SDS100 Progamming

[Romeomike2709]

First thanks to anyone patient enough to answer my questions. I've been monitoring scanners for near 43 years so I'm not a newbie. Recently I have been ill and thus after I purchased both SDS100/200 I have run into a few roadblocks.

Forgive me if any of the questions are too obvious.

1. When I use Sentinel to program the 100 I go to the database to pull from it. In SC we have a Statewide P25 and when I go to pull in neighboring counties it pulls in beneath the selected county all the other counties in SC. Is that normal? It's cumbersome to go through for each favorite list and have to remove all the counties.

2. When I have multiple counties I don't hear the others even though I am very close to a neighboring county. I am not talking about the encrypted channels!

3. I programmed Aviation channels into the SDS100 and can't hear a thing. I saw someone said that the SDS100 isnt very good with air but I can't believe it.

Thanks for any answers.

 

[gcopter1]

1. Exactly what do you mean by "pull in neighboring counties"?
In Sentinel you click on your State, in the left hand column, and select what you want to hear, then right click to create a favorite list. Once that favorite list is created, you can then delete anything you don't want. But, be careful, don't delete sites unless you are sure they're not needed. Otherwise you run the risk of missing transmissions or not hearing anything altogether.

2.See #1 and sites.

3. It could be your antenna/location combination. Have you tried using the filters?

 

[u2brent]

First thanks to anyone patient enough to answer my questions. I've been monitoring scanners for near 43 years so I'm not a newbie. Recently I have been ill and thus after I purchased both SDS100/200 I have run into a few roadblocks.

Forgive me if any of the questions are too obvious.

1. When I use Sentinel to program the 100 I go to the database to pull from it. In SC we have a Statewide P25 and when I go to pull in neighboring counties it pulls in beneath the selected county all the other counties in SC. Is that normal? It's cumbersome to go through for each favorite list and have to remove all the counties.

2. When I have multiple counties I don't hear the others even though I am very close to a neighboring county. I am not talking about the encrypted channels!

3. I programmed Aviation channels into the SDS100 and can't hear a thing. I saw someone said that the SDS100 isnt very good with air but I can't believe it.

Thanks for any answers.

1. A statewide system will be appended to the destination FL in it's entirety, This is normal.
After getting the system to your FL you can avoid distant sites that you won't be within range of.
Same goes for all those departments that come with it. You can re-arrange/edit TG's and Departments to your personal preferences..

(Removing Sites and Departments/TG's can create unforeseen issues later on. It's best to AVOID unwanted stuff, as opposed to removing/deleting items)

2. You'll only pick up traffic that is carried on the site(s) that you are within range of.
If these sites don't have a user affiliated to a TG in the area; Then likely the traffic is not carried.

3. Can't say, don't generally monitor air..

 

[ofd8001]

U2brent is absolutely correct - statewide systems are pretty complex things and you can completely mess up your listening by removing one thing.

If it was me, I'd download the whole statewide system into its own Favorites List. I'd then set that Favorites List to use Location Control (Location Control Yes in the Favorites List options). You might try a low Scanner Range setting at first, such as 0 or 5.0. Then I'd ramp up that Range value in increments of 5.0 miles until I got to that "sweet spot" of hearing what I wanted to without hearing what I do not.

This way you are not removing anything and letting the scanner work as designed.

Alternatively you could start high and then work downwards - same effect.

Also be sure you include any statewide talkgroups, not just your county and adjacent ones. Sometimes those statewide/mutual aid.interoperability talkgroups can have a lot of interesting stuff.

On your aviation, be sure you have the correct service types enabled/turned on.

 

[u2brent]

ofd8001 has good suggestions, However I'm the opposite, I disable location control for the FL.
This manner rules out any location settings that are a little off, whether it's your end or the RRDB settings end..
I make sure only the sites I'm within range of picking up are enabled, All others set to AVOID.
Department and TG's that are active in your area will come in.. If after scanning a while I determine a department or TG's are coming in that I'm not interested in hearing; Then I'll avoid those in the programing. I prefer taking the location stuff out of the equation, (Unless I'm traveling of course)
Just depends if you sit the radio in a spot and never move it much, or you travel a lot and want the location stuff enabled..

I also enable ID Search (aka wildcard TG) to see if there are TG's active that are not in the DB as well,
If you deleted TG's from the DB when you built the FL; They will pop up as UNKNOWN's which makes ID'ing truly unknown TG's that much more difficult.

 

[Romeomike2709]

Thank you all for your replies. You folks are awesome.

 

[toad99]

Yes, the 100 seems to not be very sensitive on the air band, regardless of any filter settings or antennas used. My 396T handheld is much more sensitive than my 100. Other handhelds also not as sensitive either, even my Icom IC-R20, using the same antennas.

 

[Romeomike2709]

U2brent is absolutely correct - statewide systems are pretty complex things and you can completely mess up your listening by removing one thing.

If it was me, I'd download the whole statewide system into its own Favorites List. I'd then set that Favorites List to use Location Control (Location Control Yes in the Favorites List options). You might try a low Scanner Range setting at first, such as 0 or 5.0. Then I'd ramp up that Range value in increments of 5.0 miles until I got to that "sweet spot" of hearing what I wanted to without hearing what I do not.

This way you are not removing anything and letting the scanner work as designed.

Alternatively you could start high and then work downwards - same effect.

Also be sure you include any statewide talkgroups, not just your county and adjacent ones. Sometimes those statewide/mutual aid.interoperability talkgroups can have a lot of interesting stuff.

On your aviation, be sure you have the correct service types enabled/turned on.

I have a follow up. I have tried downloading the entire state as refernced in the above reply but Sentinel will not let me. Do I have to do it county by county?

 

[phask]

I have a follow up. I have tried downloading the entire state as refernced in the above reply but Sentinel will not let me. Do I have to do it county by county?

Are you trying the entire state, or the whole statewide system as suggested? Those are 2 different animals.

You could use add on range and set range at it's max (50), it will probably not load every one of the statewide talk groups but will load every site. If you do want more - find a different ZIP and run again, adding it to the first fav. you create.

 

[u2brent]

I have a follow up. I have tried downloading the entire state as refernced in the above reply but Sentinel will not let me. Do I have to do it county by county?

Without knowing exactly what the system is, I can't help much.
I just (In Sentinel) found your state (SC) Selected any locale in the list that opens (I chose Horry), Selected Statewide.
In the pane that opens on the right, I see Palmetto 800 (The only Statewide P25 listed).

I right click that system, a menu opens which has several options..
Append to Favorite List is what you want.

It will ask what FL you wish to add it too, or create a new FL.

Just did it, worked as expected..
After it's in the FL you chose... You can avoid any sites/departments that you wish.

Not sure what's not working for you..

 

[Romeomike2709]

It worked. Thanks so much for your patience.

 

[u2brent]

It worked. Thanks so much for your patience.

Yay! Glad you made it over that hurdle..
How's it working? Are you hearing what you expected?
Glad to help..

 

[teknishun]

First thanks to anyone patient enough to answer my questions. I've been monitoring scanners for near 43 years so I'm not a newbie. Recently I have been ill and thus after I purchased both SDS100/200 I have run into a few roadblocks....(snip)

3. I programmed Aviation channels into the SDS100 and can't hear a thing. I saw someone said that the SDS100 isn't very good with air but I can't believe it.

My SDS100 results with aircraft channels are fantastic. I am about 20 miles away from one of the Houston airports and I am just
using the rubber duck antenna on the scanner and am inside the house. No external antenna at all. The audio is crisp and clear
and it chatters up a storm. I suspect you might not have ALL the aircraft frequencies in your area programmed in.

Here is how I did my SDS100. First, using Sentinel, choose your state (SC) then choose your county. Under your county look
for Common Aviation channels under Nationwide and add these to a favorites list. You could also add the Civil Air Patrol
frequencies too.

Now look at the Statewide Systems and pick out the Air Route Traffic Control Centers that are in your area or are close. You
can expand these out to see what is listed underneath them.

Finally, look at your County Systems and choose the channels for any airports that are near your listening point.

Hope this helps!

 

[Romeomike2709]

Yay! Glad you made it over that hurdle..
How's it working? Are you hearing what you expected?
Glad to help..

It’s working great and I am hearing exactly what I wanted to hear. Many thanks.

 

[Romeomike2709]

My SDS100 results with aircraft channels are fantastic. I am about 20 miles away from one of the Houston airports and I am just
using the rubber duck antenna on the scanner and am inside the house. No external antenna at all. The audio is crisp and clear
and it chatters up a storm. I suspect you might not have ALL the aircraft frequencies in your area programmed in.

Here is how I did my SDS100. First, using Sentinel, choose your state (SC) then choose your county. Under your county look
for Common Aviation channels under Nationwide and add these to a favorites list. You could also add the Civil Air Patrol
frequencies too.

Now look at the Statewide Systems and pick out the Air Route Traffic Control Centers that are in your area or are close. You
can expand these out to see what is listed underneath them.

Finally, look at your County Systems and choose the channels for any airports that are near your listening point.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the guide. I will try it when I get home.