Storing conventional channels

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lawman210

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If I download a conventional system such as a statewide system should i avoid all channels/frequencies that are to far away to recieve? Will it speed up my scanning or due to not being close enough it nulls them? I know there is a location control as well but if I do not use that control? I am using the 536 as a base station so avoiding the channels that to far to receive won't bother me currently but I will be taking it mobile soon. Once I do this I would rather not be flipping back and fourth with avoiding/enabling channels every time I decide to use it for a few days as a base then back to mobile.
Once I get the gps unit I would set all systems to location control and leave them on?

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phask

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If I download a conventional system such as a statewide system should i avoid all channels/frequencies that are to far away to recieve? Will it speed up my scanning or due to not being close enough it nulls them? I know there is a location control as well but if I do not use that control? I am using the 536 as a base station so avoiding the channels that to far to receive won't bother me currently but I will be taking it mobile soon. Once I do this I would rather not be flipping back and fourth with avoiding/enabling channels every time I decide to use it for a few days as a base then back to mobile.
Once I get the gps unit I would set all systems to location control and leave them on?

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Yes it will speed up. the less the better.

Improve your downloading technique and you may get less unwanted. I emphasize may.
 

ofd8001

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If I download a conventional system such as a statewide system should i avoid all channels/frequencies that are to far away to recieve? Will it speed up my scanning or due to not being close enough it nulls them? I know there is a location control as well but if I do not use that control? I am using the 536 as a base station so avoiding the channels that to far to receive won't bother me currently but I will be taking it mobile soon. Once I do this I would rather not be flipping back and fourth with avoiding/enabling channels every time I decide to use it for a few days as a base then back to mobile.
Once I get the gps unit I would set all systems to location control and leave them on?

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If the conventional system has departments that are "regional" and they have locations established (the Maryland State Police for example does), then I'd be inclined to download the whole system and set the location control to on, even at home.

You've probably set your home location by entering a zip code in your scanner. Thus your scanner will put those departments (thus associated channels) that are beyond range of your current location in an "avoid" condition (saving you the effort of doing that).

I'm in somewhat of a similar situation with the Kentucky State Police. I've found that my scanner will "avoid" the KSP locations that are too far away from my home to be received if I set the location control to on. If I set the location control to off, then it scans everything.

Your scanner does "location control" even without a GPS unit attached. When entering a zip code, you are telling your scanner where it is. All a GPS unit does is override the location setting you've entered. So it's kinda like having two "location control modes". One is a "manual location control", which is done by entering zip codes. The other is "automatic location control" where a GPS changes location as you move about.
 
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lawman210

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If the conventional system has departments that are "regional" and they have locations established (the Maryland State Police for example does), then I'd be inclined to download the whole system and set the location control to on, even at home.

You've probably set your home location by entering a zip code in your scanner. Thus your scanner will put those departments (thus associated channels) that are beyond range of your current location in an "avoid" condition (saving you the effort of doing that).

I'm in somewhat of a similar situation with the Kentucky State Police. I've found that my scanner will "avoid" the KSP locations that are too far away from my home to be received if I set the location control to on. If I set the location control to off, then it scans everything.

Your scanner does "location control" even without a GPS unit attached. When entering a zip code, you are telling your scanner where it is. All a GPS unit does is override the location setting you've entered. So it's kinda like having two "location control modes". One is a "manual location control", which is done by entering zip codes. The other is "automatic location control" where a GPS changes location as you move about.

Ok I set up a new profile just to experiment. I setup my scanner for my zip code and downloaded MSP only. I set it for location based and set it to scan. I can say it's scanning every channel but barracks pretty far maybe 20-30 air miles away for sure. I then started stepping down the range all the way down to 1 mile and it was still going through channels in Dorchester and garrett counties and further and I set my zip in Edgewood/Bel Air. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but seems that the zip code location based settings don't seem to work without a gps setup.
One thing I did see which I didn't before at least with the MSP agency I had options to setup a quick key for each barrack which I didn't see before so I don't have to scan entire list.

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phask

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Ok I set up a new profile just to experiment. I setup my scanner for my zip code and downloaded MSP only. I set it for location based and set it to scan. I can say it's scanning every channel but barracks pretty far maybe 20-30 air miles away for sure. I then started stepping down the range all the way down to 1 mile and it was still going through channels in Dorchester and garrett counties and further and I set my zip in Edgewood/Bel Air. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but seems that the zip code location based settings don't seem to work without a gps setup.
One thing I did see which I didn't before at least with the MSP agency I had options to setup a quick key for each barrack which I didn't see before so I don't have to scan entire list.

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omething wrong but seems that the zip code location based settings don't seem to work without a gps

You are wrong - it works just as designed wit or without a GPS.

The issue - is what is the range settings of those entries? If they have range set for 50, 100 or more you will see them loaded.


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lawman210

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Ok went back in the system and found that the default range for each channel for MSP was 137 miles. I changed them to 20 miles and resent them to scanner. Now it's saying nothing to scan. I'm sure it's a small thing over looked and easily corrected

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ofd8001

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Most likely it is a small thing. The challenge is figuring out which of the many small things it could bee.

Presuming that you have all the appropriate quick keys turned on, then it's probably the range issue. Is the zip code set in your scanner within 20 miles of an MSP tower? If not, then the scanner has locked everything out because you are out of range. (Me I'd probably bump the range back up to 50 miles or so since this is a statewide system and appears to be using VHF low frequencies, which have a pretty good reach).

If you are up for some experimentation and won't mind resetting things after you've finished, you could try this:

1. Determine the zip code for each of the MSP Barracks.
2. Plug in that zip code on your scanner
3. See if the appropriate Department (as in MSP Barrack) frequencies are enabled (as in the scanner begins scanning them).
4. Repeat the above for each Barracks

I've done this for some of the areas that I'll be travelling to. It's a good way to confirm that when I do, the appropriate "things" will be turned on. That kind of gives me a preview of what will happen when I connect a GPS unit to the scanner.
 

lawman210

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Most likely it is a small thing. The challenge is figuring out which of the many small things it could bee.

Presuming that you have all the appropriate quick keys turned on, then it's probably the range issue. Is the zip code set in your scanner within 20 miles of an MSP tower? If not, then the scanner has locked everything out because you are out of range. (Me I'd probably bump the range back up to 50 miles or so since this is a statewide system and appears to be using VHF low frequencies, which have a pretty good reach).

If you are up for some experimentation and won't mind resetting things after you've finished, you could try this:

1. Determine the zip code for each of the MSP Barracks.
2. Plug in that zip code on your scanner
3. See if the appropriate Department (as in MSP Barrack) frequencies are enabled (as in the scanner begins scanning them).
4. Repeat the above for each Barracks

I've done this for some of the areas that I'll be travelling to. It's a good way to confirm that when I do, the appropriate "things" will be turned on. That kind of gives me a preview of what will happen when I connect a GPS unit to the scanner.

I am wide open for that. I haven't set up a good favorites list yet. The 10 or so favorites I did set up I deleted and decided to mess with just 1 or 2 systems for a while to get the hang of it. On a much brighter note I picked up my 436 today and I really like it. I think my HP1 will be sold soon. I will probably sell it as soon as I fine a good deal on either another 436 or 536

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UPMan

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So, when you set the MSP department ranges to 20 miles, that made the scanner ignore those departments unless you were within 20 miles of the centerpoint of that departments location (assuming you had RANGE on the scanner set to 0). MSP departments that are nationwide were set to that large range because that is the setting required to encompass the entire state. This does result in overlap onto other states. The ideal correction would be to redefine the location using one or more rectangles to encompass the operating area of the department(s).
 

lawman210

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Ty upman. I am learning as I go. The rectangles is cool. Got a lot on my plate but I will figure it out. Lol. Awesome scanners. I like the handheld a bit more though

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