PRO-163 won't trunk
After making a programming change to my 163, for some reason or other I can't get it to just scan over the talk groups on my local public safety trunk system on the motorola type II smart net. ... It just scans over all the frequencies as if the talk groups aren't there. Any ideas??
Here are the steps I take to debug this type of issue. First go to MAN mode and use the UP and DOWN keys to find the active control channel. You know the one with the buzzsaw sound. If you don't find it, there's your problem.
If you do find it, make sure it is set to MO mode. Make sure it is not locked out. You should see a % decode rate on the 4th line of the display of at least 25%. I like to see over 50%. If it is too low, you do not have good enough reception. Make sure ATT is off, antenna securely connected, etc.
Once you have a working control channel set to the correct mode, make sure the BANK is also set to MO mode. Look in the software you programmed the scanner with. If not correct, change it and re-upload.
If that's all good, the next thing I do is put the bank in OPEN mode. When in open mode you will hear all communications on the trunk. That means you'll hear stuff you didn't program, but you'll know it is now trunk tracking. When you get to that point and need further help, let us know. I suspect these steps will uncover your problem.
Plus any way to make it monitor a particular talk group without scanning?
No. It must be in SCAN mode to read the control channel data. It needs the control channel data to know the voice channel being used for the TG you want. You can put it in ID HOLD MODE, but that's really only workable once you get it scanning correctly.