Sentinel Favorites Updates

[airsquad9]

I've been using Sentinel for programming most of my newer Uniden products since it first came out but I just realized something. When I update the Master Database it doesn't update my Favorites lists with the new info. How do I update my Favorites without creating a new one? Seems like that should automatically do that but it doesn't. I read through the manual but there's no reference to it.

 

[SChuck]

In the database in Sentinel find the system you want to update to you favorites list right mouse click and choose append to favorites list than select the list you want to update. If you used the same file names in your lists as they are in the database they will up date any changed info.

 

[W8RMH]

I just make the changes manually in my Favorite Lists.

 

[rcp8686]

Hello new to this trunked system scanner, have been out of listening for 3-4 years now. I'm from NW of chicago and almost every dept is on the starcomm 21 system. My question is how many Sites do I need with each system? Everytime I create a new favorite and append to favorite a dept the whole state of IL site go with it. Is that normal? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks Ross

 

[hiegtx]

Hello new to this trunked system scanner, have been out of listening for 3-4 years now. I'm from NW of chicago and almost every dept is on the starcomm 21 system. My question is how many Sites do I need with each system? Everytime I create a new favorite and append to favorite a dept the whole state of IL site go with it. Is that normal? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks Ross

You only need the sites that are in range for the area you are monitoring. Say, perhaps, your home county, and the counties adjacent to you at the most. Now, if you were planning a road trip, then, of course, you'd have more.

You can 'trim the excess' in the main window of Sentinel, or using the Favorites list editor. What I do, if appending gives me a boatload of sites that are useless to what I'm trying to program, is this:
In the database, look up the trunked system and go to that page.
Click on the header over the County column to sort by county name.
In Sentinel, click on the system you just appended, so that the list of departments and sites shows in the right pane.
The sites may not have a recognizable name, being named perhaps for a road or local landmark, not necessarily a specific city. So, using the sorted list of counties, on the system's database page, you can identify the sites just in your area, the ones that would be in range. You can hold down the <CTRL> key, and click the ones you don't want, using your county list to see which site name goes in which county. By holding down the control key, and clicking sites to select, you can tag a number of them at one time. Then, with the ones you want to discard still highlighted, press the Delete key, or <Right><Click> on one of the selected sites & choose the "Remove from Favorites List" line to trim them down.

 

[ofd8001]

This is a question that has come up numerous times. Sentinel, by design, will not update any Favorites Lists. That's because more often than not, users will tweak Favorites Lists, with different tags, range values, service types and so on. If Sentinel was to do updates automatically, all that work would be overwritten or duplicated.

I find it best to see if there really are updates to be made, systems do not change all that often. If there are, typically the changes are so few it is less hassle just to make the changes manually. If there are massive changes, then perhaps a "re-do" of the Favorites List is the best course.

 

[hiegtx]

This is a question that has come up numerous times. Sentinel, by design, will not update any Favorites Lists. That's because more often than not, users will tweak Favorites Lists, with different tags, range values, service types and so on. If Sentinel was to do updates automatically, all that work would be overwritten or duplicated.

I find it best to see if there really are updates to be made, systems do not change all that often. If there are, typically the changes are so few it is less hassle just to make the changes manually. If there are massive changes, then perhaps a "re-do" of the Favorites List is the best course.

To add slightly to what ofd8001 noted, one side benefit of being a Premium Subscriber is that you can customize your MyRR home page. I have all of the counties of interest to me, as well as trunked systems of interest, listed on the page. An update to any one of them will show a color code showing a change was made (green for a change in the last 24 hours, a yellowish tint for updates in the last 7 days).

As noted, quite often, the change is minor, a text revision or other change that has no bearing on how the system should be programmed. In the event there is a change I need to make, it only takes a minute or two at most to do that. That's a lot less time than deleting a system, and re-appending it from the database, then having to trim out sites and/or talkgroups not of interest (or not in range for a regional system).