Sites, Talkgroups and Systems

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ltcpro

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Hello radio gods!

I have a rather simple question. I am scanning a Trunked System with multiple sites and numerous talk groups to stay tuned into my fire dispatch as I am a volunteer. When I am at work there is a site that is located 1/2 mile from my office but whenever I try to use that site and HOLD on our dispatch channel I get a "Finding Control Channel..." message. Of course that means I do not have the right control channel for that talkgroup to read on the site. Now my question is this...

Do all sites in a trunked system broadcast all the talkgroups? Or can only some talkgroups get broadcasted over the site?

Our department runs ambulances on Tybee Island where I work, so I feel like I should be able to connect to the site for the fire dispatch and medic channels but I seem to have have bad control channels...

Any help you can provide to help me get connected would be greatly appreciated!

The System info is below:
Chatham County/Effingham County Trunking System, Various, Georgia - Scanner Frequencies
 

troymail

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Hello radio gods!

I have a rather simple question. I am scanning a Trunked System with multiple sites and numerous talk groups to stay tuned into my fire dispatch as I am a volunteer. When I am at work there is a site that is located 1/2 mile from my office but whenever I try to use that site and HOLD on our dispatch channel I get a "Finding Control Channel..." message. Of course that means I do not have the right control channel for that talkgroup to read on the site. Now my question is this...

Do all sites in a trunked system broadcast all the talkgroups? Or can only some talkgroups get broadcasted over the site?
As with many things - it depends on how the system is configured and what users are "affiliating" with which sites.

Our department runs ambulances on Tybee Island where I work, so I feel like I should be able to connect to the site for the fire dispatch and medic channels but I seem to have have bad control channels...

Any help you can provide to help me get connected would be greatly appreciated!

The System info is below:
Chatham County/Effingham County Trunking System, Various, Georgia - Scanner Frequencies

Which site are you having trouble locking on to? Which model radio do you have and how did you program it?

The frequencies listed for the Tybee Island site seem to match the FCC license. The only other thing that jumps out to me is that this is a rebanded system which "potentially" requires special handling...
 

mikewazowski

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Our department runs ambulances on Tybee Island where I work, so I feel like I should be able to connect to the site for the fire dispatch and medic channels but I seem to have have bad control channels...


The big question is how far away is the site you are trying to listen to? That message occurs when the scanner can't find the control channel.
 

ltcpro

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Hi Troy,

Thanks for taking the time to try to assist me. I figured as much that it can be configured a number of ways. I have a Uniden Bearcat 346XTC. I programmed it with FreeScan utilizing the Radio Reference database. I am having issues connecting to the Tybee Island site. I have all of the control channel frequencies listed for the Tybee Island site programmed properly but am unable to access the control channel for that talk group.

I assume there is always the possibility that the RR database could be not up to date. What are my options to help try and see if there are other control channels this site could be using that arent listed online?
 

ltcpro

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@mikeOxlong, The Tybee Island tower is less than a half mile from my office. That is the one I am having issues with. All other sites on this system work without issue though. I cannot access the Tybee Island control channel indoors or outdoors so it has to be programming related.
 

Spitfire8520

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You might find Trunking Basics to be an interesting read towards giving you an understanding.

Do all sites in a trunked system broadcast all the talkgroups? Or can only some talkgroups get broadcasted over the site?

All sites in a trunked system has the potential capability of carrying all talkgroups, but many factors may lead to only certain sites that they are on. An affiliation by a user radio on a particular site is required in order for that site to carry a talkgroup. As a result, scanners should be programmed with sites that are more likely to provide radio coverage for a particular area they want to monitor.

Our department runs ambulances on Tybee Island where I work, so I feel like I should be able to connect to the site for the fire dispatch and medic channels but I seem to have have bad control channels...

Any help you can provide to help me get connected would be greatly appreciated!

The System info is below:
Chatham County/Effingham County Trunking System, Various, Georgia - Scanner Frequencies

The fact that you know that your ambulances operate in a certain area makes it highly likely that you should be able to find what you are looking for. Looking at the system, I think that the information in the database entry may not be complete. Motorola systems can have four different control channels that it may cycle through. You may want to try programming all the frequencies for the Tybee Island site in order to catch the current control channel.
 

mikewazowski

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@mikeOxlong, The Tybee Island tower is less than a half mile from my office. That is the one I am having issues with. All other sites on this system work without issue though. I cannot access the Tybee Island control channel indoors or outdoors so it has to be programming related.

It's possible the control channel has moved to a different channel.

Try entering in the other frequencies from the site to see if you can find it.
 

KevinC

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Hello radio gods!

I have a rather simple question. I am scanning a Trunked System with multiple sites and numerous talk groups to stay tuned into my fire dispatch as I am a volunteer. When I am at work there is a site that is located 1/2 mile from my office but whenever I try to use that site and HOLD on our dispatch channel I get a "Finding Control Channel..." message. Of course that means I do not have the right control channel for that talkgroup to read on the site. Now my question is this...

Do all sites in a trunked system broadcast all the talkgroups? Or can only some talkgroups get broadcasted over the site?

Our department runs ambulances on Tybee Island where I work, so I feel like I should be able to connect to the site for the fire dispatch and medic channels but I seem to have have bad control channels...

Any help you can provide to help me get connected would be greatly appreciated!

The System info is below:
Chatham County/Effingham County Trunking System, Various, Georgia - Scanner Frequencies

I might have missed it, but did you enter all of the frequencies? The referenced list only indicates 1 control channel, so 3 others have the potential to be the CC.
 

troymail

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Hi Troy,

Thanks for taking the time to try to assist me. I figured as much that it can be configured a number of ways. I have a Uniden Bearcat 346XTC. I programmed it with FreeScan utilizing the Radio Reference database. I am having issues connecting to the Tybee Island site. I have all of the control channel frequencies listed for the Tybee Island site programmed properly but am unable to access the control channel for that talk group.

I assume there is always the possibility that the RR database could be not up to date. What are my options to help try and see if there are other control channels this site could be using that arent listed online?

You say you have all control channels programmed -- hopefully that means you've programmed all 5 frequencies listed for Tybee Island. If not, make you have all of them programmed and double check that you don't have any "typos".

Being that close to the site - you may just want to do a search for control channel/data signal noise and/or voice activity on frequencies between 850-860....

I can't recall what special steps were required using Freescan when it comes to rebanded systems. However, I'm pretty sure you should still be detecting a control channel.

Does the radio receive other activity and/or trunked systems?
 

ltcpro

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Not to complicate things but this may help my theory that the database information may be incomplete. The Tybee Island Volunteer FD and Police use this trunked system for their operations and their talkgroups are listed in the database. When I try to hold on one of the TIFD or TIPD talk groups I also get the message that there is no control channel.
 

troymail

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Not to complicate things but this may help my theory that the database information may be incomplete. The Tybee Island Volunteer FD and Police use this trunked system for their operations and their talkgroups are listed in the database. When I try to hold on one of the TIFD or TIPD talk groups I also get the message that there is no control channel.

Should have no bearing on the radio finding the control channel - if you have them all programmed.
 

ltcpro

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You say you have all control channels programmed -- hopefully that means you've programmed all 5 frequencies listed for Tybee Island. If not, make you have all of them programmed and double check that you don't have any "typos".

Being that close to the site - you may just want to do a search for control channel/data signal noise and/or voice activity on frequencies between 850-860....

I can't recall what special steps were required using Freescan when it comes to rebanded systems. However, I'm pretty sure you should still be detecting a control channel.

Does the radio receive other activity and/or trunked systems?

To Clarify for everyone, yes I have programmed all 5 channels listed on RR as possible control channels. The issues persists.

@Troymail - You say to search the 850-860 range. Is it typical for the channel I am looking for to be just in the 850-860 range?
 

troymail

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To Clarify for everyone, yes I have programmed all 4 channels listed on RR as possible control channels. The issues persists.

@Troymail - You say to search the 850-860 range. Is it typical for the channel I am looking for to be just in the 850-860 range?

4? I see a total of 5 -- have you possibly programmed all BUT the control channel?

You should have all 5 of these programmed:
851.23750
851.88750c
852.68750
853.38750
853.88750
 

ltcpro

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4? I see a total of 5 -- have you possibly programmed all BUT the control channel?

I corrected my typo. I just verified all entries on my programmed site on the BC346XTC. There are 5 programmed and they match the ones listed.
 

ltcpro

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Those are typical ranges for 800 Mhz public safety systems. It looks like all of the 5 sites frequencies (at least what is listed in RRDB) are 850-861.

Agreed, So I will attempt to scan the 850-860's range and listen for control channels. Then add them in one by one and see if it makes a difference?
 

troymail

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Agreed, So I will attempt to scan the 850-860's range and listen for control channels. Then add them in one by one and see if it makes a difference?

See what you find (if anything) and then compare what you find to the database listings for the system (all 5 sites). It's always possible you might pick up activity that is part of some completely different system.
 

ltcpro

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Understood, I will report back my findings. Thanks again for you time!
 
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