PSR-500 on MSP (MA STATE POLICE) and Local MA PD

[kevincobra]

Hi, are there any PSR-500 owners from Massachusetts out there!!

I am considering on purchasing this radio and would like to know how it performs on the MSP troop A, H 800mhz trunk system. I would mainly like to know how the main A, H MSP control channel (860.9875) and other related 800mhz channels come in. If they are clear or choppy.

Also.. While i was looking at the online manual, i could not help but notice that all of our local Suburban MA PD/NEMLAC/BAPERN 470.xxxx frequency's were not in the scanners preset public safety service search band. Actually, if i'm not mistaken MA users, the preset public safety service search bands looked pretty sad for our area. Is it possible to edit those preset frequency's and add in a more usefull range to that specific preset list? I wonder why that frequency's spectrum of the public safety band was left out. As just about every Local/Suburban Police dept. in MA is on a 470.xxxx frequency. Including the MSP to Local communications, Local Campus PD, NEMLAC, BAPERN, and MBTA (transit) and tons more. Could this perhaps be an error in the owners manual? I know that all of the Unidens cover the 470.xxxx+ Police frequecy's in there scanners preset service search range. Can someone confirm this please.

I also see a mention of a so called "wildcard". What exactly does that mean and how would it get implemented into the scanning setup of the MSP 800mhz system with this scanner and what is the benifit of having it there.

Would anyone happen to know if this is perhaps an automatic auto store feature. I found this on page-62 of the online manual.

"By default, your scanner will store all new objects, and objects
found during Search, Tune, and Sweeper as mapped to Scan
List 01".

 

[troymail]

I also see a mention of a so called "wildcard". What exactly does that mean and how would it get implemented into the scanning setup of the MSP 800mhz system with this scanner and what is the benifit of having it there.

Can't say anything about MA systems but thw WildCard is just a TALKGROUP search object -- causes the radio to stop on any talkgroup for a system that is not locked out. You can also insert a WildCard object for I-Calls/private calls.

 

[kevincobra]

>You can also insert a WildCard object for I-Calls/private calls.

Interesting. So how does one go about inserting a wildcard for a programmed trunk system as well as the one for I-Calls/private calls within that same system. What is the method or codes for inserting these wildcards (for regular TG's & I-Call TG's).

Thanks.

 

[scanfan03]

>You can also insert a WildCard object for I-Calls/private calls.

Interesting. So how does one go about inserting a wildcard for a programmed trunk system as well as the one for I-Calls/private calls within that same system.

Thanks.

You just treat the wildcard object like a regular TG object I think.

 

[troymail]

>You can also insert a WildCard object for I-Calls/private calls.

Interesting. So how does one go about inserting a wildcard for a programmed trunk system as well as the one for I-Calls/private calls within that same system. What is the method or codes for inserting these wildcards (for regular TG's & I-Call TG's).

Thanks.

Think of it like entering a regular talkgroup ID -- but instead of an ID (like 1616) you enter "Wildcard" (or press the DFLT softkey)...

 

[KC1UA]

The PSR500 works well on the MA State Police system...if you are not near a Nextel tower. If you are, expect a considerable amount of interference that will have varying results on your reception. If the bulk of your monitoring is in such an area, you may want to consider an alternative. If you are not near any such towers, you will find that you will have excellent reception on 800 MHz. The radio is very sensitive in that band, thus the interference tradeoff.

Using the Multi-Site setting with the MSP system improved dramatically with the firmware upgrades provided. It was virtually unusable in that regard with the original firmware.

 

[kevincobra]

>The PSR500 works well on the MA State Police system...if you are not near a Nextel tower.

No towers.. But i live near a large hill which has caused my past scannners to barely pickup 800mhz (very scratchy) until i traveled outside of my home listening area. With that said, i need a scanner with a stronger than normal 800mhz reciever to do well when listening at my home.

 

[kikito]

Would anyone happen to know if this is perhaps an automatic auto store feature. I found this on page-62 of the online manual.

"By default, your scanner will store all new objects, and objects
found during Search, Tune, and Sweeper as mapped to Scan
List 01".

What that means is whenever you press Store to save a found frequency, it'll automatically save it to the designated default list. So I guess it "automatically" saves it when you tell it to.

There's no unattended feature to search and store like in the Unidens.

 

[kevincobra]

>Using the Multi-Site setting with the MSP system improved dramatically with the firmware upgrades provided.

What will the Multi-Site setting do for me while trunking the MSP vs not having it?

 

[DonS]

Using the Multi-Site setting with the MSP system improved dramatically with the firmware upgrades provided.

What will the Multi-Site setting do for me while trunking the MSP vs not having it?

That depends on how you program the system and how you plan to monitor it.

If you program a single "site", you should leave MultiSite = Off.

If you program multiple sites, but only want to monitor the "strongest" site from wherever you are, you should set MultiSite = Roam.

If you program multiple sites and want to monitor every site you have programmed, you should set MultiSite = Stat.

 

[kevincobra]

>That depends on how you program the system and how you plan to monitor it.

Which setting would be the closest to the way an actual MSP motorola trunking radio would act? I'm thinking i would probably want it that way.

 

[ecps92]

Location

Your profile doesn't indicate where in MASS you live.

Pretty much there are lots of tower sites, to monitor from. Where are you listening from>??

>That depends on how you program the system and how you plan to monitor it.

Which setting would be the closest to the way an actual MSP motorola trunking radio would act? I'm thinking i would probably want it that way.

 

[kevincobra]

>Where are you listening from>??

Hi ecps92,

I live just off of RT-2 on the Arlington/Cambridge, MA line. I'm not sure where the nearest tower is to me? I would like to track the Medford, Revere and Boston/Brighton barracks surrounding me.. I also travel on Mass Pike (Natick/Framingham area) alot and would like to also monitor that.. but i'm unsure of it's exact troop letter.

Currently, my two analog non-trunking HH recieve the 800mhz MSP very weak and scratchy.. and that's with the Radio Shack 800mhz duck.

 

[ecps92]

Boston MSP

You should have NO PROBLEM getting the MSP.

There are three towers that cover Downtown
Arlington [Turkey Hill, Rte-2]
Boston [McCormack State Bldg]
Canton [Great Blue Hill]

Sounds like maybe you have the wrong Control channel.

>Where are you listening from>??

Hi ecps92,

I live just off of RT-2 on the Arlington/Cambridge, MA line. I'm not sure where the nearest tower is to me? I would like to track the Medford, Revere and Boston/Brighton barracks surrounding me.. I also travel on Mass Pike (Natick/Framingham area) alot and would like to also monitor that.. but i'm unsure of it's exact troop letter.

Currently, my two analog non-trunking HH recieve the 800mhz MSP very weak and scratchy.. and that's with the Radio Shack 800mhz duck.

 

[kevincobra]

>You should have NO PROBLEM getting the MSP.

I wish it was as easy as said. The control channel (unless there is another one to try) is 860.9875. I can just hardly hear the data on it where i live. I can't believe that Arlington (Turkey Hill, Rte-2) has an antenna site. It Does not matter which brand of scanner i use. As i stated in my previous post i also use the Radio Shack 800mhz Duck with it.

I'm just in a hole of a location. Even in front of my home is a bad 800mhz area. Drive down the street and it gets much better though.

I purchased the portable GRE Super Amp that attatches to the scanners BNC antenna. It is strange looking, but once turned on the data channel is singing loud and clear.