More help with 800mhz mass trunking

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bobruzzo

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Hello

I am using a Radio Shack Pro 2055 with 50' of LMR 400 to a discone up about 30'. I have been trying to get the 800 mhz Mass state police trunking system, zone 3 Troop "D" Bristol County. I am in Rhode Island not too far from Providence on a moderate hill. Apparently I can only find one CONTROL CHANNEL that "works"......859.8375. There are 3 more control channels listed on the "Scan New England" Massachusetts state PD page. But I hear nothing on them....Here are the OTHER freqs they have listen as control channels:


859.2875CC & Voice2015.01.28 N1BHH
859.8375CC & Voice2019.06.23 ecps92
858.3625CC & Voice2015.01.28 N1BHH
855.9125
None of these work for me as control channels except 859.8375. If I go to that channel and pause, there is a sound like a diesel engine running. If I put radio back to scan it seems to work ok. I have scanner set to "open" for talk groups. I programmed in a bunch of talk groups. This is all VERY confusing. Before I had VOICE channels mixed in with CONTROL channels. Apparently when the scanner STOPS on 859.8375 when there's a signal.....the frequency reads out a DIFFERENT FREQUENCY......which apparently look like the VOICE freqs! I see at least 3 different frequencies displayed randomly one at each instance of a transmission. I was told I DO NOT NEED to program voice freqs......But I still read conflicting information. For example one source says to put ONLY ONE control channel (preferable in the SECOND [001] spot in a bank. It also said to NOT put more than one control channel in a single bank. I am, however still receiving lots of transmissions and lots of different talk groups being displayed. Scanner is set to MOTOROLA [MO] when I programmed these freqs. Right now I am monitoring ONE channel with 859.8375 in it but I have to put radio in scan mode or I get that control channel "diesel engine" noise. I assume I can program standard FM freqs in the same bank as this control channel. But right now I have everything else in bank 4 locked out except for 859.8375 which seems to be working as it should. Maybe those other 3 control channels are not working? Reception is fair to moderate as I have a BIG HILL between my house and the direction of Bristol county Mass. I may think about getting an 800mhz BEAM antenna in the hopes my reception will improve. If I drive over the hill to other side, I can hear the voice freqs FULL QUIET in my car scanner. The reason I like to listen to these freqs is there is A LOT more action going on than the routine stuff in RI. So I just need some questions answered.....can I put more than one control channel in a bank? Does a control channel have to be put in the SECOND SLOT in a bank? Thanks......Bob
 

WA0CBW

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A site has only one control channel active at a time. One of the alternate control channels become active if the primary fails or the system manager decides to rotate to the next alternate. In Harris systems any of the frequencies can become the control channel. The scanner only "scans" until it finds the programmed control channel and then monitors the control channel until it hears a channel grant for a talk group you have programmed. Providing it meets your choices of agency, group, gps etc. it goes to the channel grant frequency and decodes the audio. It then goes back to the control channel again listening for a talk group match to what you have programed.
bb
 

garys

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859.8375 is the primary control channel for Zone 3. The others are alternate or secondary control channels. At one time, the system rotated control channels on a daily basis, but now they just exist in case the primary goes down.

I don't believe that the Pro2055 uses Control Channel Only trunking, so you need to put in all of the frequencies from Zone 3. The scanner will show the control channel frequency until a voice channel becomes active. At which point it will show the frequency of the active voice channel.

I haven't used one of the older Pro scanners in a long time, so I forget if there is a required order for Motorola trunking or not. I seem to remember the EDACS required the channels be entered in a specific order, but that's different.

If you don't have the manual, it is available on line.
 

bobruzzo

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859.8375 is the primary control channel for Zone 3. The others are alternate or secondary control channels. At one time, the system rotated control channels on a daily basis, but now they just exist in case the primary goes down.

I don't believe that the Pro2055 uses Control Channel Only trunking, so you need to put in all of the frequencies from Zone 3. The scanner will show the control channel frequency until a voice channel becomes active. At which point it will show the frequency of the active voice channel.

I haven't used one of the older Pro scanners in a long time, so I forget if there is a required order for Motorola trunking or not. I seem to remember the EDACS required the channels be entered in a specific order, but that's different.

If you don't have the manual, it is available on line.

I did enter all the frequencies given for Zone 3 that I found on the "scan new england" Massachusetts page.....I entered all control and voice.....seemed to be working ok...but I noticed when the scanner stopped on 859.8375, there were voice freqs being displayed. So I locked out ALL but the main control channel and it still was working....displaying in random order on each different transmission, 3 or 4 of the voice channels. So the 2055 MIGHT do control channel as well as voice channel. I do have that "easy to follow" scanner website with manual for my radio. It doesnt say anything about control channel only reception though.
 

garys

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Maybe the 2055 does do control channel only trunking, but it's been so long since I looked at one that I can't recall. The scanner displaying the voice channel when it stops on a TG is normal. I'd leave all of the channels unlocked. Also, have you entered TGs?
 

WA0CBW

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A control channel can be a voice channel when it is not the active control channel. It can be configured to be the last voice channel assigned when the system gets busy.
bb
 

ecps92

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the RS-2055 aka Pro-97 aka GRE does do CC Only

for the OP You should alway enable all 4 of the Control channels. That way when it changes, CC's you are not in a panic
it does not hurt to have the other voice channels in that bank either, no harm, no foul

Likely what the OP is seeing is the CC Flashing back-n-forth between the Voice Channel and TG # or Alpha Tag

859.8375 is the primary control channel for Zone 3. The others are alternate or secondary control channels. At one time, the system rotated control channels on a daily basis, but now they just exist in case the primary goes down.

I don't believe that the Pro2055 uses Control Channel Only trunking, so you need to put in all of the frequencies from Zone 3. The scanner will show the control channel frequency until a voice channel becomes active. At which point it will show the frequency of the active voice channel.

I haven't used one of the older Pro scanners in a long time, so I forget if there is a required order for Motorola trunking or not. I seem to remember the EDACS required the channels be entered in a specific order, but that's different.

If you don't have the manual, it is available on line.
 

bobruzzo

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the RS-2055 aka Pro-97 aka GRE does do CC Only

for the OP You should alway enable all 4 of the Control channels. That way when it changes, CC's you are not in a panic
it does not hurt to have the other voice channels in that bank either, no harm, no foul

Likely what the OP is seeing is the CC Flashing back-n-forth between the Voice Channel and TG # or Alpha Tag

OK so I did enable both CC and voice channels in the bank on my radio. I did enter a BUNCH of talk groups and wrote them down. I can identify them when they display....I am hearing MANY groups......DOT hiway, conservation, fire, police, prisoner transport, some groups out of Boston......So I guess I should be OK with this now.......still thinking about getting a better antenna.....the discone works OK but I think since there is a big hill between my house and the direction of the signals I am listening to, Maybe a BEAM antenna up HIGHER might bring those signals in stronger. I do get a bit of "picket fencing" receiving though. Sometimes close to full quiet....but almost always with slight bit of white noise. On the OTHER side of the hill, FULL QUIET! In mobile. The TOP of hill is VERY good radio spot. But houses in that neighborhood are $,$$$,$$$!!!
 

ecps92

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If you go with a beam, here are the main sites to aim for
OK so I did enable both CC and voice channels in the bank on my radio. I did enter a BUNCH of talk groups and wrote them down. I can identify them when they display....I am hearing MANY groups......DOT hiway, conservation, fire, police, prisoner transport, some groups out of Boston......So I guess I should be OK with this now.......still thinking about getting a better antenna.....the discone works OK but I think since there is a big hill between my house and the direction of the signals I am listening to, Maybe a BEAM antenna up HIGHER might bring those signals in stronger. I do get a bit of "picket fencing" receiving though. Sometimes close to full quiet....but almost always with slight bit of white noise. On the OTHER side of the hill, FULL QUIET! In mobile. The TOP of hill is VERY good radio spot. But houses in that neighborhood are $,$$$,$$$!!!
 

garys

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It sounds like you have the system in "Search" mode, or maybe they still used the "Open" term for that scanner. If you put into the ID Scan or "Closed" mode, you'll get only the TGs that you have entered.

The MSP system is very busy, so it's generally better to run it in ID Scan mode.
 

bobruzzo

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bobruzzo

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It sounds like you have the system in "Search" mode, or maybe they still used the "Open" term for that scanner. If you put into the ID Scan or "Closed" mode, you'll get only the TGs that you have entered.

The MSP system is very busy, so it's generally better to run it in ID Scan mode.

Yes my scanner is in "open" mode. I left it in open mode because I wanted to be able to hear as much as I could and document what the TG's were. There are some TG's I can't identify though. I do have a list of about 35-40 of them with descriptions so when I hear them I will be able to identify them. I didnt bother to alpha tag the TG's cause its too tedious!
 

garys

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This link, Massachusetts State Police - Scan New England Wiki, has all the information on TGs that you'll need. Find the TGs you want to hear and plug them in.

It's very tedious to program these systems by hand. I use software by Butel, but there are others that other people prefer. The Butel software can be found here, Software for Uniden Whistler HOME PATROL HP1 HP-1 PRO-700 BCD436HP BCD536HP Radioshack GRE GRECOM MFJ DSE AOR police scanner software BCD996XT BCD396XT BC346T BCT15X PRO-404 PRO-405 PRO-97 PRO-96 PRO-2096 PRO-106 PRO-197 PRO-164 PRO-160 PRO-162 psr500 psr600 psr300 psr400 psr100 psr200 BCD996T BCT15 BC246T UBC800XLT UBC785XLT PRO-433 PRO-528 BCD396T PSR-500 PSR-600 PSR500 PSR600 PSR300 PSR400 PRO160 PRO106 PRO162 PRO164 PRO-197 PRO-2055


Yes my scanner is in "open" mode. I left it in open mode because I wanted to be able to hear as much as I could and document what the TG's were. There are some TG's I can't identify though. I do have a list of about 35-40 of them with descriptions so when I hear them I will be able to identify them. I didnt bother to alpha tag the TG's cause its too tedious!
 

ecps92

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Most are already documents, not sure if you will find any new ones.
The one exception is/would be how the radio handles Patches, Emergency Buttons etc

Post what you think might be New/Unknown
Yes my scanner is in "open" mode. I left it in open mode because I wanted to be able to hear as much as I could and document what the TG's were. There are some TG's I can't identify though. I do have a list of about 35-40 of them with descriptions so when I hear them I will be able to identify them. I didnt bother to alpha tag the TG's cause its too tedious!
 
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