If you click on County at the top of the list, the counties will be arranged in alphabetical order so that you can easily determine which site or sites are in your county.Where it lists the sites and frequencies, there is a column for the site name and the county where it is located.
I checked out each site and they're all 12 miles range. So would I be correct to assume I wont receive communications from sites I'm not within 12 miles of? Or put another way, if I'm not located within the the red circle.Look up the system in the RRDB. Where it lists the sites and frequencies, there is a column for the site name and the county where it is located. If you click on the site name, it will open a page with that site's information, including a small Google Map showing the (approximate) coverage area of that site as a red circle.
As a rule, if you are within that circle, you will be able to receive that site. (Keep in mind the variables of terrain, propagation, weather, external antenna vs. rubber duck, etc.)
As far as which departments use which site, most systems are configured so that if a user's radio is affiliated with a particular site, the traffic on the talkgroup to which that radio is tuned will be carried on that site. There might be a site which covers the county you want to monitor quite well, but if there is another site in an adjacent county which also covers part of your county (and you can receive it), it would be a good idea to scan that site also, lest you miss traffic.
Also, if a site goes down, user radios will affiliate with the next closest site with the best signal.
It will take a little effort, and some geographic knowledge, but it's worth it.
Don't take the range setting in Sentinel too literally; It's somewhat arbitrary. All the sites in my state's trunked system (over 200 sites) are set for the same range in Sentinel, yet there are sites that cover a larger area than that. The range settings in Sentinel are for when location control is used in scanning. The red circles are not entirely accurate either, but they're good as a general idea of a site's coverage area.I checked out each site and they're all 12 miles range. So would I be correct to assume I wont receive communications from sites I'm not within 12 miles of? Or put another way, if I'm not located within the the red circle.
That leads me to another question...county wide departments like Santa Rosa Co EMS, Fire, etc. dispatch from a single communications center and their geographic response area runs way beyond the range of any single site. So to ensure coverage, their signal is transmitted from each site site in the trunking system correct? Thanks very much to all.
The Range for sites is a "best estimate" of how far the transmitter will reach. There are many things affecting radio reception. Are you on top of a hill with a good outside antenna or down in a basement on a portable, weather conditions, time of day, other radio systems, etc. just to name a few. When experimenting, I'd double that estimate and then watch the scanner. If you see a signal strength indication for the site, then its good. Otherwise avoid or otherwise turn the site off.It’s been mentioned setting the range can help . I always thought it related to GPS. But I could be confusing something else with GPS. It’s that “something“ I hope will Jog your memory and you relate it here...
The GPS device will send updated location information to a scanner almost continuously. So the beginning point (where your scanner is) is changing as you move. However, how far it is reaching out (global range) remains constant (20 miles in the example). When you use GPS, the Global Range is set to 0, but you can override that.It’s been mentioned setting the range can help . I always thought it related to GPS. But I could be confusing something else with GPS. It’s that “something“ I hope will Jog your memory and you relate it here...
Do a submission & they will get added.I noticed that there are site frequencies missing from the RRDB entry for this system. The Milton site isn't showing its 700 MHz freqs, and the Gulf Breeze site is missing 4 freqs.
That would be inappropriate for me because I am not able to confirm - I can only see what should be there according to the licencing and contract records. Somebody who can actually receive the system over the air needs to verify and submit.Do a submission & they will get added.
Good point.That would be inappropriate for me because I am not able to confirm - I can only see what should be there according to the licencing and contract records. Somebody who can actually receive the system over the air needs to verify and submit.