MA State Police Monitoring problem ?

[BOBRR]

Hi,

Still pretty new at this. Have a SDS 200.
Have read, and re-read, many times, Mark's Easier...
Great source, reasonably clear, but still have questions.

So, may i please ask this.

Have things working, more or or less the way i want them.

But, cannot get anything for the MA State Police.
Have set it up in Sentinel, and downloaded to Scanner

If I try to activate only this, and use the QK I assigned to it, No. 6, i get the nothing to scan msg.
Can't figure out why.

I have QK 6 Enabled and Selected.

a. Do i want "ID Search" set for this ?

And all the other TRS SystemsI have i have ? Why ?

c. Location Type seems set to Circle, but I have LocationControl set to OFF. Correct ?

Might someone please suggest the most likely item(s) I should check ?
Probably missing something simple, as usual.

If desired, would be glad to send screen shots of Sentinel setup, or settings, as a private msg. or as Files.
Didn't want to take up lots of room here in doing so.

Thanks, appreciate the help and any suggestions
Bob

 

[cg]

Did you turn that favorite list on?
Edit
Profile
look down the list until you see the favorite list in question, first column of options, does it say On? (It needs to)

Are the Department and Site QKs on? Easiest thing is to Edit the Favorite, choose the System and look at the QK Status.

 

[KEWB-N1EXA]

Hi,

Still pretty new at this. Have a SDS 200.
Have read, and re-read, many times, Mark's Easier...
Great source, reasonably clear, but still have questions.

So, may i please ask this.

Have things working, more or or less the way i want them.

But, cannot get anything for the MA State Police.
Have set it up in Sentinel, and downloaded to Scanner

If I try to activate only this, and use the QK I assigned to it, No. 6, i get the nothing to scan msg.
Can't figure out why.

I have QK 6 Enabled and Selected.

a. Do i want "ID Search" set for this ?

And all the other TRS SystemsI have i have ? Why ?

c. Location Type seems set to Circle, but I have LocationControl set to OFF. Correct ?

Might someone please suggest the most likely item(s) I should check ?
Probably missing something simple, as usual.

If desired, would be glad to send screen shots of Sentinel setup, or settings, as a private msg. or as Files.
Didn't want to take up lots of room here in doing so.

Thanks, appreciate the help and any suggestions
Bob

Dont Own a SDS200 but the Uniden 15 and multiple 996s

"Nothing to scan" means It didnt load from the PC or your not Assigning the Quick key correctly.

Next is where in MA do you live because it is broken up into Zones lots of Analog Trunk but go far west and your in P25 Land.

Sounds like your Favorite list like the first response is not on or set up wrong but if you did the Zip Code Loading of data it should set your
State Police zone up for you.

Peter N1EXA

 

[BOBRR]

Hi,

Great.

All set now (I think).

Thanks so much for the help.

Regards, and stay well,
Bob

 

[KEWB-N1EXA]

If your in the Boston are you are in Zones 1 & 5 and possibly 3 looking south.

Peter N1EXA

 

[BOBRR]

Hi Peter,

Sure is a lot to learn with this.

Main interests are aero., and Law Enforcement, but, frankly, thrilled to get
most anything with unit.

I am a few miles just North of Framingham, Mass.

Regards,
Bob

 

[ecps92]

Not for the MSP - they are not on Zone 1 - that is primarily Boston, DCR and Non MSP

IF I recall the OP is Metro West, so for him his choices are Zone 5 and/or Zone 8

If your in the Boston are you are in Zones 1 & 5 and possibly 3 looking south.

Peter N1EXA

 

[BOBRR]

Hi,

You can tell I'm a true beginner with this.
But trying, very hard, to learn.
Lots of fun, particularly at my age now.

so,

One I/we establish the correct MSP Zone, what do I, or should I, do with this information ?

Bob

 

[bobruzzo]

Hi,

You can tell I'm a true beginner with this.
But trying, very hard, to learn.
Lots of fun, particularly at my age now.

so,

One I/we establish the correct MSP Zone, what do I, or should I, do with this information ?

Bob

I was in similar boat. I am down here in Cranston RI. What I did was (in Sentinel) made new favorite in Favorites List....called it "Mass State Police" then in Sentinel I went to database, looked up (for what I can hear in my location) the "BRISTOL/PLYMOUTH" system and just added (appended to FL) a bunch of talk groups in the surrounding area of Zone 3 (Bristol County Ma.) From what I understand there's a lot of overlap so even tho I have some Boston TG's in there, sometimes you can hear them on other systems. I cant hear any other Mass State PD systems from here other than Bristol/Plymouth County. But I can hear stuff coming in from all over the entire Cape Cod area, some stuff out of Boston, etc. It is VERY confusing choosing what TG's to assign to what system cause any certain talk group can be heard on more than one system. The main thing is figuring out (and I am still learning) how to set up favorite(s) in Sentinel. You would think with these new modern radios, it would be simple! Same problem in RI with RISCON......as far as which talk groups do you assign to which zone? Due to overlap in these system, it appears to create more work for us.

 

[bobruzzo]

Also from what I see in your area in the Sentinel database, if you have a good antenna up nice and high there's a TON of stuff to hear....including conventional stuff. You are lucky to have 360 degrees all around! I looked up just conventional things, like all the NON Mass state police agencies....there are MANY MANY to pick from. Where I live there is NOTHING to my west....with exception of scratchy lowband and uhf transmissions from Windham County CT. Not worth listening to....weak signals. And to my South, most PD's are encrypted and most conventional stuff outta range. So I listen to stuff out of the NORTH and EAST mostly. In my SDS200 I have just the RISCON system in Rhode Island, The Mass State PD and Bristol County Police. Not a heck of a lot but its pretty active.

 

[ecps92]

As Smokey Bear once said, "Only You can Prevent Forest Fires"

So in the Scanner world, "Only you can determine what you can RX, not any of us from the interwebs"

Once you determine the best site for your Primary QTH use that.

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System, Statewide, Massachusetts

Massachusetts State Police Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Hi,

You can tell I'm a true beginner with this.
But trying, very hard, to learn.
Lots of fun, particularly at my age now.

so,

One I/we establish the correct MSP Zone, what do I, or should I, do with this information ?

Bob

 

[BOBRR]

Hello,

O.K., guess my Town (Sudbury) is considered covered by Troop H

What is the difference between MSP "Troops" (like my being in H), and MSP "Zones" ?

Bob

 

[ecps92]

a Troop is the MSP Patrol Areas.
Troops A-H [E now Retired] are wide area and broken down into Barracks that patrol specific Cities/Towns and properties

MSP Zone and/or Towers relate to Radio Sites

Hello,

O.K., guess my Town (Sudbury) is considered covered by Troop H

What is the difference between MSP "Troops" (like my being in H), and MSP "Zones" ?

Bob