cbro298
Member
Downloaded and been running for 45 min and only picking up Gville city pd.No ems,no county no fire on the 500.Have my non digital scanner and it is running and picking up fine the county and ems
Not picking up much
- Thread starter cbro298
- Start date
- Status
hoser147
Member
How are you programing the radio? Sounds to me like it may possibly be a setting off, or something similar. Hoser
hoser147
Member
Check to make sure the Attenuation is not on for starters and see page 96 in the manual..........
cbro298
Member
Not much
ARC500 download.Attenuation is off.Global is on and cannot get off
ARC500 download.Attenuation is off.Global is on and cannot get off
Picking up stuff (on the scanner)
cbro298,
The Global Attenuator setting can only be made manually (or through remote control); it cannot be set within the software. To set it to Normal you need to press Func.+Glob and scroll down until you get to the Attenuator settings.
But I don't think this is your primary problem - if attenuation were the culprit you would be having trouble receiving everything in the system (you wouldn't be picking up the PD and not the others you would be picking none of them up (or badly)!
Having said that, when you say that you can pick up your fire and ems on your other scanner I can think of a couple of things to check.
Firstly - I assume they are all on the same system, that is, Fire, EMS, and PD are all on the same trunking system you have loaded into your PSR500? If not, say, if Fire and EMS are on a different system or on conventional then you have to make sure they are loaded appropriately into your PSR500.
If, however, they are all on the same system and it's a mixed digital/analog Mot3600 system (and the scanner is set for that trunking mode) you should be picking them up IF you have those talkgroups programmed in and not locked out. Check to see that they really are in the scanner (I understand you downloaded a file from RR so I am assuming you did not type them in manually so you may not have checked through the actual file that got downloaded) and that they are not locked out AND that they are in an active scan list!
All I can think of for the moment.
-Mike
cbro298,
The Global Attenuator setting can only be made manually (or through remote control); it cannot be set within the software. To set it to Normal you need to press Func.+Glob and scroll down until you get to the Attenuator settings.
But I don't think this is your primary problem - if attenuation were the culprit you would be having trouble receiving everything in the system (you wouldn't be picking up the PD and not the others you would be picking none of them up (or badly)!
Having said that, when you say that you can pick up your fire and ems on your other scanner I can think of a couple of things to check.
Firstly - I assume they are all on the same system, that is, Fire, EMS, and PD are all on the same trunking system you have loaded into your PSR500? If not, say, if Fire and EMS are on a different system or on conventional then you have to make sure they are loaded appropriately into your PSR500.
If, however, they are all on the same system and it's a mixed digital/analog Mot3600 system (and the scanner is set for that trunking mode) you should be picking them up IF you have those talkgroups programmed in and not locked out. Check to see that they really are in the scanner (I understand you downloaded a file from RR so I am assuming you did not type them in manually so you may not have checked through the actual file that got downloaded) and that they are not locked out AND that they are in an active scan list!
All I can think of for the moment.
-Mike
DonS
Member
Global Attenuator is controlled by (and only by) pressing:
* FUNC ATT toggles Global Atten mode on/off ("G" on top of LCD)
* ATT toggles the Global Attenuator itself on/off ("GA" on top of LCD)
cbro298
Member
not picking up much
Global setting is off.The rest of that is over my head
Global setting is off.The rest of that is over my head
Don,
I guess I just got used to doing it through the Glob menu - scroll down till you get to AttenMode and set to Normal and then to Global Atten and set that to OFF. Obviously using Func.+ATT is a lot easier! I guess since I normally didn't have it on I just never got around to learning the all-to-easy way...DUHH! on my part! You can bet I'll remember it (Func.+ATT) now!!
cbro298,
What model is your other non-digital scanner? Does it do trunk tracking? If it doesn't then maybe those other services are not using the trunking system that the police are. If that is the case then you should be aware that loading up the trunking system from RR might not automatically load the conventional frequencies that the other services are using. If this isn't the case (they really are all on the same system) then I am not sure what is going on - again, check your lockouts and scan lists.
Can you provide a link to the RR page where your system info is located?
-Mike
I guess I just got used to doing it through the Glob menu - scroll down till you get to AttenMode and set to Normal and then to Global Atten and set that to OFF. Obviously using Func.+ATT is a lot easier! I guess since I normally didn't have it on I just never got around to learning the all-to-easy way...DUHH! on my part! You can bet I'll remember it (Func.+ATT) now!!
cbro298,
What model is your other non-digital scanner? Does it do trunk tracking? If it doesn't then maybe those other services are not using the trunking system that the police are. If that is the case then you should be aware that loading up the trunking system from RR might not automatically load the conventional frequencies that the other services are using. If this isn't the case (they really are all on the same system) then I am not sure what is going on - again, check your lockouts and scan lists.
Can you provide a link to the RR page where your system info is located?
-Mike
cbro298 DON'T GIVE UP!!
ARRRRRGGGHHH!! Sometimes my own stupidity astounds me! I am sorry - I should have looked at your location! DUHHH!
Anyway, I checked out Greenville SC and it seems that my assumption may be correct - you are receiving the police ok but those other services are not on that system (yet). According to the database, the fire is moving there and the police are there already. You probably downloaded and installed the Palmetto system into your PSR500 but haven't downloaded the conventional stuff. Really that's all there is to it! Right now, your older scanner is picking up the other stuff since those frequencies are in it but the new guy is ONLY looking at the "NEW" system - and not everybody is on that "NEW" system yet. Once you program all of those conventional frequencies into the PSR500 you will be fine. Then you can shut off your older scanner if you want to. I see you're using software - I am not familiar with the ARC500 software but it should be easy to do (look for the conventional lists and just copy, for starters, those frequencies over from your old scanner; or see if RR lets you do the same kind of download for the other stuff).
Don't give up yet...sorry I'm so slow!
-Mike
ARRRRRGGGHHH!! Sometimes my own stupidity astounds me! I am sorry - I should have looked at your location! DUHHH!
Anyway, I checked out Greenville SC and it seems that my assumption may be correct - you are receiving the police ok but those other services are not on that system (yet). According to the database, the fire is moving there and the police are there already. You probably downloaded and installed the Palmetto system into your PSR500 but haven't downloaded the conventional stuff. Really that's all there is to it! Right now, your older scanner is picking up the other stuff since those frequencies are in it but the new guy is ONLY looking at the "NEW" system - and not everybody is on that "NEW" system yet. Once you program all of those conventional frequencies into the PSR500 you will be fine. Then you can shut off your older scanner if you want to. I see you're using software - I am not familiar with the ARC500 software but it should be easy to do (look for the conventional lists and just copy, for starters, those frequencies over from your old scanner; or see if RR lets you do the same kind of download for the other stuff).
Don't give up yet...sorry I'm so slow!
-Mike
Att
A note from my own experience, I purchased a 600 and ran it beside my BC780 both on the NJSP 800mhz trunk system. The 780 was rattling away while the 600 was stone deaf. The signal strength bar on the 780 and the 600 were both "pegged". I tried a local municipal 800 trunk system and it too was stone deaf on the 600. Now I am right across the street from a cell site on a town water tower, but it never affected the 780. I hit the ATT on the 600 while scanning and viola!, it ran side by side with the 780 on both systems.
A note from my own experience, I purchased a 600 and ran it beside my BC780 both on the NJSP 800mhz trunk system. The 780 was rattling away while the 600 was stone deaf. The signal strength bar on the 780 and the 600 were both "pegged". I tried a local municipal 800 trunk system and it too was stone deaf on the 600. Now I am right across the street from a cell site on a town water tower, but it never affected the 780. I hit the ATT on the 600 while scanning and viola!, it ran side by side with the 780 on both systems.
Att
NESN,
While that's good advice if the whole system is affected, I don't think that is cbro298's problem. He is getting the PD fine on the system (which means he is getting the system with acceptable quality - the receiver is not severely overloaded) but is concerned that he is not picking up the other agencies he is still getting on his older scanner.
In checking out the Greenville SC database entries I found that the Palmetto trunked system (which I assume he downloaded from the RR site based on his earlier posts) is relatively new (at least in its current incarnation) and only so many agencies have yet migrated to it. One of those is the PD he hears but most of the others that, I am pretty sure, he is monitoring with his older conventional scanner have not yet migrated over (and some may never do so). Based on his earlier posts I think that he is not too familiar with trunking systems in general and is just confused about the difference between how his older conventional scanner worked and how the PSR500 works. I think his RR download did NOT include all of the conventional stuff that he has programmed into his conventional scanner so that is the main reason he is not receiving them. Either that or the ARC500 software and RR downloaded file require extra steps to engage the conventional objects (I do not use that software so I can't be sure of this part).
-Mike
NESN,
While that's good advice if the whole system is affected, I don't think that is cbro298's problem. He is getting the PD fine on the system (which means he is getting the system with acceptable quality - the receiver is not severely overloaded) but is concerned that he is not picking up the other agencies he is still getting on his older scanner.
In checking out the Greenville SC database entries I found that the Palmetto trunked system (which I assume he downloaded from the RR site based on his earlier posts) is relatively new (at least in its current incarnation) and only so many agencies have yet migrated to it. One of those is the PD he hears but most of the others that, I am pretty sure, he is monitoring with his older conventional scanner have not yet migrated over (and some may never do so). Based on his earlier posts I think that he is not too familiar with trunking systems in general and is just confused about the difference between how his older conventional scanner worked and how the PSR500 works. I think his RR download did NOT include all of the conventional stuff that he has programmed into his conventional scanner so that is the main reason he is not receiving them. Either that or the ARC500 software and RR downloaded file require extra steps to engage the conventional objects (I do not use that software so I can't be sure of this part).
-Mike
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cbro298
Member
The scanner i have now is a Uniden BC95XLT.I can pick up Gvill county sherriffs office.some EMS,some fire.I cannot pick up at all Gville city police,SCHP,Gvill city fire.I was told the reason why i cannot pick these items up is because they are now on the Palmetto 800 digital system so i got the 500.I downloaded and had it on for 5 hrs and all i heard was Gville city police and 1 city fire frequecyNow i seemed to have made a mistake of putting the scanner to the orignal set up mode and now it will not accept the download at all
can you explain what you did step by step so we can help!! By bringing the scanner back to original settings will NOT effect you downloading systems by software. Be sure you have the right system settings. By hearing some talkgroups and not others it could be that those talkgroups are slow or not in use for those 5 hours. It could also mean that the info on the database may need updating. I had this problem with the ny westchester ems trunked system. The software loaded the system as a 800 motorola when in fact it was a uhf/motorola system. H ad to change it manually for it to work.
First steps
cbro298,
Firstly, I should reassure you that the PSR500 CAN do what you want! Despite how it is frustrating you right now, you should know that!
Secondly, take a deep breath and relax! I know this sounds corny but I think it helps. The PSR500 is a very different and far more complicated scanner than your trusted BC95XLT. It may take some time to learn but it will be worth it in the end.
Ok, you need to understand the difference between conventional and trunking radio systems. I suggest that you try reading through the wikis located on RR. Try this as a first read: http://www.signalharbor.com/sr/05apr/index.html. It gives you a fairly concise and clear basic understanding of the concepts of trunking versus conventional radio systems. Others may suggest better reads, it's just the best one I could find with a quick scan of the RR wiki.
Now, because I think you just need to first make sure that the radio is working correctly and so you can get some immediate satisfaction, I am going to suggest a quick starting point.
First,take your old scanner - that trusty 95XLT - get a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and step through the memories in that scanner and write down the frequencies. You don't have to write them ALL down, for now, but at least pick the busiest ones and/or the ones most important to you. What we're going to do is program them into your new PSR500 to test it. This is to assure you that, yes, indeed the PSR500 will receive the same stuff you have been getting on your 95XLT. For now just pick the absolute busiest three or four and write them down.
Now, I think you said that you had reset the scanner but let's just be sure and reset it again. Turn off the scanner and turn it back on again. While the Welcome screen is displaying press the zero (0) key, release it and then press the one (1) key. It may ask you to approve by pressing the enter key = just follow the on-screen directions until you get to the screen that says "Press NEW to create objects".
Now follow these steps for basic CONVENTIONAL PROGRAMMING:
1) Press the F1 key located just below the on-screen "NEW" display. You should see three choices: TGRP CONV and SRCH from left to right.
2) Press the F2 key under CONV.
Now you should see a display that shouws "CONV Channel" on the top line and three choices again on the bottom line: Save, Exit, and Dflt. The cursor should be blinking on the second line concerning Scan Lists. We will leave the default scan list alone and move down to where it says "Freq: 25.000000".
Look at the big oval key on the keypad that has SEL in the middle and the four directional arrows around that.
3) Press the down arrow once - the one on the bottom of the big oval key. You should hear a beep and see the cursor blinking on the colon of "Freq:".
4) Type in the first frequency from your list that you made from the old 95XLT - make sure you type in the decimal key where appropriate.
5) Press the ENT key on the bottom second from the right. That's the Enter key. You should hear a low-high beep confirming that you have entered the frequency correctly and should now see your frequency listed after the "Freq:" display.
6) Press the F1 key located under "Save" on the screen. You should hear another low-high beep indicating you have sucessfully saved the first frequency.
Now you will see the same screen as before with the TGRP, CONV, and SRCH choices on the bottom. Now you just follow steps 2) through 6) as above for each frequency that you wrote down on the paper from the 95XLT. Just do three or four for now.
When finished, press the SCAN button. And wait. Eventually you should hear the same stuff that your 95XLT was receiving on those frequencies. OK, if so we have at least confirmed that the PSR500 is working and can receive what you have been getting all along on your older scanner. And you now know how to program in basic conventional frequencies.
While scanning you will see a 1 followed by several dots. Don't worry - those dots are other scan lists that we are not using for now. All of the frequencies that you just entered are in the first scan list, 1, by default. You can think of the scan lists as a little like banks but they are far more than that. But for now, you can think of them as such.
Now once you have made sure that the scanner can receive the conventional frequencies we can move on to the trunking system programming.
Follow these steps for basic TRUNK SYSTEM PROGRAMMING:
1) While the scanner is on press the PGM (Program) key.
You should see a blinking "PGM" in the upper left hand of the display and the choices NEW, EDIT, and GLOB along the bottom.
2) Press the F1 key under "NEW".
You should now see the three choices: TGRP, CONV, and SRCH.
3) Press the F1 key under "TGRP".
You should see "Talkgroup" on the top line and the three choices Save, Exit, and Dflt on the bottom. The cursor should be blinking on the colon for Scan Listss: just as it did for the conventional stuff earlier.
Again, for now we'll leave that alone and move on to the trunk programming.
4) Press the down arrow once on the big oval key. Make sure the cursor is now on the "TSYS:" colon.
5) Press the middle of the big oval key - the "SEL" button.
You should now see "Trunked System" along the top and the same three choices of Save, Exit, and Dflt on the bottom. The cursor should be blinking on the "Type:" colon and the default system type of MOT 800/900. In your particular case, that is the system we want so you don't need to change it.
6) We'll skip over giving the system a name for now (you can review alpha tagging later or wait to do it in the software - a lot easier). So press the down arrow until you get the cursor blinking on the "Frequencies:" colon.
7) Press the "SEL" button (middle of the big oval Key).
You should now see "System Freqs" at the top of the display and the choices Save, Exit, and Del along the bottom. The cursor should be blinking on the colon for "Ch01:". That's where we will put the primary control channel frequency for the Palmetto system site 35 (Greenville).
8) Type in the frequency of 859.9625MHz using the decinal point just as you did with the conventional stuff and press the ENT (Enter) key.
You should hear the low-high beep confirming correct entry.
9) Press the down arrow key to put the cursor on the colon for "Ch02".
10) Press the SEL button.
11) Type in the secondary Palmetto site 35 control channel frequency of 859.2625MHz and press the ENT (Enter) key. You should hear the low-high beep confirming correct entry.
For this site on this system you're done!
12) Press the F1 key under "Save".
You'll once again hear the low-high confirmation tone and then see another Save choice on the bottom.
13) Press the F1 key under "Save" again.
Another low-high tone.
14) Now press the F1 key under "Save" yet again.
For now, we are just confirming reception and proper tracking of the system so we are going to receive EVERYTHING on that system that is affiliated with this site. We are just using the default Group Wildcard. So you are going to hear a lot of stuff you don't care about. But this at least gets us started. Now we know the scanner is working and have proven it can handle all of your older (conventional) stuff together with the new (trunking) stuff.
Now you can move on to getting the software to work and retrying that download effort. Just remember to make sure you download BOTH the Palmetto trunking system AND the Greenville area conventional stuff (it may require two separate downloads and/or special software tweaks to activate both on your scanner). I suggest two places to go: Go to the Scanning Software Discussion And Support RR forum at http://www.radioreference.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=89 to ask questions about how to use the Butel ARC500 program (it's the "Official Butel ARC-500 Software Thread") and also look at the South Carolina RR Forum at http://www.radioreference.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=17 to ask area specific advice on how to use your scanner best (I see you have already been there at least once before).
That's about all the hand holding I can do for you using this venue. But at least it should get you started! I hope it helped! Just don't give up and keep trying! Once you get familiar with the scanner I think you will like it!
-Mike
cbro298,
Firstly, I should reassure you that the PSR500 CAN do what you want! Despite how it is frustrating you right now, you should know that!
Secondly, take a deep breath and relax! I know this sounds corny but I think it helps. The PSR500 is a very different and far more complicated scanner than your trusted BC95XLT. It may take some time to learn but it will be worth it in the end.
Ok, you need to understand the difference between conventional and trunking radio systems. I suggest that you try reading through the wikis located on RR. Try this as a first read: http://www.signalharbor.com/sr/05apr/index.html. It gives you a fairly concise and clear basic understanding of the concepts of trunking versus conventional radio systems. Others may suggest better reads, it's just the best one I could find with a quick scan of the RR wiki.
Now, because I think you just need to first make sure that the radio is working correctly and so you can get some immediate satisfaction, I am going to suggest a quick starting point.
First,take your old scanner - that trusty 95XLT - get a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and step through the memories in that scanner and write down the frequencies. You don't have to write them ALL down, for now, but at least pick the busiest ones and/or the ones most important to you. What we're going to do is program them into your new PSR500 to test it. This is to assure you that, yes, indeed the PSR500 will receive the same stuff you have been getting on your 95XLT. For now just pick the absolute busiest three or four and write them down.
Now, I think you said that you had reset the scanner but let's just be sure and reset it again. Turn off the scanner and turn it back on again. While the Welcome screen is displaying press the zero (0) key, release it and then press the one (1) key. It may ask you to approve by pressing the enter key = just follow the on-screen directions until you get to the screen that says "Press NEW to create objects".
Now follow these steps for basic CONVENTIONAL PROGRAMMING:
1) Press the F1 key located just below the on-screen "NEW" display. You should see three choices: TGRP CONV and SRCH from left to right.
2) Press the F2 key under CONV.
Now you should see a display that shouws "CONV Channel" on the top line and three choices again on the bottom line: Save, Exit, and Dflt. The cursor should be blinking on the second line concerning Scan Lists. We will leave the default scan list alone and move down to where it says "Freq: 25.000000".
Look at the big oval key on the keypad that has SEL in the middle and the four directional arrows around that.
3) Press the down arrow once - the one on the bottom of the big oval key. You should hear a beep and see the cursor blinking on the colon of "Freq:".
4) Type in the first frequency from your list that you made from the old 95XLT - make sure you type in the decimal key where appropriate.
5) Press the ENT key on the bottom second from the right. That's the Enter key. You should hear a low-high beep confirming that you have entered the frequency correctly and should now see your frequency listed after the "Freq:" display.
6) Press the F1 key located under "Save" on the screen. You should hear another low-high beep indicating you have sucessfully saved the first frequency.
Now you will see the same screen as before with the TGRP, CONV, and SRCH choices on the bottom. Now you just follow steps 2) through 6) as above for each frequency that you wrote down on the paper from the 95XLT. Just do three or four for now.
When finished, press the SCAN button. And wait. Eventually you should hear the same stuff that your 95XLT was receiving on those frequencies. OK, if so we have at least confirmed that the PSR500 is working and can receive what you have been getting all along on your older scanner. And you now know how to program in basic conventional frequencies.
While scanning you will see a 1 followed by several dots. Don't worry - those dots are other scan lists that we are not using for now. All of the frequencies that you just entered are in the first scan list, 1, by default. You can think of the scan lists as a little like banks but they are far more than that. But for now, you can think of them as such.
Now once you have made sure that the scanner can receive the conventional frequencies we can move on to the trunking system programming.
Follow these steps for basic TRUNK SYSTEM PROGRAMMING:
1) While the scanner is on press the PGM (Program) key.
You should see a blinking "PGM" in the upper left hand of the display and the choices NEW, EDIT, and GLOB along the bottom.
2) Press the F1 key under "NEW".
You should now see the three choices: TGRP, CONV, and SRCH.
3) Press the F1 key under "TGRP".
You should see "Talkgroup" on the top line and the three choices Save, Exit, and Dflt on the bottom. The cursor should be blinking on the colon for Scan Listss: just as it did for the conventional stuff earlier.
Again, for now we'll leave that alone and move on to the trunk programming.
4) Press the down arrow once on the big oval key. Make sure the cursor is now on the "TSYS:" colon.
5) Press the middle of the big oval key - the "SEL" button.
You should now see "Trunked System" along the top and the same three choices of Save, Exit, and Dflt on the bottom. The cursor should be blinking on the "Type:" colon and the default system type of MOT 800/900. In your particular case, that is the system we want so you don't need to change it.
6) We'll skip over giving the system a name for now (you can review alpha tagging later or wait to do it in the software - a lot easier). So press the down arrow until you get the cursor blinking on the "Frequencies:" colon.
7) Press the "SEL" button (middle of the big oval Key).
You should now see "System Freqs" at the top of the display and the choices Save, Exit, and Del along the bottom. The cursor should be blinking on the colon for "Ch01:". That's where we will put the primary control channel frequency for the Palmetto system site 35 (Greenville).
8) Type in the frequency of 859.9625MHz using the decinal point just as you did with the conventional stuff and press the ENT (Enter) key.
You should hear the low-high beep confirming correct entry.
9) Press the down arrow key to put the cursor on the colon for "Ch02".
10) Press the SEL button.
11) Type in the secondary Palmetto site 35 control channel frequency of 859.2625MHz and press the ENT (Enter) key. You should hear the low-high beep confirming correct entry.
For this site on this system you're done!
12) Press the F1 key under "Save".
You'll once again hear the low-high confirmation tone and then see another Save choice on the bottom.
13) Press the F1 key under "Save" again.
Another low-high tone.
14) Now press the F1 key under "Save" yet again.
For now, we are just confirming reception and proper tracking of the system so we are going to receive EVERYTHING on that system that is affiliated with this site. We are just using the default Group Wildcard. So you are going to hear a lot of stuff you don't care about. But this at least gets us started. Now we know the scanner is working and have proven it can handle all of your older (conventional) stuff together with the new (trunking) stuff.
Now you can move on to getting the software to work and retrying that download effort. Just remember to make sure you download BOTH the Palmetto trunking system AND the Greenville area conventional stuff (it may require two separate downloads and/or special software tweaks to activate both on your scanner). I suggest two places to go: Go to the Scanning Software Discussion And Support RR forum at http://www.radioreference.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=89 to ask questions about how to use the Butel ARC500 program (it's the "Official Butel ARC-500 Software Thread") and also look at the South Carolina RR Forum at http://www.radioreference.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=17 to ask area specific advice on how to use your scanner best (I see you have already been there at least once before).
That's about all the hand holding I can do for you using this venue. But at least it should get you started! I hope it helped! Just don't give up and keep trying! Once you get familiar with the scanner I think you will like it!
-Mike
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cbro298
Member
not picking up much
Thank you.Now that is the type info that i am looking for.If it holding my hand,well grab on and dont let go.I tried a manual download yesterday.and picked up the county pd and ems but the signal bar was weak.I am giong to try the step by step from my new bud Mike G D because i dont think my way was that detailed
Thank you.Now that is the type info that i am looking for.If it holding my hand,well grab on and dont let go.I tried a manual download yesterday.and picked up the county pd and ems but the signal bar was weak.I am giong to try the step by step from my new bud Mike G D because i dont think my way was that detailed
Glad to hear you are going to try. You will be satisfied with time. Mike explained things perfectly!! Nice to know good people interested in helping others are HERE at this website!!
zzdiesel
Member
Does the info that Mike posted work on the PSR600 as well? That is one informative post.
hoser147
Member
It sure will............
Give a man a fish and so forth...
Thanks for the accolades folks but they're a bit premature.
I generally like the "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day/teach a man to fish and he eats for life" ummm...life statement, mindset, whatever, anyway, I tend to appreciate it and utilize it when possible.
Unfortunately I sort of "gave you (cbro298) a fish"...well, actually, more like I gave you a rod, a reel, fishing line, a hook and lure, and a bucket full of water that I threw a live hungry fish in for you to try out.
And the problem with this is:
A) Cbro298 may have an aversion to water.
B) Cbro298 may be, unknowingly, allergic to fish.
C) I may have accidentally given him a sick or otherwise poisonous fish (albeit completely unknowingly on my part, I assure you!).
Any one or more of the above may cause him to decide fishing is for the birds (many of which do, indeed, fish, as it were) and certainly not for him!
Anyway, some things to be aware of about my instructions (I promise, I'll drop the fish talk now!):
1) I left off one instruction accidentally. There should be a step 15) in the basic TRUNK SYSTEM PROGRAMMING steps which should read "Press the "SCAN" key. Hopefully you, (cbro298) figured that out!
2) I do not live anywhere near Greenville SC and so just am trusting the information from the RR database listing and that I am correctly interpreting that information. So, I cannot be sure that the control frequencies I told you to enter are either correct or the best for you in terms of signal quality. I made the assumption that, since your location tag indicated Greenville you actually live there and that the RR database listing of site 35 for Greenville is truly the best site for you to receive - it may well not be in which case it may not work at all.
If it doesn't work or if it doesn't seem to work very well, then I would suggest that you try using the search function on your PSR500 to search around the 800MHz band and locate the best control channel for the Palmetto system. You could also use your old 95XLT to do this (if it has 800MHz coverage) but the 500 has the ability to decode the control channels and give you information about them when programmed into the unit as a conventional frequency or when using the TUNE function (look in the manual to learn how to program SEARCH objects and use the TUNE function). You want to find control channels that give you a high quality decode rate (like in the 90% or better, if at all possible, range) and that have the correct system ID of 2B02 as listed in the RR database for the Palmetto system.
If what I told you to enter works well then I would suggest that you try listening to the raw control channel so that you learn what it sounds like and learn how the scanner decodes it and displays that useful data for future use.
3) I just gave you a very basic set of instructions to make sure the scanner works and to give you warm fuzzies that it will eventually be able to do what you want.
If everything works ok you, since we are using group wildcards, you will be receiving EVERYTHING on that system that is affiliated with that site whether it be the local dog catcher or the PD detectives!
And we haven't programmed in any alpha tags so you will just see numbers come up for every user when they are transmitting. Those numbers are the "talk groups" or "TG's" I mentioned earlier. They are what a trunking system uses to distinguish "channels" rather than frequencies as in conventional systems. They may seem confusing and overwhelming at first but don't panic - it's normal and a standard part of trunk radio systems. You could listen carefully to the transmissions and note which numbers match what are of interest to you and then use the "STORE" function to load those in the scan lists when they appear. Then you can later use the alpha tagging feature to give them names which will then appear on the screen the next time they come up. And you can lock out the wildcard object and just scan the scan list with only those talkgroups you have stored.
Basically I want you to make sure it works and then get back to using the software and RR download capability that you paid for. So that's the next step - learn the software (use the software forum with the Butel ARC-500 thread) and use it to tailor your downloaded information to your own needs.
And be sure and research trunking radio systems in general! Use that site I listed in my last post as a start and look for others that you can understand. Read and reread and then read again! Recite it while in bed! Paste printouts of it on the bathroom wall in front of the throne in large print! LEARN TRUNKING RADIO BASICS!!!! I am sorry for the shouting but knowing the basics of trunking radio is really a must nowadays in the scanning world. I know you would rather it just get entered so you can turn on the radio and forget about it but I guarantee that you will not get the full enjoyment or best use out of your scanner until you at least have a basic understanding of trunked radio! Sorry, that is just the way it is!
Anyway, I really don't want to scare you off and I really hope the steps I suggested work ok! Please, please don't give up if they don't! Just program in the conventional stuff (that stuff in your 95XLT) as you should at least be able to do that and then spend some time getting trunk radio basics down. Then, when you feel a bit more comfortable that you know the basics and the lingo ("control channel", talk groups", "system sites", etc) you can attack that aspect of the scanner again with, hopefully, a better armed mental information base!
So good luck!
-Mike
P.S.
And LEARN THAT TRUNKING STUFF!!!...bathroom wall...ceiling over your bed...sticky notes on your pillow...compose a song about it...read it instead of the morning paper during breakfast for the next six months...give your pets and/or family members nicknames like "Control Channel", "System ID", "Voice Channel", "3600 Baud" "Smart Zone", etc. and so forth...I'M SERIOUS! Well, pretty much anyway;-)
Thanks for the accolades folks but they're a bit premature.
I generally like the "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day/teach a man to fish and he eats for life" ummm...life statement, mindset, whatever, anyway, I tend to appreciate it and utilize it when possible.
Unfortunately I sort of "gave you (cbro298) a fish"...well, actually, more like I gave you a rod, a reel, fishing line, a hook and lure, and a bucket full of water that I threw a live hungry fish in for you to try out.
And the problem with this is:
A) Cbro298 may have an aversion to water.
B) Cbro298 may be, unknowingly, allergic to fish.
C) I may have accidentally given him a sick or otherwise poisonous fish (albeit completely unknowingly on my part, I assure you!).
Any one or more of the above may cause him to decide fishing is for the birds (many of which do, indeed, fish, as it were) and certainly not for him!
Anyway, some things to be aware of about my instructions (I promise, I'll drop the fish talk now!):
1) I left off one instruction accidentally. There should be a step 15) in the basic TRUNK SYSTEM PROGRAMMING steps which should read "Press the "SCAN" key. Hopefully you, (cbro298) figured that out!
2) I do not live anywhere near Greenville SC and so just am trusting the information from the RR database listing and that I am correctly interpreting that information. So, I cannot be sure that the control frequencies I told you to enter are either correct or the best for you in terms of signal quality. I made the assumption that, since your location tag indicated Greenville you actually live there and that the RR database listing of site 35 for Greenville is truly the best site for you to receive - it may well not be in which case it may not work at all.
If it doesn't work or if it doesn't seem to work very well, then I would suggest that you try using the search function on your PSR500 to search around the 800MHz band and locate the best control channel for the Palmetto system. You could also use your old 95XLT to do this (if it has 800MHz coverage) but the 500 has the ability to decode the control channels and give you information about them when programmed into the unit as a conventional frequency or when using the TUNE function (look in the manual to learn how to program SEARCH objects and use the TUNE function). You want to find control channels that give you a high quality decode rate (like in the 90% or better, if at all possible, range) and that have the correct system ID of 2B02 as listed in the RR database for the Palmetto system.
If what I told you to enter works well then I would suggest that you try listening to the raw control channel so that you learn what it sounds like and learn how the scanner decodes it and displays that useful data for future use.
3) I just gave you a very basic set of instructions to make sure the scanner works and to give you warm fuzzies that it will eventually be able to do what you want.
If everything works ok you, since we are using group wildcards, you will be receiving EVERYTHING on that system that is affiliated with that site whether it be the local dog catcher or the PD detectives!
And we haven't programmed in any alpha tags so you will just see numbers come up for every user when they are transmitting. Those numbers are the "talk groups" or "TG's" I mentioned earlier. They are what a trunking system uses to distinguish "channels" rather than frequencies as in conventional systems. They may seem confusing and overwhelming at first but don't panic - it's normal and a standard part of trunk radio systems. You could listen carefully to the transmissions and note which numbers match what are of interest to you and then use the "STORE" function to load those in the scan lists when they appear. Then you can later use the alpha tagging feature to give them names which will then appear on the screen the next time they come up. And you can lock out the wildcard object and just scan the scan list with only those talkgroups you have stored.
Basically I want you to make sure it works and then get back to using the software and RR download capability that you paid for. So that's the next step - learn the software (use the software forum with the Butel ARC-500 thread) and use it to tailor your downloaded information to your own needs.
And be sure and research trunking radio systems in general! Use that site I listed in my last post as a start and look for others that you can understand. Read and reread and then read again! Recite it while in bed! Paste printouts of it on the bathroom wall in front of the throne in large print! LEARN TRUNKING RADIO BASICS!!!! I am sorry for the shouting but knowing the basics of trunking radio is really a must nowadays in the scanning world. I know you would rather it just get entered so you can turn on the radio and forget about it but I guarantee that you will not get the full enjoyment or best use out of your scanner until you at least have a basic understanding of trunked radio! Sorry, that is just the way it is!
Anyway, I really don't want to scare you off and I really hope the steps I suggested work ok! Please, please don't give up if they don't! Just program in the conventional stuff (that stuff in your 95XLT) as you should at least be able to do that and then spend some time getting trunk radio basics down. Then, when you feel a bit more comfortable that you know the basics and the lingo ("control channel", talk groups", "system sites", etc) you can attack that aspect of the scanner again with, hopefully, a better armed mental information base!
So good luck!
-Mike
P.S.
And LEARN THAT TRUNKING STUFF!!!...bathroom wall...ceiling over your bed...sticky notes on your pillow...compose a song about it...read it instead of the morning paper during breakfast for the next six months...give your pets and/or family members nicknames like "Control Channel", "System ID", "Voice Channel", "3600 Baud" "Smart Zone", etc. and so forth...I'M SERIOUS! Well, pretty much anyway;-)
cbro298
Member
not picking up much
Well took it back out of the box.Now that im not PISSED anymore going to give it a good hard go.Thank you for the tips, that is what i needed.
Well took it back out of the box.Now that im not PISSED anymore going to give it a good hard go.Thank you for the tips, that is what i needed.
- Status
