What channels do I have to program for MARCS

[GLDietzII44647]

I am not new to MARCS, but am by no means an expert (with MARCS or the PRO-2096)! There are a LOT of channels in MARCS system-wide. What I was wondering is this. . . Can I program only the CC's and AC's in my scanner and still follow (track) the traffic being broadcast? Thanks for the help in advance and if this was discussed before, I looked and couldn't find what I was looking for!

 

[wa8pyr]

I am not new to MARCS, but am by no means an expert (with MARCS or the PRO-2096)! There are a LOT of channels in MARCS system-wide. What I was wondering is this. . . Can I program only the CC's and AC's in my scanner and still follow (track) the traffic being broadcast? Thanks for the help in advance and if this was discussed before, I looked and couldn't find what I was looking for!

Yes, you can. Just program the control channels and alternates for the sites surrounding your location and the scanner will listen to all of them.

 

[GLDietzII44647]

wa8pyr - I appreciate your input. I was assuming (we know how that goes sometimes) that I could do that, but wasn't sure! Again, thanks for your expertise in this area.

 

[wv_mountaineer]

Use search not scan!!!

If you are just going to input the Control and Alternate Channels without adding any certain TGID's you are going to have to use search and not scan. After you search out the TG's on the sites (towers) you can then look here on the RR site to figure out what TG's you are listening to.
If you just scan to CC and AC you will hear nothing without inputting the TG's you want to hear from the sites (towers) you have programmed. You must use search!

 

[GLDietzII44647]

wv_mountaineer - thanks so much for your help also. I'm really not interested in any certain TG's right now, just scanning to see what I can get. I do have the PRO-2096 with the county I live in and all of the surrounding counties with ALL of the freq's programmed into my scanner. What I thought about doing, is programming ALL the CC's and AC's into the scanner and hope I could monitor the traffic on the air ways. Obviously, do to the huge amount of freq's, I could never program all of those into the 10 banks I have. Programming just the CC and AC's, (there are around 400 +or-) I could travel the state of Ohio and not have to load any particular county or group of counties and still receive traffic. Do you know what I mean?! I'm assuming that's feasible?

 

[wv_mountaineer]

I know what you mean. I bought a 396xt back in Sept. and did just what you are doing right now. I travel back and forth from outside the Youngstown, Oh. area to Chicago Il. three times a week. So what I did was input all of the towers I was going to run across on my way to and from and just searched them out as I went along. Did a quick save with every TG that I heard and when I got back to the house I sat down and figured out what it was I heard. If it was something I wanted to hear I kept it and if I didn't want to listen to it I just locked it out.
I now have it set up just the way I like it with all the towers that I cross and all the TG's I want to listen to. However it is still a good idea to always use the search mode instead of the scan mode. The state and counties are always throwing out a new TG to listen to every now and then. Happy Scanning and good luck with the new toy!!!!!!

 

[GLDietzII44647]

wv_mountaineer - Again, thanks for your input / advice / help! The scanner I have is 4 years old. I'm just now really getting into listening - as I have a little more free time and I moved back to Ohio from Indiana - the four years ago. I did enjoy listening to the traffic in Indianapolis, which is where I was living - actually just south of Indy, in Greenwood. I have had a good time listening and have almost 500 channels filled in my "Stark" V-Scanner folder. Although it can get a little confusing sometimes, there really is a lot that goes on in Stark County, if you can believe that!