BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Uniden GPS - Do I have a defective unit?

[troymail]

When I plug in HP-2 into GPS mode it automatically sets range to 0. Yet I still get signals out of area.
On the 436 it automatically doesn't set to 0. Should I set the range on 436 to 0?

Depends -- 0 means you have to be inside the circle(s) - both the system/site and the department.

I tend to keep mine at 0 -- but I think some settings change that -- perhaps using a zip code?

 

[Voyager]

So when will we be able to put in a minus Range e.g. -10miles

Perhaps when radios cover negative mileage or departments have a negative service area.

If there are things you don't want to hear, lower their range. (emphasis on the "their" part to distinguish it from your range which is already 0)

 

[darunimal]

But I don't want their range lower individually, I live in a dense area kinda like .... ......, and I want to do it globally temporarily not permanently,

now please indulge me while I digress for Voyager
but now all are to be considered mine and theirs, so I'm neither here or there, but, I, am: both here and there, to you and me, irrespective respectively of my order and your order, conversely said, said conversely !?!;(

from your range which is already 0)

That's a bit personal, whether intended or not, that is the way it was received, maybe it was your verbiage of yours and theirs

Back to the original idea
If I can set a negative delay, in audio, I should be able to, inside of "Location Control" put a minus Range of e.g. -5mi or -20 mi, for it Globally, not System or Department Specific. I, without doubt, can change the ranges locally and permanently. If I want to go to LA and want a small amount and localized as possible I would rather have a Range Minus/Negative Miles, then mess with 21 Systems' and 69 Departments' Location Information, to drill down to a smaller selective collection of stuff. If it's one more tool, in the arsenal, I'm all for it, with a micro change in code.

 

[stingray327]

0 range means you only want to hear signals whose service area overlap your exact location. If a Department has a range set to 50 miles, and they are only 40 miles away, you will scan then because the info says it serves your location.

How it Works: Location, Location, Location

Thanks

 

[ofd8001]

Back to the original idea
If I can set a negative delay, in audio, I should be able to, inside of "Location Control" put a minus Range of e.g. -5mi or -20 mi, for it Globally, not System or Department Specific. I, without doubt, can change the ranges locally and permanently. If I want to go to LA and want a small amount and localized as possible I would rather have a Range Minus/Negative Miles, then mess with 21 Systems' and 69 Departments' Location Information, to drill down to a smaller selective collection of stuff. If it's one more tool, in the arsenal, I'm all for it, with a micro change in code.

I can see what you are trying to achieve - basically tightening the ring so your reception is less. In other words if a Site or Department range is 20 miles, you're looking for a -15 setting so that the range essentially becomes 5 miles.

This might create a "tizzy" for the radio because range values vary greatly across the country. Some Departments have 5 miles, others may have 205 miles. So if you try that -15 setting for the 5 mile Department it becomes -10. Could almost be a division by 0 predicament.

The negative value on channel delay is a little different. You still stop on the channel, but after a duration (the negative value), scanning resumes even if the transmission continues. A sharper point on this concept would be "Forced Resume" rather than "Negative Delay".

 

[troymail]

I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but Freescan has a mapping tool that clearly shows the RR database location circle of any given Department, Site, System, etc. See screen grab below.

You can change the range in that window and then see an updated circle, or enter entirely new center coordinates and update the map/circle to show that change. The Freescan map doesn't show jurisdictional boundaries, but you can always do a Google search in a browser for "Marion County, Oregon" for example, and see the boundaries in a browser map. Comparing the browser map to Freescan's map can give you a good idea if the current location info in the DB is adequate, or if it needs revision in your favorites list. Of course Freescan doesn't work with the x36 radios, but it is free to download and can be used in this way as a separate tool to help determine if the RR database location info needs revision to work properly for location based scanning. Personally I've found the RR location info to be very hit and miss. Some agencies are fine, many others are inaccurate at best, and some completely useless. If you want to have your scanner work as it should work for location based, the only way to make that happen is to set up your own Favorite List and verify everything in it yourself, editing as needed. Otherwise, like I say, it's very hit and miss. Not Uniden's fault, it's just the way it is. It would however be great if Uniden added a tool like this to Sentinel. It is sorely needed.

.

Thanks for pointing this out. I was not aware Freescan (which I use primary to program other folks scanners) did mapping like this. Unfortunately, it doesn't help beyond what I already have available and also requires a RR premium account (which I don't need or have) or manual entry of all of the data.

For now, the program I wrote which loads and parses the data from the Sentinel favorites list file and then creates a clickable set of links that show each site and department on a map (individually and/or all at once) does the same thing.

I'm still looking for (or may work towards development of) a tool that produces a map showing the outline of a specific area/jurisdiction (city, county, other area, etc.) which then allows for drawing circles over that outline. Right now it's alot of "eyeballing" points on a map and moving and redrawing circles with different center points and sizes.

Ultimately, as you've said, there's lots of flaws in the process of gathering and using this data. Unless someone takes the time to work through the tedious process of producing and/or verifying the data (which most don't use of care about), the data is hit and miss. And of course, as I've said before, the long-time "circle" method is only an approximation anyway and isn't applicable in all situations. For example, new systems in my area have directional vs. omni-directional radiation patterns for some site. There's also inconsistencies in the definition of some areas like small towns. That "small town" may be on an area-wide trunked site or system but the way the x36 processes the data, you may never hear activity from that town because the department circle is defined as being so small, you need a larger range setting (there's pros and cons to that) or you need to actually drive through a circle as small as 1 mile to hear that department.

A series of rectangles (like those used in Sentinel to define the footprint of the US for Nationwide frequencies) is a little better but even more tedious to define but once you define it, it's only of value to you since RR doesn't accept or expose that form of location data.

As I've said before - if you're driving and just want to hear something (anything), the GPS and full database with service settings may be just fine. But if there are things you really want to hear as you drive, you really need time consuming custom programming coupled with the GPS.

 

[ofd8001]

As I've said before - if you're driving and just want to hear something (anything), the GPS and full database with service settings may be just fine. But if there are things you really want to hear as you drive, you really need time consuming custom programming coupled with the GPS.

I agree with this. . . The database was probably set up for the novice user who may not have the "discriminating tastes" of an advanced user. Back in the old days programming was very difficult from a frequency research aspect and the Location Control concept didn't exist. Those were the days where a 1,000 channel was a big thing.

Its impossible to read the mind of every potential customer and set up a data base making everyone happy. But the good news is that we have the tools available where we can do our own custom programming so our scanners are arranged as we wish.

 

[AuntEnvy]

Completely agree ofd

I agree with this. . . The database was probably set up for the novice user who may not have the "discriminating tastes" of an advanced user. Back in the old days programming was very difficult from a frequency research aspect and the Location Control concept didn't exist. Those were the days where a 1,000 channel was a big thing.

Its impossible to read the mind of every potential customer and set up a data base making everyone happy. But the good news is that we have the tools available where we can do our own custom programming so our scanners are arranged as we wish.

I just want the damn plug to stay hooked to the unit!

 

[nbdyspclk]

Set your range to oo.o it will work fine,don't use auto locate as it relies on the antenna when you are stationary

Sent from my SM-T357T using Tapatalk

 

[Voyager]

You only use Auto-locate when you don't have a GPS connected.

 

[DaveIN]

Please don't discuss features that are under development until release.

Damn, I wondered why my head hurts...:twisted:

 

[CAR44]

USING GPS

I have a 536 HP. I just got the GPS receiver. I have it hooked up and working. I'm taking a long road trip across several states for the holidays. Will the 536 keep updating my location and the systems it scans automatically or is there something I have to do to make it update?

 

[JamesO]

If everything is working properly, the scanner/GPS will take care of everything automatically.

You will from time to time see the scanner stop scanning while the new location data is updated. You will see the progress bar of the database loading. Typically takes around 10-15 seconds for the new location database info to load, then scanning will resume.

 

[troymail]

I have a 536 HP. I just got the GPS receiver. I have it hooked up and working. I'm taking a long road trip across several states for the holidays. Will the 536 keep updating my location and the systems it scans automatically or is there something I have to do to make it update?

The GPS can/will use the full database and will automatically start including and removing whatever is in the full database that meets a combination of your location (per the GPS), your settings (range, service types, etc.), and whatever was entered into the RRDB.

If you just want to hear "whatever" as you go, this will work. But, depending upon the areas you are in, how much and how accurate the data on RRDB is (particularly lot/lon and "radius" information), you may both miss things you want to hear while at the same time stopping on alot of things you don't (including noise and static on old conventional analog frequencies). Additionally, if you have the DMR upgrade, I've found many times that some of those tend to "hang" (stop, won't release). At some point you start saying to yourself - hey, why is it so quiet?

Also - if there is alot of information for a given area (to include nationwide information), the scan rate (time to get all the way through it) may be pretty slow.

As I found and reported early in this thread (and won't rehash too much), the location/range data for frequencies, systems, sites, and departments are not something most users really consider about or provide when they submit frequency and talkgroup data to RR. As a result, in some cases, some information either lacks location data completely, is inaccurate, and/or is set to some type of default.

Over time, I've attempted (for my local area/state at least) to submit changes for this incorrect or missing information. This improved what I wanted to hear (locally) but not what I didn't want to hear.

What I have found that works best in my situation is to use Sentinel and create a favorites list of the things I do want to hear along my trip route. I then set the favorites list to use the GPS. This combination works better in my opinion (call me a control freak - that's fine). It's a bit tedious and still isn't perfect. On a recent trip across central parts of North Carolina, even with the range set to 0.0, I was still seeing the radio try to scan things in Virginia. There is (or was in the past) also a federal system in the RRDB where the range was set to something like 600 miles (seemed like the right thing to do I guess). At the same time there are other departments", etc. that have their ranges set as low as 1 mile (I think I've seen some set to 0.5).

Perhaps this capability will improve down the road but as long as the data in the RRDB relies entirely on user supplied information and is maintained by a large number of database admins, it's not likely to get all that much better. As UpMan always says - YMMV.