need help setting up Talk grp IDs on a Pro-96 for San Diego

[jwetzel]

hi. 1st time poster here. I just got a pro-96 for christmas, first new scanner I've had in 10 years and just picking up scanning again...so this trunking and talk group ID stuff is new to me

I entered the following freqs for San Diego "North Zone" into bank 0, channels 1-20:

856.1750
856.2000
857.1750
857.2000
858.1750
858.2000
859.2000
860.2000
860.2250
861.0000
861.1500
861.2000
861.5000
862.1500
862.2000
863.0000
863.1500
863.2500
864.2500
865.0000

i just got back from North Carolina (Winston Salem) and the talk group IDs appeared automatically, but thats not happening here.....

I'm trying to pick up North County (San Marcos) sheriff transmissions....

any help is appreciated. thanks

 

[JoeyC]

You're probably listening in closed mode with no talkgroups programmed where it was in open mode in NC.

 

[jwetzel]

i dont remember specifically setting it to either the "closed" mode or the "open" mode while in North Carolina. I just entered frequencies and the talk group IDs appeared automatically..............................


ok.......i just checked and the bank is set to open mode... any other sugs?

btw, thanks for the reply.

 

[seamusg]

1. Are you using win96 to program the scanner?
2. You should only have to program in the control channels:
861.2000
862.1500
862.2000
863.1500
3. The Bank should be set to MOT
4. The channels should be set to MOT

 

[jwetzel]

1. Are you using win96 to program the scanner?

NO. I've programmed it manually. what is win96? I dont see any mention of it in my manual, but have seen a couple of refernces on this site. will i need to buy interface cables/connectors and connect to my PC to do this?

2. You should only have to program in the control channels:
861.2000
862.1500
862.2000
863.1500

I've now deleted all but the frequencies you've listed above

3. The Bank should be set to MOT
4. The channels should be set to MOT

Thanks! This seems to have solved the problem with the talk group IDs appearing automatically, but how do I now filter out talk groups I dont want to hear? There are an awful lot of talk group IDs to work through on the list provided on this site.

Thanks for your assistance!

 

[seamusg]

It is a lot easier to program a scanner from a PC than it is from the Keypad.
The cable for the scanner is 20-289
Win96 is at this site
http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=71
This will give you a 30Day free trial of the program.

 

[jwetzel]

Thanks for the link and the cable reference.

given that i dont have the cable tonight and want to get this programmed (there will lots of activity on new years eve I imagine) just a couple more question....the scanner is now stopping on various freqs/talk group Ids, but I dont hear any comms? any ideas as to why? I'm operating in OPEN mode.

Also, is there anyway to just program the talk groups i want to hear and have it ignore the rest?

thanks.

 

[JoeyC]

Also, is there anyway to just program the talk groups i want to hear and have it ignore the rest?

thanks.

Program in the talkgroups you want and then close the bank.

 

[jwetzel]

thanks, Joey. what about the problem I'm having with the scanner stopping on various freqs/talkgroups momentarily, but me not be able to hear any comms? any idea why that is happening and how to correct it?

 

[JoeyC]

I'm quite familiar with the system. What talkgroups don't you get any audio from? Examples.

I don't have any RS trunking radios, so I am not that familar with them, but seems to me there is a setting that changes the Motorola mode between 2 types Something to do with splintered frequencies. But I don't think the RCS North requires the splintered setting. I may be wrong.

 

[jwetzel]

right now, I'm not getting any audio....the scanner is regularly stoping on a freq/talkgroup (for maybe half a second), but then no audio....it then continues scanning only to stop on another freq/talkgroup and do the same thing again (pause, but with no audio). this is all that is happening right now....no actual audio on any talkgroup......frustrating... earlier when I had programmed in all the freqs, i was hearing all sorts of transmissions, but not seeing any talkgroup ids displayed...i corrected that when i set the bank and all channels to type "MO".... however, once i deleted all the non-control channel freqs (seamusg stated earlier that I didnt need to enter all the freqs, just the ocntrol channel freqs), the problem described above started.....i'm tempted to enter all the freqs back into the bank channels again, but my guess is I messed up some other setting and am just not sure which. any ideas?

 

[JoeyC]

863.1500 is the main control most of the time. You should only have to put those 4 in. Not owning a RS scanner makes me of virtually no help on those scanners. Only thing I could think of is the setting (not sure what its called) that I mentioned already and setting them as MO as you already know. RS scanners don't require a "plan" like Unidens do, so that wouldn't be your problem. I'd listen to 863.15 and make sure you have a good strong signal. Problems I encountered with the RCS is if you don't have good signal strength on each freq (different transmitter locs) you may miss some comms, but that doesn't sound like your problem since you aren't hearing any voice at all. Dunno, sorry.

 

[jwetzel]

appreciate your help...i'll keep messing with it and trying the things you mentioned....i'll let you know if i figure it out.

btw, how do you listen to SD RCS if you are in Reno?

 

[JoeyC]

I lived in SD for 18 years and ran at least 4 scanners monitoring the systems there for as long as there have been trunkers. (Although stuff was VHF when I first got there.) I just recently moved to Reno (September) and now I am paying for it. (16" of snow last night)

Joe
www.sandiegoscan.com

 

[seamusg]

Iget that on all three of my scanners
one it's the end of a transmission or the signal from that tower is weak. Check that you are scanning a tower that has a good signal where you are at.
check your squelch setting. This condition usually meens the scanner is receiving nothing

 

[JoeyC]

He's only got one choice of sites for the north.

 

[jwetzel]

check your squelch setting. This condition usually meens the scanner is receiving nothing

i've adjusted squelch, but no change

He's only got one choice of sites for the north.

I'm located by CSUSM ( twin oaks valley rd and sr 78 ). where's the tower for the north county?

do you two both have scanners here in SD? how do you do that when you live elsewhere?

 

[JoeyC]

Listen on EACH freq conventionally to make sure you are picking up traffic on all. This may take some time. The 3 alternate controls may not have traffic (I forget if they are dedicated controls or not). 2 of the freqs you listed in your first post are not yet part of the system. (They end in .250 and were the 2nd and 3rd to the last in your list I believe) They are still part of the National City system. If you are missing traffic on the remaining, you may need a better antenna. Not all freqs may come in as well as others. If you are getting iffy reception on some freqs but not others you will be missing things. This may be whats happening. Control tells scanner to go to freq but signal is unusable so you hear nothing. I dunno. When I lived in SD, one of the NORTH RCS system freqs was almost out of range for me even with my roof mounted antenna, so when conditions we bad, I missed some traffic.

I can't listen to SD any longer here, obviously.

 

[jwetzel]

first let me say again how much i appreciate your help here.

so i've listened to all 20 freqs listed on this site for the SD RCS here are the results:

856.175: doesn't seem to be active, dont hear any comms here
856.200: have comms/audio
857.175: have comms/audio
857.200: have comms/audio
858.175: have comms/audio
858.200: have comms/audio
859.200: have comms/audio
860.200: have comms/audio
860.225: have comms/audio
861.000: have comms/audio
861.150: have comms/audio
861.200: alt control ch
861.500: doesn't seem to be active, dont hear any comms here
862.150: alt control ch
862.200: alt control ch
863.000: doesn't seem to be active, dont hear any comms here
863.150: rx'ing primary ctrl ch (M36: 470F 99%) <-- i have no idea what this means
863.250: doesn't seem to be active, dont hear any comms here
864.250: doesn't seem to be active, dont hear any comms here
865.000: doesn't seem to be active, dont hear any comms here

when listening to a single freq, I was picking up calls from la jolla 20 miles from here, seems like I should be able to pick up anything local based off that, correct? when i start scanning the freqs listed (i locked out the control channels), I dont pick up anything. ahhhhh! this is frustrating. any ideas?

 

[JoeyC]

Make sure you understand the difference between "scanning" and "trunking". The scanner doesn't scan the freqs when trunking. Like a previous user said, you have to set the freqs as Motorola. You NEED the control channels in. The scanner was probably trying to find a control channel since you set them as MO but couldn't find it. You should only need to program the control and it should work. But again, not being familiar with the 96, I'm at a loss too.

Also, doesn't matter where the traffic is, as long as the talkgroup is carried on system you will hear it, whether across the street or in La Jolla. So you should hear SDSO San Marcos as well as Carlsbad PD. Here in Reno, they occasionally simulcast the NHP LAS VEGAS on the system up here (for whatever reason) and thats like 450 miles.