Programming too many talkgroups in Arc-xt pro

[monkster]

I am in Arkansas, Baxter County with a BCD996P2 scanner with all available software options installed and trying to program all sites and talkgroups for Project 25 / Phase II frequencies. My issue is there are 85 sites and 960 talkgroups which exceed the 500 talkgroup limit. I know i need to limit talkgroups to 500 or less but don't have any idea what can go and if it affects the sites as I can load all of those sites. My hope is i can load everything maybe by splitting talkgroups into 2 groups and have everything work. I've been reading the Arc manual but can't find anything other that limits of 500 groups. I am a newbie and some of this is a little over my head but I am hoping someone has had this problem and can help me find a solution. Thanx all

 

[doctordialtone]

I've been reading the Arc manual but can't find anything other that limits of 500 groups. I am a newbie and some of this is a little over my head but I am hoping someone has had this problem and can help me find a solution.

It all depends how you set up and program your scanner. You can always break things up.

"You can store up to 20 'Groups' per 'System' with up to 1000 frequencies or 500 IDs in each 'Group'. You can have 1000 total channels per conventional system and up to 256 'Sites' if you have enough memory. You can have a maximum of 500 Systems, 1000 Sites, and 25,000 Channels. "
Read here from the manual:

Easier to Read BCD996P2/XT Digital Scanner Manual


Great scanner. Enjoy!

 

[tvengr]

The 500 ID limit is due to the scanner, not the software. The limit is 500 ID's per group. You can have up to 20 groups in each system. It is better to separate similar talkgroups in separate groups to give you control over what you want to monitor. Were you trying to put all of the talkgroups in a single group? Try using multiple groups to see if they will fit.

 

[monkster]

Ok, I'm not understanding how to break up my trunked systems. When I d/l info for Project 25//Phase II there are two columns, Sites which has 85 listings and Talkgroups which has 960 listings. Aren't they both related to each other? Sites will fit under one system but how do I determine how to split talkgroups up? Do I need to have the Sites repeated twice for each half of talkgroups? Just not understanding how they relate to each other. I do have the Easier to Read BCD996P2/XT Digital Scanner Manual but it doesn't address the ARC software issue. Thanks.

 

[toad99]

You will need to duplicate the sites in a second system. The sites must be present in each system for any of the talkgroups to work, since the sites contain the actual radio frequencies that the scanner must tune to. Just separate the talkgroups in an order that makes sense to you and create another system. If you assign the same quick key to all of the sites in both systems, you can turn the whole system on and off with one button press, even when the two systems are split up. Just remember that scanning 85 sites will really slow things down and you may miss traffic. Only scan the sites you can pick up at a given location. If you are mobile, you can assign groups of sites to a single quick key so that you can enable and disable these sites as needed, just to avoid scanning 85 sites all at once.

 

[buddrousa]

Break your large state system into 3 or 4 Favorite List If you never travel to a part of the state you do not need those sites or talkgroups.
If you are using the scanner as a base scanner you need no more than a 40 to 50 mile circle from you and that is if you are using a good antenna.
If you are using the scanner mobile then setup areas (TOWER SITES) you will drive near or pass EXAMPLE
FAVORITE LIST
1 LITTLE ROCK TO TEXARKANA I-30
2 LITTLE ROCK TO WEST MEMPHIS I-40
3 LITTLE ROCK TO OKLAHOMA I-40
This requires work on your part to find Tower Sites in Counties and Talkgroups that use those Tower Sites.

 

[ofd8001]

In the past with scanners having limited capacity and not able to handle a large statewide system, I've broken the system up into regions. North, south, central etc. However it does take a little knowledge of the area.

Also, see if it is possible to just just the sites in one system. Then you could do the ID Search and let it discover what you can hear. Downside of that is there is no channel name and you usually have to guess who is talking.

 

[toad99]

Here in Oklahoma the problem is the 20 TGID group limit per system. Since OKWIN has about 36 TGID groups, I have to split it into 2 systems, one with 20 groups and the other with 16. Of course, if I piled all of the TGIDs into one big group, I may not have to do that, but when importing from RR that is the way the system is set up (and I would probably exceed the 500 talkgroup limit). When scanning the 2 systems, a TGID that is not in the system that is being scanned just shows the TGID and no text label. Too bad the TGIDs aren't global.

 

[monkster]

So with all this info I understand a little more and see I need to eliminate all sites and talkgroups outside my area as this will be a base scanner. I started by d/ling county maps for both Arkansas and Missouri seeing I'm only 8 miles from state line and trying to pick what is nearby but I didn't know what would actually be in my listening area. Thank you buddrousa for giving me a limit on my perimeter. I'm using a Tram 1411 antenna 40 feet up and decided to use 75 miles as my limit. Next I found a radius tool online that lists counties within my perimeter and am now in the process of eliminating all sites and talkgroups outside my listening area. With 85 sites and 960 talkgroups this will take a while but believe Im on the right track. Thank you toad99 for the idea of using quick keys. I'm going to separate the two states with them since I will mostly be listening to Arkansas area. Branson Missouri being a vacation area gets busy too so having options makes it all worthwhile.. Thanks for all your help and I'll post back when I get this setup.

Here is the link I used for getting counties within my listening area just in case someone's interested.

Big Radius Tool: StatsAmerica

The Big Radius Tool provides data for a mileage-based radius from 25 miles to 500 miles.

www.statsamerica.org

 

[ve1sef]

I'm not sure if this will help. When I got my first 996 I began to enter all the sites for the NS Trunk System. That's when I discovered although there were 64 sites, There were only 23 pairs of control channels, The site frequencies were repeated several times.
When the Maritime (NS/NB/PEI) wide system became active, replacing the NSTMR, found 34 set of control channels used across the system.
So if the scanner isn't being GPS controlled, then you don't need to enter every site.

The point to my story is. Check your trunk system and see if the site control channels are repeated, if your not using location based scanning, then you don't need all the sites. That may will help with memory space issue.

 

[toad99]

I would not bother eliminating any talkgroups (unless there are simply too many for the memory). They are not "scanned" like the sites and therefore don't affect scanning speed. The only talkgroups you will actually hear are ones that use the sites you scan. The talkgroups are basically labels for your information so you will know what your are hearing. If you had no talkgroups at all, and the system was set for ID search, you would still hear the same traffic on your sites, just no text labels. If the system is set for ID scan, then only those talkgroups entered for the system would be heard.