Location, location, location

[MCKFD34]

I have a weird question/observation. I notice on the RR database, it shows my town's TG location with a 5mi radius on a map. The problem is my town is 16 miles east to west, and, according to the map on RR, the circle doesn't even cover my part of town. When editing my FL for my town (Guilderland, Albany County, NY), I notice in Location settings the TG is default to 5mi as well (department, location tab when I edit the FL). I set it to 20mi but I don't know what that means. I also notice a "Location Control" setting on FL options (yes or no). I ask all of this b/c I still get inconsistent reception, cut outs etc. Not all the time, however. Any feedback on this? Trying to sort it out. Thank you!

 

[phask]

Submit it to RR as a correction - It might just be an oversight .

 

[MCKFD34]

Thanks, so what does the location control actually do then?

 

[buddrousa]

On GPS and ZIPCODE scanning sets the range for these options.

 

[hiegtx]

Thanks, so what does the location control actually do then?

In my home area, where I know what I can, and cannot, hear, regardless of range settings for the system or in the scanner itself, I do not use location control. But if traveling to, or through, an unfamiliar area, location control and a GPS are used.

If using Location Control on a Favorites list you created, be sure that you either append the systems from the main database, which insures that location data is available in the list, or manually add location and range for systems and departments when you manually create the list. If the location is left blank (zero degrees for both latitude and longitude), the location for that (zero degrees) is off the coast of Africa, so any system or department without correct location data would never be enabled.

For a more complete description of how location works, see this page:
How it Works: Location, Location, Location

 

[ofd8001]

This relates to the Radio Reference database rules, rather than scanner operation.

RR uses the geographic area of the jurisdiction for Department Range. For example a city that is 10 miles wide will have a Range of 5 miles (1/2 that width) with the location being at the mid-point of the circle. This means your scanner will turn this Department off when you are more than 5 miles from the center of town, even though it is likely you can still receive a good radio signal.

There had to be a way of arranging the database and that's the way RR chose to do that.

The work around is either via Favorites List and increasing the Department Range to at least your distance to the center of the city. You could also increase your Scanner Range.

I'm in a similar situation. A county about 40 miles away puts out enough radio "horsepower" for me to receive. However the database sets the Range of that county to 20 miles. I bumped up the Department Range to 50 miles and listen away.

 

[MCKFD34]

Thank you all. I will try a few different settings....

 

[bob550]

Could this range circle be applicable to the older VHF frequencies listed in the database that remain in use? While I can easily receive Guilderland on the P25 system at my location at a distance of 11 miles, I've always had difficulty receiving the VHF frequencies. The P25 "County Cell" on which Guilderland primarily operates actually shows a 20-mile radius, encompassing the entire county.

 

[buddrousa]

With the newer Unidens YES
X36's YES ZIPCODE OR GPS
996P2 YES WITH GPS
325P2 YES WITH GPS
SDS's YES ZIPCODE OR GPS
15 & 15X YES WITH GPS

 

[ofd8001]

The Range circle applies to everything - brand new, ancient and everything in between.

For Sites, the range is based on a best guess of how far the signal will go.

For Departments containing either digital or analog frequencies, or containing trunked talkgroups, Range is based on the boundaries of the service area.

You cannot eek out any more range from a site, other than moving the antenna higher.

For departments you can probably push those limits, either a little or a lot depending on numerous factors.

Comparing reception of two different things is tenuous. So many variables such as transmitter power, antenna gain and height, whether antennas are directional favoring away from you, topography, obstructions, foiliage and so on.