I have a BCD 396T scanner. I live in Colorado where the fire dept I work for uses the P25 statewide system. I am having trouble getting my head around the correct programming method for this system and my scanner.
I have the correct channel trunk ID's and have them programmed.
As I understand it, all I need to do is enter the CONTROL frequencies into my frequency list, correct? Since there are well over 100 repeater sites in the state on this system and since I am in my car much of the time when listening, I've entered the control only frequencies for about 40 repeater sites near me into the scanner.
First question, is this the correct approach? Will the scanner lock onto the strongest control frequency and then hop top the next as I travel, giving me seemless coverage like our department portables do?
To test the scanner, I entered all the frequencies for the closest repeater site (control and all) and then entered the truck ID's. Everything worked perfectly until I traveled out of the reception area for that repeater.
After doing some reading on how P25 works, I then removed all the frequencies and entered only control frequencies for the 40 closest repeater sites.
If I do an ID Search, I hear traffic on various Trunk ID's, but none of the ones I want to listen to. If I do an ID Scan for only my Truck ID's, no traffic comes through on many of the control frequencies.
Is this the best approach for handling a mobile scanner on a P25 system?
Am I running into a situation where various trunk ID's are blocked on some repeater sites and I need to simply remove control frequencies of blocked sites?
I have the correct channel trunk ID's and have them programmed.
As I understand it, all I need to do is enter the CONTROL frequencies into my frequency list, correct? Since there are well over 100 repeater sites in the state on this system and since I am in my car much of the time when listening, I've entered the control only frequencies for about 40 repeater sites near me into the scanner.
First question, is this the correct approach? Will the scanner lock onto the strongest control frequency and then hop top the next as I travel, giving me seemless coverage like our department portables do?
To test the scanner, I entered all the frequencies for the closest repeater site (control and all) and then entered the truck ID's. Everything worked perfectly until I traveled out of the reception area for that repeater.
After doing some reading on how P25 works, I then removed all the frequencies and entered only control frequencies for the 40 closest repeater sites.
If I do an ID Search, I hear traffic on various Trunk ID's, but none of the ones I want to listen to. If I do an ID Scan for only my Truck ID's, no traffic comes through on many of the control frequencies.
Is this the best approach for handling a mobile scanner on a P25 system?
Am I running into a situation where various trunk ID's are blocked on some repeater sites and I need to simply remove control frequencies of blocked sites?