Need Help with Scanner Freqq

[rs4935]

Hello all,

I am brand new when it comes to police scanners, but have learned a lot from this site. I have some questions about the different frequencies that are available in my area.

I live in Kingsport Tennessee, Sullivan County. A buddy of mine told me that I should only program the 800mhz channels in my Radio Shack Pro-95. The FCC lists quite a few more channels in the 154-155 range, but when I program those in, my scanner just gives me a screen saying "Mot: None".

What are the differences in the channels when compared to scanners? I understand the UHF, VHF, etc. But why do some scanners pick up certain frequencies, but others do not?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

-Pat

 

[n5ims]

The 154-155 MHz channels are conventional ones, not Motorola Trunking channels. The "Mot: None" is telling you that the scanner has them programmed in as Motorola Trunking, not Conventional (The "Mot:" part) and there are no talkgroups being transmitted over that control channel (the "None" part). This is because they aren't Motorola Trunking Control Channels.

Program them in as Conventional (most likely you should select "NFM" for them) instead of Motorola Trunking (most likely they currently show "MOT"). That should fix the issue.

Be aware, though, that these are backup channels and as such are probably not used much at all. It's kinda like having a second car for you to drive to work but only when your main one is in the shop. It really doesn't get used much at all.

 

[wtp]

for a start

mo is for motorola trunking 800 mhz
am is for air -- planes transmit in am
ed is for edacs
fm is what is used in the band 154-156 that is what you should use for them

not to be a wise guy but did you get a manual for the radio
if not it can be looked up online

 

[rs4935]

Thanks so much for the info. A lot of terms I don't quite understand (EDACS etc). I did get a manual, no offense taken.

I just like listening to them after a hard day's work to hear the good guys and girls of the world rescuing people and catching the bad guys. Pardon me for my ignorance, but I appreciate all the help I can get.

-Pat

 

[shonc182]

It is important to understand the difference between conventional and trunking systems. It appears (after a 5 second glance), that the main system for Sullivan Co. is a Motorola Type II trunking system. You will want to get smart on setting up banks and lists and understanding TGID's. You may not want to ignore the conventional systems in your area...and adjacent counties that you may also be able to receive depending on your location.

Depending on what you have covered in your research, you may want to check out the Pro-95 page in the Wiki on this site. I also like the 'Easier to Read' manuals on this site, but others don't like them - Easier to Read Pro-93/95/2053 Scanner Manual

Keep reading...and good luck.

 

[N8IAA]

Hello all,

I am brand new when it comes to police scanners, but have learned a lot from this site. I have some questions about the different frequencies that are available in my area.

I live in Kingsport Tennessee, Sullivan County. A buddy of mine told me that I should only program the 800mhz channels in my Radio Shack Pro-95. The FCC lists quite a few more channels in the 154-155 range, but when I program those in, my scanner just gives me a screen saying "Mot: None".

What are the differences in the channels when compared to scanners? I understand the UHF, VHF, etc. But why do some scanners pick up certain frequencies, but others do not?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

-Pat

I understand the frustration of programming a scanner I would suggest using Win95 programming software. It is free, and can be downloaded here: Software for RadioShack PRO-series (PRO-92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 163, 164, 106, 197) and GRE PSR-series (PSR-500, 600, 300, 400, 310, 410) scanners
You will need a cable to hook up the pc to the scanner. RS part # 20-047 or newer.

HTH,
Larry

 

[rs4935]

I understand the frustration of programming a scanner I would suggest using Win95 programming software. It is free, and can be downloaded here: Software for RadioShack PRO-series (PRO-92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 163, 164, 106, 197) and GRE PSR-series (PSR-500, 600, 300, 400, 310, 410) scanners
You will need a cable to hook up the pc to the scanner. RS part # 20-047 or newer.

HTH,
Larry

Got everything working except the ability to lock out system id 33552. Everytime I hit a channel with that ID, I get static.

-Pat

 

[n5ims]

Got everything working except the ability to lock out system id 33552. Everytime I hit a channel with that ID, I get static.

-Pat

It's probably a digital talkgroup which the Pr0-95 can't decode. To lock it out you program it into the scanner and lock it out. That will tell the scanner that you don't want to pick it up.

 

[Ed6698]

If there has been rebanding in that area, the Pro-95 will be useless on Motorola Type II trunking system I believe. It will only work for conventional frequencies.

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Rebanding

 

[n5ims]

If there has been rebanding in that area, the Pro-95 will be useless on Motorola Type II trunking system I believe. It will only work for conventional frequencies.

Rebanding - The RadioReference Wiki

Not totally correct. While the Pro-95 will not work if you must add a custom trunking table (aka custom band plan), it will work fine if this isn't necessary (like folks that traded in their "guard band" frequencies for others, often in the 854 MHz area). Even if they did move to the normal range (851 - 853 MHz), it was found that about half of the newly assigned channels will still work fine (those with a 0 in the forth decimal place are fine, those with a 5 will fail).

Even if a system is rebanded in a way where the custom table is needed, often the scanner is still useable, although you will miss some transmissions. Many times only a small part of the frequencies were affected. While these will fail (they will move to some weird frequency instead of the correct rebanded one), most of the transmissions will still work just fine. The amount of transmissions you'll miss depends on how many "bad" frequencies you have. If a 20 channel system had only a single channel that was moved, you may miss 5% of the transmissions (in other words, you'll get 95% of them just fine), probably won't miss too much. If that same 20 channel system had 19 of them that needed to move you'll miss 95% of the transmissions (not a good thing).

 

[rs4935]

Thanks so much for all your help. I got the scanner working.

It was trying to access System ID 33552, which is the sanitation department, and all you ever get is the noise you hear, and it's transmitted about once every 5 seconds, so it trumps all of the other receiving frequencies.

On the Pro 95, I had to program in all the system IDs I was going to use, minus 33552, then put the scanner in "closed mode" which would only grab the system IDs I programmed in, and voila. It's chattering like a room full of schoolgirls.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

-Pat

 

[n5ims]

Thanks so much for all your help. I got the scanner working.

It was trying to access System ID 33552, which is the sanitation department, and all you ever get is the noise you hear, and it's transmitted about once every 5 seconds, so it trumps all of the other receiving frequencies.

On the Pro 95, I had to program in all the system IDs I was going to use, minus 33552, then put the scanner in "closed mode" which would only grab the system IDs I programmed in, and voila. It's chattering like a room full of schoolgirls.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

-Pat

You could also leave it in Open mode and program the one(s) you do NOT want to hear and have them locked out. This will allow you to pick up others that may not be captured yet and submitted into the database.

How I have my Pro-95 programmed is with the known PD & FD talkgroups programmed in and unlocked. That way I can easily see that it's "PD Dispatch" instead of talkgroup 32997 (or whatever). I also have the ones I don't want to hear (like the sewer folks) programmed in and locked out. That way the scanner knows I don't want to hear them so it can ignore them and keep scanning. Since the bank is open, if there's a new talkgroup (say a rarely used SWAT Command channel that has yet to be submitted to the database), I'll hear it and since it hasn't been programmed, I won't have any readable text, but will get the talkgroup #. Once I've identified that talkgroup from the conversations going on (e.g. "Units 10, 14, and 23 report to the B side to cover the side door"), the context (an active SWAT operation going on), and hopefully even references to it (on Dispatch channel: "Unit 9 and 14, go to the SWAT Command Channel" then on the new talkgroup "Units 9 and 14, are you on channel?") I can feel good about submitting it to the RR Database for others to monitor during future incidents.