New Subscriber/Member

[craig61a]

After about 25 years or more of being out of the hobby, I decided to get back into it. It's obviously changed since I had my Bearcat Portable...

After looking around on the Internet, I choose to purchase a Whistler 1065. I figured I can familiarize myself with landscape at a reasonable price.

I've loaded up some Systems off RadioReference and loaded those into Scanlists organized by Police, Fire, Etc. based on the talkgroup descriptions. I may be mistaken by some of the descriptions. I'm getting LightRail chatter on what I thought were Fire TG's...

Is there a place where I can research the database entries in a little more detail? I'd kind of like to fine tune my lists. I live in Minneapolis, and I'm using Win500, which isn't necessarily intuitive.

 

[craig61a]

I think I found what I was looking for...

Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) Trunking System, Various, Multi-State - Scanner Frequencies (radioreference.com)

 

[tvengr]

I'm using Win500, which isn't necessarily intuitive.

I prefer Butel ARC500. You can download and install it for a free 30 day trial period to see how you like it.

 

[ka3jjz]

Hi and welcome - these 3 links (always in blue) will help get you started. Included in these are links for the Easier to Read manual, and an ARC500 user guide

Getting Started with your GRE/RS Object Oriented Scanner - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

GRE/RS Object Oriented Scanners FAQ - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

ARC500 User Guide - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Mike

 

[craig61a]

I prefer Butel ARC500. You can download and install it for a free 30 day trial period to see how you like it.

Well, after working with it for a few days, I seem to be able to do what I set out to accomplish with WIN 500. Appreciate the tip though.

Craig

 

[craig61a]

Hi and welcome - these 3 links (always in blue) will help get you started. Included in these are links for the Easier to Read manual, and an ARC500 user guide

Mike

OK, thanks, I'll check those out. I guess right now the biggest hurdle is getting my head around how scanning has evolved over the years and sifting through the information to determine how I want to organize my scanlists. And figure out the capabilities and how to best use my equipment.

 

[ka3jjz]

As long as you're using Win500, here is something to fill in the blanks

Getting Started with Win500 - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Note that the author hasn't been seen or heard from in a long time. I would not try to get a license - but since you have a 30 day trial, you can at least get started

Mike

 

[BruceMN]

Here is a detailed step-by-step guide to program your radio using WIN 500

WIN500 - UtahRadio

utahradio.org

Bruce

 

[ofd8001]

You do have a learning curve ahead of you. Minnesota's system is a complicated one, particularly around the Metro area. So you'll have to wrap your arms around the nuances of this system. Then you'll have to learn how your scanner works and the best way of programming it for this system. (Actually you have probably got the most challenging system to monitor - if you can get that one going, you can get anything going.)

Another challenge to overcome is simulcast distortion. In the Metro area, there are numerous sites for an area, all using the same frequencies. That's to achieve the in-building coverage. Great for responders, lousy for scannists. Some folks have found it necessary to either go the SDR route or get a new scanner (Uniden SDS series).

While I'm in Louisville, KY, I grew up in Minneapolis and have family there. So I have a fundamental knowledge of how the system works up there. If you can narrow down what area of Minneapolis you are in, I might be able to give some specific recommendations. (That's as in Minneapolis proper or one of the suburbs like Bloomington, Richfield, etc.)

I'm not familiar with the model radio you have, but if it is like Uniden scanners, you have the ability to search for unlisted/new talkgroups or scan only programmed talkgroups. You hearing light rail traffic would be consistent with searching.