Noob needs help understanding

[alexei89]

I just bought a Uniden Bearcat 780 XLT scnner on ebay and I wanted to listen to some of the Police traffic in my local area. I understand how to enter channels if they are not on a trunked system, but I still have a problem with the Talkgroups and how to program them. Any help would be much appreciated.

Here is what I am looking at programming:
Alameda County Public Safety
Motorola Type II Smartnet

866.1500 866.4250 866.8000 867.1500 867.2500 867.40000a 867.67500 * 867.7750
868.03750 8 68.08750c 868.2000 868.2250 868.2750 868.3625 868.4375 868.6500
868.76250c 868.9250 867.92500 * 868.71250 * *

ACSO
16016 * West County*Dispatch*
16112 * West County Secondary

San Leandro PD (Alameda Co. Talkgroup)
32016 * Dispatch*

Hayward PD
483.1125 Dispatch*

Union City Pd (Alameda Co. Talkgroup)
40016 Dispatch*

Fremont PD (Alameda Co. Talkgroup)
30736 Dispatch*

East Bay Regional Parks District
44.7600 Dispatch*

Which of the Alameda County frequencies do I need to program to be able to use hear the talkgroups of Fremont, San Leandro and union city PD's.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Alexei

 

[AlmostHandy]

Your scanner has a Control channel only mode, so you can just program the control and alternate frequencies (red and blue). You don't have to add them all. Your scanner will find the rest on it's own.

 

[alexei89]

Okay thanks for the input. the control and alternate channels make sense.

How about the talkgroups.... How do I dial those in properly ?

868.08750 and 868.76250 are the control channels for the ALCO system. Then the talkgroup for Fremont is '30736'.

Are those talkgroups then the '868' followed by that number
for example: Fremont PD would be '868.30736'? Is that correct? something tells me I am not correct.

thanks!
Alexei

 

[AlmostHandy]

Well, I don't own one of those radios, and a quick read gives me the impression that it's a little different that my Pro97, so rather than guess, and steer you in the wrong direction, I think you should go check out this old webpage.

 

[NWtoSFO]

Alexei,

The talkgroup I.D. would be entered just as it's shown. Fremont's 30736 would be entered as 30736. The talkgroups would be entered together in order for the control channels to scan the talkgroups. So you'ld enter the control channels for the 800 system and select each freq as MOT, or Motorola. Once each freq is entered you can go back and enter the talkgroup I.D.'s. When you're done you should be able to hear all that you've entered. The page that "AlmostHandy" linked is pretty easy to understand, but then I don't have a 780 XLT. One thing I don't see is the option to run in open or closed mode, something important if you just want to hear certain agencies.

Matthew

 

[alexei89]

So, if I am understand, and please forgive my naivete, if I enter the control channels and the alternate channels, entering them as 868.08750 and 868.76250 and 867.40000. Then I simply enter 30736.

So, it would look like this:
Ch1: 868.08750 (control)
Ch2: 868.76250 (control)
Ch3: 867.40000 (alternate)
Ch4: 30736 (FPD)
Ch4: 40016 (UCPD)
Ch5: 32016 (SLPD)
Ch6: 16016 (ACSO)
Ch7: 483.1125 (Hayward PD)
Ch8: 44.7600 (EBRPPD)
ETC, ETC, ETC

and then it should scan those talkgroups?

 

[SCPD]

No... that is incorrect.

The 868.xxxx numbers are FREQUENCIES.

The 30736 type numbers are TALKGROUP IDs (or TGIDs)

You enter the FREQUENCIES into the channel banks:

Ch1: 868.08750 (control)
Ch2: 868.76250 (control)
Ch3: 867.40000 (alternate)

Then, your scanner has a method for which to program TGIDs into the talkgroup list for whatever BANK you're programming into.

You should really go and consult the manual for information on how to program the TGIDs. It's not terribly complicated, just that you need to know the proper method, which is, as you may have guessed, located in the manual.

In fact, here's a whole website dedicated to the 780XLT:
http://www.bc780xlt.com/

And here's a link to the manual:
http://www.uniden.com/pdf/BC780XLTom.pdf

 

[alexei89]

I have the manual and I looked at the site you posted, but it was unclear, at least to me, on how to program the talkgroups. I can be pretty thick at times and sometimes I need a baseball bat to the head to understand things. I just picked this thing up the other day and a total babe in the woods. The scanner was a surplus one a buddy from a PD gave me when the got new cars with new scanners. So, I have very littel exp with these things.

Anyway, I guess I will muddle through. I understand the frequencies. The talkgroupd ID's are what I am having trouble inputting. I understand the concept and it sounds similar, in theory, to the digital TV spectrum for HD.

Anyway, I appreciate your help and I have a greater understanding now than I did 24 hours ago. Hopefully I can get this going with the talkgroups.

thanks
Alexei

 

[NWtoSFO]

The talkgroup I.D.'s are grouped into a "sub-bank", if you will. As stated, after programming the control freq's into a bank, you then tell the scanner to access the "sub-bank" for TGID's. In other words, you have to activate the trunking mode while programming the bank.

868.08750 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 868.76250 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 867.40000
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
30736 - 40016 - 32016 - 16016

The other freq's you show, 483.1125 (Hayward PD) and 44.7600 (EBRPPD), are programmed like regular frequencies, in other words just they would be input just like the control channels. Those are not talkgroups. Hope this helps.

 

[alexei89]

Okay cool...I had sucess in programming them in... Basically I was able to enter the talkgroups under the first control channel.

Questions:
1. Do I have to enter these talkgroups under the other control channel nd the alternate channel as well?
2. How can I prioritize a single talkgroup...or is that not possible.

I live in San Leandro and want to have SLPD be the highest priority...when I hit the "pri" button, it looks like it prioritizes the whole channel and not just the 32016 (SLPD) talkgroup.

Thanks for you patience as I wrap my noggin around this
Alexei

 

[AlmostHandy]

I'm not sure if any scanner will let you do TG priority. That would be sweet though.

If one exists with that feature, it's on the top of the list for my next scanner.

 

[Station81FirstAlarm]

I have a 780XLT and love it. Honestly the best way to program it, especially the trunked systems, is by using software. I couldn't even tell you how to program it manually by punching keys. I use Winscan 780 which by no means is the best software out there. It does however keep the scanner programmed minus the quirks of the software. There are several other options out there, just google 780XLT software if you feel like trying it out. Good luck!

 

[SCPD]

alexei89, you can't put a talkgroup into any sort of priority mode. However, you can pause on that talkgroup ID during scanning. Basically, you're scanner would be listening for only that one talkgroup, which is useful if that's absolutely all you're interested in.

you do not need to enter the TGIDs again for the same BANK of channels.

I have a 780XLT and love it. Honestly the best way to program it, especially the trunked systems, is by using software. I couldn't even tell you how to program it manually by punching keys.

While the software is great, I believe its important to understand how to operate your radio when software isn't available. I operate a portable unit, and definitely cannot change the config via software every time I need (not want, need) to make a change. This knowledge is very valuable, particularly to folks who use their scanners for work (I work in a refinery), or for those who are new to the hobby.

 

[Mike_G_D]

I'm not sure if any scanner will let you do TG priority. That would be sweet though.

If one exists with that feature, it's on the top of the list for my next scanner.

The GRE PSR500 and PSR600 have this as well as the GRE made Radio Shack equivalents (PRO-106 and PRO-197).

For a trunking system the unit will monitor the control channel and switch to the priority talk group when that TG is active. I believe it monitors the low speed data subaudible tones as well on the voice channel so that if you are listening to a non-priority TG and a call for one of your priority TG's comes across the CC it will also go out over the VC low speed data so that you will switch immediately to the priority TG. As far as I can see, this also works for digital signals on mixed mode systems so the information must also go out in the digital VC stream. It has worked quite well for me.

I think the new Uniden soon to come out will also do this (but I'm not sure).

-Mike

 

[cousinkix1953]

Don't forget to turn off the DELAY feature. Most of these trunked systems change frequency when the mike is unkeyed.

The newer scanners have several banks of 50-100 channels each. 500-1000 channels is the norm these days. You can put the police talk groups in bank #1 and the sheriff in bank #2.

Fire and ambulance TGIDs go into bank #3. Add the conventional 463 mhz hospital frequencies and Cal-Star Air Ambulance channels too.

Bank #4 can hold most of the conventional CAL-FIRE frequencies, as well as the state parks repeaters on 800 mhz. My system includes the white firemars channels and the main couty fire channrels for interoperability.

Bank #5 can handle most of the CHP's 42 mhz pairs and their UHF repeaters

Other banks can be devoted to Cal-Trans, ham radio operators or any other subgroup you like. Listen to your favorite banks most of the time. Activate others when needed. I found that having all of the CAL-FIRE system in my scanner was handy during the fires last Summer. One click found everything...

 

[alexei89]

THanks...That makes sense the Delay needs to be off. I have the different TG programmed in, but seem to only get traffic on the first ACSO channel.. The delay is probably thae problem...either that or the TG ID I have is incorrect. I will have to check that.

Thanks. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Thanks again for all the help.
Alexei

 

[cousinkix1953]

THanks...That makes sense the Delay needs to be off. I have the different TG programmed in, but seem to only get traffic on the first ACSO channel.. The delay is probably thae problem...either that or the TG ID I have is incorrect. I will have to check that.

Thanks. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Thanks again for all the help.
Alexei

This is why I suggested that you program the city police department talk groups in bank #1 and the ALCO sheriff talk groups in bank #2. Its easy to turn off the sheriffs bank if they begin to monopolize the scanner, when you wanna hear somebody else.

The CHP, CAL-FIRE, state parks and other banks can be activated when you want them...