XTS 2500 Multiple Scan Lists

[ll35689k]

I have a XTS2500 with multiple Scan Lists set in the CPS. How do I choose which scan list is active on the radio? I thought if I turned to a zone/channel that was in one of the secondary scan lists it would scan that list but that doesn't seem to be working. Can anyone help me out? Thanks

 

[IAmSixNine]

In the trunking personality, where you set up the talk groups, you have a tab called Scan. This is where you set up the scan list for those TG you have entered. When you set the TG in your personality that will reference the scan list your going to hear.
What you may want to do is set up multiple trunking personalities with the scan list you want. Then create additional zones to reference the TG with different personalities. I have 1 system set up with 5 different trunking personalities to give me 5 different scan lists. Then my radio is set up with multiple zones that allow me to scan different things.
Yup complicated but these are commercial radios first, scanners dead last.

 

[tdeater]

You have to set the scan list in the trunking or conventional personality window in the software. The end radio user can not select a scan list from the radio itself unfortunately. (That would that be a nice feature!) Depending on the radio and programming though, the end user can edit the list from the radio.

 

[ll35689k]

In the trunking personality, where you set up the talk groups, you have a tab called Scan. This is where you set up the scan list for those TG you have entered. When you set the TG in your personality that will reference the scan list your going to hear.
What you may want to do is set up multiple trunking personalities with the scan list you want. Then create additional zones to reference the TG with different personalities. I have 1 system set up with 5 different trunking personalities to give me 5 different scan lists. Then my radio is set up with multiple zones that allow me to scan different things.
Yup complicated but these are commercial radios first, scanners dead last.

I think I understand now. So pretty much I should have my Scan List and Trunking Personalities to be the same. Use the Trunking Personality as a "Scan List" with the TG's I want. And then on the radio go to one of the channels in the Personality and Scan List and turn scan "on" and then it will scan those channels, and if I change channels it will change to that scan list?

 

[ll35689k]

Should I use Priority Mon or Talkgroup as the Scan List Type? It looks like the Priority allows 16 channels vs 10.

 

[IAmSixNine]

Are you an authorized user on the system?
Priority requires access to the data stream. I use mine as passive scan so i use the normal talkgroup scan using a conventional channel to park my radio on. I have zone 1 channels 1-16 as conventional channels, each channel has its own unique scan list. Cant accidently TX if im not on a TG.
Plus i have my TX inhibit set to on.

 

[ll35689k]

Yes I am an authorized user. Just trying to figure the best route for scanning 25 or so TG's

 

[GTR8000]

If you're operating the radio in normal trunked mode of a single trunked system as an authorized user, then you want to use Priority Monitor scan lists.

You're not going to be able to scan more than 15+1 talkgroups at a time with an XTS, though.

Scan lists are tied directly to the trunked personality, which is then tied to a channel in a zone. In other words, only one scan list at a time is active, and that scan list is determined by what channel the radio is on, which then references the trunking personality to see which scan list to enable. You as the end user cannot change scan lists via the radio's interface, nor will the radio magically scan more than the 15 channels that are in the scan list assigned to the personality.

 

[ll35689k]

Just to make sure I'm correct, the Talkgroup Scan Type allows you to mix between Conventional and Trunked Personalities? And Priority Monitor only allows Trunked Personalities and Conventional only allows Conventional?

 

[GTR8000]

Just to make sure I'm correct, the Talkgroup Scan Type allows you to mix between Conventional and Trunked Personalities? And Priority Monitor only allows Trunked Personalities and Conventional only allows Conventional?

Basically, yes. Talkgroup also allows you to scan talkgroups from multiple trunked systems, which Priority Monitor does not allow. However you lose priority capabilities with Talkgroup scan, so it's "first come, first serve".

Mixing conventional channels and trunked talkgroups in a Talkgroup scan list is not recommended practice, as you will often miss activity on either side of the coin as the radio is either checking the control channel for trunked activity (being unaware of conventional activity) or scanning through conventional channels (being unaware of trunked system activity).

 

[ll35689k]

I think I got it. Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[GTR8000]

To clarify some of the earlier posts and possible confusion:

It doesn't matter how many talkgroups you have in the Talkgroup list of the Trunking Personality, that is not how the scan list is determined.

The talkgroups in that list are used for assigning talkgroups to zones. So if you were to have 25 talkgroups in Trunking Personality 1, the radio is not going to automatically scan all 25 of those talkgroups.

Once talkgroups are assigned to a zone, you then have to create a Scan List where you're able to add only 10-15 of those talkgroups (depending on scan list type). At that point you go back into the Trunking Personality and to the Scan tab, and you assign the Scan List to it that you already created. The end result being that whenever the radio channel is on any of the talkgroups assigned to that Trunking Personality, it's going to call up the Scan List that was assigned to that Trunking Personality, and it's going to scan only what is in that Scan List, and nothing more.

 

[ll35689k]

Thanks for that GTR8000. I also have a XTS5000 Model II, I thought they were supposed to handle more channels in the Scan List. Do they only hold 15 for Priority and 10 for Talkgroup also?

 

[GTR8000]

Same as the XTS 2500.

If you need to scan more than 15 talkgroups, you're going to have to buy a new radio. The APX series can scan up to 50 talkgroups, for example.