TRUNK programming help needed - Seattle

[john98225]

I'm still trying to program my PRO-2067 to listen to police and fire units when I travel to Seattle, as well as Everett. (I have a Uniden BR330T and it works fine in these areas.) Is there anyone living in the Snohomish County-King County area that can help me with this 2067? Someone wrote on a post that the radio will not pick up "digital" traffic. Is that the problem; the BR330T can, but the PRO-2067 cannot? Here's how I have the data entered at this time:

 

[blangell]

John just wondering why you have alternate freqs entered as many as 6 times and no control freqs entered at all for the West site

 

[ka3jjz]

Niether the 330, nor the 2067 can handle P25 digital traffic. Your 996 (and to a lesser extent, the 785 with the optional BC25i card) can.

I know you're programming with software (Win92 I presume), but perhaps the manual explanation will help you understand what you need to do with the software;

Programming Shortcut Pro-2067 - The RadioReference Wiki

best regards..Mike

 

[john98225]

Brian - Thanks for your reply. I see I've duplicated there ... my problem is I'm unsure about the characteristics of the local trunked systems in Seattle and Everett. My B330T ends up listing them as MOT, but, since that didn't work on the 2067, I duplicated the frequencies as FM, just in case. I guess what I need is someone in Seattle with a 2067 that can tell me what's what.

 

[john98225]

Mike, thanks for your reply, too. I'm aware of the P25 limitation; that's why I bought the 996. I'll try Wiki again although I think the info I really need is what type of system the Seattle trunk is, so I can set up the 2067 accordingly. I'm assuming the 2067 can receive non-P25 digital signals, like the 330 - do you know if that's right?

 

[john98225]

System type mystery solved

Okay, I discovered that both the Seattle and Everett trunked systems are "Motorola Type II 800 Standard (Analog)." I'm pretty sure that's what I programmed so I'm still at a loss to know why it's not working.

 

[ka3jjz]

I'm not a RS person, but the screenshot seems wrong right off the bat. As someone else mentioned you have one frequency (867.1750) repeated several times. Why is that?

According to our database, the system is laid out here...

Snohomish County Emergency Radio (SERS) Trunking System, Everett, Washington - Scanner Frequencies

That frequency corresponds to one of the alternate control channels for the West Simulcast system. You need to have all 4 red and blue frequencies programmed - evidently 868.3375 is the primary (red). If you can hear a very nasty noise out of one of the 4 channels you know you can hear the system well enough. If I understand this correctly, they should all be programmed as 'MOT'.

In your list of talkgroups, note those that have a mode of 'M'. That means that they can either be digital or analog. In the database, if you don't understand something in the talkgroup columns, float your mouse over the column header and you should see a balloon with an explanation.

Let's start there...best regards..Mike

 

[ka3jjz]

And since the article in the wiki didn't seem to make a dent, perhaps this will...

Easier to Read Pro-92/A/B/2067 Scanner Manual

best regards..Mike

 

[karldotcom]

Maybe it is just me, but I always thought just entering control channels to scan was lazy. I would enter all the channels listed (with no duplicates), make sure they are entered as MOT, lock out the remaining channels, then turn the scanner off and on and see if it works.

866.26250
866.77500
866.80000
866.82500
867.17500
867.20000
867.41250
867.93750
868.33750


I can't tell you how many times I have read about users near me combining two different sites of the same UHF trunked system into one bank, or one file, to "save space"...

 

[john98225]

Thanks everyone. I think you've got me on the right track and I've made the changes. Screenshot below. (I'll have to wait until I venture down to Seattle to check it out.)

 

[ka3jjz]

If the PRO-2067 is capable of control channel only trunking (I think it is), you don't need to program all the channels; just the red/blue ones. The scanner will calculate the correct channel using the data on the control channel. It should work as is now, in any case, assuming the rest of the programming is correct.


best regards..Mike

 

[john98225]

Only control freqs.

Okay, I'll "disable" the non-control freqs. (Some say put them in, you and others don't.) According to the longer article you referenced, you only need the control freqs like you suggest.

 

[ka3jjz]

That will only work *if the 2067 can handle control channel only trunking AND that option is turned on*

How about it 2067 or PRO-92 owners?

best regards..Mike

 

[john98225]

I think it works!

I'm about 50-60 miles away from the transmissions in Snohomish County, Washington but I think the configuration is right, now. While there's no audible signal - just unsquelched background "shhhhhhh" - every 10 seconds or so a talk group's ID number pops up and shows for a few second - a lot of different ones, and on all of the control channels that are closest to me (and the coast line which is near my house). Thanks again to everyone who aided me!