Pro 164, unable to lockout IDs

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JG321129

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This is my first scanner. I am having a hard time trying to figure out how to lock out IDs. I have tried both software programs PSREdit300 and Win97 with no luck. I import all of my sites, channels and talkgroups from RadioReference (Brevard County Florida, EDACS). I have no issues getting the information edited in the software and uploading it to my scanner. Once uploaded the scanner seems to operate normally. I see all my banks, which ones are open and closed and the names of the banks I entered using the software. The scanner scans all the banks and I hear the radio traffic. The problem I am having is that when I am scanning the scanner is picking up IDs that I have locked out under a closed bank. I have two banks closed with IDs locked out. Every time I scan the locked out IDs work. I have manually checked the IDs in the scanner itself and they showed locked out when scrolling through the scanner and the banks are closed. Our local Sheriff and Fire/Ems use the same "site". I have them in seperate banks. I am trying to lock out Fire/EMS, is this a problem being they use the same "site". The manual does not seem to explain much in detail. I have been trying for about a week now to get these IDs locked out with no luck. And, if this sounds normal, when does the locking out IDs apply? Thanks for any help.
 

gmclam

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Pro-164 & edacs

Welcome to RadioReference.com.

If I understand you correctly, you are using a PRO-164 (which is the same as a PSR-300) and are monitoring an EDACS system. That EDACS system is programmed into ONE BANK ONLY and that bank is set to CLOSED. Is that all true?

When you run a bank open you are basically telling the scanner to stop on all traffic. Plus you shouldn't scan the same system in two separate banks.

It sounds like you are locking out some TGs in the software before uploading. Have you confirmed that the TGs are locked out? Go to the bank where they are programmed (on the scanner), press FUNC T and then use the UP and DOWN arrows to navigate to the TGs. Does it show LO in UPPER case on the display? Lower case means they are not locked out (I hate that aspect of these scanners, it should be left blank).

One other thing I feel compelled to ask: Do you have the trunked frequencies set to ED (and not FM)? You MUST scan them as ED for the TG functionality to work properly.
 

JG321129

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Thanks for the reply. I am monitoring EDACS. I have banks 0-8 programmed with local agencies, all EDACS. There is one Sheriff Department, six Police Departments and one County Fire/EMS. I have each of them in a different bank. There is four "sites" used between them all. I have the Fire/EMS bank closed and all the IDs locked out. I just checked on the scanner and the EMS bank is closed and all the IDs have "LO" next to them. I do have the trunked frequencies set to ED. So maybe my problem is that I have banks 0-8 filled with EDACS system.
 

gmclam

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PRO-164 & trunk tracking

I am monitoring EDACS. I have banks 0-8 programmed with local agencies, all EDACS. There is one Sheriff Department, six Police Departments and one County Fire/EMS.
That accounts for 8 of the 9 banks programmed....

I have each of them in a different bank. There is four "sites" used between them all.
Use 4 banks for the 4 sites. Use the SUB-BANK function to control turning on agencies. There are only 5 sub banks, so it sometimes take a little management to get it the way you want it.

I know that using sub-banks is a pain, and that it is SO MUCH easier to just use banks. But that scanner does not really work well when you put the same active control channel into multiple banks. You might want to consider getting a PSR-310 which uses "lists" rather than banks and will let you program the way you've described.

I have the Fire/EMS bank closed and all the IDs locked out. I just checked on the scanner and the EMS bank is closed and all the IDs have "LO" next to them.
But there is nothing to stop you from hearing one of those locked out talkgroups in one of the open banks. If you close ALL of the banks, that will "solve" the issue you originally wrote about, but let me tell you that you WILL miss calls. That scanner really can't handle having a single active control channel frequency spread across multiple banks. If you only have ONE of those banks on at a time, fine. But I suspect that's not how you're operating it. And in reality, unless you travel around the area a lot, you probably have most of them on at the same time anyway .. so just put each SITE in it's own bank (assuming the sites all use unique freqencies).
 

JG321129

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Thanks for the information and help. I want something that's going to lock out what I don't want to hear and still be open. I took the PRO 164 back to RS being it was only 2 wks old. The PSR 310 sounds like the way to go. I did look on Scannermaster and found that the PSR 700 sells for a little more. Do you have any thoughts on the 310 compared to the 700? Thanks
 

buddrousa

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Not sure there is a scanner that will lockout a talk group or squelch code and still work in the open mode. Now with the Pro-197 connected to a computer you can log and auto lockout but it only works as long as the scanner is connected to the computer and logging info this is not a stand alone option.
 

gmclam

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Psr-310 (psr-500) oop

Thanks for the information and help. I want something that's going to lock out what I don't want to hear and still be open. The PSR 310 sounds like the way to go. I did look on Scannermaster and found that the PSR 700 sells for a little more. Do you have any thoughts on the 310 compared to the 700? Thanks
I have no personal experience with the 700, but it has a totally different user interface. You'll have more control over how to set up and use the scanner with the '310.

buddrousa said:
Not sure there is a scanner that will lockout a talk group or squelch code and still work in the open mode.
The '310 uses "Object Oriented Programming" instead of banks and has no open or closed mode per se. To make the scanner effectively scan in open mode you use a wildcard talkgroup. There are two kinds of wildcards, you want the group version (not the private version).

I would program 4 Tsys Objects, one for each site you want to monitor (assuming the sites use unique frequencies). Program in all the TGs you want to identify (to see their alpha description), program in the TGs you want locked out (and lock them out) and program the wildcard group TG all as Tgrp objects. You will have to clone all of those Tgrp objects for each of your 4 sites.

Lastly, associate what you desire with your scan lists. One scan list could be any combination of Tgrp objects you desire. You can associate the same Tgrp to 1 list, all lists, no lists, whatever you desire. Name your lists and scan away.
 

gmclam

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It simple to lock out a talk group, when it becomes active during scanning, you just hit the lock out key. In Win97 you tick the lock out box for the talk group, same with Arc300.
Have you tried it on a PRO-97 when the bank is set to OPEN? What happens?
 
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