NX-5200 Scan List Setup

[jimzim66]

Good evening/morning, all,

Newbie to Kenwood radios. Just got my NX-5200K3 in today and have been messing around with the programming software to get everything set up how I like. A bit of a learning curve as I'm used to Motorola MotoTRBO and APX CPS.

Before anyone says it, I did read the book

I'm trying to set up my radio to do list scanning. I have my priority channel picked, I have channels in the scan list, but Scan wont initiate on the radio. I've tried looking in other areas for a hidden option I may have missed, but I can't seem to find anything else. All the Scan options in each individual channel are selected, but are greyed out.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[kd4efm]

Zone edit that zone, select scan list.

 

[kd4efm]

 

[RRR]

That default "Revert channel, Last called + Selected" / "Talkback" setting aggravates the snot out of a whole bunch of folks. Will have a radio on scan, somebody will talk on another channel, then the user wants to talk on their selected channel, instead it is talking on "Last called".

("PD 914, you're on Fireground")

 

[jimzim66]

I have the Scan set to List, and I have members added to the list, but the Scan button just beeps at me when I try to start it.

I see in your photos you have Multi-Zone selected. Should I be using that?

 

[dryfb]

I have the Scan set to List, and I have members added to the list, but the Scan button just beeps at me when I try to start it.

I see in your photos you have Multi-Zone selected. Should I be using that?

View attachment 195517

Scroll to the bottom of Zone Edit and make sure you have a scan list selected. Also make sure that the channel assignments don't have "None" as the setting for scan list no.

Where it says none in my screenshot, make sure it has a number or Zone Common

 

[jimzim66]

Scroll to the bottom of Zone Edit and make sure you have a scan list selected. Also make sure that the channel assignments don't have "None" as the setting for scan list no.

Where it says none in my screenshot, make sure it has a number or Zone CommonView attachment 195518

That's where my issue was, Scan List No. was set to none. I thought simply adding the members in the Scan List screen was enough.

Is there a way to add additional scan lists on the radio itself? That's something else I can't seem to figure out. I do appreciate the help!

 

[dryfb]

That's where my issue was, Scan List No. was set to none. I thought simply adding the members in the Scan List screen was enough.

Is there a way to add additional scan lists on the radio itself? That's something else I can't seem to figure out. I do appreciate the help!

Go to Scan>scan list and you should be able to bump up into another list. I did find a bug regarding it tho, if you are in a scan list that is 1 number above one in use and you add the prior list's priority, you cant delete.

Example; if I am using list 2 and add list 1's priority, I cant delete it even tho its not list 2's priority. Work around I found is just going with every other scan list number. So 1, 3, 5 etc.

After bumping up the scan list, assign a channel to it and then set that as the list in your zone or channels.

 

[kd4efm]

I have the Scan set to List, and I have members added to the list, but the Scan button just beeps at me when I try to start it.

I see in your photos you have Multi-Zone selected. Should I be using that?

View attachment 195517

I use multi-zone with my TABLE MODE, as a personal preference, aka wide radio conventional scanning (less trunked stuff).
to each their own flavor of scan use (personal or business uses)
I'm not a fan of personality mode, though it has it's uses otherwise, but as a radio tech, I prefer segmenting stuff for easier FPP when servicing customer equipment and what not.

 

[RRR]

Remember, if you set "scan on / off" in the options, it usually won't work for a button.

I sure wish KW would change the programming SW to allow those things

 

[dryfb]

Remember, if you set "scan on / off" in the options, it usually won't work for a button.

I sure wish KW would change the programming SW to allow those things

Where is there an option for "scan on / off"? Only settings I can think of like that are Power On Scan, which will let you turn it off still, and Auto Scan on a personality

 

[RRR]

Seems it's in D1N, under settings? Not near it right now, but i'll look again. But in general, there are things I would like to set a button to, as well as a menu option also

 

[dryfb]

Seems it's in D1N, under settings? Not near it right now, but i'll look again. But in general, there are things I would like to set a button to, as well as a menu option also

Do you mean like adding Scan On/off as a menu option? Even if you do that, you can still use the button and it won't block either from working. No settings under Optional Features 1 or 2 that would be close to what you're describing.

 

[jimzim66]

Go to Scan>scan list and you should be able to bump up into another list. I did find a bug regarding it tho, if you are in a scan list that is 1 number above one in use and you add the prior list's priority, you cant delete.

Example; if I am using list 2 and add list 1's priority, I cant delete it even tho its not list 2's priority. Work around I found is just going with every other scan list number. So 1, 3, 5 etc.

After bumping up the scan list, assign a channel to it and then set that as the list in your zone or channels.

This is in the programming software, no? When I go to Scan Del/Add on the radio, and select "Add" and hit ok, nothing happens.

 

[dryfb]

This is in the programming software, no? When I go to Scan Del/Add on the radio, and select "Add" and hit ok, nothing happens.

Yes, it's in the SW. Since you didn't have a scan list assigned in zone, you'll have to set each channel to have Zone Common. Easy way to do this is to highlight them all, paste into Excel or Google Sheets, and change it in bulk. On the radio, use Scan Programming to edit your list, but having a button for Del/Add is a good idea so you can temporarily delete stuff.

 

[jimzim66]

So, I set up multiple scan lists on my radio, and unless I'm missing something, I cant find a way to switch to Scan List 2. I read the book and it doesn't give any exact instruction on how to switch scan lists.

 

[otobmark]

So, I set up multiple scan lists on my radio, and unless I'm missing something, I cant find a way to switch to Scan List 2. I read the book and it doesn't give any exact instruction on how to switch scan lists.

NX5K scan is convoluted in many ways. First, do not use “Scan Lists” unless you really need them. If “Zone Scan” is good enough use that. I have a few Scan Lists where I really need them for including channels from multiple zones. Many times it is better to create a zone containing all the channels you want to scan. When you use a scan list if you want to delete a channel you have to manually search every list that contains that channel and remove it individually from every list or cps won’t let you delete the channel itself. What happens it you build out this list spanning many zones and all is good until you want to get rid of stuff. In early days I might have the same channel included in many scan lists so to delete that channel I had to first delete it from all scan lists. So again use as few Scan lists as possible to meet your needs. Now as to “selecting” scan lists, that is done in the zone that you use to initiate the scan. My zone 1 is called “Metro” and has 18 channels (I use 16 position “non spinning” setup on my channel knob). Channels 17 and 18 are accessible by by using buttons I programmed for channel up and down—yes it can coexist with channel knob. I have another zone labeled “Events” which get altered to meet deployment needs so I use a scan list with that zone. Generally under Zone/Channel Information >Scan List No.>Zone Common is used. If I am on any channel in that zone and initiate a scan it will scan the list set for that zone (Zone/Channel>Zone Edit>Scan List). Now if you need to access multiple scan lists from a zone there is a way— you pick a channel and set its “Scan List No. “ to the list you want to scan (instead of Zone Common). If you select that channel and then initiate scan the radio will scan the list associated with that channel even though it is different than the default Scan List you selected under “Zone Edit”. You can do this with every channel in the zone. The problem is remembering which list you associated with each channel (you can put a clue in Channel Name). Recap: you can set all channels in a zone to initiate default scan list (Zone Common) or you can customize some or all of the channels in the zone to be associated with Scan List of your choosing.
When you are done look over “Scan List No. “ column carefully to make sure all the channels have the right thing selected (Zone Common, None, or a list number you chose). If you change “Scan Type” under “Zone Edit” it will default everything to “None” in Scan List No. column. Sometimes deliberately or accidentally I change to “Single” or something else and decide to go back to “List” it will mess up “Scan List No.” column—this trips up a lot of people.
Finally, I have never gotten “User Selectable” Priority channel to work right. I can’t remember if it is more of a problem with Lists or Zone scan.

 

[ramal121]

List scan is only practical for certain situations. Sure you can fudge things as otobmark points out but can be a pita to utilize.

Really I would try either single or multi zone scan. Program a button for scan and another for delete/add and have at it. You may find that easier.

 

[dryfb]

So, I set up multiple scan lists on my radio, and unless I'm missing something, I cant find a way to switch to Scan List 2. I read the book and it doesn't give any exact instruction on how to switch scan lists.

It is set to a channel or zone in SW and can't be changed by the user, I sure wish it could be tho. Otobmark's method of having different channels tied to different lists works too. When you hit scan, it will display which list you're scanning if "Scan Display" is turned on in scan settings.

Finally, I have never gotten “User Selectable” Priority channel to work right. I can’t remember if it is more of a problem with Lists or Zone scan.

Works fine for me using Scan list. If the scan type is set to LTR and conventional then I have issues setting it in the software tho. When editing the scan list using Scan Program, go to the channel you want to be priority, and hit the circle button. Then select None, P1, P2, or P1 and 2.

I have 4 zones for my home area, first is all my simplex channels, the ham repeaters I more commonly may want to use, and the main public safety for my county. Second is my main simplex channels I use again, and some other stuff like public works. Third is misc stuff like businesses, some ham repeaters that I will rarely ever use, and fourth is some other misc channels. I follow that scheme for my 2nd area, just with less stuff so only a primary and secondary zone. With scan list, I can go between any of the same area zones and continue scanning the same things without touching anything.

I've found it super easy to utilize once I got a grasp on how it's programmed, which isn't too complex IMO. My only complaint is not being able to cycle thru selected channels when editing my scan list like Motorola has, but that's pretty minor.