Pro-96 Scanning Speed

[bluealien11]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.231 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to make scanning a digital system (colorado dtrs) any faster with a pro-96?

I currently have a bank with 4 control frequencies and approximately 20 talk group ID's and the scanner works fine, just a bit slow at scanning in that bank as opposed to scanning the VHF/UHF frequencies in other banks.

Is this common with the Pro-96 or something I am able to change with a different programming setup?

Any comments or suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[GrayJeep]

One thing to check for is whether you have a marginal signal strength CC in there.

On marginal CCs the scanner seems to have a hard time deciding whether to decode what it hears or skip the channel entirely. Sometimes it'll seem to hang there for minutes at a time with TG showing and no audio. (My 106 does this as well)

 

[Nasby]

Its slow because it is sampling the control channels. Its normal that the PRO-96 is slow on the 800 mhz trunking channels. Whereas on VHF conventional channels, there's no need to sample any control channels and the PRO-96 will zip right through them.

 

[bluealien11]

So I have looked at the % the radio will give me when on a control channel for the system, and on 2 of the 5 I have, it gives anywhere between 88%-98%, however it is intermittent. The others do not seem to give off a %. Is the intermittent percentages normal, or is that indicative of poor reception on that channel?

Also is there software available that will show you more detailed information on the signal strength like they have for other radios?

Thanks a lot for the responses!

 

[torontokris]

Yes it's normal to be slower as it has to analyze the control channel rather the just fly over conventional channels.

Are you putting multiple sites in one bank?
The radio wasnt made to do that but it works. Do you have a conventional channel in between the sites ?

Intermittant signal strengh is normal long as it's not jumping from like 0-100 or a huge jump etc

No other way to watch signal strengh (like on other scanners) other then hitting MAN which stops the trunking.

 

[torontokris]

To add the channels with no % means your not getting a signal.
Could be too far away/too weak or just an alternate control channel (like a spare if they move fromthe main channel you have in already)

This is normal. if your already getting 2 sites your fine

 

[bluealien11]

I have 5 control frequencies in there at the moment. All 5 for the Grand Valley area, so I get coverage throughout the valley. I don't have any other frequencies in the bank with them.

Should I program something in between them? If so, what does that do for the radio? Also, am I going to pick up all the same TG's in use in the area if I just program in 1 site?

Thanks

 

[GrayJeep]

There's a sticky at the top of this forum which discusses whether to put a conventional freq in between the P25 ccs.

Over here on the polar side of the mountains ( for today) there are different TGs appearing on different towers. You'd have to study the display carefully over time or use Pro96com to analyse whether the traffic is the same or different on your sites in your area.

I'm not sure that trying to compare scanning speed of a digital, trunked system vs conventional even makes sense. Even if it did, there isn't very much you can do about it. I remember thinking that it seemed to take a long time to get thru the trunked bank when I first bought my '96. Now I don't pay attention to it.

 

[SkipSanders]

If you're trying to scan multiple systems (sites) in the same bank, of course it's slow.

The scanner (if it does this at all) must sit on each active control channel for a few seconds to check to see if any talkgroups are active, then go to the next active control channel, and do it all again.

It's not just a case of 'is the channel active', because all system control channels (for different sites) are always active. It has to stop and actually read the channel data stream, to see if it's supposed to listen to anything currently active in that trunk system.

 

[torontokris]

If they are from different towers/site they should technically have a space frequency (non motorola just FM, 1300 Mhz is a common). That gives the radio a space so it "fools it" into thinking its a new system since the Pro-96 was not made to multi-site.
It doesnt need a space after EACH frequency, just the ones that are different towers (listed as different lines in RadioReference)

I dont know the Grand Valley area but depending on the system yes some talkgroups are broadcast over ALL the towers, some systems broadcast only over local or nearby / neighbour towers (or where an actual public safety unit radio is affiliated with - as a basic definition).

More then likely youd get most talkgroups in your area but may miss one or two talkgroups from another farther away tower.

Since your original problem was SPEED of the scanner
Try to lockout 4 of those frequencies (leaving only 1 that had noise on it) and see if that speeds up the system.

I have 5 control frequencies in there at the moment. All 5 for the Grand Valley area, so I get coverage throughout the valley. I don't have any other frequencies in the bank with them.

Should I program something in between them? If so, what does that do for the radio? Also, am I going to pick up all the same TG's in use in the area if I just program in 1 site?

Thanks

 

[bluealien11]

I did take out all but 1 control frequency, and the result wasn't much faster than I had before. I have also put a "spacer" FM freq between each site and have not noticed much of a difference either. I think its just a limitation of the radio as far as decoding and following the digital system. Also noticed that varying the amounts of the TG's in the bank also doesn't seem to (noticeably) speed up the scanning through the digital bank.

Thanks for the all the replies!

 

[torontokris]

Correct the spacer was not to help speed, more to ensure your not getting "stuck" on only 1 CC or the radio isnt having a problem handling them (since its not a multi-site radio).

Interesting though why it wouldnt be faster scanning only 1 CC compared to 2+, but maybe its just split seconds faster so its not a noticable difference (jnd) to the human eye.

I did take out all but 1 control frequency, and the result wasn't much faster than I had before. I have also put a "spacer" FM freq between each site and have not noticed much of a difference either. I think its just a limitation of the radio as far as decoding and following the digital system. Also noticed that varying the amounts of the TG's in the bank also doesn't seem to (noticeably) speed up the scanning through the digital bank.

Thanks for the all the replies!

 

[bluealien11]

Thats what I think it is. I am sure its slightly faster (logic dictates it), but its not noticeable when looking at the scanner display.

 

[tommyscan]

try using a specific range antenna like the rs 800 duck which works well on 800/900 systems and try updating the firmware.