To keep it simple. Site location set with a circle. Within the circle I have a rectangle set for a department. I have location tuned on for favorites. When I leave the departments area but stay within the site area it continues to scan the department even after leaving the area. Range is set to 0. The only way I have been able to get it to no longer see the Department inside the rectangle is to turn off the scanner and then turn it back on. I have the GPS set to show Lat Long on the display and it is working correctly. If I disconnect the GPS and select different locations manually it still will only select or deselect the rectangle when the scanner is turned on or off. What should I be doing or is this not possible? If not possible then why have Lat Long for departments.
SDS100/SDS200: SDS100 Location Settings ??
- Thread starter CrewRest
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There are two "Range" settings that come into play. One is the Department Range, set during System Programming, which you apparently have set to 0. The other is the Global Range which is set via the keypad of the scanner. This, for lack of a better way of explaining it, is an "extender". So if you enter a value of 1.0, the scanner adds/fudges an additional mile to all locations associated with the scanner.
So in your situation, if you have 1.0 as that Global Range value, your scanner will be attempting to monitor the applicable Department 1.0 mile beyond that Rectangle.
Yeah, this can be confusing until it sinks in.
So in your situation, if you have 1.0 as that Global Range value, your scanner will be attempting to monitor the applicable Department 1.0 mile beyond that Rectangle.
Yeah, this can be confusing until it sinks in.
Thanks, Yes the Global is set to 0, and with 1 exception all the others are rectangles so those don't have a range setting or am I missing another setting?
Ubbe
Member
When setting a circle you do not draw the circle but set the location for its center and then the range sets its radius to create the circle.
For a rectangle you specify each corners locations so range are not needed.
The global range setting in the scanner adds range to sites and departments as if you can receive further than the defaults then you would like both sites and departments to be heard from a longer distance.
When you get out of range, both for sites and departments, they should automatically and immediately be avoided by the location system in the scanner. So you have some kind of anomaly going on if you need to do a power off/on to set it straight.
I can test using different scanners to see if any of them work correctly to enable and disable trunked departments by GPS coordinates in a rectangle.
/Ubbe
There are no exceptions to the Global Range setting. Whatever value you choose applies to everything.
Where should be a range on the circles you have for sites. Maybe it is just called radius from a center point. I can’t recall.
I wonder if there is a problem with terminology that I'm using. For software I use ProScan (latest version 24.7) I set the TRS Site as a circle. Center is Lat Long and range is the radius of the circle. I then setup a Department (Fire North). I make Fire North a rectangle. The entire rectangle is contained within the Site circle. There are no range's associated with a rectangle, but the global range will apply if you are outside the rectangle and the global range touches or overlaps it. My global range is set to 0. If outside the rectangle but within the site circle it should not scan the TG's for Fire North but it does (it is set to Scan ID's. it is not set to Search ID's). I have another Department, Fire South with different TG's, setup the same way in another Rectangle. When going from one rectangle to the other it will not drop one and pickup the other. I hope this clarifies the setup.
I doubt the location capabilites of these consumer grade, although expensive, scanners are precise enough to avoid a TG or Department or even a system within several feet of a boundary or even a mile or two of it. I think it is a courser, less granular, feature.
Would think if the circle on the site does not encompass the whole rectangle, would think the site wont be active if using location on the favorite list.
The rectangle of the Department is completely within the circle.
I'll experiment with several miles.
I monitor six different cities in my county that use the same site. I setup the site to be within the radius of the entire county and then set up individual areas for each city. I have noticed it takes the radio anywhere from 2-7 minutes on average to switch over automatically when I cross the "boundary" but if I cross into a different county that uses a different site, it switches almost instantly. Also, since the radios (and built in GPS receiver) isn't military grade, it might be off by a few dozen feet (or more if you are in a car or around lots of tall buildings) so even if you are physically on one side or the other of a boundary, the GPS might still think you haven't crossed that line.
As a big user of my GPS on my SDS100,
For trunking sites, the circles or rectangles are large enough to cover all the departments for that system I have programmed. If I have multiple departments as in with the ICI system in Los Angeles county.
The department ranges are set with rectangles mostly.
The scanner range I have set to 0.
It seems quite accurate for when the scanner turns on or off the department. If I travel thru Long Beach on the freeway (very narrow gap), I don't hear Long Beach PD. If I exit the freeway, Long Beach PD turns on as I have it programmed.
Sometimes the circles or rectangles do extend out beyond where you don't want to hear them.
This requires fine tuning of the department ranges.
The only problem I have had is with Los Angeles county fire. It's so large and so many small areas they cover, it's hard to isolate the smaller areas from non county fire areas.
If you want to isolate individual talk groups, that's a lot of department programming with GPS coordinates
For trunking sites, the circles or rectangles are large enough to cover all the departments for that system I have programmed. If I have multiple departments as in with the ICI system in Los Angeles county.
The department ranges are set with rectangles mostly.
The scanner range I have set to 0.
It seems quite accurate for when the scanner turns on or off the department. If I travel thru Long Beach on the freeway (very narrow gap), I don't hear Long Beach PD. If I exit the freeway, Long Beach PD turns on as I have it programmed.
Sometimes the circles or rectangles do extend out beyond where you don't want to hear them.
This requires fine tuning of the department ranges.
The only problem I have had is with Los Angeles county fire. It's so large and so many small areas they cover, it's hard to isolate the smaller areas from non county fire areas.
If you want to isolate individual talk groups, that's a lot of department programming with GPS coordinates
All of the above is wrong. Uniden's GPS radio's location fix is actually fairly precise. - thus the location control functionality is also.
I have checked.... I have compared a 100, a 200 and a 150's indicated location to Google Earth / SkyPro XGPS-160 as a reference.
(The SkyPro uses both GPS and Glonass, and is very accurate).
It is only about 10-15 feet MAX delta between them.
I can assure you from daily experience, (rectangles programmed for two states) that if your rectangle's are accurate (mine are), that the radio switches essentially as I cross a state border/county line/city limit.
Hint:
You can have multiple rectangles in each object's programming. This lets you use multiple smaller rectangles to more accurately define a boundary - they act together as one geometric object.
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All I know is what I've experienced in my little corner of the world. I don't have GPS on my 100 or 200 but have worked with GPS in general for the past twenty plus years. What I do know is that when I travel from say Overland Park, KS into Lenexa, KS, the radio stays on the Overland Park channels for several minutes before switching over. Could be something to do with the GPS; could be something quirky with the trunk system itself. I dunno. And yes, I've triple checked the programming using ProScan overlaying the boundaries on Google Maps. I also know that when I'm sitting in my home or car motionless, the GPS coordinates still fluctuate as if I'm moving even though the radio is sitting motionless on a table. Again... just what I've experienced. YMMV.
More testing. If a set a site with a radius of 25 miles that covers the county. I then make a rectangle that covers a portion and completely within the circle. Use Location is set to On. Location Range is 0. I build 3 manual locations. All with Range's set to 0. 1st Manual location is WITHIN the site circle and WITHIN a Department Rectangle. 2nd Manual location is WITHIN the site circle but OUTSIDE the Department Rectangle. The 3rd Manual location is OUTSIDE the site circle and OUTSIDE the Department Rectangle. Set location to 1 receives, set to 3 - nothing to scan. Set to 1 receives. Set to 3 - nothing to scan, set to 2 it receives (shouldn't). I really think there is something wrong with the logic of my radio.
Yes, a GPS fix will vary a bit, depending on how many satellites are 'in view' and being used for the position's solution at the time.
That is why I also used the SkyPro in my above accuracy comparison. An XGPS-160 is an aviation grade device and uses TWO satellite constellations, giving a nice, steady fix. Also, that fluctuation you mention above is the generally only the last 2 or 3 digits. This minor fluctuation is basically just a few feet, ~10-15 feet MAX, NOT city blocks and certainly NOT miles.
If you have a system staying on for several minutes before switching over, it is one of 2 things. Your global range is set higher than 0, or your programming (I assume you are using rectangles??) is not 100% accurate.
Do you have ProScan?
If yes, pull the above programming into Google Earth and cut/paste/post it so we can see it.
Your description of your programming is VERY confusing.
OK, you have a site with a circle of 25 miles.
"Make a rectangle" - of what? A system or department?
"Manual locations"? Elaborate - what are these? Actual lat/long positions?
Remember, you have to have a system AND a department - AND a site all programmed - and set up properly.
Are these all circles? "All set to 0"?
THAT (the zeros) may be your problem.
Any programmed circle (this is not the global range set in your profile) needs to have >0 range set in order for the radio to scan it.
If not, you are telling the radio to scan a circle with ZERO radius.
I very seriously do not think there is anything wrong with the radio. I do think it's your programming and/or you understanding of how it all works.
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As long as the circle encompasses the whole rectangle, you should be good. If not, there will be spots the site does not activate.
Very true, and very rewarding.
Unfinished project, but before, and extending in Connecticut.
And after. So now when I drive or ferry over to CT, I can leave my home fav list enabled and not hear it when in CT.
The use of a gis viewer is very helpful since it has many boundaries for agencies mapped out. Like all fire depts in my area.
Yes
Sorry, tried to descriptive but brief
Rectangles for Departments
You can create a Manual Location Menu->Set Your Location->Edit Location->New Location-> Name it, enter Lat Long, set Range (mine is 0)->Use Location
The Site must be the radius of Coverage so not 0. All Departments are Rectangles so no Range. Global Range from my location is 0.
I duplicated on SDS200 with same results. So, I agree radio is probably not the issue.
