Noob programming question about multiple sites.

[scanrabbit]

Hi guys, first post here and I'm a total scanner noob as well. I picked up a Uniden BCT15X and managed to set it up with Freescan using the database here to listen to police and fire on trunked MOT type 2 800mhz. My question is about the 3 different sites (or repeaters) in my city(Fredericton NB Canada, YORK COUNTY). Popple hill, Maryland hill, and Silverwood. Does my scanner need to have all 3 of these sites programmed to pick up all the traffic or can I get everything off the closest site? Silverwood in my case. Each site has different frequencies listed in the database so I'm assuming I need all 3 sites. OR can I just add all the frequencies into the Silverwood site and hear everything? I've also made a home made antenna out of coax and I'm getting WAY better reception than the stock telescopic one!

Thanks for any help!

6D19 026 (1A) Maryland Hill (Fredericton NB) York 860.18750c 860.43750a 860.68750 860.93750 861.18750 861.43750

6D19 027 (1B) Popple Hill (Fredericton NB) York 860.03750c 860.28750a 860.53750 860.78750

6D19 028 (1C) Silverwood (Fredericton NB) York 861.33750c 861.58750a 861.83750 862.08750

 

[captclint]

Welcome to RR. I've asked this to be moved to Atlantic and Maritime forum where you can get better advice. In general, if each site has it's own set of frequencies, it means you would probably need to have all three, provided they are close enough. 800Mhz does not travel as far as VHF, or UHF. You can make one system with 3 sites to see what you can get.

 

[ve1sef]

Yes and No.
You could get by with one site, but programing all three is better.
If only monitoring the Silverwood site, you will only recieve the radios in the coverage area.
If radio A is in range of Silverwood, then heads towards Marystown, it would automatically switch to the Popple Hill site.
Thus you'd lose the radio A because it was no long on Silverwood.
By with having all three sites you'll have better odds of following the conversation.
The 15X shouldn't have any problems scanning all three sites.
Likewise if you and 15X move around town it lessens the chances of missing a call,
while in a dead zone.

 

[scanrabbit]

Awesome, thanks for the reply. The Maryland hill tower is the only one I'm really having trouble picking up so I'm trying just the Silverwood and Popple hill and seem to be having pretty good success with the combination of those two.

also I have a center loaded telescopic antenna on the way this week that will hopefully work better than my home made jobbie.

thanks!

 

[W8RMH]

If you primarily listen too 800 MHz. an 800 MHz. antenna may work better for you.

 

[scanrabbit]

Most of the good traffic is 800 but the RCMP are around 155. btw how come when I program conventional frequencies I don't have to select a repeater site?

 

[ve1sef]

That's the difference between trunking and conventional radio.
Trunking radio "self-adjust" as the radio moves around a given area.
Conventional radios cannot therfore the radio user must maneully switch channels, as
the unit move from the coverage area on one repeater to the next.
I the Fredericton area that's several different repeaters are linked, so the car can keep track of activity in the region.

 

[hfxChris]

A good way to think about a trunked radio system is to think of it as a cell phone; you can drive around the city and your call will automatically jump between cell phone towers, depending on when they come in and out of the range of your phone, without any intervention from you. Trunked radio is the same, which is why you'll want to program your scanner with whatever sites are within your listening range, to maximize what you hear.
Non-trunked repeaters on the other hand, like the RCMP use in NB, are a single "site" with a certain frequency assigned to it, and a certain coverage area. When they wander out of the coverage area, they can't use that repeater and would manually switch their radio over to the frequency of a different repeater that they are within range of. There's no automation behind this, and as such it's a much simpler system, so all you end up programming are the frequencies for the different repeaters you want to hear monitor.
Because sites on a trunked system are networked together - they're all part of the same system - you have to program them as such in your scanner, so you create a system and then add sites to it. They end up being more complicated to setup in your scanner than a conventional repeater, but they're more complicated in their operation as well.

 

[scanrabbit]

Thanks for all the replies! Very informative!

By the way, I received my radioshack center load telescopic antenna today and it's a bit better than the stock one but still no where near as good as my home made coax antenna! Pretty surprising since i put very little effort and $0 into it lol. Heres the plans i used--> (Build A Simple VHF/UHF Scanner Antenna - A Police Scanner Antenna For The Price of Parts!)

 

[WA0CBW]

In a multi-site non-simulcast system talk group calls can be sent to any site but there is no hand-off of an ongoing call like in cellular. The subscriber radio has to acquire the new control channel and the call must be re-established.
BB

 

[hfxChris]

In a multi-site non-simulcast system talk group calls can be sent to any site but there is no hand-off of an ongoing call like in cellular. The subscriber radio has to acquire the new control channel and the call must be re-established.
BB

My point is that it roams without any interaction from the user. It's an analogy, not a direct comparison.

 

[WA0CBW]

Understand!