HP-2: Understanding what the HP is scanning

[jcarpenter2]

Can someone help me understand what is being scanned with my HPII?
I typed in zipcode 40108 and it shows that it is scanning 161 channels. What are those channels?
When I look in the Sentinal software I see Database, countries (I selected USA), states ( I selected Kentucky) , and counties (I selected Meade County). Under Meade there is three listing: Nationwide, Statewide, and County systems. I started to county the frqs/TGIDs under meade (with the assumption that each freq/TGID is considered a channel) and easily surpassed the 161 channels the HPII said it was scanning. So where did this 161 channel list come from?
I sat for about two hours and wrote down every time a specific channel name came through with traffic and this is my list:
breckinridge breckinridge county public safety - fire fire 154.9650
bullitt bullitt county public safety - law enforcement dispatch 155.4300
bullitt bullitt county public safety - ems ems - dispatch 159.1875
common/shared (statewide) common/shared public safety frequencies - ai air evac lifeteam - paoli 159.7800
common/shared (statewide) common/shared public safety frequencies - ai statflight - danville 152.4275
fort knox fire/ems fire department dispatch-encrypted 5500
fort knox law enforcement military police net encrypted 5510
hardin hardin county - ems ems dispatch 159.1800
hardin hardin county cities - radcliff police - dispatch 155.6850
hardin hardin county - fire fire dispatch 154.4300
harrison harrison county - fire/ems fire/ema/ems dispatch 158.7450
harrison harrison county - law enforcement sheriff - dispatch 155.9250
indiana project hoosier safe-t (motorola) crawford county (13) county fire dispatch 22960
indiana project hoosier safe-t (motorola) department of natural resources - enforcement dnr law enforcement south region dispatch 20752
indiana project hoosier safe-t (motorola) Perry County (62) county sheriff dispatch 22448
indiana project hoosier safe-t (motorola) state police region 4 - versailles isp dispatch 45 - dispatch 28720
indiana project hoosier safe-t (motorola) state police region 3 - bloomington isp district 34/35 - dispatch 20560
jefferson metrosafe - jefferson county fire suburban fire dispatch 152.0075
KY air evac helicopters west virginia air evac helicopter - healthnet cabell huntington hospital 155.4000
ky state police ksp post 4 - elizabethtown/cve region 04b cloverport - breckinridge county transmitter 460.0875
ky state police ksp post 4 - elizabethtown/cve region 04b constanine-hardin county transmitter 460.3875
ky state police ksp post 4 - elizabethtown/cve region 04b ekron-meade county transmitter 460.1625
ky state police ksp post 4 - elizabethtown/cve region 04b louisville-jefferson county transmitter 453.9500
ky state police ksp post 4 - elizabethtown/cve region 04b shepherdsville-bullitt county transmitter 460.4125
louisville emergency communications network law enforcement - louisville metro police dispatch 1 (6th and 7th divisions) law dispatch 1
louisville emergency communications network law enforcement - louisville metro police dispatch 2 (3rd and 8th divisions) law dispatch 2
louisville emergency communications network law enforcement - louisville metro police dispatch 3 (1st and 2nd divisions) law dispatch 3
louisville emergency communications network law enforcement - louisville metro police dispatch 4 (4th and 5th divisions) law dispatch 4
louisville emergency communications network law enforcement - jeffersontown dispatch law dispatch 51
louisville emergency communications network ems med 1 dispatch division 1 ems dispatch 401
meade meade county public safety - ems ems - dispatch 151.1150
meade meade county public safety - law enforcement sheriff - dispatch 151.0100
public safety - usa common public safety - ems med channels med 10 dispatch/paging 462.9750

Now some of these do fall under Meade County but others fall under Indiana which makes sense since I am right on the ohio river.
Is that 161 channels I mentioned earlier a list that I have visibility of in the HPII? If I can see it somewhere, can I change that list? It takes 13 seconds to go through the 161 channels which to me is a long time.
Hopefully this is not to long but I have tried to find the answers on the unidens website, youtube, and here on radioreference but to no avail. There are 33 channels listed above and i do realize that all channels being scanned are not active all the time but i think getting rid of a bunch of channels that have no relevance would be helpful in the scan time.

 

[Voyager]

Some of those are trunked channels which will take longer to scan. To see what it is scanning, you can watch the display or hold a System (tap it), then scroll using the menu on the right. and if there is something you don't want to scan, using the same menu select AVOID.

 

[jcarpenter2]

Thanks Voyager. By using the menu on the side I can what is being scanned in the HPII itself one channel at a time. Where does the sentinal software tie into this? Is this list i mentioned earlier of 161 channels not in the sentinal software where it can be viewed all at once? While using the menu you mentioned i found "frankfort electric & water plant board" - "all" - "electric utilites 1". This does not even make sense to me. Why would the HPII be scanning a location 150 miles away?
In an age of technology can sentinal not figure out a way to show me the list it is scanning? This "database" in sentinal seems half *** put together from what i can see. The counties have "nationwide", "statewide", and "county systems" within each county in the state of kentucky having the same nationwide and statewide database built under the county.

 

[fxdscon]

This does not even make sense to me. Why would the HPII be scanning a location 150 miles away?

Once you understand how location based scanning actually works, it will make sense..... check here:

How it Works: Location, Location, Location

.

 

[jcarpenter2]

Thanks fxdscon. That is a great writeup, but i must say that is somewhat how i thought the location scanning should work. However, lets look at what i said, i am at zipcode 40108 and no matter how you slice it, my circle and the circle for "frankfort electric & water plant board" - "all" - "electric utilites 1" does not overlap, so why is my HPII showing that it is scanning that system? How many other locations is my system trying to scan that are really beyond my reach?

 

[ofd8001]

What I think is going on is that you are scanning the full database. The scanner will note your location and turn "stuff" on that falls within the range you have set.

I didn't see the Frankfort stuff listed in your first post as something being received, so I'm scratching my head on why you see that as it is a pretty good distance from you. It could be just "there" but isn't actually being received. In other words, just because it is in the list, doesn't mean it is being scanned - the scanner could be locking it out due to distance.

All of those things you identified in your first post seem appropriate for your location.

It does have "KY air evac helicopters west virginia air evac helicopter - healthnet cabell huntington hospital 155.4000". The 155.400 frequency is used by Air Methods (the old stat flite/sky care) helicopters.

I am surprised to see "louisville emergency communications network ems med 1 dispatch division 1 ems dispatch 401" as that is an encrypted talkgroup.

If your scanner is scanning more things than you are interested in monitoring, creating a Favorites List using Sentinel might be an option. That would reduce the number of channels significantly.

Plus it would be a lot more efficient. For example, you are showing 5 sites for KSP 4B: Cloverport, Constantine, Ekron, Louisville and Shepherdsville. That's redundant as they are all linked together so what one is "saying" all the others are saying it too. You really only need the Ekron site. (There's a reason why you are getting all 5 sites, but that would be a long winded explanation).

 

[W8RMH]

Just go into Sentinel and make favorite lists of what you want to hear. That's what I did. I actually make up my favorites as Departments. It makes it faster and easier to turn them on and off.

I only use the database when traveling outside my 6 county metro area.

 

[AA6IO]

Try living in Los Angeles. I enter my zip code with a 10-mile range and get 6359 stations on my HP-1 and HP-2. However, with 0 miles range, I can whittle that down to 5469 stations. Many of the stations loaded, including the trunking sites, are in Northern California, ranging from 400 to 600 miles away. That will require a pretty good UHF or 800-Mhz antenna. Using location scanner is next to useless. Only way to go here is the favorite lists.
That said, it is nice having the option when traveling with an HP or x36HP to be able to set the zip code, select a few specific service types, and hear what's happening. Certainly better than having to pre-program one of my older scanners before I leave my house.
Steve AA6IO

 

[W8RMH]

I agree

 

[jcarpenter2]

On a side note, I did put up my radioshack discone on a 23 foot mass this weekend so i could get higher as i felt that would help my signal strength as i am a bit in the country, which i am picking up more channels now

At some point i will make a favorites that i can use for my location. However, being new to this i want to understand whats out there, who can i hear, and who do i want to hear. Which leads me to the questions i have been asking.
The list in my first post is of the 33 channels that i actually heard things on. The 161 channels is what the scanner says it is scanning when i entered my zipcode.
The "frankfort electric & water plant board" - "all" - "electric utilites 1" is one of the channels being scanned i presume after following Voyegers recommendation of using the menu on the right side of the screen.
I put the post in the uniden software because since the HPII and the Sentinal software "talk" to each other when connected by a usb i was under the impression the sentinal software would have the list of the 16 channels that is being scanned by the HPII. It seems this is not true. Even when i look at the files on the SD card within the HPII scanner it does not reflect a list of those 161 channels. I would assume then somewhere within the scanner software it loads the full database of my state and then somehow weeds out the channels that are not within the 10/20/30 mile radius as per the article that fxdscon linked to. I must admit though i am still in the dark as to where this list of 161 channels are and if by chance the list of channels is in the right side menu mentioned above, it sure seems like a tedius bit of work to go through that list one at a time inorder to select "avoid".

 

[ofd8001]

I don't have the HP 1 or 2, rather I'm using a 536HP. I believe from the full database standpoint, they function similarly.

The full database is "stored" in your scanner. As you set your location/enter your zip code, the scanner "loads" channels/frequencies that overlap with your location and begins scanning them.

The location topic is tough to understand. Let's say you have your scanner range set to 30 miles. There is a community, such as Frankfort, that is 59 miles away (and we are talking about "as the crow flies"), which has a radio system that has a range of 30 miles. This system will be loaded because the "rings" overlap - 30 miles for your scanner plus the 30 miles for their system.

Can you confirm which zipcode you are using. Battletown KY, according to Google has a zip code of 40104, but 40108 is for Doe Valley. So using 40108 shifts your range ring about 11 miles southeast.

I suspect you are scanning 161 channels because of the MetroSafe system (called Louisville Emergency Communications Network) which has a boatload of channels.

 

[jcarpenter2]

ofd8001 - first yes you are correct about the zip. I am 40104 but when i was experimenting with the HPII i had loaded 40108, hence the reason for using those numbers. The range that i was using is 10 miles. Now if you use the databases listed on this site you will be able to see the ring around the "frankfort electric & water plant board" - "all" - "electric utilites 1" and that does not even come close to the 10 mile radius around 40108.
You mentioned loading the full database, which when i start my HPII it loads the national database, the indiana database, and the kentucky database. When i look at those hpd files there are litterly 1000s of channels listed in those databases.
I do understand the location based scanning mentioned previously.
This all started because i wanted to see the list of 161 channels that my scanner says it was scanning, but yet there seems to be no list created by the HPII or the sentinal software. This leads me to believe then that there is a calculation being performed by the HPII in order to narrow down the 1000s of channels loaded at startup (hpd files). This leads me to wonder is there a temp file built into the ram of the HPII that stores this 161 list or does the HPII require a calculation everytime it cycles a scan. I realize this is way beyond where this conversation started but as i said, i just wanted to know where the 161 channels where that was being scanned so then i could select what i thought i wanted to listen to from that list.
Of course maybe i have just made this more complicated than what it is but as i said earlier i am new to this and wanted to find out what i can actually hear and then decided whether i would continue scanning for that channel, and from there i could create my favorites list.

 

[UPMan]

You could see the specific channels by making a Favorites List from current scan selection (in the scanner's menu).

 

[fxdscon]

but as i said, i just wanted to know where the 161 channels where that was being scanned so then i could select what i thought i wanted to listen to from that list.

From the Sentinel top toolbar, click "Edit", and then "Add Channels on Range".

In the window that opens.....

(1) Set your zip code. (your LAT & LON will be set from that)
(2) Set your desired range.
(3) Choose the service types you are interested in monitoring.
(4) Take note of the message in the lower left corner of that window to be sure you are using the full database for your selections.
(5) Click "OK"
(6) Click ""New Favorites List" on this window and name your new list and click "OK".
(7) Your new favorites list will appear in the left windowpane with the agencies selected based on your criteria.

You can now use the profile editor, and the favorites list editor to trim it to your liking, then write it to the scanner.

.

 

[phask]

To expand on Paul's post

Menu - Manage Favorite list - create new list - add current channels.

Then read it back into Sentinel.

 

[ofd8001]

ring around the "frankfort electric & water plant board" - "all" - "electric utilites 1" and that does not even come close to the 10 mile radius around 40108.

While all efforts possible are made to accurately list locations, it may be that those for the Frankfort utilities are wrong, thus causing them to be scanned for the zip code you have selected.

You mentioned loading the full database, which when i start my HPII it loads the national database, the indiana database, and the kentucky database. When i look at those hpd files there are litterly 1000s of channels listed in those databases.

The loading of the "National Database" doesn't mean every frequency in the US is being loaded, such as New York or Los Angeles police. Rather the "National Database" are those channels that are used across the US, such as air traffic control channels, marine radio channels, weather service channels, etc. Your scanner also loads Kentucky for obvious reason. It also loads Indiana because it is right next door, which is what my scanner in Louisville does when I do database scanning (very rarely).

Of course maybe i have just made this more complicated than what it is but as i said earlier i am new to this and wanted to find out what i can actually hear and then decided whether i would continue scanning for that channel, and from there i could create my favorites list.

The HP1 and HP2 line of scanners were geared toward the basic user who plugs in the location and takes what they get. You are on the inquisitive side and would be better off using Sentinel to create you own Favorites List.

I'm sure there are several schools of thought on creating Favorites Lists, and if a consensus was developed, our next task should be deciding on what comes first, the chicken or egg.

My school of thought is on creating a Favorites List using Sentinel, rather than listening, then creating a Favorites List based on what I received. That's because there might be some very potentially interesting channels but are rarely used and I might not get a "hit" using the database scanning. I can also eliminate those less interesting ones, such as Frankfort, who might be transmitting, thus preclude me from hearing a "better" channel.