NXDN Programming

[tommypickles]

I am trying to program a local site into my 536 and 996p2.
This is a NXDN system. The r/r page for this site only has one LCN listed.
I can not figure out how they came up with the LCN's.
Attached is a copy of the r/r page.
I have ARC pro, but the program asks for LCN's and using 0 does not seem to work.
I read the r/r thread on NXDN that was from 2018 and it did not address how to find LCN's if the database did not have them.
Thank you for your help.

F2 Not Used

 

[hiegtx]

I am trying to program a local site into my 536 and 996p2.
This is a NXDN system. The r/r page for this site only has one LCN listed.
I can not figure out how they came up with the LCN's.
Attached is a copy of the r/r page.
I have ARC pro, but the program asks for LCN's and using 0 does not seem to work.
I read the r/r thread on NXDN that was from 2018 and it did not address how to find LCN's if the database did not have them.
Thank you for your help.

F2 Not Used

I'm guessing that you may have looked at this thread, with an LCN calculator spreadsheet:

NXDN Calculator V3

For those of you who have seem and used my nxdn calculator, I've updated it again. It now has the original section where you need 2 channel and frequency pairs in the SAME bandplan, then it will give you the Step size and the Base frequency. Then you can enter either a channel or frequency and...

forums.radioreference.com

What I did with my local NXDN systems (before this spreadsheet was posted) was to enter all the frequencies for each site, then run the LCN finder on my 436HP or 536HP. Depending on system activity, you may need to let it run anywhere from a few hours to a day or more. After one or more LCNs are found, then either read the scanner back into ARCXT or Sentinel, to see the values it found, or you can view the results on the scanner by editing the system. In "editing", pull up the system in the scanner, select edit the Favorites list. Then, "edit" the system, and select 'edit' the site. In the site edit, pull up each frequency. Pess Enter as if you want to edit (or enter a new) frequency. Then, just press Enter without making a change, and you'll next see the LCN> If the scanner found an LCN, you'll see the LCN found. If nothing has been found yet, you'll just see a zero as the LCN. Be sure and save the results when exiting the LCN Finder. Sentinel will let you enter an LCN of 0, and when you run the LCN Finder, the scanner will change all the LCNs to zero before starting.

 

[tommypickles]

I'm guessing that you may have looked at this thread, with an LCN calculator spreadsheet:

NXDN Calculator V3

For those of you who have seem and used my nxdn calculator, I've updated it again. It now has the original section where you need 2 channel and frequency pairs in the SAME bandplan, then it will give you the Step size and the Base frequency. Then you can enter either a channel or frequency and...

forums.radioreference.com

What I did with my local NXDN systems (before this spreadsheet was posted) was to enter all the frequencies for each site, then run the LCN finder on my 436HP or 536HP. Depending on system activity, you may need to let it run anywhere from a few hours to a day or more. After one or more LCNs are found, then either read the scanner back into ARCXT or Sentinel, to see the values it found, or you can view the results on the scanner by editing the system. In "editing", pull up the system in the scanner, select edit the Favorites list. Then, "edit" the system, and select 'edit' the site. In the site edit, pull up each frequency. Pess Enter as if you want to edit (or enter a new) frequency. Then, just press Enter without making a change, and you'll next see the LCN> If the scanner found an LCN, you'll see the LCN found. If nothing has been found yet, you'll just see a zero as the LCN. Be sure and save the results when exiting the LCN Finder. Sentinel will let you enter an LCN of 0, and when you run the LCN Finder, the scanner will change all the LCNs to zero before starting.

Not sure how to use ARC XT for LCN Finder. Someone else responded with LCN'c but all of them are not right as I only receive one frequency of the system. In search more I find activity on some of the other frequencies.
I will put my 996p2 on the ARC and use virtual control and log what I get on each individual frequency.
Thank you for you time and response.
Still learning how to make a computer and radio work together

 

[hiegtx]

Not sure how to use ARC XT for LCN Finder. Someone else responded with LCN'c but all of them are not right as I only receive one frequency of the system. In search more I find activity on some of the other frequencies.
I will put my 996p2 on the ARC and use virtual control and log what I get on each individual frequency.
Thank you for you time and response.
Still learning how to make a computer and radio work together

ARC-XT will not find LCNs for you. For that matter, neither will Sentinel nor ProScan.

Use Sentinel, to program in the frequencies for your system. and load to the 536. Then run LCN Finder on the 536. (The 996P2 does not have an LCN Finder option.

Create a NXDN trunked system in the 536 (if you have not already done so). Then, on the 536, go into the Menu on the scanner.
Scroll down to and select Analyze, then under Analyze, choose the LCN Finder option. Let it run for a while. Depending on how many users are active on the system, it may take anywhere from a few hours to a day or more for LCN Finder to identify all of the frequencies by their LCN.

 

[werinshades]

Someone else responded with LCN'c but all of them are not right as I only receive one frequency of the system. In search more I find activity on some of the other frequencies.

My information? Use Sentinel, set it up as a NXDN Trunking System and you should be receiving traffic if programmed correctly. LCN's in NXDN systems are the "assigned" channel numbers, unlike MotoTRBO Trunking System
You should be using RAN-4 if that's the closest site.

 

[tommypickles]

I have yet to figure out how to build a code plug using sentinel.
I have run the LCN finder for 24 hours and got 4/7 LCN's off the Kankakee site.
I need to figure out how to get that information out of the scanner or manually read it.
I attempted yesterday but could not find them, and when I went into edit frequency and then to LCN it read 0 on all.
A bit frustrated but still working on it.
I am presently trying to read the scanner with ARC PRO but no success. Post a new thread on that.
Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it.

 

[hiegtx]

I have yet to figure out how to build a code plug using sentinel.
I have run the LCN finder for 24 hours and got 4/7 LCN's off the Kankakee site.
I need to figure out how to get that information out of the scanner or manually read it.
I attempted yesterday but could not find them, and when I went into edit frequency and then to LCN it read 0 on all.
A bit frustrated but still working on it.
I am presently trying to read the scanner with ARC PRO but no success. Post a new thread on that.
Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it.

Once you finish running the LCN Finder, you need to press the Function key (press in on the scroll knob on your 536) plus the System key, in order to save the LCN Finder's results. If you exited out of the Finder without using those keystrokes, then you lost whatever results it found. Once the information is saved, then you can examine the results directly on the scanner by using the Favorites List Editor on the scanner. You can also read the scanner into Sentinel, then view the results using the Favorites List Editor in Sentinel.

I am presently trying to read the scanner with ARC PRO but no success. Post a new thread on that.

Do you have ARC 536 Pro, to read the scanner? Or only the ARC XT Pro version for just the 996P2. ARC XT Pro (for the 996) cannot read your 536.

To read the 536 either into Sentinel, or to ARC 536 (if you have that), connect the cable that came with the scanner to your PC then plug it into the 536 using the Mini-USB port under the E key. With the scanner connected to the PC, you should see a prompt on the screen asking whether you want to use Mass Storage Mode-Press E for Mass Storage, or Serial Mode-Press the decimal point key, which is labeled . Pri with no on the face of the scanner just below. Serial mode can be used for logging and virtual control. To "read" data from the scanner, you need to either be in Mass Storage Mode, or take the card out of the scanner and use a card reader to read the data into your PC. Mass Storage Mode (or using a card reader) is also required to write new or updated Favorites lists to the scanner, as well as updating the database in the scanner after you update Sentinel.

 

[W4WMH]

One thing I do, and it may take an extra day, is to put all the channels in a conventional favorites list, set them to receive all modes, and then only have the scanner scan that list. I activate the record function, and let it run for a day or 2. This will let me set all the digital modes to the correct NAC/ RAN / Color Code, as well as find conventional frequencies that might be mixed in for LTR or PL/DPL. I then split them up into correct OFT / DMR Trunk / NXDN truck / LTR as is correct to how they are actually used. Once I figured these settings and tricks out, my success finding correct usages for the frequencies went up exponentially. Before, I was running LCN finding on DMR OFT and NXDN stuff that also had LTR frequencies mixed into the site license list.

 

[werinshades]

I have yet to figure out how to build a code plug using sentinel.
I have run the LCN finder for 24 hours and got 4/7 LCN's off the Kankakee site.
I need to figure out how to get that information out of the scanner or manually read it.
I attempted yesterday but could not find them, and when I went into edit frequency and then to LCN it read 0 on all.
A bit frustrated but still working on it.
I am presently trying to read the scanner with ARC PRO but no success. Post a new thread on that.
Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it.

You must program as a NXDN Trunking System when you create a new system. From there you'll be able to enter the frequencies and LCN. Like I've mentioned before, the LCN's are not 1,2,3,4 etc for this system. They are assigned channel numbers that I provided for you. Diga-Talk is a very busy system day and night. Superior Ambulance is the dominant user but many others are on there too.

In ARC under the site for a NXDN system, ignore the color code as it's not used in NXDN. Under LCN, enter the frequencies with corresponding channel numbers. Make sure the the system is set to download and monitor ON in the scanner once you upload it. ID Search should be on. RAN is 4.