Sentinel programming for Ohio State Patrol.

[ptownguy]

My problem is not receiving the OSP dispatcher for Scioto County. (MARCS IP ). I have every post in District 9 programmed and hear the Jackson Dispatcher but never anything for Scioto county. I hear the mobile units but not a thing from dispatch.
Here's what I don't understand about the programming; when I'm using the software and programming for MARCS IP, I get a list of every tower in Ohio. I have chosen as many as 8 near me and as few as the one I can see from my location. Using 1 works just as well as 8. Now, what I cannot fathom, is that you can program your radio right on the radio ( Edit, add channel ) WITHOUT using the Sentinel software. When using this method and working on MARCS IP, you are NOT given the list of towers to pick from. Not needed. How can this be ?
It must NOT be required to pick towers in the Sentinel software. Why is there a list of tower locations and their frequencies in Sentinel ?
Thanks in advance.

 

[northernsummit]

My problem is not receiving the OSP dispatcher for Scioto County. (MARCS IP ). I have every post in District 9 programmed and hear the Jackson Dispatcher but never anything for Scioto county. I hear the mobile units but not a thing from dispatch.

The more towers you pick, the more time your scanner spends looking for a signal and (if it finds one) listening to that tower. Ideally you should just listen to the site nearest you. I've not tried adding a talk group directly to my 536 but if you're scanning based on Zip code and it has the latest RRDB within it, that is why you're not picking a tower - its probably doing it for you based on zip code and distance chosen. My personal preference is to choose exactly what is in my scanner with Sentinel.

Are you sure there should be a dispatcher for Scioto County? I don't listen to OSP very often at all but I do know that they're known for patching together talk groups and using a single dispatcher for multiple posts. Are the units you're hearing interacting with the dispatcher you are hearing, or talking to someone in such a way that you're only hearing half of a conversation?

 

[ptownguy]

The more towers you pick, the more time your scanner spends looking for a signal and (if it finds one) listening to that tower. Ideally you should just listen to the site nearest you. I've not tried adding a talk group directly to my 536 but if you're scanning based on Zip code and it has the latest RRDB within it, that is why you're not picking a tower - its probably doing it for you based on zip code and distance chosen. My personal preference is to choose exactly what is in my scanner with Sentinel.

Are you sure there should be a dispatcher for Scioto County? I don't listen to OSP very often at all but I do know that they're known for patching together talk groups and using a single dispatcher for multiple posts. Are the units you're hearing interacting with the dispatcher you are hearing, or talking to someone in such a way that you're only hearing half of a conversation?

Thanks for the reply. Makes sense, zip and milage input. Radio selects towers within the range. Today I have no OSP dispatch at all.
I understand consolidated dispatching so i have all the posts in District 9 programmed plus Chillicothe which is a logical candidate.
I guess they have taken consolidation to a new level. People here say the Portsmouth Post is encrypted due to its responsibility for the prison, SOCF. Not sure I buy that.