wide area & group scan questions

[mitaux8030]

Hi all,
I've a few questions relating to both wide-area and group scanning.

I note that wide area scan, compared to ProSound / ProScan is relatively unsophisticated - as soon as the control channel is lost for more than a predetermined time, and if the system is designated with 'neighbours' to wide-area scan, the MT will initiate a wide area scan to find a valid control channel. My query here is, what intelligence, if any, is applied to the choice of the system to change to? For example, if I go out of coverage of one system that had 5 neighbours designated, and the MT can see 3 control channels of those 5, whats to stop wide-area scan from camping on a weaker (sub-optimum) system? I've noticed that the MT seems to make the most appropriate choice most of the time, and was wondering if that was by accident/coincidence or by some design?

The MT that I'm using doesn't seem to have Option 6 (wide area scan ProSound/ProScan) enabled, yet the MT will definitely WA scan. Is WA scanning included in option 2 or 4?

Just a quick diversion: I didn't understand MA-COMs description for 3-site scan, option 2. Can someone explain that one?

And lastly the group scan query. Lets say I'm camped on group X, and then begin NON-priority group scanning. Group Y becomes active and I hear it, but simultaneously group X becomes active. I presume the low speed data on the working channel indicates that group X has become active and my MT will then change back to group X to hear it, given that its the group I began the scan from.
I've noted that this feature can often 'false' - scanning, lands on an active group, then tries to switch to another group that in reality isn't active. Has anyone else observed that, and has there been any proposed solutions?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[JungleJim]

In Wide Area scan the radio will scan the systems programmed into the scan list for the system you are on that is in WA scan. You can see this on the system setup screen on the EDACS tab down at the lower left corner. As you said it is basic so the radio will just go through the list and stop on the first one with a valid control channel. There is also a consideration for priority system scan where a preferred system can be designated as the priority and the radio will go to it when in WA scan if it is available. This is an extra feature.

You may or may not see the option in the menu list for WA scan because Macom has bumped it from an optional feature to standard.

As far as your group scan issue, if the radio scans off of one talk group to a non-priority talk group the radio will only jump back when the selected one becomes active if it was designated a priority. Either by user programming with the add/delete buttons or by fixed priority programming through Programmer. There is an option in the scan options tab of Programmer to set the selected talk group as Priority 1, this is most commonly used and is probably how your radio is set up.

 

[mitaux8030]

Thanks JJ, that explains a lot for me.
It appears as if the WA scan can have a degree of 'intelligence' added by programming in the systems in a particular order to suit the most anticipated site to site transitions, taking into consideration the location, topography and neighbouring sites.