SDS200 Priority scanning

[tnbound]

1) Is there a way to tell how many priority channels I have selected at one time without going back and counting through all my groups?

2) What happens if I select more then a 100?

3) I know there is only room for a 100 at a time but if I did more than a 100 and didn't realize it how would the radio handle that?

4) What is the best setting for priority search time setting should I use for faster scanning and also for catching all my priority channels?

 

[MStep]

1) Is there a way to tell how many priority channels I have selected at one time without going back and counting through all my groups?

2) What happens if I select more then a 100?

3) I know there is only room for a 100 at a time but if I did more than a 100 and didn't realize it how would the radio handle that?

4) What is the best setting for priority search time setting should I use for faster scanning and also for catching all my priority channels?

I'm sure you will get technical explanations about some of the questions you have asked. But don't get caught in the "trap"--- when EVERYTHING is a priority, then NOTHING is a priority.

The more priority channels you create, the less the "priority function" becomes a useful tool in monitoring operations.

 

[donc13]

Don't forget what MStep said... Too much =nothing.

Your scanner has only 1 receiver.. ONE. So it cannot listen to a current system while it's checking another system.

I do not know the answer to this:
But I suspect if listening to system A and priority takes over briefly to check your 100 channel list and gets a hit.... It then switches to your priority system and then interrupts THAT system to check on the other 99 priority channels.

 

[doctordialtone]

If you search the site, you'll find numerous questions about how "Priority" works.

Like this lengthy thread

It doesn't really work the same on all systems. I wouldn't bother trying to get it to work the way you want.

Good luck trying.

Here's the Easier to Read explanation

 

[hiegtx]

1) Is there a way to tell how many priority channels I have selected at one time without going back and counting through all my groups?

There's no way that I've seen noted to display how many or which channels are set as Priority other than scrolling through your Systems and Departments. That's much easier to do in Sentinel (or other programming software) than trying to scroll through them via the scanner's display & the keypad.

2) What happens if I select more then a 100?

That 100 figure is the maximum number that the scanner will check in one pass.

3) I know there is only room for a 100 at a time but if I did more than a 100 and didn't realize it how would the radio handle that?

Again, that figure is the max would check in any one pass. If you had more than 100 set, it would check the first one hundred, then the next time it checks Priority it would pick up the next group. See the example in the Easier to Read Manual. If your 'limit' was set to 20, but you actually had 100 tagged as priority, it would break up your channels & check twenty each time it paused for priority checks.

4) What is the best setting for priority search time setting should I use for faster scanning and also for catching all my priority channels?

The more channels you set as priority, the longer pause in scanning, or monitoring a conversation. With only a few channels tagged, the breaks on audio will be fairly short. But if you have a much larger number set, the pause in conversations will be much longer & probably annoying. I have a handful of channels flagged, which results in a very short 'blip' when it checks priority channels. If you had a large number, like the 100 'limit', I suspect that your break in audio would be over one second each time. I have my check interval set at 4 seconds, which does not interrupt reception that often.

 

[tnbound]

There's no way that I've seen noted to display how many or which channels are set as Priority other than scrolling through your Systems and Departments. That's much easier to do in Sentinel (or other programming software) than trying to scroll through them via the scanner's display & the keypad.


That 100 figure is the maximum number that the scanner will check in one pass.


Again, that figure is the max would check in any one pass. If you had more than 100 set, it would check the first one hundred, then the next time it checks Priority it would pick up the next group. See the example in the Easier to Read Manual. If your 'limit' was set to 20, but you actually had 100 tagged as priority, it would break up your channels & check twenty each time it paused for priority checks.


The more channels you set as priority, the longer pause in scanning, or monitoring a conversation. With only a few channels tagged, the breaks on audio will be fairly short. But if you have a much larger number set, the pause in conversations will be much longer & probably annoying. I have a handful of channels flagged, which results in a very short 'blip' when it checks priority channels. If you had a large number, like the 100 'limit', I suspect that your break in audio would be over one second each time. I have my check interval set at 4 seconds, which does not interrupt reception that often.

Great thanks for that info that is very helpful.