Question about programing

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The_Nozzleman

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Good Morning All.

I have been around scanner on and off since I was a kid. I have always loved to listen to what is going on around me. I also use it for part of my hobby which is taking pictures of fires and fire scenes.

I bought my scanner yesterday and set it up the easy way by putting in my Zip Code and going. I can hear the casinos and shopping centers and the police and ambulances but I am not getting the Fire Department.

Using the Sentinel Program I have reprogrammed just doing the basics and still cannot get anything from the fire departments.

Any ideas.
 

joeuser

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Good Morning All.

I have been around scanner on and off since I was a kid. I have always loved to listen to what is going on around me. I also use it for part of my hobby which is taking pictures of fires and fire scenes.

I bought my scanner yesterday and set it up the easy way by putting in my Zip Code and going. I can hear the casinos and shopping centers and the police and ambulances but I am not getting the Fire Department.

Using the Sentinel Program I have reprogrammed just doing the basics and still cannot get anything from the fire departments.

Any ideas.
This might be the services selection in the menu. You can turn on/off different services like EMS, Media, FRS/GMRS
 

The_Nozzleman

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This might be the services selection in the menu. You can turn on/off different services like EMS, Media, FRS/GMRS

I adjusted the settings in the services and I noticed when my scanner scans specific ones it had DAT on the bottom of the screen.
 

joeuser

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Data, from the trunking systems in your area/ its getting the CC's or Control Channels. Its a good thing!

Was fire stuff turned off? Are you hearing fire activity now?
 

The_Nozzleman

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Data, from the trunking systems in your area/ its getting the CC's or Control Channels. Its a good thing!

Was fire stuff turned off? Are you hearing fire activity now?

The fire was checked and even though I am getting the data I am not getting anything on the fire channels.
 

joeuser

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Well they might, this could be an issue specific to your area. The next question I was going to ask is about your database, have you double checked to make sure its correct & they use a system you can follow with your scanner? Do they encrypt?
 

phask

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It looks like all the county including Henderson are on ]Southern Nevada Area Communications Council System.

Here Southern Nevada Area Communications Council (SNACC) Trunking System, Las Vegas, Nevada - Scanner Frequencies

Make sure that Fire-Tac is on. Other than Dispatch it looks like all traffic is on that.

Sounds like you are using the entire database. You need to think about creating a favorite list to narrow stuff down, That is a pretty big system and you will be "bogged down" scanning all of it.
 

The_Nozzleman

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Well they might, this could be an issue specific to your area. The next question I was going to ask is about your database, have you double checked to make sure its correct & they use a system you can follow with your scanner? Do they encrypt?

Hey Joe thanks for being patient. As far as I know the fire departments are not encrypted and there is a guy who lives in Henderson that uses a Radio Shack Pro-163 Scanner and broadcasts on Broadcastify and has information on Radioreference. He is a member of this site and his id is svfire17 (just found it). I am going to send him a pm and see if he has any ideas.

I have the feeling that I am doing something wrong. I will double check the database as the one I am using is from Sentinel and what downloaded to my scanner when I set it up.
 
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The_Nozzleman

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It looks like all the county including Henderson are on ]Southern Nevada Area Communications Council System.

Here Southern Nevada Area Communications Council (SNACC) Trunking System, Las Vegas, Nevada - Scanner Frequencies

Make sure that Fire-Tac is on. Other than Dispatch it looks like all traffic is on that.

Sounds like you are using the entire database. You need to think about creating a favorite list to narrow stuff down, That is a pretty big system and you will be "bogged down" scanning all of it.

I have tried both using the entire SNACC database and doing just the fire, ems and police.

I was out and about yesterday and I heard the private ambulance companies get dispatched in the county and did not hear the fire department go out.
 

brownlab

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Although this is a great scanner, it is not very easy to program (my opinion). If I were you I would just park the scanner on the North Las Vegas Simulcast (or whichever Public Safety System you prefer) and just monitor that opposed to the entire SNACC. One way to do this is to wait until the North Las Vegas Simulcast appears and press the “Systems” button. That will hold the system frequencies and allows you to save whatever talk groups you want to your favorite list by pressing the “Enter” key. Of course there are other methods to do the same thing but this one works for me. One other thing to consider is to check your Range settings. Clark County NV is a big place and you may want to increase you range from 30 to maybe 75? Anyhow good luck.
 

The_Nozzleman

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I was reading on here about the scanners before I bought this one and because it does pick up the police and fire very well I bought it. I am going to date myself. My first scanner had dials that you used to tune in the stations you wanted to listen to and then I had the ones with the crystals and the last scanner I had was the regular programing where you punched in the code you wanted. Man I wish or those days. But I do like this scanner and cannot wait till I get it figured out.

And brownlab I have to agree with you.
 

joeuser

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All good suggestions including 737mech from Nevada, Nozzleman give his idea a try. Make sure you are up to date, update & load the database. I would then (just to test) make a Favorite List called FIRE put in only ONLY the fire stuff you want to hear and are not hearing, nothing else, seriously... Then when you upload to your rig. STOP the mass storage device from within your Windows computer using that little USB icon in your lower right hand system tray (with the clock) once it tells you its safe to remove. Pull it out. Turn the radio off & on - cycle power. Scan but only scan the fire list. Toggle the rest off in the menu. Also check your range make sure its appropriate. I max mine but I'm rural & using an external antenna. Oh, you're welcome, I'm - we're happy to help.
 

The_Nozzleman

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All good suggestions including 737mech from Nevada, Nozzleman give his idea a try. Make sure you are up to date, update & load the database. I would then (just to test) make a Favorite List called FIRE put in only ONLY the fire stuff you want to hear and are not hearing, nothing else, seriously... Then when you upload to your rig. STOP the mass storage device from within your Windows computer using that little USB icon in your lower right hand system tray (with the clock) once it tells you its safe to remove. Pull it out. Turn the radio off & on - cycle power. Scan but only scan the fire list. Toggle the rest off in the menu. Also check your range make sure its appropriate. I max mine but I'm rural & using an external antenna. Oh, you're welcome, I'm - we're happy to help.

Hey Joe I have made a FIRE only favorites and have that running on the scanner as we speak. I am also listening to my cell phone which has a app on it to listen to the fire departments in the area and I am picking up plenty of stuff with the phone but nothing on the scanner. If I did it right I sent 737mech my database file. And am looking forward to hearing from him later. I am getting the ems side of the clark county fire area but not the fire side itself.
 

joeuser

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Hey Joe I have made a FIRE only favorites and have that running on the scanner as we speak. I am also listening to my cell phone which has a app on it to listen to the fire departments in the area and I am picking up plenty of stuff with the phone but nothing on the scanner. If I did it right I sent 737mech my database file. And am looking forward to hearing from him later. I am getting the ems side of the clark county fire area but not the fire side itself.
This is weird... You sure that app is legit?
Did you check your range? Max is 50 miles for the 436...


Just to recap for those just joining us. Nozz wants to hear the Fire stuff but cant , seems like he hears everything BUT Fire...

We've updated the database...
Made sure the fire services are switched on...
We are told it is not encrypted...
Assuming he has an antenna that can pick it up, since he gets everything else...

A local Nevadian is checking his file...

Anyone else that has an idea? I'm running out!
 
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