Range on BCD436/536 and Software

[bill11312]

Has anyone noticed that when you set up favorites and look at "Location" its always set for a low mile? I was down in Delaware and didn't hear much and realized all the mileage was set for 1 mile or so. I have since gone in a adjusted every singe channel and site for ALL of my favorites. Does anyone know why this is set up to do that? I don't use gps. The range button will only go to 50 miles max but individual channels seem to go much further. I set Delaware channels to over 200 miles and was getting Kent County Sheriffs from Putnam County NY.

 

[UPMan]

The location/range in the database should be set to approximate the geopolitical entity's boundary, not the receivable range. A very small town can very well appropriately have a range set to 1 mile.


The scanner's range setting tells it how far to "look out" beyond your immediate position. Any db system that overlaps your scanner's location/range will be scanned. You should review How it Works: Location, Location, Location

 

[bill11312]

Thank you UPMan, so it was just a fluke that when i adjusted all of these ranges I was able to pick up Delaware? Thanks for the info, appreciate the quick reply.

 

[phask]

No, not a fluke... I think you are still misunderstanding range. Range in the scanner governs what it LOADS, not directly whether or not it can be received.

Range in the Data governs what the intended coverage area is.

The 2 must overlap to load the data - but no guarantee you can receive it.

Increasing the range in the scanner increases channels loaded and you may or not receive them.

For even more detail on location (and range).. UPMANS's own

How it Works: Location, Location, Location

 

[jonwienke]

Has anyone noticed that when you set up favorites and look at "Location" its always set for a low mile? I was down in Delaware and didn't hear much and realized all the mileage was set for 1 mile or so. I have since gone in a adjusted every singe channel and site for ALL of my favorites.

That is a terrible idea. Range settings for Departments are intended to define the jurisdictional boundaries of the town or county being served, as accurately as can be done with a simple circle. If you want to scan neighboring towns and counties, increase the scanner's Range setting in the location menu. Don't edit the database location settings unless they have an error and the jurisdiction doesn't scan even when you are in it.

 

[ofd8001]

That is a terrible idea. If you want to scan neighboring towns and counties, increase the scanner's Range setting in the location menu. Don't edit the database location settings unless they have an error and the jurisdiction doesn't scan even when you are in it.

Let me present a counter-argument. There is a town I'm interested in monitoring that is 50 miles south of me. It's database range is 20 miles and my scanner range is 0 miles, so Location Control would have this town turned off because I'm 30 miles too far away. So I've set its database range to be 50 miles and hear them just fine.

If I was to increase the scanner range to 50 miles, that means I get this town plus all the towns within 50 miles east, west and north of me. I'm not interested in listening to them unless I'm getting close to their area.

I like Location control for Favorites Lists because I have a second scanner in my vehicle and use the same Favorites Lists.

Bottom line is there are a couple of ways of doing things in the scanner. What makes one person happy may not work for someone else.

 

[jonwienke]

Let me present a counter-argument. There is a town I'm interested in monitoring that is 50 miles south of me. It's database range is 20 miles and my scanner range is 0 miles, so Location Control would have this town turned off because I'm 30 miles too far away. So I've set its database range to be 50 miles and hear them just fine.

That's a pretty unlikely situation. Picking up anything from 50 miles away is rare, even with an outdoor antenna. And that also means that you'll be scanning it whether you want to or not, even in places where you can't actually hear it.

A better solution would be to add that town to a Favorite List with Location Control turned off. Deliberately borking the designed function of Location Control will generally have unintended and undesired consequences.

 

[wa8pyr]

That is a terrible idea. Range settings for Departments are intended to define the jurisdictional boundaries of the town or county being served, as accurately as can be done with a simple circle. If you want to scan neighboring towns and counties, increase the scanner's Range setting in the location menu. Don't edit the database location settings unless they have an error and the jurisdiction doesn't scan even when you are in it.

Official RR policy is to set frequency and talkgroup categories for the area of interest and nothing more. So, if Sheepdip, Idaho is five miles across, the Lat/Lon is to be set for the center of Sheepdip and the range set to 2.5 miles (which gives a circle five miles across).

Some categories may still have default lat/lon/range settings which were created when that feature was added to the database; RR administrators are editing them as they have time, but it's a big job and real life gets in the way sometimes.

Editing range settings in the scanner's internal database, while strictly a matter of personal choice, would likely get wiped out the next time a database update is applied. Personally I've found the settings in the RR database to work pretty well, although in my travels I've found a number of systems or locations with the default settings (which needed to be corrected) by using the range capabilities of the radio.

 

[ofd8001]

That's a pretty unlikely situation. Picking up anything from 50 miles away is rare, even with an outdoor antenna. And that also means that you'll be scanning it whether you want to or not, even in places where you can't actually hear it.

A better solution would be to add that town to a Favorite List with Location Control turned off. Deliberately borking the designed function of Location Control will generally have unintended and undesired consequences.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I live in Louisville KY which is about 50 miles from Hardin County KY. I hear their police, fire and EMS (all conventional) just fine on both house and vehicle scanners.

When I created the Favorites List they were in, I wouldn't have heard them because the range is 15 miles (which I increased when "polishing up" the FL).

My point is that there are situations where this is a perfectly viable solution idea depending on the user's preference.

 

[jonwienke]

Its still rare, and becoming more so as competition for frequencies increases. The next time they update their radio systems, you can probably expect to lose your ability to hear them.

Most people aren't interested on hearing random traffic from 50+ miles away.

I have a ST-2 on an outdoor mast and I occasionally get Close Call hits from 80+ miles away, but I don't expect that as normal.

 

[lt291x]

As I think someone said, the range from which you can receive comms is dictated by the power of the original transmitter, and by the quality of your antenna and connections. The range on the scanner options/ in the software has to do with what lists the scanner actually monitors. Honestly, I just have favorites lists and make frequent use of temporary avoids and holds on systems and channels.

 

[n1chu]

Interesting to read about the long/lat settings in the database updates supplied by Sentinel. Living in Ct. and using location based GPS coordinates doesn’t work, unless they have updated the long/lats... everything in the same county got tagged with identical long/lats. I’ve got to check on this, they may have an updated set of coordinates, but last I looked, nope. I started to edit the MY FL, replacing the long/lats with central point long/lats of each town/city in the county I live in and then setting the range. Here’s hoping you agree with my methods...?

 

[troymail]

Interesting to read about the long/lat settings in the database updates supplied by Sentinel. Living in Ct. and using location based GPS coordinates doesn’t work, unless they have updated the long/lats... everything in the same county got tagged with identical long/lats. I’ve got to check on this, they may have an updated set of coordinates, but last I looked, nope. I started to edit the MY FL, replacing the long/lats with central point long/lats of each town/city in the county I live in and then setting the range. Here’s hoping you agree with my methods...?

Yup - there's alot of bad data in the database. Can't just say "I'm here" and expect things to work as you might expect....

I'm sure you will but as you find these, please submit the updates!

 

[jonwienke]

I started to edit the MY FL, replacing the long/lats with central point long/lats of each town/city in the county I live in and then setting the range. Here’s hoping you agree with my methods...?

Definitely. The scanner is only as useful as the data used to program it. The lat/lon and range values for Departments should be the smallest circle that will enclose the town or county served by the Department agency or agencies. For non-simulcast sites, use the actual transmitter location coordinates, and a range value that reasonably approximates how far away the site can be received. For simulcast sites, use values that enclose the actual area covered by the simulcast site.

Once you get the actual coordinates and range values for the county and towns in your area, use the Submit Info button at the top right to get the RR database data corrected, so that others can benefit as well.