I am programming a WS 1040 to receive Nebraska State Patrol on a P25 Phase 2 system and I am confused on the term Multisite. This is statewide system and has several tower sites all with different control frequencies. What should I select?
The system you are programming, Nebraska State Patrol, is a P25 Phase II capable system, as
RaleighGuy has already noted.
Nebraska State Radio System Trunking System Profile
www.radioreference.com
However, in skimming through the talkgroups on the system, the vast majority are still indicated as using P25 Phase I. In my quick look-thru, Scotts Bluff County appears to be the only one tagged as using P25 Phase II. All the others, so far, are Phase I, which your scanner can receiver.
Hover your mouse over the Mode cloumn on the talkgroups.
Those shown with a
D in the Mode column are P25 Phase I, which your scanner can receive. Those with a
T are Phase II, beyond the capability of the WS1040. I suspect, that over time, you will see the talkgroups currently Phase I migrate to using Phase II. If that happens on one of interest to you, you will not be able to monitor them unless & until you get a Phase II capable scanner. (Those talkgroups that include an upper case
E are encrypted full time; you cannot monitor them. On the other hand, if the
e is lower case, then encryption is used only part of the time. You can monitor those TGIDs during the times encryption is not being used.)
The Wiki link already posted covers some of the Multi-site uses. Here is a link to that section of the Easier to Read manual:
Program only the control channels for the sites in your coverage area. There may be 4 listed (primary & alternates) for each site. Using only four, from each site, you can cover up to 8 sites. Control channel frequencies for each site are in
red, with a '
c' after the frequency.
If 'Multi-site' is not enabled (i.e. it's set as 'off'), the scanner will use only the first control channel it can receive, regardless of how many others are also programmed. It will not check for a signal on any of the other frequencies.
When Multi-site is set as Roam, the scanner will use the control channel that has the best receive signal. Again, no others will be checked unless & until it can no longer receive the first frequency used.
If you choose Stationary instead of Roam, then there are two choices that can be used.
Set as Stationary, but with 'Check All CC' set as Off, the scanner will use the first control channel it can decode. The next time that system comes up when scanning, it will use the next Control Channel it can receive. Each time that system is scanned, the scanner will try to use a different control channel. If no other frequencies are suitable, it will fall back to the only one it can hear.
If 'Check All CC' is set as "On", the scanner will stop on each control channel it can hear, and check for activity on any of the talkgroups that are programmed. It will go through each one (that it can hear) before going on to the next item in your scanlist selections.
More than likely, you probably would be best to program the primary site in your county of interest using only it's control channel frequencies. If there are additional sites in your county, or sites in adjacent counties that might also carry activity that interests you, then add the control channel frequencies for them. Then, set Multi-Site as Stationary. Remember that of you set 'Check All CC as
On, the scanner will check for activity on any of your programmed sites. If 'Set All...' is set as
Off, the scanner will check for activity on a different site each time that system is scanned (presuming that it can receive more than one site). Once it has checked each individual site in turn, then the next time that system comes up, it will start over, checking each site in turn.
