PROSCAN....How do I set "Select Services" to monitor?

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bobruzzo

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I am looking at my SDS200 menu under "Select Service" and there are some things that are not modifiable.....for instance I have some aircraft freqs programmed in a favorites list but in the "Select Service" menu, where it says "Aircraft" to the right of it shows this: :---
How do I get this to be "On"???
 

GTR8000

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This has nothing to do with ProScan. You need to have those items enabled in the scanner itself before you can toggle services on/off.
 

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I am looking at my SDS200 menu under "Select Service" and there are some things that are not modifiable.....for instance I have some aircraft freqs programmed in a favorites list but in the "Select Service" menu, where it says "Aircraft" to the right of it shows this: :---
How do I get this to be "On"???
I don't think you programmed the aircraft channels with a Service Type of Aircraft. If you did then you should see a choice of Off or On.
 

bobruzzo

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I don't think you programmed the aircraft channels with a Service Type of Aircraft. If you did then you should see a choice of Off or On.
I must have not found an easier way to do this but I had to manually set all the talk groups to their respective services in Proscan before I transferred to scanner. I did look in scanner before hand and there are some services blanked out with :---
I dont know any other way to set this in scanner other than to either turn on/off the services that are modifiable.
Sentinel has a page where you simply check off all the services you want from what I remember. How does the radio know if a frequency you program is either aircraft or business or whatever. I never saw the point of setting services, especially if you listen to mostly all services anyway.
 

bobruzzo

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Here is what I did last nite....I had an extra sd card and put mostly all of what I usually listen to on it using Proscan. Some of the systems were imported from the RR database and other were imported from other files used on my other (bct15x & BCD996P2) radios. So I have about 22 systems, with one being a P25 trunk, one an LTR and rest are conventional. This shows in the first pic I attached. In the picture "norad" are some air freqs but I had to manually set all of them to "military" because they were set to "Custom 1" for some reason. So I looked around and saw many of my systems were set to "Custom 1". When you add a system to a FL I dont see any option asking WHAT kind of system (air, business, military etc). Once I changed ALL my talk groups that needed to be changed to the right service, it then reflected this in the radio....those services that had :--- after their name now said "On". So I am doing something wrong when I program the radio. It seems there are MANY things you have to check before you transfer FL to radio. I dont use quick keys on anything but the individual systems to avoid even more confusion. And I mostly set the radio and leave it. If I want to avoid a system I just go and do it from menu.
 

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bobruzzo

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Here is a screen shot of the sds200 services menu.....so a service is either "On" or "Off" or ":---"
There is no other way to change the :---
"Media" and "Military" are BLANKED out. There is no other option in the radio to turn these blanked out services to on or off.
So I am assuming you have to do this in Proscan, but it seems awful tedious to have to step thru all your TG's to do it. And if you have a list of, for example 25 business services, there is no way to set them to "business" all in one shot, you have to manually do each one! And if the radio does not recognize the service, it sets it as "Custom 1".
Obviously I am missing something when I am doing this.
 

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ProScan

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And if you have a list of, for example 25 business services, there is no way to set them to "business" all in one shot, you have to manually do each one!

Here's how to do in ProScan:
1. Change the first channel to Business.
2. Select the range of channels to change to Business by using the mouse. Left click the cell that was change to Business in step 1 then hold down the SHIFT key and click on the last cell you want changed.
3. Left click mouse then select Fill Down.

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Here is a screen shot of the sds200 services menu.....so a service is either "On" or "Off" or ":---"
There is no other way to change the :---
"Media" and "Military" are BLANKED out. There is no other option in the radio to turn these blanked out services to on or off.

The ":---" symbol means that what ever favorites lists are currently selected for scanning do not contain entries that are assigned to that service type. You need to have items of that service type in the currently loaded and scanning lists to be able to turn that service type on or off.

So I am assuming you have to do this in Proscan, but it seems awful tedious to have to step thru all your TG's to do it. And if you have a list of, for example 25 business services, there is no way to set them to "business" all in one shot, you have to manually do each one! And if the radio does not recognize the service, it sets it as "Custom 1".
Obviously I am missing something when I am doing this.

You can assign a service type to an entire column of items at once. Change the top one and "copy" it, then select the entire length of the column that you want to change, and "paste" it... in Sentinel or "fill down" in Proscan.
 

bobruzzo

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Here's how to do in ProScan:
1. Change the first channel to Business.
2. Select the range of channels to change to Business by using the mouse. Left click the cell that was change to Business in step 1 then hold down the SHIFT key and click on the last cell you want changed.
3. Left click mouse then select Fill Down.

View attachment 93581
THANK YOU!!!! So please correct me if I am wrong, but when I create a new system, regardless of it's "service type" I STILL have to CHANGE it in the drop down list? This is the ONLY WAY to assign service types to the individual items in a system, unless the system is recognized by Proscan when you create it?
 

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Couple things.

By default, any new addition in Sentinel will default to Custom1.

You can easily highlight and change an entire column. (Copy one, and paste down) Think the same is true in ProScan.

Proscan has search and replace. You could change a 1000 Custom 1 to Airplane in a minute.

Service types marked --- ---. You can't enable that type as none of that type are in your selected data.
 

bobruzzo

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Couple things.

By default, any new addition in Sentinel will default to Custom1.

You can easily highlight and change an entire column. (Copy one, and paste down) Think the same is true in ProScan.

Proscan has search and replace. You could change a 1000 Custom 1 to Airplane in a minute.

Service types marked --- ---. You can't enable that type as none of that type are in your selected data.
OK I did read thru the "Easier to read" manual but it doesnt say HOW to do this. But WHY do we need to set services? A frequency is a frequency and why does it matter? I dont understand the value of this feature of the radio. If I DON'T want to listen to a "Media" frequency I simply wouldnt program one!
Also I think Sentinel has a page to simply set ALL service types if you want. You just check 'em off. Done!
 

kruser

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OK I did read thru the "Easier to read" manual but it doesnt say HOW to do this. But WHY do we need to set services? A frequency is a frequency and why does it matter? I dont understand the value of this feature of the radio. If I DON'T want to listen to a "Media" frequency I simply wouldnt program one!
Also I think Sentinel has a page to simply set ALL service types if you want. You just check 'em off. Done!
I use Service Types a lot.

Say I'm scanning a large countywide trunked system. I normally would scan everything but I often don't want to hear Public Works. I disable the Public Works Service Type and instantly all Public Works type channels are no longer scanner and I did not need to go in and avoid all the departments or municipalities that have public works departments. This makes it very easy and fast to scan everything but public works.

Same thing goes for scanning a specific service type like say the Fire service types. When something is going on involving fire, I can enable just the Fire service types and leave the others off and all I'll hear is fire related traffic.

Of course the same thing can be achieved using Quick Keys as well for different departments if you grouped like services under specific departments.
If you have fire talkgroups listed in several different departments though, selecting just the fire service types would probably be quicker than figuring out all the departments that have a fire service type in a given department and turning those departments on or off with quick keys.

Service Types are another way to make searching and scanning your groups or departments easier.
And no, you don't need to use them if you don't wish! It's really just a convenience feature.

As @phask pointed out, new objects created manually in Sentinel or ProScan will be assigned a Service Type of Custom 1 by Default.
You just need to enable the Custom 1 Service Type and anything you manually add will be scanned. You could change every item in the scanner to Custom 1 if you wanted. That would make it scan everything.

As you mentioned, you can also use Sentinel's Profile Editor to enable any of the service types regardless if they exist in any of your favorite lists or not. This makes it easy to make sure new items you add with a specific service type other than Custom 1 will be scanned as soon as you write them to the scanner.
I myself still prefer to use service types though.
 

bobruzzo

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I use Service Types a lot.

Say I'm scanning a large countywide trunked system. I normally would scan everything but I often don't want to hear Public Works. I disable the Public Works Service Type and instantly all Public Works type channels are no longer scanner and I did not need to go in and avoid all the departments or municipalities that have public works departments. This makes it very easy and fast to scan everything but public works.

Same thing goes for scanning a specific service type like say the Fire service types. When something is going on involving fire, I can enable just the Fire service types and leave the others off and all I'll hear is fire related traffic.

Of course the same thing can be achieved using Quick Keys as well for different departments if you grouped like services under specific departments.
If you have fire talkgroups listed in several different departments though, selecting just the fire service types would probably be quicker than figuring out all the departments that have a fire service type in a given department and turning those departments on or off with quick keys.

Service Types are another way to make searching and scanning your groups or departments easier.
And no, you don't need to use them if you don't wish! It's really just a convenience feature.

As @phask pointed out, new objects created manually in Sentinel or ProScan will be assigned a Service Type of Custom 1 by Default.
You just need to enable the Custom 1 Service Type and anything you manually add will be scanned. You could change every item in the scanner to Custom 1 if you wanted. That would make it scan everything.

As you mentioned, you can also use Sentinel's Profile Editor to enable any of the service types regardless if they exist in any of your favorite lists or not. This makes it easy to make sure new items you add with a specific service type other than Custom 1 will be scanned as soon as you write them to the scanner.
I myself still prefer to use service types though.
OK Thanks for enlightening me, now I can see how you would use the service feature as an advantage. But how does the scanner know what service type any frequency is? Sometimes you have outfits using frequencies outside their normal service type.....like taxi cabs using marine freqs, for example!
 

kruser

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OK Thanks for enlightening me, now I can see how you would use the service feature as an advantage. But how does the scanner know what service type any frequency is? Sometimes you have outfits using frequencies outside their normal service type.....like taxi cabs using marine freqs, for example!

If you are manually creating a new favorite list, you would chose whatever service type makes the most sense to you for each frequency or talkgroup. The scanner could care less what service type you use.
Service Types are a personal preference where the end user would use them however they like.
You could call a police frequency aircraft if you want but it makes sense to use whatever type matches the actual use of the frequency.
If you add a frequency for say your towns dog catcher, you could assign it one of the Custom types or select any of the others that make more sense in your mind as there is no "Dog Catcher" service type. There really are no hard rules for using service types.

Another thing, if you append or create a favorite list from the master database in Sentinel, you can then use Sentinel to change the service types that Sentinel used if you want.

One thing that's comes up once in a while is someone asking if the custom service types can be renamed. The answer is No.
Allowing that would create other issues that have been discussed in other forums and threads.
I've always felt that it would be nice if you could rename the custom types but we can't have everything.
 

bobruzzo

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If you are manually creating a new favorite list, you would chose whatever service type makes the most sense to you for each frequency or talkgroup. The scanner could care less what service type you use.
Service Types are a personal preference where the end user would use them however they like.
You could call a police frequency aircraft if you want but it makes sense to use whatever type matches the actual use of the frequency.
If you add a frequency for say your towns dog catcher, you could assign it one of the Custom types or select any of the others that make more sense in your mind as there is no "Dog Catcher" service type. There really are no hard rules for using service types.

Another thing, if you append or create a favorite list from the master database in Sentinel, you can then use Sentinel to change the service types that Sentinel used if you want.

One thing that's comes up once in a while is someone asking if the custom service types can be renamed. The answer is No.
Allowing that would create other issues that have been discussed in other forums and threads.
I've always felt that it would be nice if you could rename the custom types but we can't have everything.
Thank you for explaining. There is so much this software does I havent even scratched the surface yet. I did notice there was no "Milair" service, so I figured there must be another way to deal with it. My favorites lists are usually a combination of data from RR database and my own handmade ones of things that are not in database. And since everybody is different and has different preferences I can see why it is hard to explain some things. I have been using both Sentinel and Proscan. I am still trying to figure out which is easier! The thing thats confusing me the most is the quick keys. I only use them for the systems, but not for depts or sites. I still cant help calling quick keys "banks" cause thats easier for me to get my head around. I still use them as more or less banks. And some terms that both programs use are confusing. I suppose I could pick up a few extra sd cards and just keep practicing programming till it sinks in!
 

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The thing thats confusing me the most is the quick keys. I only use them for the systems, but not for depts or sites. I still cant help calling quick keys "banks" cause thats easier for me to get my head around. I still use them as more or less banks. And some terms that both programs use are confusing.

That's a fine way to do it. I mostly only use them for Favourite Lists and a few systems. My favourite's lists are quite narrowed down as, so I can quickly flip between lists without having to remember too many numbers of sites, depts, etc.

I do really like the ability to hold a site, or a system, or a department... comes in handy.

But for some, fewer keys can be better. Whatever works best for your scanning needs and preferences is what works!
 

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And some terms that both programs use are confusing.
Can you provide examples on the terms that are confusing so we can hopefully clear up the confusion. If something in ProScan is not right, I would like to know about it.
 

bobruzzo

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Can you provide examples on the terms that are confusing so we can hopefully clear up the confusion. If something in ProScan is not right, I would like to know about it.
Off the top of my head in Sentinel when you edit profile there is a phrase with check box "monitor full database"....do they mean the full database nationwide or the full database in your favorites list? Some terms are not clear enough what they actually mean. I don't program radios that often and I forget steps sometimes. It would be a lot easier to have step by step instructions.....I guess as you get older your mind isnt as sharp. I understand everybody has different needs and it isnt practical to have specialized instructions. I find Proscan a bit easier, especially building a fav list. But Sentinel has a separate page to check on/off service types which I like cause it is quicker than having to set them manually. On the other hand maybe Uniden should have service types an option (switchable in radio) either to use or not use. Personaly I dont need them cause I listen to mostly all services. If I dont want to hear a certain thing I simply dont program it. I guess some people look at the simplest way to do things.
 

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On the other hand maybe Uniden should have service types an option (switchable in radio) either to use or not use.

The radio does have a Service Types menu. You can enable/disable each service type in that menu with the exception mentioned next.
I think it was explained earlier but it can be confusing when the radio's service type menu list shows a service type that you cannot turn on or off. This means none of your favorite lists have that particular service type being used by any of the channels or talkgroups in your favorite lists.
 

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Off the top of my head in Sentinel when you edit profile there is a phrase with check box "monitor full database"....do they mean the full database nationwide or the full database in your favorites list?

The full database would be the nationwide RadioReference database, not your favourites.

ProScan is infinitely easier and faster to use than Sentinel for building Favourites Lists. I found Sentinel absolutely dreadful and tediously slow.

I built my initial profile/settings with Sentinel, and have used ProScan for favourites ever since and never opened Sentinel back up again.

The database method works great for users who just want to punch in their ZipCode and listen immediately without any work. Great for people who want to put a GPS on and just go out and drive with their scanner too. For people who are trying to monitor specific channels and talkgroups, they will get into the favourite lists.
 
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