Newer Digital Trunking Scanners on conventional systems.....

[fcfd988]

Hi all,

I am new to the trunking scene and have a question for some of you vets. You guys might think it is a stupid question, but here goes.......

I currently have a RS PRO-2066 that i use to monitor Motorola Type II trunking systems as well as some conventional Low-Band, High-Band & UHF. It will not scan the trunking systems at the same time as the conventional channels. It will only scan one or the other.

Will the newer scanners scan both at the same time? I am thinking about a new PRO-96 and was wondering if it had that capability. Heck, while you guys are at it, let me know if the Uniden digital scanners will do what i am looking for as well. I am not set on the PRO-96, but have heard lots of good things about it. With a new P-25 800 MHz system coming to my area by the end of the year, i was wanting to find something out early so i can plan for a future purchase.

thanks in advance.....

Wes

 

[markle]

Both RS and Uniden scanners will monitor both trunked and conventional systems at the same time as well as different trunked systems at the same time.

 

[fcfd988]

Wow, that was quick......

thanks a million......

Wes

 

[Pro-95]

Both RS and Uniden scanners will monitor both trunked and conventional systems at the same time as well as different trunked systems at the same time.

Just not in the same bank.

ie:
bank0 = EDACS
bank1 = Motorola II
bank2 = conventional

Adding conventional / non-trunked or multiple trunked frequencies into a trunked scan bank will cause the scanner to stop and loose the control channel.

 

[kikito]

Both RS and Uniden scanners will monitor both trunked and conventional systems at the same time as well as different trunked systems at the same time.

Just not in the same bank.

ie:
bank0 = EDACS
bank1 = Motorola II
bank2 = conventional

Adding conventional / non-trunked or multiple trunked frequencies into a trunked scan bank will cause the scanner to stop and loose the control channel.

The latest scanners (Pro-96, BC296D, etc) will track and scan trunked systems plus conventional frequencies in the same bank with no problems what-so-ever, the only combination I can think of that won't work is mixing EDACS and any other kind of trunked systems within the same bank.

 

[Pro-95]

The latest scanners (Pro-96, BC296D, etc) will track and scan trunked systems plus conventional frequencies in the same bank with no problems what-so-ever, the only combination I can think of that won't work is mixing EDACS and any other kind of trunked systems within the same bank.

OK. Thanks for the correction. I'll have to give that a whirl on the Pro-96. Thought the manual indicated otherwise.

 

[Pro-95]

Bottom of Page 32.

Do'Oh.

 

[scanfan03]

Almost all trunked scannners will. The only ones that won't are the old ones (pro-90, 91, BC235) and thier base/mobiles. The only newer one that won't is the pro-94 (which they fixed with the 94A version).

 

[ECPD279]

Both RS and Uniden scanners will monitor both trunked and conventional systems at the same time as well as different trunked systems at the same time.

Just not in the same bank.

ie:
bank0 = EDACS
bank1 = Motorola II
bank2 = conventional

Adding conventional / non-trunked or multiple trunked frequencies into a trunked scan bank will cause the scanner to stop and loose the control channel.

You must be referring to a problem that is unique to Radio Shack. I run mixed conventional and trunked in both my 780 and 796 with absolutely no problems. Either that or you are mistaking the scanning of conventional freqs for "losing the control channel". The scanner must leave the control channel momentarily in order to scan the conventional channels, but it should pick it right back up as both of mine do.

 

[rdale]

If you read the previous three replies you'll see he was in error and the Pro96 does it just fine...

 

[markle]

Just DON'T place neighboring trunked systems in the same bank...RS or Uniden. The scanner will stop on the first strong control channel and it will leave the other system out. It's fine to put in two trunked systems that are from distant cities, because the scanner will not pick up the distant city's control channel.

I.e. Having Akron, Ohio's trunked system and Pittsburgh, PA's trunked systems in the same bank will not interfere with each other. When in Akron you'll get Akron. When in Pittsburgh you'll get Pittsburgh with no interference.

The PRO 96 is great with the control channel only needed for the system vs. Uniden's control only where one has to figure out what plan to use. Easier to let the radio figure things out.

 

[DJ88]

I have a Uniden BC785D. Only one trunked system per bank. However, you can put conventional and trunked systems in the same bank.

 

[kikito]

Just DON'T place neighboring trunked systems in the same bank...RS or Uniden. The scanner will stop on the first strong control channel and it will leave the other system out. It's fine to put in two trunked systems that are from distant cities, because the scanner will not pick up the distant city's control channel.

Search the archives here or at yahoo groups. There's ways to have multiple trunked systems in the same bank AND have the radio scan them all.

It has been discussed and argued extensively before. Bottom line, it can be done and it works on the Pro-96.

 

[loumaag]

...It has been discussed and argued extensively before. Bottom line, it can be done and it works on the Pro-96.

Yes, and you don't have to trick it.
Kikito, have you found a way to decode the APCO-25 CC yet? Rick (of T4Win fame) has dropped a utility program on the Yahoo Trunker group that takes advantage of the Pro-96's ability do dump the CC. ... Now if I only had a 9600, APCO 25 CC around here...

 

[DJ88]

To kikito

I was only relaying the info I read in the manual for my scanner. There are 10 banks available, so that means 10 trunked systems that one can monitor, going one per bank. Why would one want to put multiple trunked systems on one bank unless the area where one lives is saturated with trunked systems. The BC785D (my scanner) was designed to monitor one trunked system per bank. Why mess with it ? There are ways around a lot of things, and they are chancy, but when it comes to scanning, I don't want to miss anything. I will, therefore, only put one trunked system in each bank. I'm not saying anybody else is wrong or misleading. This is just my input into this topic. It's what I do to be safe.

 

[DJ88]

To kikito

I was only relaying the info I read in the manual for my scanner. There are 10 banks available, so that means 10 trunked systems that one can monitor, going one per bank. Why would one want to put multiple trunked systems on one bank unless the area where one lives is saturated with trunked systems. The BC785D (my scanner) was designed to monitor one trunked system per bank. Why mess with it ? There are ways around a lot of things, and they are chancy, but when it comes to scanning, I don't want to miss anything. I will, therefore, only put one trunked system in each bank. I'm not saying anybody else is wrong or misleading. This is just my input into this topic. It's what I do to be safe.

 

[loumaag]

To: Ken
I don't think he was referring to you. He was referring to people who make blanket (and incorrect) statements like, "The scanner will stop on the first strong control channel and it will leave the other system out." Since that is an incorrect statement (which I see all the time) he just went off. I have been known to do it myself on occasion. :roll:

The problems with putting more than one "system" in a single bank are well known. The biggest one is the TG problem. Even if you seperate the TG's by banks you still have a problem (at least in the GRE scanners) in that they always display the lowest TG with the same number (AlphaTag wise). i.e. If system "A" uses TG 144 for Podunk FD and system "B" uses TG 144 for Neverland SWAT, assuming you loaded system "A's" TG's first if you were listening to Neverland SWAT it would display "Podunk FD".

Since fcfd988 was thinking about a Pro-96, it specifically does not lock on a control channel in any bank to the exclusion of any other CC or conventional channel in that bank or any other active bank. Specifically what works well, at least for the Pro-96, is placing all of the CC and alt CC's for a wide area system in the same bank. It will pick up any that it can hear and process them the same (sequentially of course). This in itself can be a problem on a very active system. I would never run a 96 on say the STARNet system in the Houston Metro area in OPEN mode or even with lots of TG's active. You will just jump from one conversation to another. However, if you were interested in one, two, or maybe as many as six TG's there, you could roam around town and never have to worry about what site you were close to. As it will hear all of the sites it can and process the info from them. I think that this is a real advantage.

As for the "company line", the manuals for both RS and Uniden leave a lot to be desired, and to be fair, if I were writting it, I too would put in that you could only put one system in each bank mainly for the reason I stated above. It would cut down the complaints and questions to Customer Service.

 

[DJ88]

Thanks Lou Maag. Yes, I was just speaking generally about my scanner, but you gave a very interesting and educational reply. You definitely know your stuff about trunking. Thank you, again.

 

[kikito]

Kikito, have you found a way to decode the APCO-25 CC yet? Rick (of T4Win fame) has dropped a utility program on the Yahoo Trunker group that takes advantage of the Pro-96's ability do dump the CC. ... Now if I only had a 9600, APCO 25 CC around here...

Oh yeah, I've downloaded the program from Rick (I may have been the first one on this site ) and currently playing with it.

It looks very promising!

 

[kikito]

To kikito

I was only relaying the info I read in the manual for my scanner. There are 10 banks available, so that means 10 trunked systems that one can monitor, going one per bank. Why would one want to put multiple trunked systems on one bank unless the area where one lives is saturated with trunked systems.....

My response wasn't towards you. It was more like a general public announcement

This is just one of those topics that have been discussed enough in the past and many times it ends in arguments...

This "feature" of the Pro-96 comes in handy in many ways. For my personal use, I have a lot of conventional and only a few trunked systems where only one is worth dedicating a whole bank to. The rest of the "boring/business" systems, I can put all in one bank and only scan occasionally without taking much real estate. And that's just one way to use this "undocumented feature"