Search vs Scan???

[Jonesym20]

anyone care to elaborate on the differences between Search ID and Scan ID modes on the 996t. I've read the manual and the descriptions look identical.

thanks

 

[blueline_308]

if searching, it will stop on ANY active talk group it hears....if scanning, it will only stop on active talk groups that YOU have programmed for that system......in other words...

if the system named LOCAL POLICE has four talk groups, and you are searching, whenever someone talks on any of those TG's, it will stop.....if you have 2 of those TG's programmed for that system and are scanning, if will only stop when someone talks on one of those 2 TG's.

I hope this helps. I always leave it in search myself....so I hear it all...if you are scanning, you wont find any new TG's.

 

[Jonesym20]

So since there are no alpha tags does what does that mean? you are saying that it will pick up any active talk groups using that site (control channels, right?) So how would I know if a TG hasn't been programmed? and how would I go about storing it?

Thanks

 

[oritpro]

So since there are no alpha tags does what does that mean? you are saying that it will pick up any active talk groups using that site (control channels, right?) So how would I know if a TG hasn't been programmed? and how would I go about storing it?

Thanks

First of all, some clarification on the terminology used in trunked systems:

Alpha Tag - a meaningful text label that you assign to a talkgroup ID programmed into the scanner. For example, "PD TAC1" is a lot more descriptive than 17201. Alpha tags are optional.

Control Channel - a frequency used by the trunking system to tell all talkgroups in that system which frequency to use. It is a bit more complicated than this but that's the basics.

ID Search Mode - the scanner will receive ALL active talkgroups on a system.

ID Scan Mode - the scanner will only receive the talkgroups you have programmed into the system.

To listen to a trunked radio system on your scanner, all you really need to do is enter the control frequencies associated with it. There is usually a primary control frequency and several alternate (backup) control frequencies--enter all primary and alternate frequencies, don't worry about the others.

Check the radioreference.com database, the primaries are in red and the alternates are in blue.

There is just one problem with doing it this way. You will need to listen to your scanner in ID search mode because you haven't manually entered any talkgroups. This may or may not be what you want.

Check the database on this site for a list of talkgroups in your area and enter the ones you want to listen to into your scanner. Then you can use ID scan mode to listen only to those groups. Once you have entered some talkgroups, assign alpha tags to them so they make more sense.

One thing that would really help is to grab a copy of Arc996 from http://www.butel.nl/. Not only does it make programming a lot easier, it is great for learning trunked radio systems.
Be sure and stop by the wiki as well as it contains great deal of info on trunked systems.

 

[Jonesym20]

I think it started to all fall into place last night when i was listening to it for the first extended period of time.

so another quick question. Say I have the control frequency(ies) for a certain county police. I can create a new trunked system, with the control frequencies, and just "search" this system. I would still pick up stuff only I would have a difficult time knowing who is talking since it would just be a number, not MY stored alpha tag.

So I finally heard a tag that wasn't programmed. Can I quickly save it while he is keying his mike and then store to a specific group in my system?

Thanks--sorry if this is annoying I read up for two months on this 996 but as soon as I got it I feel like I froze, There is so much to do with it!!!!

Thanks so much for the help

 

[hankv]

I would still pick up stuff only I would have a difficult time knowing who is talking since it would just be a number, not MY stored alpha tag.

So I finally heard a tag that wasn't programmed. Can I quickly save it while he is keying his mike and then store to a specific group in my system?

Once you program an Alpha Tag in a system, the scanner will show you the alpha tag and not the Talk Group (TG) number. It doesn't matter if you use ID SCAN or ID SEARCH.

When I start listening to a new system, I use ID SEARCH until I identify the TG's I want to listen to, then I switch to ID SCAN so I don't hear the Dog Catchers, Meter Readers, etc.

It's a good idea to switch back to ID SEARCH once in a while to see if there are new TG's being used.

 

[slicerwizard]

if searching, it will stop on ANY active talk group it hears

I doubt that it will stop on any locked out talkgroups (or on any talkgroups programmed in to a locked out group)

 

[smithken]

When people are saying that you only need to program in the control channels they are assuming you are listening to a Motorola system, control channel only doesn't work in EDACS unless the 996 is different than my 2 scanners.

 

[N0GTG]

ID Search vs. ID Scan

Another way to picture it:
ID Scan receives only the talkgroups you have programmed into the radio. Radio Shack calls this CLOSED mode.

ID Search receives any talkgroup, programmed or not, that is not locked out. Radio shack calls this OPEN mode.

Hope this helps. There's a lot of fancy terminology in these new scanners!