Sentinel P25 Phase 1 Group - Adds all locations of towers - ok to delete some?

[rvacs]

So in the past I have loaded in Sentinel a P25 Phase 1 system (simulcast).

(See attached screenshot).
And it adds all the tower locations and frequencies for the towers.

I know when I go to scan that system it uses one particular Simulcast Tower and set of frequencies.
In the past I have deleted the other tower locations and frequencies and just kept the one I know it is using to possibly speed up the scan and also save storage in the scanner.

Thoughts on this?

 

[Saint]

Just put in the tower that's closest to you unless you travel

 

[rvacs]

What's weird is there is a tower right by me in "Williamson County" but if I just use that tower I don't hear anything as those talkgroups, they aren't on that tower I am guessing. But if I put in the next county over Travis / Austin Simulcast 1 Tower it works fine....

Seems like some towers don't carry some of the talkgroups and vice versa. Seem weird? But yeah don't expect to travel and thought I would just cleanup Sentinel by just choosing Towers I use.

 

[n1chu]

As Saint has stated, I concur. I had the same question about a system I monitor and locked out those sites furthest away, then listened. Not noticing any decrease in the traffic on those TG’s I listen to, I avoided everything but two sites closest to me. To date, I do not believe I’m missing any traffic because I avoided most all the sites.

 

[rvacs]

@n1chu - But looking at my screenshot - all those counties listed do you think they really all broadcast those talkgroups since they brought them in or did they just pull in all the towers associate with that system? Meaning is it logical some talkgroups won't be on some of those towers? Sorry just trying to understand. THANKS

 

[drdispatch]

With the exception of simulcast cells, a site will only transmit a particular talkgroup if there is a user radio affiliated with that site.

For example, let's say you live on the east side of the county, and there is a city on the west side that you want to monitor. There is a site in that city and another site on the east side near you. You will not hear that city if you only scan the east side site, unless one of the city's units comes over to the east side, forcing that radio to affiliate with that site. You will have to scan the west side site in order to monitor that city.

There are a few exceptions to this, such as statewide talkgroups and such, but at the most basic level, this is how it works.

 

[jonwienke]

Leave the sites in and enable location control. The scanner will automatically turn off distant stuff sites, and you won't have to reprogram if you travel.

 

[rvacs]

@drdispatch - ok thanks for that - that makes sense.

@jonwienke - Sounds good will try that...that is best for mobile use for sure.

 

[ofd8001]

Using Location Control is a good option, but beware of a pitfall. Departments are set up so that they are not active/turned on, unless you are within their service area. So if you want to reach a little farther, you'll need to bump up the scanner range value accordingly or change the range setting for a given department.

Another option to consider is using Site Quick Keys for each site. Give one number to all sites close to you and a different number to sites too far away (about 30 miles is a good estimation). Then while at home, turn the quick key off for those "away" sites, leaving just the "home" sites quick key on.

The good part of these scanners is that there are many ways to do something. Experiment and see what suits you best.

I would not be overly concerned with how much memory is consumed. The capacity of this model of scanner is so generous, it is very doubtful you will have issues.

 

[kb7gjy]

For my BCD536HP at home on my desk, I delete all the towers I know I can't hear. That leaves 3 towers (one of which is questionable at best, never heard traffic on it).
On our State wide P25 system it really helped. No reason for me to try to hear Ada county towers up here by the Canadian border.