Pro-668: Programming Setup

[N2OAD]

Hey Guys,

I have had the 668 for several months and it seems that I'm missing many transmissions (almost as if it's scanning to slow). I wanted to find out what is the best way to program the playlists. I have Conventional/Digital frequencies and 2 or 3 trunk systems that I would like to scan. Should I set up one playlist of all the conventional channels and a separate playlist for each trunk system??

Also, what is the best way (how long) to set the delay and priority channels( how many)? I am thinking because I'm trying to scan both Conventional and trunk systems together on one playlist that maybe causing the problem. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

PS I'm in Ocean County NJ. If anyone already has this area setup and programmed, I would like to download and try to see if any improvement.

Thanks for your help
Joe
N2OAD

 

[Ghstwolf62]

I don't know about this scanner. When it works it works great but it has some kind of issue.

I know it will go silent for no reason and then if I press Menu then select play again it will work fine for anywhere from a little while to all night but it constantly goes dead.

No idea why. Try that and see if it helps when it dies.

 

[N2OAD]

Thanks for the info. It is strange how it works. I'm just trying to see if there is any best way to set it up.

 

[trunker]

Hey Guys,

I have had the 668 for several months and it seems that I'm missing many transmissions (almost as if it's scanning to slow). I wanted to find out what is the best way to program the playlists. I have Conventional/Digital frequencies and 2 or 3 trunk systems that I would like to scan. Should I set up one playlist of all the conventional channels and a separate playlist for each trunk system??

Also, what is the best way (how long) to set the delay and priority channels( how many)? I am thinking because I'm trying to scan both Conventional and trunk systems together on one playlist that maybe causing the problem. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

PS I'm in Ocean County NJ. If anyone already has this area setup and programmed, I would like to download and try to see if any improvement.

Thanks for your help
Joe
N2OAD

You may just be trying to monitor too many sites with the trunked systems. Only program the sites that are within range (of your enabled scanlist).
The more priority channels you have, the longer the 'hiccup' will be interrupting scanning. You can also set the 'priority interval' to how often priority channels will be checked.
Delay can depend on what you are monitoring. Air comms are pretty quick and straight forward so I set them to 1 sec. PS about 1.5 secs. Digital processing can distort trunking delay so depending on the system, it may vary for best results.

 

[DickH]

I don't know about this scanner. When it works it works great but it has some kind of issue.

I know it will go silent for no reason and then if I press Menu then select play again it will work fine for anywhere from a little while to all night but it constantly goes dead.

No idea why. Try that and see if it helps when it dies.

If you are monitoring a trunked system and you do not have all the control channels entered, they may be changing, as some system do. A Motorola system can use up to 4 freqs. as control channels.

 

[Ghstwolf62]

If you are monitoring a trunked system and you do not have all the control channels entered, they may be changing, as some system do. A Motorola system can use up to 4 freqs. as control channels.

Thanks, I learned that lesson long ago when people were constantly saying to only put in the CC and you'd be fine.

Wrong. LOL

I put in all freqs for a site to prevent that problem and its really helped on many more than one occasion.

 

[JRUNCK]

I don't know about this scanner. When it works it works great but it has some kind of issue.

I know it will go silent for no reason and then if I press Menu then select play again it will work fine for anywhere from a little while to all night but it constantly goes dead.

No idea why. Try that and see if it helps when it dies.

I was having this EXACT! same problem & troubleshooted it for hours & hours per day for a week straight and absolutely nothing I did would change it. I was literally about to return the radio because I couldn't even image a configuration I didn't already try. Then as a final attempt I broke down the TRS I'm closest to down by each site within it into separate Playlists/Play Sets. My local TRS has 15 sites within it so I created 15 Playlists/Play Sets (one for each site) and I would lock out the rest so only one site was active at a time. Then tested each one by one and found I was only able to even hear one group out of the 15 at my home location where I use my radio. There was 2 other sites that only produced all static on every channel. Once I played the one group that I can hear my radio now consistently plays them and doesn't have the issue with gong silent like it did before. Before eliminating the unwanted sites the radio would always scan the 2 sites that only produce static and the other 12 that are silent then cause the radio to focus on those frequencies ignoring the ones that come in clear. Now those 14 unwanted multi sites are eliminated and the radio focuses only on the 1 multi site that I can actually hear only. I no longer have the issue with it stopping on sites and it only playing static or being silent.

This quote from the easier to read manual is what changed everything for me . . .

"My personal experience has given me the best results by programming each site as one system and putting it in its own scan/play list. I don't like putting all the sites for a Multi-site system into one system because it only monitors the 1 strongest control channel (site) which defeats the whole 'multi-site' concept IMHO. Yes, there may be different traffic on other receivable control channels you have in the system that aren't being monitored. You can still assign all those separate sites in the system to one scan/play list to isolate the system if you prefer. This method will monitor all your control channels."

 

[rwier]

" ... Then as a final attempt I broke down the TRS I'm closest to down by each site within it into separate Playlists/Play Sets. My local TRS has 15 sites within it so I created 15 Playlists/Play Sets (one for each site) and I would lock out the rest so only one site was active at a time. Then tested each one by one and found I was only able to even hear one group out of the 15 at my home location where I use my radio. There was 2 other sites that only produced all static on every channel. Once I played the one group that I can hear my radio now consistently plays them and doesn't have the issue with gong silent like it did before. Before eliminating the unwanted sites the radio would always scan the 2 sites that only produce static and the other 12 that are silent then cause the radio to focus on those frequencies ignoring the ones that come in clear. Now those 14 unwanted multi sites are eliminated and the radio focuses only on the 1 multi site that I can actually hear only ..." /QUOTE]

And just to add if it helps a new listener: The way I implement the above is to import the entire TRS (all Sites, all TGs). I make no changes to this import. Then I make a duplicate and immediately rename the duplicate. Using the duplicate, I remove all Sites but one and any unwanted TGs from the renamed duplicate. Repeat as needed for each desirable Site (these could be used for travelling to nearby locations).

Side note: Having only one Site disables the Data Decode Thresholds option. To bring it back to life, simply add a "New" site and leave it as is (it will display as Site "002"). Then I set the Data Decode Thresholds to Low 15 and High 95. Made a big difference for me.

Also, under the Advanced Features tab>Advanced DSP Settings>DSP Level Adapt, I found by trial and error that the best setting for me was 52. This also made a big difference in my listening success.

Disclaimer: All of my statements above are based upon the use of the GRE 800 together with the associated EZScan software. I believe that the 668 and the 800 are close cousins. If not, disregard, lol.