE Gas company.
Yes! put them in seperate banks - or at least put a blank between the groups.
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AlmostHandy
Member
Oh my bad. Don't know where I got that. Sorry.
AtomicTaco
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I had previously used the dummy channel trick in order to get multi site operation to work on my '97, but found it to be rather annoying. I had some talkgroups programmed in that I wasn't sure which system they'd show up on, so I put 2 or more control channels in. A good example was while monitoring Seattle Fire. I don't want to lock out dispatch, but I don't always want to listen to it. Since there are no temporary lockouts, I'd just hit UP to skip past, and then it' lock on to the next control channel a few milliseconds later. If I do the same with only one control channel, I at least get almost a second between to let it search for another active talkgroup.
But in my extensive monitoring of this system, I've found that most of the extremely active talkgroups show up on all 3 systems, and even the intellirepeaters depending on where they are. For example Auburn PD is always on KC/VC and EPSCA, and very often on Seattle and Grass Mountain (among others). So if you have broad taste, just pick a control channel and put you talkgroups in there. At least you won't know what you're missing
But in my extensive monitoring of this system, I've found that most of the extremely active talkgroups show up on all 3 systems, and even the intellirepeaters depending on where they are. For example Auburn PD is always on KC/VC and EPSCA, and very often on Seattle and Grass Mountain (among others). So if you have broad taste, just pick a control channel and put you talkgroups in there. At least you won't know what you're missing
dste
Member
The basics are still set out very well. I certainly prefer to have a bank for Seattle simulcast, EPSCA Simulcast and a third bank for King Co/ ValleyCom. The only addition I could make is that the talkgroups are also grouped the same way. The lowest numbers home in Seattle, the mid numbers home in EPSCA and the higher numbers home in KC/VC except for some common items at the very top like LERN and PSOPS which could be used anywhere. AtomicTaco clearly described how any talkgroup could roam anywhere a legit user moved to - but as a scanner user I stick to the "home" concept when programming my scanner. RR does not detail which zone is the home zone as say the NW Frequency Directory book does. I certainly did not mean to jump on you.....
AtomicTaco
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No worries--we're all here to provide information and ask questions!
AlmostHandy
Member
A little clarification please.
On the Seattle/KC Trunked System DB page, there are Multiple sites, and then a huge list of Area Talkgroups.
Concerning the list labeled "Other Talkgroups", some of them are really vague, and I'm not sure what system they are normally affiliated with.
On a side note, is it totally impractical to add a column to the talkgroup lists that would tell us which site that TG was normally affiliated with?
Anyways, these are the IDs that I don't know quite what to do with. I'm guessing most of them will probably go in the KC/vallcom bank, but I just want to be sure. Some of those descriptions are like trying to read a vanity plate, and some are just really vague.
2256 08d A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2288 08f A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2320 091 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2352 093 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2384 095 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2416 097 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2448 099 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
5168 143 A ESD DAS TEL SVCS Emergency Ops
5200 145 A ESD DAS FAC MAINT Emergency Ops
5584 15d A S MUNI CT SEC Public Works
5648 161 A ESD treasurer Emergency Ops
6288 189 A SDAS fleet svcs Public Works s
22416 579 A Radio shop 2 Other
27024 699 A Youth Services Public Works
37616 92f A PDTRND-1 Law Talk
37648 931 A PDTRND-2 Law Talk
63056 f65 A local gov interop N Interop
63088 f67 A local gov interop S Interop
63120 f69 A local gov interop A Interop
63184 f6d A Radio shop Other
63216 f6f A Radio shop 2 Other
On the Seattle/KC Trunked System DB page, there are Multiple sites, and then a huge list of Area Talkgroups.
Concerning the list labeled "Other Talkgroups", some of them are really vague, and I'm not sure what system they are normally affiliated with.
On a side note, is it totally impractical to add a column to the talkgroup lists that would tell us which site that TG was normally affiliated with?
Anyways, these are the IDs that I don't know quite what to do with. I'm guessing most of them will probably go in the KC/vallcom bank, but I just want to be sure. Some of those descriptions are like trying to read a vanity plate, and some are just really vague.
2256 08d A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2288 08f A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2320 091 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2352 093 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2384 095 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2416 097 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
2448 099 A Fire Training/Drill Fire-Talk
5168 143 A ESD DAS TEL SVCS Emergency Ops
5200 145 A ESD DAS FAC MAINT Emergency Ops
5584 15d A S MUNI CT SEC Public Works
5648 161 A ESD treasurer Emergency Ops
6288 189 A SDAS fleet svcs Public Works s
22416 579 A Radio shop 2 Other
27024 699 A Youth Services Public Works
37616 92f A PDTRND-1 Law Talk
37648 931 A PDTRND-2 Law Talk
63056 f65 A local gov interop N Interop
63088 f67 A local gov interop S Interop
63120 f69 A local gov interop A Interop
63184 f6d A Radio shop Other
63216 f6f A Radio shop 2 Other
AtomicTaco
Member
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I've never seen any of these talkgroups ever pop up:
2288
2352
5168 Sea ESD Tel Svcs
5648 Treasurer-Sea ESD
22416 KC EmerMgt-Project
37616 Val PD Training 1
37648 Val PD Training 2
63216 Radio Shop 2
On the Valleycom training dispatch consoles they do have two training talkgroups (I'm not positive they're mapped to 37616/37648, the label just said Training 1/2), but I've never caught traffic on them.
I have 27024 as "KC Youth Services", it's the talkgroup for Juvie security.
These I've seen on the Seattle Simo, but doesn't mean they couldn't appear anywhere else. Most of the time my scanner is parked on 868.175. The last 4 are actually most likely to appear on KC/VC.
2256 Unknown: Dead key
2320 Unknown: 3 dead keys, one with a breath.
2384 (Seattle Fire) Battalion 5 Training Channel (confirmed name)
2416 Unknown: Dead key. 2/14/09 13:54:39 "Command from Engine 28" twice (later heard on 2384)
2448 Marine Drill: Two people trying to hear each other. "Yeah I'm gonna switch over to the (?)_(2?) side and see if it makes a difference." Sounds like they're planning to use the 800 radios and 450 radios; Tommy will be in the boat with a 450, I think. Boat #1 and Boat #2 heard; it's a drill for something. Lots of comms regarding the positioning of the two boats. They're small boats, because Boat 1 has an outboard. Engines and stations 4 and 29 radio checks just a few minutes after the drill.
5200 Sea ESD Fac Maint: "___ service this is for your radio check, how do you read? Over" 2/20/09 14:05:31 "___ for your radio check, how do you read? Over" "Clear over and out"
5584 Sea Muni Court: I've got a bunch of recordings that I need to listen to on this TG
6288 Sea ESD Fleet Svcs: "__ service testing, Charles street, how do you read, over?" "This is Charles street, read you loud and clear, over & out" "__ port operations unit charles street, I read you loud and clear, over and out, this is resource support operations unit calling services in Haller lake, how do you read over, Haller lake, I read you loud and clear. resource support operations unit to Haller lake, I read you loud and clear, over and out." 2/20/09 14:03:50 two dead keys.
The coordinator's voice procedure is very annoying.
63056 KV LocGov N: "__1 Dispatch"
63088 KV LocGov S: Dead key
63120 All Gov (confirmed name): I've logged the radio shop doing some testing.
63184 Radio Shop Com 1 (almost confirmed name): is a talkgroup that all the radio shops seem to have access to. Seattle is heard here most often.
--------------------------------------------
This is by no means official, it's just what I've noticed.
1616 - 9296: Seattle
9328 - 15952 Unallocated, save for 9360 where I heard "Eric to the office" twice.
15984 - 22384: EPSCA
22416 - 27664: King County
27696 - 43856: Mostly Valleycom, with some random County stuff, South King County agencies, and stuff that just seems to have gotten thrown in.
43888 - 44784: Unallocated
44816 - 45456: Seattle's digital channels
45488 - 59952: Unallocated, though I did get a dead key on 53616 on 2/18/09 at 09:24:58
59984 - 60368: Sound Transit
60400 - 60784: Unallocated
60816 - 63472: Mutual aid and stuff, beginning with the hospitals, then DOH, then Fire, then PD, then random stuff.
63504: White Center schools. Caught a dead key here.
2288
2352
5168 Sea ESD Tel Svcs
5648 Treasurer-Sea ESD
22416 KC EmerMgt-Project
37616 Val PD Training 1
37648 Val PD Training 2
63216 Radio Shop 2
On the Valleycom training dispatch consoles they do have two training talkgroups (I'm not positive they're mapped to 37616/37648, the label just said Training 1/2), but I've never caught traffic on them.
I have 27024 as "KC Youth Services", it's the talkgroup for Juvie security.
These I've seen on the Seattle Simo, but doesn't mean they couldn't appear anywhere else. Most of the time my scanner is parked on 868.175. The last 4 are actually most likely to appear on KC/VC.
2256 Unknown: Dead key
2320 Unknown: 3 dead keys, one with a breath.
2384 (Seattle Fire) Battalion 5 Training Channel (confirmed name)
2416 Unknown: Dead key. 2/14/09 13:54:39 "Command from Engine 28" twice (later heard on 2384)
2448 Marine Drill: Two people trying to hear each other. "Yeah I'm gonna switch over to the (?)_(2?) side and see if it makes a difference." Sounds like they're planning to use the 800 radios and 450 radios; Tommy will be in the boat with a 450, I think. Boat #1 and Boat #2 heard; it's a drill for something. Lots of comms regarding the positioning of the two boats. They're small boats, because Boat 1 has an outboard. Engines and stations 4 and 29 radio checks just a few minutes after the drill.
5200 Sea ESD Fac Maint: "___ service this is for your radio check, how do you read? Over" 2/20/09 14:05:31 "___ for your radio check, how do you read? Over" "Clear over and out"
5584 Sea Muni Court: I've got a bunch of recordings that I need to listen to on this TG
6288 Sea ESD Fleet Svcs: "__ service testing, Charles street, how do you read, over?" "This is Charles street, read you loud and clear, over & out" "__ port operations unit charles street, I read you loud and clear, over and out, this is resource support operations unit calling services in Haller lake, how do you read over, Haller lake, I read you loud and clear. resource support operations unit to Haller lake, I read you loud and clear, over and out." 2/20/09 14:03:50 two dead keys.
The coordinator's voice procedure is very annoying.
63056 KV LocGov N: "__1 Dispatch"
63088 KV LocGov S: Dead key
63120 All Gov (confirmed name): I've logged the radio shop doing some testing.
63184 Radio Shop Com 1 (almost confirmed name): is a talkgroup that all the radio shops seem to have access to. Seattle is heard here most often.
--------------------------------------------
This is by no means official, it's just what I've noticed.
1616 - 9296: Seattle
9328 - 15952 Unallocated, save for 9360 where I heard "Eric to the office" twice.
15984 - 22384: EPSCA
22416 - 27664: King County
27696 - 43856: Mostly Valleycom, with some random County stuff, South King County agencies, and stuff that just seems to have gotten thrown in.
43888 - 44784: Unallocated
44816 - 45456: Seattle's digital channels
45488 - 59952: Unallocated, though I did get a dead key on 53616 on 2/18/09 at 09:24:58
59984 - 60368: Sound Transit
60400 - 60784: Unallocated
60816 - 63472: Mutual aid and stuff, beginning with the hospitals, then DOH, then Fire, then PD, then random stuff.
63504: White Center schools. Caught a dead key here.
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AlmostHandy
Member
Awesome, that helps a ton.
Wow, that chart at the end will really help when listening in open mode.
Wow, that chart at the end will really help when listening in open mode.
AtomicTaco
Member
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- 246
Dump your entire list of talkgroups into a spreadsheet and then add all the missing talkgroups (keeping a spacing of 32) and you'll see it too. Actually I made mine with AutoFill and VLOOKUP, but that's just me.
dste
Member
Kent Sewers?
43760 aaf A Kent Sew Kent sewer Public Works
43792 ab1 A Kent SewT1 Kent sewer t1 Public Works
43824 ab3 A Kent Sewt2 Kent sewer t2 Public Works
Why does it sound more like School Bus traffic?
43760 aaf A Kent Sew Kent sewer Public Works
43792 ab1 A Kent SewT1 Kent sewer t1 Public Works
43824 ab3 A Kent Sewt2 Kent sewer t2 Public Works
Why does it sound more like School Bus traffic?
AtomicTaco
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This is what I have:
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