New Sarasota Fire Talkgroup

[sjlamb]

Not sure how new this is but, I came across a Sarasota County Fire talkgroup
that was new to me and not listed anywhere else that I've looked. Appears to be
used as another Fire Dispatch channel: Motorola Talkgroup ID #24983.

 

[Bolt21]

24983 is a "Multi-Select" or "Status Bit" function of the FR Dispatch A1 talkgroup (24976).
Here is a breakdown of Motorola status bits:
ID+0 Normal Talkgroup
ID+1 All Talkgroup
ID+2 Emergency
ID+3 Talkgroup patch to another
ID+4 Emergency Patch
ID+5 Emergency multi-group
ID+6 ?
ID+7 Multi-select (initiated by dispatcher)
ID+8 DES/DVP Encryption talkgroup
ID+9 DES All Talkgroup
ID+10 DES Emergency
ID+11 DES Talkgroup patch
ID+12 DES Emergency Patch
ID+13 DES Emergency multi-group
ID+14 ?
ID+15 Multi-select DES TG

Taken from the invaluable Mark's Scanners pages here: Easier to Read BCD396T/UBCD396T Manual

For the Motorola systems I monitor, I always program in the +0 TG, plus the other "variations" up to +7, just so I don't miss anything, ever. I don't bother w/the the +8 and above DES stuff, since you can't hear it with a scanner anyways.

 

[sjlamb]

This is good stuff.... Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bolt21]

Not a problem. It took me several years of scanning MOT trunked systems before I even realized the status bit stuff existed. Mainly because I started with a PRO-97, which does not recognize status bits. When I got my 396, I searched a Motorola system and found odd-numbered, non-multiple of 32 talkgroup ID #'s. Did a little research, and found that status bits were the cause. I've found that some counties use status bits quite often - others don't use them at all.

 

[storm5guy]

So here's my question regarding this and the PRO-106. The wiki page (Motorola Type II - The RadioReference Wiki) mentions that you can set the fleetmap to S-1. I see an E1P1 fleet map, but would changing this switch to the status bit groups when activated, or does the 106 switch to them automatically based on the talk groups already programmed in (or does any scanner)?

 

[sjlamb]

Not a problem. It took me several years of scanning MOT trunked systems before I even realized the status bit stuff existed. Mainly because I started with a PRO-97, which does not recognize status bits. When I got my 396, I searched a Motorola system and found odd-numbered, non-multiple of 32 talkgroup ID #'s. Did a little research, and found that status bits were the cause. I've found that some counties use status bits quite often - others don't use them at all.

So.... are you saying then, that it would be recommended to add (7) talkgroups with the status bits added for each primary (+0) Dispatch talkgroup? For Sarasota County, that would mean adding 28 new talkgroups.

 

[Bolt21]

I don't know if I'd go to that extreme. Maybe if they actually used status bits on a fairly regular basis.

That might be a good question for the admin....

 

[sjlamb]

I don't know if I'd go to that extreme. Maybe if they actually used status bits on a fairly regular basis.

That might be a good question for the admin....

Oh... I thought that's what you meant when you wrote:

" I always program in the +0 TG, plus the other "variations" up to +7, just so I don't miss anything, ever."

 

[Bolt21]

I'm sorry - I somehow read that as you suggesting that all the status bit "variations" should be submitted to the database. I meant that if it was me, and a MOT system of interest to me used status bits (on more than one or two instances), I would program in every possible status bit so that I wouldn't miss anything.

That might seem like overkill to some, but the way my luck goes, the ONE transmission I would want to hear would be on a patch or multi-select.

 

[sjlamb]

I'm sorry - I somehow read that as you suggesting that all the status bit "variations" should be submitted to the database. I meant that if it was me, and a MOT system of interest to me used status bits (on more than one or two instances), I would program in every possible status bit so that I wouldn't miss anything.

That might seem like overkill to some, but the way my luck goes, the ONE transmission I would want to hear would be on a patch or multi-select.

I'm with you. The 396XT has plenty of room and flexability so, I'm just going to create a new group with just the (7) non-encrypted variations of the (4) Primary Fire Dispatch Talkgroup IDs. Thanks, again.

Steve

 

[Bolt21]

There you go - sounds like a plan.