PSR500 conventional channel display

[moutheater]

I was wondering if there was a way to have the 500 show both the channel tag and scan list its tied to when locked on a channel?

 

[rdale]

No, because it could be in multiple scanlists so you'd get an incorrect reading in that case.

 

[moutheater]

thanks for the info!

 

[RKG]

I'm not sure the answer is correct.

If you are scanning and the radio stops on a channel, and you then press "MAN" the upper left display will show the scan list to which the channel has been mapped or one of the scan lists to which the channel has been mapped, if it is mapped to more than one. This display takes the form of, for example: 02-0436. Parsed: Object No. 0436, which is mapped to Scan List No. 2 (and possibly others as well).

The reason that the first three characters ("02-" in my example) when the radio stops on a scanned channel is because it is replaced by "SCN," apparently denoting that the radio is in scan mode (even though it is stopped on one channel).

Whether this display is a good or bad idea, it is a matter of the programmer's choice, not necessity.

It is worth observing that, in the event I understand the metaphor of the PSR-500, it is different from other "scanners" with which folks may be familiar. A slot is a scan list is not, in this radio, the memory location of channel data. Rather it is a vector table, to which the processor directs itself when scan is invoked. In this respect, the -500 metaphor is much closer to the way the scan function operates in current model Motorola portable two-way radios. The fact that one channel might be mapped to two or more active scan lists does not mean that it is scanned multiple times per cycle.

 

[n4jri]

I'm not sure the answer is correct.

But it IS correct. When you press MAN, you're in a different mode than you are when scanning. In manual mode, the memory is organized by scanlist and you can scroll through them just like on any other radio.

But when scanning, the radio doesn't simply go through the scanlists. It has its own way of organizing objects for scanning. The lists simply tell it which objects are active and which are not. It appears that the radio scans in order of object type, but to my knowledge GRE hasn't confirmed this.

To put it more concisely, the radio doesn't use scanlists like memory banks--and you appear to understand this, as well as I can tell from your post. This is the reason that displaying the scanlist really doesn't work, although I see why you consider it a reason why it SHOULD work.

73/Allen (N4JRI)

 

[RKG]

I think we are saying the same thing.

With one exception: I make no argument about how the firmware should work; I'm quite content the way it is.