Scanning a Favorite List with mixed conventional and digital systems... possible?

[JE5SEJAMES]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to the scanner world so please bear with me.

This may be a dumb question but is it possible to scan conventional and digital systems on the same Favorites List?

Why am I asking this dumb question? I'm glad you asked!

I've created a Favorite List (we'll call it, Green Thumb) that contains the following systems:

1. Marietta City Services Trunking System, Marietta, Georgia - Scanner Frequencies
2. Federal Protective Service Atlanta MOT Trunking System, Various, Georgia - Scanner Frequencies
3. Cobb Regional Radio System Trunking System, Various, Georgia - Scanner Frequencies

Based on my understanding. 1 is conventional, 2 and 3 are digital.

When I choose Green Thumb from Lists I want to scan, and all other lists off, the scanner only scans system 1 from Green Thumb and bounces through the departments in 1.

I've checked a few things but don't want to skip any basic troubleshooting items so... fire away with suggestions.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[nessnet]

I have multiple "mixed" FLs, so that is not the problem - somewhere in your programming is...
Did you program quick keys on 1, 2 & 3 above? Are they all on?

 

[6079smithw]

No such thing as a 'dumb' question'. You have 3 different systems in your FL; NXDN, Motorola Type II and P25 Phase II.
Assuming the NXDN is OK, I'd start with checking programming settings on the other two for openers.
What scanner and program software are you using?

 

[ofd8001]

Yeah you can do that all day long. You can have any combination of system types in your Favorites List. The only requirement is that each specific system is added as a separate System in the Favorites List. Yeah, the context is a little weird as in a system for a System.

For example, System 1 would be the Marietta City Services, System 2 would be FPS, System 3 would be Cobb Regional.

You can export your FL to an HPE file, zip it and post it for us to look at.

 

[JE5SEJAMES]

I have multiple "mixed" FLs, so that is not the problem - somewhere in your programming is...
Did you program quick keys on 1, 2 & 3 above? Are they all on?

Thanks for the reply nes.

Originally I thought that was the issue but then I realized I don't have any Quick Keys programmed for anything.

 

[JE5SEJAMES]

No such thing as a 'dumb' question'. You have 3 different systems in your FL; NXDN, Motorola Type II and P25 Phase II.
Assuming the NXDN is OK, I'd start with checking programming settings on the other two for openers.
What scanner and program software are you using?

Thanks for the reply 6079.

I have reviewed all the settings for the ones that aren't working and nothing seems off.

My scanner is a BCD536HP and I'm using Sentinel to create and upload the lists.

 

[JE5SEJAMES]

Yeah you can do that all day long. You can have any combination of system types in your Favorites List. The only requirement is that each specific system is added as a separate System in the Favorites List. Yeah, the context is a little weird as in a system for a System.

For example, System 1 would be the Marietta City Services, System 2 would be FPS, System 3 would be Cobb Regional.

You can export your FL to an HPE file, zip it and post it for us to look at.

Thanks for the response ofd.

I'm pretty sure that's what I have.

I have attached the .hpe file per your request.

 

[dallascowboys]

Yeah you can do that all day long. You can have any combination of system types in your Favorites List. The only requirement is that each specific system is added as a separate System in the Favorites List. Yeah, the context is a little weird as in a system for a System.

For example, System 1 would be the Marietta City Services, System 2 would be FPS, System 3 would be Cobb Regional.

You can export your FL to an HPE file, zip it and post it for us to look at.

How do you put each system on their own number ,had my 436 for years and still trying to figure it out.

 

[6079smithw]

Looking at your files using Sentinel, I'm guessing your ARMER system's working and the others (Federal Protective, Cobb, and Cobb Regional) are not.
Appears you didn't enter any sites and associated frequencies on those systems. Scanner's looking for something that ain't there.
Go back to the Database, add the sites like you did with the ARMER system and try it again.

You call yourself a rookie but if that's your 1st attempt at a Favorite List you did a killer job on it!
Edit those files and let us know how it turns out... Good luck!

 

[JE5SEJAMES]

Looking at your files using Sentinel, I'm guessing your ARMER system's working and the others (Federal Protective, Cobb, and Cobb Regional) are not.
Appears you didn't enter any sites and associated frequencies on those systems. Scanner's looking for something that ain't there.
Go back to the Database, add the sites like you did with the ARMER system and try it again.

You call yourself a rookie but if that's your 1st attempt at a Favorite List you did a killer job on it!
Edit those files and let us know how it turns out... Good luck!

Thanks for the kudos 6079!

After looking over what you suggested I saw what you were talking about when you said that there weren't any frequencies on those systems.
So I went back to the Full Database and found the (Site) frequencies for the Departments that I was trying to monitor.
Unfortunately, when I tried just adding the Site it wouldn't let me? (Append to Favorites List... was greyed out?)

So I created a new Favorite List, added the whole system, then deleted all the Departments/Sites and Channels I was not interested in.

I uploaded the new Favorite List to my scanner and it seems to be working well now... well, other than my signal not seeming to be very strong for my saved Departments and Channels.

BUT that's the topic of my next thread!

Thanks for all your help!

 

[6079smithw]

Unfortunately, when I tried just adding the Site it wouldn't let me? (Append to Favorites List... was greyed out?)
So I created a new Favorite List, added the whole system, then deleted all the Departments/Sites and Channels I was not interested in.
I uploaded the new Favorite List to my scanner and it seems to be working well now... Thanks for all your help!

Glad to hear it worked out! Sentinel can be fussy like that, sometimes its best to just rewrite the whole list from go. BTDT many times...
the more you do it, the easier it gets. (Golf may be the exception in my case.)

 

[ofd8001]

I am so sorry to have missed your reply. Here is what I noticed:

As mentioned above, you did not have any sites. Sites are where the actual transmissions occur, so they are important to have. However you do not want to attempt listening to a site far away because it is out of range and you might not hear anything.

You have fixed that by recreating the Favorites List and deleting the undesired "stuff". That is a perfectly acceptable way of dealing with the undesired stuff, however you could also set the Avoids to be on for the departments and sites. Should you make any trips to these areas and bring your scanner with, they can be accessed without having to recreate the Favorites List again.

Other options would be to turn Location Control On, set your zip code and let the scanner sort out which is too far away. You could also consider Quick Keys and turn off the Quick Keys for the undesired stuff.

For both trunked systems, you have ID Search ON. This means your scanner will "listen" to/for all talkgroups. You may end up hitting the Avoid button more often. If you know which talkgroups you want to monitor and are not seeking out new ones, you can try ID Search OFF.

I typically shorten the Department Alpha Tags. Long ones tend to take up more screen real estate than what is available, particularly with portable scanners. So "Cobb County - Smyrna" might become "Cobb: Smyrna" or perhaps even "Smyrna".

This part becomes a personal preference matter and what works best for you is what you should use. That said, you have the HOLD time set for all of you systems set to 3 seconds. That means your scanner will spend 3 seconds "listening" to each system just to be sure no one is talking, before moving on to the next system. So that means when your scanner "leaves" Cobb Conventional, it will be 6 seconds before it gets back, even if no one is talking on Federal Protective Services and Cobb Regional TRS. That's a lifetime in scanning and you could miss traffic on the Cobb Conventional. Using a longer HOLD time on a system is something I do for just the "important" systems I want to give a little more preference to.

Your channels have a 2 second delay time, which is typical. That's the amount of time the scanner remains on a channel after the conversation is done, waiting for a reply. If all your folks answer promptly, that time is good. If they are slow to answer and the channel is important a longer time could be considered.

That's it for what I see. Pretty decent job first time around!